Comment 9 for bug 1630272

I apologize in my delay in replying. I tested the printer instructions you provided under Ubuntu 16.04.

In the beginning of the instructions for 16.04 it says:

“You do not need to select whether you want to install network or local printer now. They are listed in one window.”

I actually have to choose “Network” to proceed. I think the instructions for 17.04 are better, and work for 16.04 as well, but neither instructions work without a few changes in the process. See process below.

Using your instructions as a base, here is what I had to do. I confirmed this process on three machines running Ubuntu 16.04, using the same network printer. Perhaps others can confirm.

Below are my instructions, note: step 4 is edited, and step 5 is an additional step.

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To set up a network printer:

1. It's assumed that the printer is connected to your network. Click the icon at the far right of the menu bar and select System Settings.
2. Open Printers.
3. Click Add.
4. Click “Network”. If your printer is listed in the Devices list, select it; otherwise if you know the printer's IP address, select Find Network Printer, enter the IP address in the Host field, and click Find.
5. Once you select your printer the HOST field may be auto-populated with information based on your selected printer (example: “BRN30055C829554”). Delete this and enter your printers IP Address.
6. Click Forward and wait while the system searches for drivers.
7. You can customize the printer's name, description, and location if you like. When finished, click Apply.
8. You can now print a test page or click Cancel to skip that step.

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Explanation:

If I accept all defaults when installing the network printer via the GUI, the GUI auto populates my HOST field with “BRN30055C829554” (for my Brother network printer). It then appears to grab an acceptable driver and install the printer successfully. The printer appears in the printers section but no jobs print.

Note: I noticed the wizard automatically assigns the Device URI: "lpd://BRN30055C829554/BINARY_P1".

When I manually changed the "Device URI" to "http://192.168.1.20/" the printer printed successfully. However I could not just enter the IP address (192.168.1.20) directly, I had to enter in the "htt://<IP ADDRESS>/"

Alternately I could also select the printer properties (*after installation), and in the GUI next to "Device URI" select "Change". Here I have to wait a second, then I get the option to change the "HOST" field. If I enter the printer IP "192.168.1.20" and save settings, the device ID field changes to "lpd://192.168.1.20/BINARY_P1". I can then successfully print a test page.

Basically it appears when letting the Ubuntu printer wizard GUI select the printer port/Device-UI it doesn't do it correctly (*non IP). Printing fails. You must manually enter the devices IP address. I have found no other way to get this to work. I confirmed this behavior on several machines. Perhaps others here can test and confirm this.

For users who know their printers IP address (and its set to STATIC) this method should work always. It appears though that printing to the printer MAC or Device URI it auto detects and populates does not work. I don't know if this is a bug, or a limitation.

I See these interfaces on Windows printer Ports for clients a lot (that way a user doesn't have to specify an IP address), which is nice if a user is someone who is non-technical and doesn't know the printer address. However for me this auto-detect wizard doesn't work with out specifying the IP.

If the IP must be specified perhaps the directions may need to clarify that.