*Ubuntu does not any more recognise the printer Samsung ML-1660.

[Bas Roufs]

Thanks for all the replies so far in this thread.

Here I go  through them.

> does the printer work when you plug printer before powering om
> computer?

It did so before Kubuntu stopped identifying/ recognising the printer.
However, at a certain moment, the printer did not print any more. At
CUPS  something like this was being said:
"Waiting for the printer to become available".
That's why, I removed the printer from CUPS with a view to
reinstalling it after a reboot. This worked well one or a few times,
until the same "Waiting for the printer..." problem came back.

> Doesn't the OS detect the printer when it is connected or is it a driver
> problem?

A few times, the system did immediately recognise the printer - even
without me installing the Linux drivers from Samsung. After such a
moment, I could go on printing without problems. But a few hours or
days later, the "Waiting for the printer .." problem came back.
That's why I have again manually installed those drivers along the
lines of the following instructions:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1591873
This method worked well for some years, but now it does not succeed
more. That's one on reasons I soon will carry out a fresh install of
Kubuntu 12.04 with KDE 9.4.1. at both of my laptops.


> Does any thing show up on your screen if you are monitoring your system logs
> at the time you connect the printer? Try the following:
> tail -f /var/log/kern.log
> And then plug in the printer. Does anything show up in the log? What?

Before plugging in the printer, I get the following:
bas at Viaconsensus-travel:~$  tail -f /var/log/kern.log
Sep 23 20:53:42 Viaconsensus-travel kernel: [   16.990835] wlan0: authenticated
Sep 23 20:53:42 Viaconsensus-travel kernel: [   17.016921] wlan0:
associate with 00:16:0a:24:f6:62 (try 1)
Sep 23 20:53:42 Viaconsensus-travel kernel: [   17.216343] wlan0:
associate with 00:16:0a:24:f6:62 (try 2)
Sep 23 20:53:42 Viaconsensus-travel kernel: [   17.366781] wlan0: RX
AssocResp from 00:16:0a:24:f6:62 (capab=0x431 status=0 aid=1)
Sep 23 20:53:42 Viaconsensus-travel kernel: [   17.366791] wlan0: associated
Sep 23 20:53:42 Viaconsensus-travel kernel: [   17.372028]
ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
Sep 23 20:53:42 Viaconsensus-travel kernel: [   17.449708] init:
plymouth-stop pre-start process (1301) terminated with status 1
Sep 23 20:53:43 Viaconsensus-travel kernel: [   17.860623] init:
bluetooth main process (893) killed by SEGV signal
Sep 23 20:53:43 Viaconsensus-travel kernel: [   17.860696] init:
bluetooth main process ended, respawning
Sep 23 20:53:53 Viaconsensus-travel kernel: [   28.464187] wlan0: no
IPv6 routers present

Now, I stay in the same terminal while switching the printer on and
plugging it in. Nothing happens after doing so. So, I quit the
terminal and reopen it. I give in the  same command:
bas at Viaconsensus-travel:~$  tail -f /var/log/kern.log
The results are exactly the same - nothing change in relation to the
printer or anything else.

So, I do another experiment - with the printer still connected to the
laptop, but no other USB device.

bas at Viaconsensus-travel:~$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 064e:d217 Suyin Corp.
Bus 006 Device 002: ID 0cf3:311d Atheros Communications, Inc.

After disconnecting the printer, I carry out the same lsusb
experiment. Exactly the same outcome.

> If the printer is detected when it is connected and still does not work, maybe
> it is a driver problem.
Perfectly legitimate suggestion. But as I said, I did install the
right driver in a way it used to be effective. So, the problem may be
somewhere else.

> Samsung usually provides good Linux drivers for their printers at their website.
I wholeheartedly agree.

> Have you tried them?
Yes, absolutely. I have worked with them during probably 2 years -
successfully until recently.

> I have a Samsung ML-1640 and it works great!
The same applies for me - at least, till recently.

> How did yo switch to 12.04? Upgrade? Fresh install?

At both of my laptops, I did a fresh install - in May, so nearly half
a year ago.. In fact, I always do a fresh install as soon as possible
after upgrading and making a list of "installed packages".  For
details about this, see:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=261366&page=12

> I did a fresh install and it popped up as soon as I connected it and turned it on...
After my fresh install, exactly the same happened. I even did not need
to manually install the drivers from Samsung - they came themselves
immediately after connecting the printer. So, everything seemed to
work flawlessly, until that bizarre "Printer waiting..." problem
popped up.

> If you've upgraded, it might be a configuration conflict for CUPS. Try re-configuring CUPS.

This is bizarre. The first time the problem became manifest, was in
June - about one month after the fresh install of 12.04 at both
machines. Via CUPS,  I removed a few times the driver of SAMSUNG
ML-1640 - with a view to reinstall it after a reboot - a few times,
this strategy seemed to work, until some moment in July.
After coming back from holiday, I again tried to reconfigure CUPS - no
luck any more.

> Same here - I used Samsung "Unified driver" on a 10.04, but on a fresh
> install of 12.04 ML-1660 worked just after plugging in, without
> additional software.
As I said before: this happened in my case also. But about one month
later, the problems became manifest.

> Perphaps removing all files installed during
> process and trying again should help.
This is exactly what I tried a few times: successfully until some
moment, no luck any more ever since.

Apart from the printer problem, the system is behaving weird. That's
why, I will carry out another fresh install at both machines as soon
as I can. After doing so, I will tell you at this forum whether I
manage to get started again with the printer.

Respectfully yours,
Bas.