Ubuntu
ghostscript package

pxlmono driver does not work with lexmark E230

Bug #821818 reported by Silviu C.
6
This bug affects 1 person
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
foomatic-db (Ubuntu)
Fix Released
Medium
Unassigned
ghostscript (Ubuntu)
Fix Released
Medium
Unassigned
system-config-printer (Ubuntu)
Fix Released
Medium
Unassigned

Bug Description

Using the suggested pxlmono driver for the Lexmark E230 does not work as expected. It does print a self-test page but not multiple page documents or documents that contain images. I have to cancle the job and then press the big blue button on my printer to get it to print what it already processed.

I use ljet4 driver to get printing working.

Additional info:

1) silviu@silviu-lucid:~$ lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu 10.04.3 LTS
Release: 10.04

2) silviu@silviu-lucid:~$ apt-cache policy ghostscript
ghostscript:
  Installed: 8.71.dfsg.1-0ubuntu5.3
  Candidate: 8.71.dfsg.1-0ubuntu5.3
  Version table:
 *** 8.71.dfsg.1-0ubuntu5.3 0
        500 http://ro.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid-updates/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     8.71.dfsg.1-0ubuntu5.2 0
        500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid-security/main Packages
     8.71.dfsg.1-0ubuntu5 0
        500 http://ro.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid/main Packages

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: ghostscript 8.71.dfsg.1-0ubuntu5.3
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-10.46~lucid1-generic 2.6.38.7
Uname: Linux 2.6.38-10-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Architecture: amd64
CupsErrorLog:

Date: Sat Aug 6 08:44:10 2011
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04.3 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release amd64 (20110720.1)
Lpstat: device for Lexmark-E230: usb://Lexmark/E230
MachineType: System manufacturer System Product Name
Papersize: letter
PpdFiles: Lexmark-E230: Generic PCL 5e Printer Foomatic/ljet4
ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-2.6.38-10-generic root=UUID=a2bed996-5e17-4f52-b8db-274d9ee35737 ro quiet splash
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: ghostscript
dmi.bios.date: 05/09/2011
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 1013
dmi.board.asset.tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: P8P67 LE
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer INC.
dmi.board.version: Rev X.0X
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: Asset-1234567890
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Chassis Manufacture
dmi.chassis.version: Chassis Version
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr1013:bd05/09/2011:svnSystemmanufacturer:pnSystemProductName:pvrSystemVersion:rvnASUSTeKComputerINC.:rnP8P67LE:rvrRevX.0X:cvnChassisManufacture:ct3:cvrChassisVersion:
dmi.product.name: System Product Name
dmi.product.version: System Version
dmi.sys.vendor: System manufacturer

Revision history for this message
Silviu C. (silviucc) wrote :
Revision history for this message
Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter) wrote :

Can you try a live CD of Oneiric (Alpha 3 or newer, do all updates)? Does the problem persist there?

Changed in ghostscript (Ubuntu):
status: New → Incomplete
importance: Undecided → Medium
Changed in foomatic-db (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → Medium
Revision history for this message
Silviu C. (silviucc) wrote :

I downloaded an alpha 3, 64 bit Oneiric image and did all the updates. It did have updates for cups and related stuff.

The bad:

When firing off th "Add printer" wizard it suggests "Generic" goes to PCL 6 printers and lists the e230 pxlmono driver but recommends the pxcolor driver.

The good:

I selected the pxlmono driver, downloaded the PDF on which it usually choked and it printed fine.

Note: Before updating, if I attempted to print with the pxlmono driver, it would spit gibberish on multiple pages.

Revision history for this message
Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter) wrote :

This looks like that the Ghostscript problem is fixed in Oneiric. Closing the Ghostscript task ...

Changed in ghostscript (Ubuntu):
status: Incomplete → Fix Released
Revision history for this message
Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter) wrote :

To get the automatic driver assignment correctly working, I need additional info. Can you run the following command in a terminal window and post the output here:

sudo /usr/lib/cups/backend/usb

This way we will get the exact printer ID so that it gets associated with its database entry.

Changed in foomatic-db (Ubuntu):
status: New → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
Silviu C. (silviucc) wrote :

silviu@silviu-lucid:~$ sudo /usr/lib/cups/backend/usb > usb_ids.txt
[sudo] password for silviu:
DEBUG: list_devices_libusb
DEBUG: usb_find_busses=3
DEBUG: usb_find_devices=7

This is a problem even in natty. I do not remember if 10.10 had it but it was a regression. Lucid has no problem letting me know that it found the printer and choosing the right driver for it (even if the driver is buggy) .

Revision history for this message
Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter) wrote :

Thank you for the device ID. I will add it to foomatic-db.

There actual problem seems to be in the interpretation of the device ID by system-config-printer. Added system-config-printer task.

Changed in foomatic-db (Ubuntu):
status: Incomplete → Triaged
Changed in system-config-printer (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
importance: Undecided → Medium
Revision history for this message
Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter) wrote :

The bug in system-config-printer is present in Natty and Oneiric. To reproduce it without having the printer, run the commands

cd /usr/share/system-config-printer
python /usr/share/system-config-printer/newprinter.py --setup-printer file:/tmp/printout --devid 'MANUFACTURER:Lexmark International;COMMAND SET:PCL 6 Emulation, PostScript Level 3 For Mac Emulation, NPAP, PJL;MODEL:Lexmark E230;CLS:PRINTER;DES:Lexmark E230;CID:Lexmark_Internationa0D83, Lexmark_InternationaCC02, Lexmark_Internationa9D12, Lexmark_Internationa5DD3;COMMENT:ECP1.0, LV_043D, LP_009A, LF_0035;'

It is enough only to do

cd /usr/share/system-config-printer
python /usr/share/system-config-printer/newprinter.py --setup-printer file:/tmp/printout --devid 'MFG:Lexmark International;CMD:PCL6;MDL:Lexmark E230;'

The bug disappears if the field "COMMAND SET" (or "CMD") is not supplied at all or empty:

cd /usr/share/system-config-printer
python /usr/share/system-config-printer/newprinter.py --setup-printer file:/tmp/printout --devid 'MFG:Lexmark International;MDL:Lexmark E230;'

Revision history for this message
Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter) wrote :

The problem is that due to the Ghostscript bug the "pxlmono" driver is blocked in system-config-printer (put down to a very low priority, even lower than generic PPD files (and strangely enough, the "pxlcolor" driver did not get blocked). I will remove that priority exception, so that "pxlmono" PPDs get auto-selected again.

Changed in system-config-printer (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Triaged
Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)
Changed in system-config-printer (Ubuntu):
status: Triaged → In Progress
Changed in foomatic-db (Ubuntu):
importance: Medium → Low
Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

This bug was fixed in the package system-config-printer - 1.3.5+20110801-0ubuntu2

---------------
system-config-printer (1.3.5+20110801-0ubuntu2) oneiric; urgency=low

  * debian/patches/23_unblock-pxlmono-driver.patch: Due to a bug
    in Ghostscript producing huge output files when using the PCL-XL driver
    ("pxlmono"/"pxlcolor") the "pxlmono" driver got set to a very low
    priority in system-config-printer so that PCL-5e drivers get preferred.
    This is not needed any more as the Ghostscript bug is fixed in version
    9.04. So we remove this priority exception now. In addition, this
    caused problems with printers which had only a PCL-XL driver assigned
    but not a PCL-5c/e driver (LP: #821818).
 -- Till Kamppeter <email address hidden> Sun, 07 Aug 2011 16:31:19 +0200

Changed in system-config-printer (Ubuntu):
status: In Progress → Fix Released
Revision history for this message
Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter) wrote :

Fixed entry for the Lexmark E230 in foomatic-db upstream. Now the device ID is added and also PPDs for PCL 5e.

Changed in foomatic-db (Ubuntu):
importance: Low → Medium
Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)
Changed in foomatic-db (Ubuntu):
status: Triaged → Fix Committed
Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

This bug was fixed in the package foomatic-db - 20110831-0ubuntu1

---------------
foomatic-db (20110831-0ubuntu1) oneiric; urgency=low

  * New upstream release
     - The Lexmark E120n does not work in PostScript mode when using
       generic PostScript PPD files. Updated comment and removed support
       by "Postscript" driver. Rated down to "Mostly" (LP: #802285).
     - Removed "Halftoning Algorithm" option, it does not work any more
       with current Ghostscript (LP: #659398).
     - Updated entry for the Lexmark E230: Added Device ID, support by
       PCL-5e drivers (LP: #821818).
     - Added the Brother HL-2070N (LP: #778620).
 -- Till Kamppeter <email address hidden> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:21:03 +0200

Changed in foomatic-db (Ubuntu):
status: Fix Committed → Fix Released
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