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I'm not sure which Samsung printer the 1815dn corresponds to - something I've been meaning to do for a while is try to catalog which Dell/Xerox/other printers are really rebranded Samsungs.  So I can't directly answer why printing has always worked for you, but I'm assuming that means that your printer is probably related to the ML- line of Samsung printers, which are supported pretty well without any special driver.

The experience you had is exactly what led to the existence of this repository in the first place - many others had similar experiences.  My own was bad enough to motivate me to set all this up, mainly because of the trouble I had getting rid of it all.

The broader answer is largely in the information in the various SULDR web pages, but what you are looking for is probably spread out over several pages and not necessarily obvious.  When I have some more time, possibly in a couple of weeks, I'll pull a lot of it together into a coherent answer.

But to give you the brief answer: many of the printers don't work well with the basic CUPS drivers or ppds, or are missing features (for example, mine doesn't duplex properly and can't access the highest resolution print quality).  A few don't work at all, although exactly why isn't always clear.  The core of the Unified driver is a set of drivers for translating the print job into language the printer understands - these are the files in my various "driver" packages.  There is also a piece to provide a scanner driver.  And finally there is the Configurator, which is really just a printer/scanner management interface.  The installer from Samsung includes a bunch of other garbage that causes the problems you experienced; the packages here should be "safe" to experiment with, are certainly easy to get rid of if they aren't useful, and shouldn't mess with any settings (I don't package any of Samsung's scripts that mess with system files or configurations).  The "unified" part just means "universal" - the same driver for all printers.  That's actually not true, as there are several printer drivers, but they are all packaged together along with a ppd for every printer.  The scanner driver is actually a universal driver for all multifunction Samsung printers.

As far as a manual install, real details for that would need to wait for my long answer, but essentially that's what the packages do - they just also include the dependencies so that all the necessary parts are installed for whatever function you are shooting for.  Admittedly, you still get a few extra printer drivers and far more ppd files than strictly necessary, but otherwise it's pretty close to a miminal install at each level (driver only, driver + scanning, driver + scanning + configurator).

If you want to experiment and have the time, you can install Virtualbox and then install the updated Ubuntu as a virtual machine and see if it works that way.  That's sort of a long afternoon project if you are doing it for the first time.

I recently bought a Samsung SCX-3405FW, and have had no issues printing with it.  Unfortunately the scanner is a bit more troublesome.  Under usb, sane-find-scanner detected the scanner, but I needed to force the xerox_mfp driver in order to get scanimage working (perhaps this model could be added to samsungmfp-scanner-sane-fix{,-multiarch}; the identifier is 04e8:344f).

I will do that when I next update the package.  Thanks for the ID.

Unfortunately, I haven't yet had much luck scanning over the network.  At first, I could only detect the printer through netdiscovery; it wouldn't appear as a scanner either in scanimage or the configurator (although clicking on the configurator's scanner panel would cause the printer to emit warm-up noises).  By clicking back and forth between the configurator's printer and scanner panels enough time, the scanner appeared, and also began to appear in the output of 'scanimage -L' (using the smfp backend, rather than the xerox_mfp backend).  However, if I attempt to scan from this device, scanimage promptly segfaults.

Can you post the file that results from "strace /opt/Samsung/mfp/bin/Configurator 2> strace.txt" during which you cause it to segfault?  This is sort of unusual behavior, and it's possible something will show up there that I can make sense of.

Additionally, if I click Properties in the configurator's scanner tab, it opens a new window which then closes almost instantly (I suspect this is the same issue augusto is experiencing).

Possibly, but the behavior you're getting is slightly different, which might be useful for diagnosing the problem.

Any help you can give would be appreciated.  In particular, how can I force the xerox_mfp backend when connected over the network?  I suspect that that by itself might solve my remaining scanning issues.

You can't.  The majority of sane backends are USB only; network scanning is only supported for a few scanners with a couple of the other backends, and as far as I know none of the Samsung printers work with anything other than smfp over the network.

Maybe.  Try the solution in the last question on the scanning troubleshooting page (just posted):
http://www.bchemnet.com/suldr/scanning.html#8

If it works, please post the values from sane-find-scanner so I can include those.

Short answer: no.

Long answer:
I had no idea until you posted that Samsung was trying again with inkjet printers (they've been out of that market a long time).  Apparently they are really rebranded Kodak printers:
http://blogs.democratandchronicle.com/business/?p=1235

And Kodak has never supported Linux:
http://support.en.kodak.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1698/kw/linux/selected/true

The Samsung Germany site also gives no indication of any Linux support for the inkjet models.  At least one open-source driver is available for Kodak printers:
http://cupsdriverkodak.sourceforge.net/

I have no idea if that driver will work with the Samsung-branded printers or not, but it may be your only shot at something that will work.

If you try the Kodak driver, or if you try something else that works, please share.  I will update the website with a note about the CJX printers.

Edit: this link suggests that these are ESP-line printers, and so the Kodak driver might work: http://www.action-intell.com/2012/04/27/kodak-samsung-form-alliance-samsung-launches-inkjet-units-in-germany/

You will probably need the samsungmfp-scanner-sane-fix-multiarch package.  You may also need or want samsungmfp-configurator-qt4.

But what doesn't work is wifi-scanning, /opt/Samsung/mfp/bin/netdiscovery --all --scanner shows no scanners although simplescan seems to find it anyway, but nothing happens when I try to scan, simplescan says it's connecting to the scanner and the scanner does pretty much nothing.

That sounds like it could be a firewall problem.  If you aren't running anything on your computer, it's possible that your router is interfering with the necessary UDP packets.  If it's not a firewall issue, I'm not sure.

Probably an issue with the kernel or USB subsystem, then.  I suggest posting a bug report to launchpad.

ok, I don't really get why but it started working again after I changed the usb-port? Any suggestions how that can be (it's not broken, my trackball works fine on both), however I can scan for the moment.

It could (at least) be either of two issues.  First that some USB ports provide full power and some don't, although I don't actually know why that would matter for a multifunction printer (plenty of power available through the wall plug).  The other possibility is USB 3.0 vs 2.0 if your computer is relatively new; there are scattered, inconsistent reports of problems with some devices running on USB 3.0 ports.  Those issues aren't Samsung-specific.

By the way, the possible scanner fix from the repository relies on dependencys (libsane 1.022 -3 or lower) that are not in ubuntu anymore (libsane 1.022 -7).

Install the -multifunction version instead, which depends on the later library.  I'm going to clarify that in the troubleshooting page.

I have very little time today, but here's what I can offer:
1. Uninstal all packages that begin with samsungmfp in the Software Center.  Then install samsungmfp-configurator-qt4 and samsungmfp-scanner-sane-fix.  Try again with any scanning program or the Configurator, which should appear in your menu.

2. If that doesn't help, ununinstall those packages and try updating your system to Ubuntu 12.04.  Also update to 12.04 if you have difficulty installing the packages (I'm not sure what's causing your difficulties with that).

3. After updating, try to scan without installing anything from my repository; if it doesn't work, repeat the first step above.

If it's still not working, you will need to find another scanner for today; I can probably help you troubleshoot further later this week, but not today.

And now the printer is not working to. Yesterday was OK. Today after so many updates something happened.
That is why I uninstall all the samsungmfp-driver installed today, after a few hours of work.
Now is working, but what about the scanner. I have to send some documents by Internet.

You can try the same method used by the samsungmfp-scanner-sane-fix package, which attempts to force your printer as a scanner (among other models).  Download that package directly (http://www.bchemnet.com/suldr/pool/debian/extra/s/samsungmfp-scanner-sane-fix_4.00.35-2_all.deb), and then extract it as an archive (do not try to install it).  In a terminal, navigate to the folder you extracted into, and then

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cd etc
sudo cp -r * /etc/
sudo service udev restart

If that does not work, you can manually remove the 3 files copied into /etc, or leave them without any harm to your system.

If I read this correctly the update was from 4.00.35-1 to 4.00.35-2. If so, how can I revert back to 4.00.35-1?

The only change between those two versions was the dependency on libtiff, which should have no impact at all on scanner detection.  Rather than downgrading, you can test if it is having an impact by:

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sudo mv /usr/lib/libtiff.so.3 /usr/lib/libtiff.so.3.old

Then try the scanner again.  To revert the above:

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sudo mv /usr/lib/libtiff.so.3.old /usr/lib/libtiff.so.3

If it works after the first mv command and then stops again after the second, it is related to these packages.  You can also test by running:

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/opt/Samsung/mfp/bin/netdiscovery --all --scanner

It should output information about your scanner.

If it's not the libtiff issue or a problem with netdiscovery, it's something else; were there other updates to your system since you last used the scanner, particularly packages with "sane" or "udev" in the name?

Since I upgraded to Ubuntu 12.04 my Laserprinter CLP 320 prints only black, no more color. In the earlier version of Ubuntu it worked like a charm. I am trying out of LibreOffice.

I'm assuming that you have already checked to make sure that the printer configuration did not get messed up and color is still the default print option.  I would also try deleting the printer and re-creating it just in case it's an obscure settings problem.

If that doesn't work, have you tried switching to samsungmfp-driver-3.00.90?

Unfortunately nothing obvious is wrong.  The Configurator appears to be behaving as if it decides it can't support the scanner, but I can't determine why.

Have you tried an alternate scanning interface like xsane?

You can also try the following:
1. Install samsungmfp-scanner-sane-fix-multiarch
2. Test Configurator (and alternate interface if possible)
3. Only if it is not working at this point, edit "/etc/sane.d/dll.d/smfp-scanner" (as root/sudo) and put a "#" in front of the "smfp"
4. Test Configurator (and alternate interface if possible)
5. If it still does not work, edit the smfp-scanner file and remove the "#"

From the above url I ran:

restorecon -R -v /usr/lib64
restorecon -R -v /usr/lib
restorecon -R -v /usr/share

If you are inclined to do remove and reinstall the driver again, I would be interested in the output from those commands.  The Samsung installer does tend to have permission issues (one of many reasons I created this repository), and I fix those in my packages.  However, I don't know if what I'm doing now works with SELinux; if it does, and there is demand, I could probably generate rpm packages as well as the .debs.  (Although it may take a while - I'd have to learn how rpm-based repositories work first.)

According to domg472 (SELinux contributor):
"turns out that this pos smasung unified driver installer moves files from $HOME to all over the place which breaks stuff.

I read the thread with that comment and don't actually understand it.  The installer does not touch $HOME, although perhaps Fedora expects some of the installed files in $HOME instead of system directories?  I think it's more likely just a general file permissions problem.

cupsys-common doens't exist in ubuntu 12.04, as far as i can understand

Has not existed for a long time, it was renamed "cups" several years ago.  That is a meaningless error.

Please run the strace command and post the output (you may have to install strace), and hopefully I can find something in that to indicate what the problem is.

by the way, the super user configurator command which comes with repositories (su-to-root -X -c /opt/Samsung/mfp/bin/Configurator) doesn't work - gksudo would probably work here

Ubuntu must have stopped including the "menu" package by default at some point.  I'll update the dependencies to explicitly include it next time I update the packages.  I use su-to-root because it is a minimal way to handle it, whereas gksu isn't always installed (and KDE users will be irritated if I make them install a bunch of GTK stuff just for that, the same way Gnome users would be irritated to install half of KDE to use the KDE equivalent).  su-to-root sorts all that out and users whatever is already installed.  In the short term, and if you need to, you can make it work by installing menu.

when i start configurator, choose scanner, and then select properties, the windows opens but immediately closes; looks like some dependencies were missing.

First, try running as superuser, assuming you have been running as regular user, and see if the same behavior occurs.  If it works as superuser, then it's a permission problem somewhere.

If so, please run "/opt/Samsung/mfp/bin/Configurator" in a terminal, try to open the window, and then close Configurator.  Post any output from the terminal.  If there isn't any output that looks like it occurred when the window closed, then try "strace /opt/Samsung/mfp/bin/Configurator 2> strace.txt" in a terminal, try to open the window, close Configurator, and then attach the strace.txt file to a post here.

Perhaps this Samsung ML 1665 is truely a paperweight at this point or no?

With SELinux enabled, yes, probably.  It's still possible it may work if you turn off SELinux or exempt everything related to CUPS and the Samsung driver.  I believe other reports have indicated this printer does work on some Linux systems, so (assuming nothing is wrong with the physical printer) it probably is a configuration issue.  AppArmor in Ubuntu caused many problems when it was first introduced, although it seems better behaved recently; you are the first person who has shared anything regarding experience with SELinux (and Fedora, for that matter).

Hi, to continue the discussion about the libtiff.so.3 symlink, yes it points at a valid file (full details at Ubuntu's message board).

For now I have given up with trying to build symlinks and am just shipping the old library in the repository.  When I first put everything together there were still a couple of packages that would have caused conflicts with that, but it appears that libtiff3 is completely gone in official packages and so this (rather sad) solution is simplest.

Regarding the ldd issue, I should have checked that but didn't.  ldd isn't terribly reliable for the Samsung files for reasons I don't understand (for example, ldd will report that a current library is found and acceptable, but then it still crashes if the older version isn't available when the file is actually run), although obviously the "not found" for the libtiff would clearly have indicated a problem.  So I have a custom routine I run instead, but obviously that failed in this case.  I've added an ldd bit for future checks.

The other thing I was going to say, under "how to ask for help" ... people should provide history, especially if it worked before, or if they've tried several things.

Good suggestion, I'm going to add that.

Any suggestions?

Does the printer respond from either/both computers if you enter "ping <printer url or IP>" in a terminal?  It could also be a firewall issue if you have enabled one on the 12.04 computer, in which case you'll have to allow UDP incoming packets from the printer.

When in Configurator, the testing printer shows 'ML-1660-Series (Samsung ML-1660 Series) on usb://samsung/ML-1660%20Series... Checking driver... Ok. Printing test page... Ok.

Did you override/ignore the SELinux warning?  Your second screenshot suggests the driver is doing what it is supposed to, but your SELinux configuration isn't recognizing the Samsung components as allowed access through CUPS and therefore blocks it.  The simplest thing might be to temporarily disable your SELinux configuration (or at least the component of it regulating CUPS, I'm not sure which is simpler in a current Fedora release), and see if it prints then.

You're welcome.

Have you tried the samsungmfp-driver-pdf-fix package?

A similar approach that might work is here: http://www.bchemnet.com/suldr/forum/index.php?topic=5.0 .

If neither of those works, I will need more information.  Does it always print gibberish, or only from certain applications?  Can you print a test page?  If you print to a file first as a postscript (ps) instead of pdf (or vice versa), does that file then print okay?

I can see where this would work, but can't immediately see a packaging solution that wouldn't run a high risk of breaking something.  I've added this as a possible solution to the website troubleshooting list.

[Using the Samsung Unified Linux Driver repository]

See this announcement: https://www.bchemnet.com/suldr/forum/index.php?topic=366.0

Quick Guide to installing Samsung printers & the Unified Linux Driver:

Using the Samsung Unified Linux Driver repository
This method installs the proprietary Samsung drives while avoiding all the problems associated with the manual installation and allowing you to retain control over exactly what gets installed.  View the instructions on the repository webpage for setting up the repository: https://www.bchemnet.com/suldr/.

Just installing one of the suld-driver-* or suld-driver2-* packages should enable full printing and scanning support.  See the list of supported printers at https://www.bchemnet.com/suldr/supported.html for suggestions about which version to install.  All other required packages will be automatically installed.

The Configurator and other packages are really only necessary in a subset of cases, or if you happen to like the Configurator interface to manage printers.  Note that the suld-driver2-* packages do not support the Configurator, nor many older printers.

Other approaches: check here if you are looking for alternatives: https://www.bchemnet.com/suldr/alternatives.html.  Much more information and technical details are available on the main SULDR web page, as well as the links above for common questions and solutions.

The Samsung Smart Panel and Printer Utilities
Samsung also provides additional utilities for certain printers.  Since they are printer specific (unlike the Unified Driver, downloading the Smart Panel for a different printer model than your own will often not work), and not available for the CLP-550N, I have never tested these.  These utilities pose a security risk to your system.  See the repository main page for details on these, and why you should consider the implications of installing them.  The page also explains why I will not be producing .debs for these programs, so please do not ask me to.

A request: contact Samsung.  Please look at the first question here: https://www.bchemnet.com/suldr/questions.html, and then contact Samsung about the issues raised.  I've spent hundreds of hours (as of have other users) trying to create workarounds for issues that Samsung should be able to address.  However, no change in the drivers or installation process is likely unless many of the thousands of users of this repository and forum make their voices heard.

Also please note that there is no Samsung driver available for Arm-based systems, such as smart phones or Raspberry Pi, except for partial support for a few of the now older driver2 versions.  You will have to look into other alternatives for your printer on those systems.

See this announcement: https://www.bchemnet.com/suldr/forum/index.php?topic=366.0

First, please read http://www.bchemnet.com/suldr/scanning.html, and/or the other links above regarding common questions, to see if your question is answered there.

When posting, please provide:
1. Your printer model
2. The Linux distribution and version you are using (Ubuntu 12.04, Debian Testing, etc.)
3. How the printer is connected (USB or network protocol)
4. Which driver version (packages) you have installed (or if you are not using the repository)
5. The specific problem including any error messages you see
6. Other relevant information, such as anything you have already tried to resolve the issue, whether the printer worked at some point in the past or in a different configuration, etc. - the more information you can provide, the more likely it is that someone will recognize the problem

Without this information, it is unlikely anyone will be able to help you, and your question may well be entirely ignored. I monitor this forum and will respond to public posts (although it may take a few days); do not attempt to send me a private message or email. On the other hand, I don't always know how to solve the problem, which is why I insist on public posts, and other readers are welcome to jump in and help out.

Please be aware of two very common solutions:
1. If you installed the driver using the Samsung installer, the first thing to try when having problems is to remove it and set up the repository to install the driver.  This will always be the first thing I suggest you do if you tell me you used the Samsung installer for any v3 or v4 driver (the "driver2" v1 installers seem to be okay).

2. If you installed one driver version and it doesn't work, try a different version.  Check the list of supported printers (http://www.bchemnet.com/suldr/supported.html) for particular versions that are likely to work with your model.

Also note that there is no Samsung driver available for most Arm-based systems, such as smart phones or Raspberry Pi.  Although there is an "armel" driver available, most Arm current hardware is "armhf" and so does not work with the provided driver.  You will have to look into other alternatives for your printer on those systems.

See this announcement: https://www.bchemnet.com/suldr/forum/index.php?topic=366.0

First, please read http://www.bchemnet.com/suldr/printing.html, and/or the other links above regarding common questions, to see if your question is answered there.

When posting, please provide:
1. Your printer model
2. The Linux distribution and version you are using (Ubuntu 12.04, Debian Testing, etc.)
3. How the printer is connected (USB or network protocol)
4. Which driver version (packages) you have installed (or if you are not using the repository)
5. The specific problem including any error messages you see
6. Other relevant information, such as anything you have already tried to resolve the issue, whether the printer worked at some point in the past or in a different configuration, etc. - the more information you can provide, the more likely it is that someone will recognize the problem

Without this information, it is unlikely anyone will be able to help you, and your question may well be entirely ignored. I monitor this forum and will respond to public posts (although it may take a few days); do not attempt to send me a private message or email. On the other hand, I don't always know how to solve the problem, which is why I insist on public posts, and other readers are welcome to jump in and help out.

Please be aware of two very common solutions:
1. If you installed the driver using the Samsung installer, the first thing to try when having problems is to remove it and set up the repository to install the driver.  This will always be the first thing I suggest you do if you tell me you used the Samsung installer.

2. If you installed one driver version and it doesn't work, try a different version.  Check the list of supported printers (http://www.bchemnet.com/suldr/supported.html) for particular versions that are likely to work with your model.

Also note that there is no Samsung driver available for Arm-based systems, such as smart phones or Raspberry Pi.  You will have to look into other alternatives for your printer on those systems.