HPLIP

hplip broken after upgrade to ubuntu 20.04

Asked by Dai J

Hello, I recently upgraded my Ubuntu from 18.04 to 20.04 and HPLIP was broken in the process. I tried to uninstall by following 2 different methods listed at the HPLIP KB sites, as follows
(1) Go to source directory, run [sudo make uninstall] followed by [sudo rm -rf /usr/share/hplip]
(2) Repeat step 1 above, followed by [sudo rm -rf /etc/hp ], [sudo rm -rf ~/.hplip ], finally [ sudo rm -rf /var/lib/hp ]

For both methods, the uninstallation process completed without error but when I did a fresh install of hplip-3.20.11 following the steps for Automatic Installer Walkthrough at https://developers.hp.com/hp-linux-imaging-and-printing/install/install/index, the process seemed to complete reasonably well with the only error being at the beginning, stating failure to load module canberra-gtk-module.

The Add Printer process could not be completed because whether I use the GUI method or hp-setup method in the terminal, the last step loops back to HP Device Manager dialog, declaring "No Installed HP Devices Found", even though the printer was detected and the ppd file listed appeared relevant.

However, if I go to the Settings menu, I can find 2 printers listed. One is just a short description DeskJet_3630 and the other is an more elaborate DeskJet_3630_s.....59L1H...(long serial number). I can print, just that I cannot launch the device manager. Printing sometimes take up a long time to initiate and some documents stopped printing halfway.

Further search brought me to a posting that provided an apparently more thorough purge of the settings and the steps I ran the process in a terminal were
[sudo apt-get purge hplip hplip-data hplip-doc hplip-gui hpijs-ppds], followed by
[sudo apt-get purge libsane-hpaio printer-driver-hpcups printer-driver-hpijs], followed by
[sudo rm -rf /usr/share/hplip/], then finally
[sudo apt-get autoremove]

This time the installation did warn about the failure to load canberra-gtk-module again but the Add Printer process appeared to complete successfully with a dialog that says Printer Added successfully.

Then, if I launch HP Device Manager, it declares "No Installed HP Devices Found" again but when I try to add printer, the steps progressed like before until after the last step when it loops back to the first dialog box - "No Installed HP Devices Found".

Help please. I wish to scan documents as well, hence the need for HP Device Manager. Thanks!

1. Linux version - Ubuntu 20.04
2. Deskjet 3635
3. hp-check log

hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :HP Linux Imaging and Printing System (ver. 3.20.11)
hp-check[7345]: info: :Dependency/Version Check Utility ver. 15.1
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :Copyright (c) 2001-18 HP Development Company, LP
hp-check[7345]: info: :This software comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
hp-check[7345]: info: :This is free software, and you are welcome to distribute it
hp-check[7345]: info: :under certain conditions. See COPYING file for more details.
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :Note: hp-check can be run in three modes:
hp-check[7345]: info: :1. Compile-time check mode (-c or --compile): Use this mode before compiling the
hp-check[7345]: info: :HPLIP supplied tarball (.tar.gz or .run) to determine if the proper dependencies
hp-check[7345]: info: :are installed to successfully compile HPLIP.
hp-check[7345]: info: :2. Run-time check mode (-r or --run): Use this mode to determine if a distro
hp-check[7345]: info: :supplied package (.deb, .rpm, etc) or an already built HPLIP supplied tarball
hp-check[7345]: info: :has the proper dependencies installed to successfully run.
hp-check[7345]: info: :3. Both compile- and run-time check mode (-b or --both) (Default): This mode
hp-check[7345]: info: :will check both of the above cases (both compile- and run-time dependencies).
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :Check types:
hp-check[7345]: info: :a. EXTERNALDEP - External Dependencies
hp-check[7345]: info: :b. GENERALDEP - General Dependencies (required both at compile and run time)
hp-check[7345]: info: :c. COMPILEDEP - Compile time Dependencies
hp-check[7345]: info: :d. [All are run-time checks]
hp-check[7345]: info: :PYEXT SCANCONF QUEUES PERMISSION
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :Status Types:
hp-check[7345]: info: : OK
hp-check[7345]: info: : MISSING - Missing Dependency or Permission or Plug-in
hp-check[7345]: info: : INCOMPAT - Incompatible dependency-version or Plugin-version
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :---------------
hp-check[7345]: info: :| SYSTEM INFO |
hp-check[7345]: info: :---------------
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: : Kernel: 5.8.0-36-generic #40~20.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Wed Jan 6 10:15:55 UTC 2021 GNU/Linux
 Host: chins-desktop
 Proc: 5.8.0-36-generic #40~20.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Wed Jan 6 10:15:55 UTC 2021 GNU/Linux
 Distribution: 12 20.04
hp-check[7345]: info: : Bitness: 64 bit

hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :-----------------------
hp-check[7345]: info: :| HPLIP CONFIGURATION |
hp-check[7345]: info: :-----------------------
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :HPLIP-Version: HPLIP 3.20.11
hp-check[7345]: info: :HPLIP-Home: /usr/share/hplip
hp-check[7345]: info: :HPLIP-Installation: Auto installation is supported for ubuntu distro 20.04 version
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :Current contents of '/etc/hp/hplip.conf' file:
hp-check[7345]: info: :# hplip.conf. Generated from hplip.conf.in by configure.

[hplip]
version=3.20.11

[dirs]
home=/usr/share/hplip
run=/var/run
ppd=/usr/share/ppd/HP
ppdbase=/usr/share/ppd
doc=/usr/share/doc/hplip-3.20.11
html=/usr/share/doc/hplip-3.20.11
icon=/usr/share/applications
cupsbackend=/usr/lib/cups/backend
cupsfilter=/usr/lib/cups/filter
drv=/usr/share/cups/drv/hp
bin=/usr/bin
apparmor=/etc/apparmor.d
# Following values are determined at configure time and cannot be changed.
[configure]
network-build=yes
libusb01-build=no
pp-build=no
gui-build=yes
scanner-build=yes
fax-build=yes
dbus-build=yes
cups11-build=no
doc-build=yes
shadow-build=no
hpijs-install=no
foomatic-drv-install=no
foomatic-ppd-install=no
foomatic-rip-hplip-install=no
hpcups-install=yes
cups-drv-install=yes
cups-ppd-install=no
internal-tag=3.20.11
restricted-build=no
ui-toolkit=qt5
qt3=no
qt4=no
qt5=yes
policy-kit=no
lite-build=no
udev_sysfs_rules=no
hpcups-only-build=no
hpijs-only-build=no
apparmor_build=yes
class-driver=no

hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :Current contents of '/var/lib/hp/hplip.state' file:
hp-check[7345]: info: :Plugins are not installed. Could not access file: No such file or directory
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :Current contents of '~/.hplip/hplip.conf' file:
hp-check[7345]: info: :[installation]
date_time = 01/14/21 17:10:14
version = 3.20.11

[upgrade]
notify_upgrade = true
last_upgraded_time = 1610610935
pending_upgrade_time = 0
latest_available_version = 3.17.10

hp-check[7345]: info: : <Package-name> <Package-Desc> <Required/Optional> <Min-Version> <Installed-Version> <Status> <Comment>
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :-------------------------
hp-check[7345]: info: :| External Dependencies |
hp-check[7345]: info: :-------------------------
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: : cups CUPS - Common Unix Printing System REQUIRED 1.1 2.3.1 OK 'CUPS Scheduler is running'
hp-check[7345]: info: : gs GhostScript - PostScript and PDF language interpreter and previewer REQUIRED 7.05 9.50 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : xsane xsane - Graphical scanner frontend for SANE OPTIONAL 0.9 0.999 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : scanimage scanimage - Shell scanning program OPTIONAL 1.0 1.0.29 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : dbus DBus - Message bus system REQUIRED - 1.12.16 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : policykit PolicyKit - Administrative policy framework OPTIONAL - 0.105 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : network network -wget OPTIONAL - 1.20.3 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : avahi-utils avahi-utils OPTIONAL - 0.7 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :------------------------
hp-check[7345]: info: :| General Dependencies |
hp-check[7345]: info: :------------------------
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: : libjpeg libjpeg - JPEG library REQUIRED - - OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : cups-devel CUPS devel- Common Unix Printing System development files REQUIRED - 2.3.1 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : cups-image CUPS image - CUPS image development files REQUIRED - 2.3.1 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : libpthread libpthread - POSIX threads library REQUIRED - b'2.31' OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : libusb libusb - USB library REQUIRED - 1.0 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : sane SANE - Scanning library REQUIRED - - OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : sane-devel SANE - Scanning library development files REQUIRED - - OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : libavahi-dev libavahi-dev REQUIRED - - OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : libnetsnmp-devel libnetsnmp-devel - SNMP networking library development files REQUIRED 5.0.9 5.8 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : libcrypto libcrypto - OpenSSL cryptographic library REQUIRED - 1.1.1 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : python3X Python 2.2 or greater - Python programming language REQUIRED 2.2 3.8.5 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : python3-notify2 Python libnotify - Python bindings for the libnotify Desktop notifications OPTIONAL - - OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : python3-pyqt5-dbus PyQt 5 DBus - DBus Support for PyQt5 OPTIONAL 5.0 5.14.1 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : python3-pyqt5 PyQt 5- Qt interface for Python (for Qt version 4.x) REQUIRED 5.0 5.14.1 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : python3-dbus Python DBus - Python bindings for DBus REQUIRED 0.80.0 1.2.16 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : python3-xml Python XML libraries REQUIRED - 2.2.9 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : python3-devel Python devel - Python development files REQUIRED 2.2 3.8.5 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : python3-pil PIL - Python Imaging Library (required for commandline scanning with hp-scan) OPTIONAL - 7.0.0 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : python3-reportlab Reportlab - PDF library for Python OPTIONAL 2.0 3.5.34 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :--------------
hp-check[7345]: info: :| COMPILEDEP |
hp-check[7345]: info: :--------------
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: : libtool libtool - Library building support services REQUIRED - 2.4.6 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : gcc gcc - GNU Project C and C++ Compiler REQUIRED - 9.3.0 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : make make - GNU make utility to maintain groups of programs REQUIRED 3.0 4.2.1 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :---------------------
hp-check[7345]: info: :| Python Extentions |
hp-check[7345]: info: :---------------------
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: : cupsext CUPS-Extension REQUIRED - 3.20.11 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: : hpmudext IO-Extension REQUIRED - 3.20.11 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :----------------------
hp-check[7345]: info: :| Scan Configuration |
hp-check[7345]: info: :----------------------
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: : hpaio HPLIP-SANE-Backend REQUIRED - 3.20.11 OK 'hpaio found in /etc/sane.d/dll.conf'
hp-check[7345]: info: : scanext Scan-SANE-Extension REQUIRED - 3.20.11 OK -
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :------------------------------
hp-check[7345]: info: :| DISCOVERED SCANNER DEVICES |
hp-check[7345]: info: :------------------------------
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :No Scanner found.
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :--------------------------
hp-check[7345]: info: :| DISCOVERED USB DEVICES |
hp-check[7345]: info: :--------------------------
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :No devices found.
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :---------------------------------
hp-check[7345]: info: :| INSTALLED CUPS PRINTER QUEUES |
hp-check[7345]: info: :---------------------------------
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :--------------
hp-check[7345]: info: :| PERMISSION |
hp-check[7345]: info: :--------------
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :No errors or warnings.
hp-check[7345]: info: :
hp-check[7345]: info: :Done.

Question information

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HPLIP Edit question
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Revision history for this message
shivani mandora (shivani1708) said : 		#1

Hi ,

Why are you uninstalling hplip in first place?
And to uninstall it , you do not need to remove hplip by rm -rf command.
You can remove it by hp-uninstall command.
Also from hp-check output , I am not seeing any issue. It should detect the printer via hp-setup.
Make sure your printer is either connected via usb or network.

Revision history for this message
Dai J (daij163) said : 		#2

Hi Shivani,

HPLIP had been working fine for 2 years in 18.04 but after I upgraded to 20.04, it stopped working.

I tried the recommended installation process, allowing the automatic installer to remove previous version first. When that didn't work, I read from HPLIP Knowledge Base links that it may be better to remove all config data as well and not knowing any better, I followed some steps that seemed to work for other users, including the rm rf commands you mentioned.

The Ubuntu system recognizes the printer and installs the correct driver. I can print, without HPLIP. However, the installation process of HPLIP seems to be going in a loop. I wish to use HPLIP because the default driver installed by Ubuntu is erratic, stops printing halfway with a file that has only 10 pages and I wish to do document scanning too, which was possible with HPLIP.

Connection is with USB and I have tried unplug-plug (replug) and restart PC many times, under different setup attempts. When I run hp-setup (GUI or terminal), I can get as far as the correct ppd file is called up, then, loops back to the "opening" (initial) dialog box, declaring "No installed HP devices found".

Thanks!

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