[xubuntu-users] I cannot install printer - xubuntu 23.10

[Peter Flynn]

On 30/01/2024 11:07, Alessandro Lin wrote:
> Synaptic program works.
> 
> Unfortunately  ' hplip '  is still incompatible with ubuntu 23.10

HPLIP (from the HP site) install failures are unfortunately very common 
because they expect highly specific packages, especially Python 
libraries, and these are often far too new for them to be in any 
conventional Linux distro.

It's pity because the older versions installed from the deb repositories 
are sometimes unusable because they doen't list some printers (even some 
older ones: this is not limited to new printer problems); often fail to 
implement important features of printers that do occur in the list, like 
double-sided printing; and they often have bugs like failing to 
recognise some common paper sizes.

I always try the latest HPLIP from HP first; fortunately it has worked 
for me in the last few years, except that 3.23.5 which I'm using has a 
completely broken A4 paper setting (it thinks it's A3) and a wholly 
bogus-looking setting called "Index Card A4 8.27 × 11.69in" (!) which 
actually works. I have no idea what the people who assemble the list of 
paper sizes are smoking :-)

I recommend going to https://sourceforge.net/projects/hplip/files/hplip/ 
and installing one version earlier; and if that doesn't work, one 
version before that, and keep going back until one works.

Peter