detecting printer connected to the network

kamaraju kusumanchi

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Jun 6, 2014, 12:10:02 AM6/6/14

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I have a Canon Pixma MX870 that is connected wirelessly to the router which is connected to the internet. My desktop computer, running Debian testing (Jessie), is connected to the router via ethernet cable.

I tried to follow https://wiki.debian.org/SystemPrinting to set up the printer on the desktop. I went to http://localhost:631/ -> Adding Printers and Classes . When I click on "Find New Printers" button under the Printers section, it gives me an error

"No printers found."

Instead, if I click on "Add Printer" button Under the Printers section, it asks me to choose the type of printer from the following

Local Printers: Serial Port #1
LPT #1
HP Printer (HPLIP)
HP Fax (HPLIP)

Discovered Network Printers:
Other Network Printers: AppSocket/HP JetDirect
LPD/LPR Host or Printer
Internet Printing Protocol (https)
Internet Printing Protocol (http)
Internet Printing Protocol (ipp)
Internet Printing Protocol (ipp14)
Internet Printing Protocol (ipps)

Which option should I select for Canon Pixma MX870?

FWIW, the printer works fine on Windows 7. So it is not a problem with printer/network connection per se. Here is some information about my system.

rajulocal@hogwarts:~$ dpkg -l cups\* | grep ^ii
ii cups 1.7.1-12 amd64 Common UNIX Printing System(tm) - PPD/driver support, web interface
ii cups-bsd 1.7.1-12 amd64 Common UNIX Printing System(tm) - BSD commands
ii cups-client 1.7.1-12 amd64 Common UNIX Printing System(tm) - client programs (SysV)
ii cups-common 1.7.1-12 all Common UNIX Printing System(tm) - common files
ii cups-core-drivers 1.7.1-12 amd64 Common UNIX Printing System(tm) - PPD-less printing
ii cups-daemon 1.7.1-12 amd64 Common UNIX Printing System(tm) - daemon
ii cups-filters 1.0.50-1 amd64 OpenPrinting CUPS Filters - Main Package
ii cups-filters-core-drivers 1.0.50-1 amd64 OpenPrinting CUPS Filters - PPD-less printing
ii cups-pk-helper 0.2.5-2 amd64 PolicyKit helper to configure cups with fine-grained privileges
ii cups-ppdc 1.7.1-12 amd64 Common UNIX Printing System(tm) - PPD manipulation utilities
ii cups-server-common 1.7.1-12 all Common UNIX Printing System(tm) - server common files

rajulocal@hogwarts:~$ uname -a
Linux hogwarts 3.13-1-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 3.13.7-1 (2014-03-25) x86_64 GNU/Linux

root@hogwarts:~# arp-scan --interface=eth1 --localnet
Interface: eth1, datalink type: EN10MB (Ethernet)
Starting arp-scan 1.8.1 with 256 hosts (http://www.nta-monitor.com/tools/arp-scan/)
192.168.0.1 20:e5:64:57:f1:12 (Unknown)
192.168.0.4 e8:99:c4:4c:d0:26 (Unknown)
192.168.0.8 00:1e:8f:97:25:3d CANON INC.

3 packets received by filter, 0 packets dropped by kernel
Ending arp-scan 1.8.1: 256 hosts scanned in 1.397 seconds (183.25 hosts/sec). 3 responded

Any suggestions on detecting/setting up the printer are greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance
raju

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Kamaraju S Kusumanchi
http://malayamaarutham.blogspot.com/

David

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Jun 6, 2014, 5:30:01 AM6/6/14

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On 6 June 2014 14:06, kamaraju kusumanchi <raju.mai...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have a Canon Pixma MX870 that is connected wirelessly to the router which is connected to the internet. My desktop computer, running Debian testing (Jessie), is connected to the router via ethernet cable.

I tried to follow https://wiki.debian.org/SystemPrinting to set up the printer on the desktop. I went to http://localhost:631/ -> Adding Printers and Classes . When I click on "Find New Printers" button under the Printers section, it gives me an error

"No printers found."

[...]

Any suggestions on detecting/setting up the printer are greatly appreciated.

Did you do any internet search before asking here? I searched "Canon Pixma MX870 linux" and found these links:

http://support-sg.canon-asia.com/contents/SG/EN/0100272302.html
https://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl/showproduct.php/product/4447
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=143349

Reading those it looks like a specific printer driver must be installed before CUPS setup. Not every printer needs that, so perhaps that is why it is not mentioned in the wiki page you read.

kamaraju kusumanchi

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Jun 8, 2014, 5:20:01 PM6/8/14

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On Fri, Jun 6, 2014 at 5:28 AM, David <bounci...@gmail.com> wrote:

Did you do any internet search before asking here? I searched "Canon Pixma MX870 linux" and found these links:

http://support-sg.canon-asia.com/contents/SG/EN/0100272302.html
https://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl/showproduct.php/product/4447
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=143349

Reading those it looks like a specific printer driver must be installed before CUPS setup. Not every printer needs that, so perhaps that is why it is not mentioned in the wiki page you read.

Thanks for the reply David. The first link in your reply http://support-sg.canon-asia.com/contents/SG/EN/0100272302.html provides links to download the drivers. However, according to http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/support/consumer/printers_multifunction/pixma_mx_series/pixma_mx870#DriversAndSoftware , this printer does not need any driver for Linux or it may have already been included in the OS.

Anyway, through trial and error, I was able to set up the printer without downloading any special drivers. The trick is to use "LPD/LPR Host or Printer" option while setting up the printer.

I thought others might benefit from my experience and provided step by step instructions at http://malayamaarutham.blogspot.com/2014/06/setting-up-canon-pixma-mx870-printer-on.html .

thanks

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Kamaraju S. Kusumanchi

http://malayamaarutham.blogspot.com/

Brian

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Jun 8, 2014, 6:40:01 PM6/8/14

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On Sun 08 Jun 2014 at 17:15:14 -0400, kamaraju kusumanchi wrote:

> I thought others might benefit from my experience and provided step by step
> instructions at
> http://malayamaarutham.blogspot.com/2014/06/setting-up-canon-pixma-mx870-printer-on.html

A very nice write-up. I hope you do not mind a few comments.

1. It might be possible to find the printer's IP address from its front
panel.

2. cups depends on cups-client. 'apt-get install cups' is sufficient.

Jessie will be released with systemd as the init system; cups would
not be managed from /etc/init.d.

3. A Jessie install puts the first user in the lpadmin group. Further
users do have to be added.

It appears your printer also works with ipp.

http://localhost:631/help/network.html?TOPIC=Getting+Started&QUERY=#IPP

The lpr command is in a package which is only suggested by cups; the
lp command comes with cups.

The 'Useful links:' section isn't clickable. Did you mean it to be?

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kamaraju kusumanchi

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Jun 10, 2014, 7:30:02 AM6/10/14

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On Sun, Jun 8, 2014 at 6:37 PM, Brian <ad...@cityscape.co.uk> wrote:

On Sun 08 Jun 2014 at 17:15:14 -0400, kamaraju kusumanchi wrote:

> I thought others might benefit from my experience and provided step by step
> instructions at
> http://malayamaarutham.blogspot.com/2014/06/setting-up-canon-pixma-mx870-printer-on.html

A very nice write-up. I hope you do not mind a few comments.

Thanks. I really appreciate the feedback no matter how small people think they are.

My intention in writing the above article is to provide one working data point for users struggling with setting up the printer. I did not, by any means, tried to be comprehensive.

1. It might be possible to find the printer's IP address from its front
panel.

True. There is always more than one way to do it.

2. cups depends on cups-client. 'apt-get install cups' is sufficient.

I have removed cups-client.

Jessie will be released with systemd as the init system; cups would
not be managed from /etc/init.d.

I see. That is a good point. But init.d is what I have tried and worked for me. I shall try to read about systemd and see how it should be done. But given my busy schedule, I doubt if it will be in the near future.

3. A Jessie install puts the first user in the lpadmin group. Further
users do have to be added.

I think this is a moot point. If the user is already added to lpadmin, there is nothing to be done to begin with.

It appears your printer also works with ipp.

http://localhost:631/help/network.html?TOPIC=Getting+Started&QUERY=#IPP

The lpr command is in a package which is only suggested by cups; the
lp command comes with cups.

cool. Again I did not know about either of this. Thanks for bringing it up. I will try these and update the post.

The 'Useful links:' section isn't clickable. Did you mean it to be?

Yes. I do this to minimize "distractions".

David

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Jun 10, 2014, 7:50:02 AM6/10/14

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Hehe. First there was "slow food' [1] now there's "slow www" :)

And thanks for the write up I need to install a different Canon device
for a family member soon.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_Movement

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Brian

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Jun 10, 2014, 11:10:02 AM6/10/14

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On Tue 10 Jun 2014 at 07:22:30 -0400, kamaraju kusumanchi wrote:

> On Sun, Jun 8, 2014 at 6:37 PM, Brian <ad...@cityscape.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > Jessie will be released with systemd as the init system; cups would
> > not be managed from /etc/init.d.
> >
>
> I see. That is a good point. But init.d is what I have tried and worked for
> me. I shall try to read about systemd and see how it should be done. But
> given my busy schedule, I doubt if it will be in the near future.

There is no need to restart cups under either init system after creating
a print queue.

> > 3. A Jessie install puts the first user in the lpadmin group. Further
> > users do have to be added.
>
> I think this is a moot point. If the user is already added to lpadmin,
> there is nothing to be done to begin with.

I thought it worth mentioning because it is a new feature in Jessie.

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