My printer is not working after upgrading to Ubuntu 18.04.1

sevendogsbsd · 10-17-2018, 05:42 AM

So now run

Code:

apt list --upgradable

to see what packages would be upgraded.

hazel · 10-17-2018, 06:28 AM

Just a bit of advice to the OP:

When you are asked for a print-out, always put it between [code] and [/code] brackets. That way it will go into a scrollable window which is much easier for people to read.

Gins · 10-17-2018, 09:36 AM

Thanks hazel
My printer is dead. I can't print.
Printing stopped is the message I receive when I try to print.

Gins · 10-17-2018, 12:58 PM

Hi
I talked to Epson support on the phone. They told me this is a common problem when upgrading the Ubuntu version. They are experts like you all. They blamed the Ubuntu developers for not making printer drivers.

My printer is fine.
I have a printing app. Its name is Mopira. I can print with the app. I just printed an email I received from Epson support.

So the printer is fine. Problem lies in drivers.
Your thoughts are welcome. I must fix my printer.

sevendogsbsd · 10-17-2018, 01:05 PM

Thanks for the feedback Gins, at least you have an answer!

Gins · 10-17-2018, 01:30 PM

Sevendogsbsd

I need your help to fix the problem.
Let me know if some other ideas cross your mind.

sevendogsbsd · 10-17-2018, 01:36 PM

Have you checked the packages that may need to be upgraded as I suggested earlier? If one of the packages is ghostscript, there is a good chance that may fix the problem. See my post at the top of this page about

Code:

apt list --upgradeable

hazel · 10-17-2018, 01:43 PM

You are getting a message that the cups filter has failed. That means a break somewhere in the filter chain. It could be in cups-filters or ghostscript or the Epson driver.

I had this message once and it turned out to be ghostscript that was at fault. Somehow I was able to find out the ghostscript command that cups was using to send files to the printer but I can't for the life of me remember where I found it. But I do remember running the command by hand in a terminal, independent of cups, and seeing ghostscript crash. The cause was a major update to one of ghostscript's library dependencies, which had broken the dynamic link to that library. I rebuilt ghostscript and the printer worked again.

sevendogsbsd · 10-17-2018, 01:49 PM

Hazel - there is a known, recent bug in ghostscript that can cause the error the OP is seeing in the logs. Doing an upgrade of just the ghostscript package should be safe for a test. Do you agree? I provided info a few posts back.

Gins · 10-17-2018, 01:52 PM

I asked the support people about the message filter failed.
They said there are many reasons for it.
The problem lies in the drivers. Ubuntu developers have not made drivers for each and every printer.
This was what I have learnt from the support people.

sevendogsbsd · 10-17-2018, 01:58 PM

In the error logs you posted, there is a ghostscript error immediately before your printer fails with "filter failed". All I was suggesting was checking to see if ghostscript was in the list of packages that need to be upgraded on your system, upgrade ghostscript, then see if printing is fixed.

As Hazel mentioned, ghostscript can cause this error.

hazel · 10-17-2018, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gins

I asked the support people about the message filter failed.
They said there are many reasons for it.
The problem lies in the drivers. Ubuntu developers have not made drivers for each and every printer.
This was what I have learnt from the support people.

You shouldn't automatically believe what these commercial support people tell you. Most printer manufacturers don't like Linux and will always blame Linux for anything that goes wrong.

Gins · 10-17-2018, 02:19 PM

I did what you have suggested.

Code:

 nissanka@Nissanka:~$ sudo su
[sudo] password for nissanka: 
root@Nissanka:/home/nissanka# apt list --upgradeable
Listing... Done
bsdutils/bionic-updates 1:2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.2 amd64 [upgradable from: 1:2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.1]
fdisk/bionic-updates 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.2 amd64 [upgradable from: 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.1]
gnome-mines/bionic-updates 1:3.28.0-1ubuntu1 amd64 [upgradable from: 1:3.28.0-1]
google-chrome-stable/stable 70.0.3538.67-1 amd64 [upgradable from: 69.0.3497.100-1]
libblkid1/bionic-updates 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.2 amd64 [upgradable from: 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.1]
libfdisk1/bionic-updates 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.2 amd64 [upgradable from: 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.1]
libmount1/bionic-updates 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.2 amd64 [upgradable from: 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.1]
libsmartcols1/bionic-updates 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.2 amd64 [upgradable from: 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.1]
libuuid1/bionic-updates 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.2 amd64 [upgradable from: 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.1]
mount/bionic-updates 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.2 amd64 [upgradable from: 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.1]
rfkill/bionic-updates 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.2 amd64 [upgradable from: 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.1]
util-linux/bionic-updates 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.2 amd64 [upgradable from: 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.1]
uuid-runtime/bionic-updates 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.2 amd64 [upgradable from: 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.1]
N: Ignoring file 'jockey.txt' in directory '/etc/apt/sources.list.d/' as it has an invalid filename extension
root@Nissanka:/home/nissanka#

sevendogsbsd · 10-17-2018, 02:29 PM

OK, so we know there is no ghostscript update needed. So much for my theory...I am out of suggestions at this point.

Hazel - would foomatic-filters, or the gutenprint ppd packages be of any help? They would be substitutions for OEM printer drivers, correct?

hazel · 10-17-2018, 02:47 PM

I'm no expert on that. It certainly wouldn't do any harm to install them, but the fact that the printer worked before suggests that they are probably not needed. We seem to be dealing here with something that has changed, not something that is absent.

It would certainly do no harm to run an ldd on /usr/bin/gs and make sure that all its library links are working.