Cannot print duplex in intrepid with Ricoh Aficio 2060, Ricoh Aficio MPC3000 or Brother HL-4050cdn using the openprinting drivers

Lars, this is not the same problem as bug 219999. It is even not yet clear whether foomatic-rip is really the culprit.

mabawsa, can you try to replace your /usr/lib/cups/filter/pdftops file by the attached one (do not forget to make it world-executable) and try to print again? Does Duplex work now?

George, can you also test on Ubuntu Intrepid? If the problem also occurs for you, can you also replace your /usr/lib/cups/filter/pdftops by the attached file and see whether this helps.

I tried on a fresh install of Ubuntu Intrepid, the problem does not occur on my side. The version of foomatic I tried is 4.0.0.177 and I didn't replace /usr/lib/cups/filter/pdftops

The follows are the drivers on which I have tried.

Ricoh Aficio 2060: pxlcolor-Ricoh, Postscript, Postscript-Ricoh, pxlcolor
Ricoh Aficio MP C3000: pxlcolor-Ricoh, Postscript, Postscript-Ricoh, pxlcolor

Could you please give more information about the problem occurs for you? Which RICOH driver have you tried?

From where did you get the PPDs? From OpenPrinting? From Ricoh? Did they get auto-downloaded by system-config-printer/Jockey? Or did you use the openprinting-ppds-extra package of Ubuntu.

Please try the two different principal sources:

1. PPDs from Ubuntu's openprinting-ppds-extra package
2. PPDs from Ricoh, OpenPrinting, or auto download (these are all the same).

For which classes of PPDs does the problem occur for you.

Independent whether the problem occurs or not, please attach the /var/log/cups/error_log (in debug mode, do "cupsctl LogLevel=debug" before sending the test job).

If the problem occurs, replacs pdftops and check whether the problem goes away.

Very important: Do the tests on Ubuntu Intrepid, as it implements the full PDF printing workflow (https://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/OpenPrinting/PDF_as_Standard_Print_Job_Format).

Thanks Till,
The fix did not work on the Ricoh Aficio 2060 (PPDs from Ubuntu's openprinting-ppds-extra package) or the Brother HL4050CDN (Foomatic/Postscript). Also I lost graphics on a trial pdf. So I reverted back to the original script. The other drivers from open printing repository either refused to print or were no better.
The Brother HL4050CDN CUPS/LPR driver downloaded from Brother works flawlessly.

For your information I am in Japan and the Ricoh printer models have different names. For example the 2060 is a Neo 602. However they all worked in Hardy so this shouldn't be the problem.

Some good news, with the ubuntu MPC-3000 postscript driver and the duplexing works but it freezes the printer on random jobs (as does the 2060).

I am unsure why you suspect the pdftops script as duplexing is broken with all documents (open office, firefox, thunderbird, etc) not just PDF files.

Sorry for the confused story but I really don't know what's up. I feel that the printer freezing on random jobs and the inability to duplex since the upgrade to Intrepid (also the same on a fresh install) are somehow related. But I have been wrong in the past :).

Can you replace your /usr/lib/cups/filter/cpdftocps file by the attached one (again, make sure it gets world-executable)? Then try to print again. Do the jobs come out double-sided now?

Sorry it didn't work either. The Brother and the Ricoh printers still do not duplex.

George, Bin Li, can you test with my last approach and find out what is broken in the PostScript sent to the printer? When I send a print job using the Ricoh PPDs and send it into the file, I see the Duplex PostScript code correctly embedded in the PostScript. When I send the job to one of my HP printers it comes out double-sided as requested.

George, Bin Li, and anyone else, please do the following tests (have a Ricoh or OEM printer with PostScript option handy):

1. Install the Ubuntu-supplied package of Ricoh PPDs:

sudo apt-get install openprinting-ppds-extra

2. Clone your print queue with system-config-printer, into a queue named "test". To do so, right-click your print queue's icon, choose "Copy" in the pop-up menu, nad then enter "test" as the new name.

3. Make the test queue use a Ubuntu-supplied PPD:

lpadmin -p test -P /usr/share/ppd/openprinting/Ricoh/PS/<your printer model>.ppd.gz -o PageSize=A4

4. Print to this queue:

lpr -P test -o Duplex=DuplexNoTumble <more than one page>.pdf

It should not come out double-sided on Intrepid.

Now we try a possible fix:

1. Install the latest and greatest foomatic-rip (RC for Foomatic 4.0):

sudo apt-get install build-essential bzr libgs-dev autoconf automake
bzr branch http://bzr.openprinting.org/devel/foomatic-filters-devel
cd foomatic-filter-devel
./make_configure
./configure --prefix=/usr --sysconfdir=/etc
make
sudo cp foomatic-rip /usr/bin

2. Print the job of the first test again:

lpr -P test -o Duplex=DuplexNoTumble <more than one page>.pdf

Does it come out double-sided now? Does your regular printing work correctly now?

Double sided printing works! On the PDF and Openoffice.

I will test irt further to see if there are any lock ups but printing speed is much faster now as well.

Thanks Till you are a star.

This bug was fixed in the package foomatic-filters - 4.0.0-0ubuntu1

---------------
foomatic-filters (4.0.0-0ubuntu1) jaunty; urgency=low

  * New upstream release (4.0.0 final release, BZR rev 195)
     - Let custom JCL options get correctly inserted.
     - Treat "None" as empty string in string and password options.
     - String and password option settings got inserted with the
       "Custom." prefix.
     - Fixed seghfault which occured when using string options.
     - Make foomatic-rip working correctly with PostScript of StarOffice 8
     - The PostScript code of PostScript options did not get inserted when
       the spooler is CUPS and foomatic-rip had to convert incoming PDF to
       PostScript (LP: #299918)
     - Made merging of PJL options of the PPD and of the driver correctly
       working.
     - Corrected the insertion of the "%%PageSetup" sections.
     - Inserted PostScript option settings from pstops were not corrected
       with custom option settings done on the command line (numerical,
       string, password).
     - If there was only one PJL option in the PPD no PJL got added at all
       (LP: #303691).
     - Made foomatic-rip conforming with the LSB compliance tests (LSB bug
       #2423).
     - Fixed infinite loop when page-specific option settings are used.
     - Made foomatic-rip correctly working with custom JCL options.
     - Option setting insertions got corrupted when there is a composite
       option in the PPD file (Upstream bug #173, comment #23).

 -- Till Kamppeter <email address hidden> Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:39:49 +0100

Due to the many regression bugs which the foomatic-filters package in Intrepid has (see changelog below) I propose to replace Intrepid's foomatic-filters by the final 4.0.0 release (which is currently in Jaunty).

An SRU request is uploaded to -proposed. Here is the debdiff

http://launchpadlibrarian.net/21399871/foomatic-filters_4.0.0%7Ebzr177-0ubuntu1_4.0.0-0ubuntu0.1.debdiff

Note that its is long, as due to the final release also the documentation is updated and the machine-generated files of the build system got regenerated. The following diff contains only the changes in active code (which actually modify the /usr/bin/foomatic-rip executable):

http://launchpadlibrarian.net/21399918/foomatic-4-intrepid-foomatic-4-final-changes-in-active-code.diff

The following debian/changelog contains all fixes on active code, the upstream ChangeLog I do not show here as it is much longer due to the documentation changes and the 4.0.0 final release.

foomatic-filters (4.0.0-0ubuntu0.1) intrepid-proposed; urgency=low

  * New upstream release (4.0.0 final release, BZR rev 195, all the changes
    against rev 177 as shipped by Intrepid are regressions against Hardy)
     - Let custom JCL options get correctly inserted.
     - Treat "None" as empty string in string and password options.
     - String and password option settings got inserted with the
       "Custom." prefix.
     - Fixed segfault which occured when using string options (LP: #318614).
     - Make foomatic-rip working correctly with PostScript of StarOffice 8.
     - The PostScript code of PostScript options did not get inserted when
       the spooler is CUPS and foomatic-rip had to convert incoming PDF to
       PostScript (LP: #299918).
     - Made merging of PJL options of the PPD and of the driver correctly
       working (LP: #318818).
     - Corrected the insertion of the "%%PageSetup" sections (LP: #318818).
     - Inserted PostScript option settings from pstops were not corrected
       with custom option settings done on the command line (numerical,
       string, password).
     - If there was only one PJL option in the PPD no PJL got added at all
       (LP: #303691).
     - Made foomatic-rip conforming with the LSB compliance tests (LSB bug
       #2423, LP: #318818).
     - Fixed infinite loop when page-specific option settings are used
       (LP: #318816).
     - Made foomatic-rip correctly working with custom JCL options.
     - Option setting insertions got corrupted when there is a composite
       option in the PPD file (Upstream bug #173, comment #23).

 -- Till Kamppeter <email address hidden> Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:42:49 +0100

Till,

This fix does not work for me either. After removing all previous changes made for testing purposes, and updating the packages (proposed included), I still am unable to print duplex. There must be some broader issue here that is not being addressed...

Kristian Erik Hermansen, then we will have to do some deeper investigation of your case.

First, can you do

cupsctl LogLevel=debug
cancel -a

and then print a duplex job. After it completes, copy the CUPS error_log:

sudo cp /var/log/cups/error_log ~
sudo chmod 777 ~/error_log

and attach the error_log to this bug report.

As another test copy your print queue to another one which prints into a file:

cupsctl FileDevice=yes
lpadmin -p test -E -v /tmp/printout -P /etc/cups/ppd/<yourprinter>.ppd

Print the same duplex job into this queue.

Then wait until "lpstat -o" does not show any output any more and copy the resulting file

sudo chmod 777 /tmp/printout
cp /tmp/printout ~/printout.ps

and attach printout.ps to this bug report.

As an additional test send printout.ps to your real printer without filtering ("lpr -o raw ..."). Does it come out double-sided?

Kristian Erik Hermansen, did you really test the foomatic-filters 4.0.0 final release? By either

- Running a Jaunty live system
- Installing the Jaunty package of foomatic-filters on your Intrepid box
- Compiling foomatic-rip from the upstream source

Only activating -proposed in Intrepid and doing a full update does not yet pull the new foomatic-filters package. It is supposed that it will appear in -proposed only tomorrow morning Central-European Time.

Accepted foomatic-filters into intrepid-proposed, please test and give feedback here. Please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation how to enable and use -proposed. Thank you in advance!

Kristian Erik Hermansen tells in bug 308817 that a full system update with activated -proposed solves his problem. So either fix in Ghostscript (bug 308817) or in foomatic-filters (this bug) has solved his problem.

There is an updated version which fixes a regression:

 foomatic-filters (4.0.0-0ubuntu0.2) intrepid-proposed; urgency=low
 .
   * debian/patches/foomatic-rip-segfault-on-jcl-merging.patch: Fixed
     segfault of the JCL merging process on long JCL command lists
     (LP: #321164). This was also reported on the Intrepid SRU
     4.0.0-0ubuntu0.1 in LP: #318614.

Can you please test this version instead/again, and report back here? Thank you!

I tried out the new foomatic-filters and it has worked for me.

Dear Till and All,

I run into a very similar problem on Debian Lenny. I understand that this is the bug list for Ubuntu, but maybe someone can help me to fix my problem. My printer is Ricoh Aficio 2035, no PS support is available (only PXL).

I tried to create a new .deb package using the source Ubuntu package in Intrepid (foomatic-filters_4.0.0-0ubuntu3). I successfully created the package and installed on Lenny. Unfortunately I cannot print duplex after the upgrade. Here are my related packages:

csupor:~# dpkg -l | grep cups
ii cups 1.3.8-1lenny4.1 Common UNIX Printing System(tm) - server
ii cups-bsd 1.3.8-1lenny4.1 Common UNIX Printing System(tm) - BSD comman
ii cups-client 1.3.8-1lenny4.1 Common UNIX Printing System(tm) - client pro
ii cups-common 1.3.8-1lenny4.1 Common UNIX Printing System(tm) - common fil
ii cups-driver-gutenprint 5.0.2-4 printer drivers for CUPS
ii cups-pdf 2.4.8-3 PDF printer for CUPS
ii cupsddk 1.2.3-5 CUPS Driver Development Kit
ii cupsddk-drivers 1.2.3-5 CUPS Driver Development Kit - Driver files
ii cupsys 1.3.8-1lenny4.1 Common UNIX Printing System (transitional pa
ii cupsys-bsd 1.3.8-1lenny4.1 Common UNIX Printing System (transitional pa
ii cupsys-client 1.3.8-1lenny4.1 Common UNIX Printing System (transitional pa
ii cupsys-common 1.3.8-1lenny4.1 Common UNIX Printing System (transitional pa
ii cupsys-driver-gimpprint 5.0.0-3 printer drivers for CUPS
ii cupsys-driver-gutenprint 5.0.2-4 printer drivers for CUPS
ii libcups2 1.3.8-1lenny4.1 Common UNIX Printing System(tm) - libs
ii libcupsimage2 1.3.8-1lenny4.1 Common UNIX Printing System(tm) - image libs
ii libcupsys2 1.3.8-1lenny4.1 Common UNIX Printing System (transitional pa
csupor:~# dpkg -l | grep foomatic
ii foomatic-db 20080211-2+nmu1 OpenPrinting printer support - database
ii foomatic-db-engine 3.0.2-20080211-1 OpenPrinting printer support - programs
ii foomatic-db-gutenprint 5.0.2-4 OpenPrinting printer support - database for
ii foomatic-db-hpijs 20080211-1 OpenPrinting printer support - database for
ii foomatic-filters 4.0.0-0ubuntu3 OpenPrinting printer support - filters
ii foomatic-filters-ppds 20080528-2.1 OpenPrinting printer support - prebuilt PPD

I also tried to get the newest PPD file from foomatic-db, so I copied the Ricoh-Aficio_2035_PXL.ppd file from the foomatic-db_20080918-0ubuntu4 package, without success.

My last idea...

I installed Ubuntu Intrepid for print server and the printer works smoothly. I tried to copy the settings to Debian and I had no success. Now we are using Ubuntu for print server as a final decision.

Thanks guys! ;-)