SCX-4729FD

[johnaaronrose]

I've tried to print a test page & a page using LibreOffice Writer. Ubuntu seemed to send the pages to the printer but nothing happened. I've tried both suld-driver-4.00.35 & suld-driver-4.00.36 (recommended driver versions on the list of supported printers) with the same lack of success. Synaptic installed suld-driver-common-1 & suld-driver-network-2 packages when I selected the driver.

I have the printer connected by ethernet cable to my router. I've made the router give the printer (i.e. its MAC address of 00:15:99:D2:24:5B with DeviceName of SamsungPrintergives it a static ip address of 192.168.1.20 on my LAN. When I add the printer, it sees the printer as  SamsungSCX-472X (SEC001599D2245B, 192.168.1.20). I'd expect it to be SamsungPrinter rather than SEC001599D2245B but that shouldn't make any difference? I'm able to select either of: AppSocket/JetDirect network printer via DNS-SD, LPD network printer via DNS-SD, IPP network printer via DNS-SD. I've tried them all (they all lead to automatic driver installation) with the same lack of success when printing is attempted: also, the printer is shown with a no entry symbol presumably implying it cannot be found.

With my previous Brother printer, this DNS-SD method did not work due to a bug in Ubuntu. So I tried the workaround, which is to use the option of 'Find network printer' supplying a Device URI of 192.168.1.20:631. This then asks me to Choose Driver with options of Select printer from database, Provide PPD file, Search for a printer driver to download. I selected the first option followed by Samsung but there was no available 4729 printer (the nearest was 4725).

What should I try next?

[johnaaronrose]

I made a mistake for the workaround details in the last paragraph. I did find a 472x printer but it then gave me a popup with title of "CUPS Server Error" with details of "There was an error during the CUPS operation: 'client-error-not-possible'".

[johnaaronrose]

I've just deleted the printer from Ubuntu's Printer list & installed the Linux Unified Printer Driver as per the instructions given by Samsung and it worked fine from the PC it's attached to by USB. However, when I try to install it on another PC (i.e. both PC's are linked through my router), I add the printer by using ipp with a URI of ipp://192.168.1.11:631/printer (this being the same method that I used for an existing HP inkjet printer that I attached to the 2nd PC by USB & then installed it to the 1st PC) but it fails with the status shown as "Stopped - The printer URI is incorrect or no longer exists.".

I want the Samsung printer to be accessible by both PCs. I'm at a loss what to do next.

[johnaaronrose]

My guess is that the next step is to remove the manually installed Samsung Unified Linux Driver and start again. I saw a link to it from the first Ubuntu Forum post, but it gave no details. How do I remove it?

[johnaaronrose]

Just seen how to uninstall the manually installed Samsung Unified Linux Driver.

[bchemnet]

I made a mistake for the workaround details in the last paragraph. I did find a 472x printer but it then gave me a popup with title of "CUPS Server Error" with details of "There was an error during the CUPS operation: 'client-error-not-possible'".

This is generally caused by a network configuration issue, or not having appropriate client software for sharing (e.g., if your router is using SAMBA to share, you need smb-client installed).  It should not an issue with the driver.

As to your attempt to share the USB connection via IPP, Samsung printers routinely have issues with IPP; I'm not sure if the SCX-4729 is one of those or not.

[johnaaronrose]

What you mean by "router using Samba to share"? I only have Ubuntu computers on my network (except for an Android tablet). They all have smb-client installed.

What way do you recommend for sharing the printer, linked by USB cable to one PC, with another PC?

[johnaaronrose]

I've now found that when adding the printer (networked by ethernet), I need to let Ubuntu find the printer by itself (if I try to find it myself by supplying the ip address as 192.168.1.20:631, it gives the CUPS error referred to previously). This auto find doesn't always happen when trying to add a printer. So I just let cancel & retry adding a printer. The vagaries of Ubuntu Precise!

One other problem: there seems to be no mechanism to permanently set the printer to Duplex (using Long Edge). I have to do this for each print request. I expected there to be an appropriate option on the Unified Drive Configurator GUI, but the nearest thing was Edge Control off/on. How can I set it to Duplex mode permanently?

[bchemnet]

For the duplex issue, either use a tool other than the Configurator to set up the printer, or switch to a different version of the Configurator.  configurator-2-qt4 seems to have problems with adding and configuring printers.

[johnaaronrose]

i have configurator-1-qt4 (i.e. not configurator-2-qt4) package installed. I used the standard Ubuntu Printing GUI to setup the printer. IMO the lack of Duplex option is due to the Samsung supplied software not including an option for it. Is that reasonable? I'll ask Samsung support anyway.

[johnaaronrose]

No joy from Samsung Support: I was told to contact Linux! Attached is the Ubuntu Printing GUI showing the Properties tab  for the my Samsung SCX-4729FD printer. For my kaput Brother printer, this included an option for Duplex, thus allowing it to be set on as the default (in fact it had options of Duplex- Long Edge & Duplex - Short Edge. I looked up in the printer manual details on how to setup Duplex: for Windows, there is an option to store selected options such as Duplex, but for Linux, there is no such option (& no option for Duplex). So it looks like nogo.

[bchemnet]

Odd.  There is a setting for duplex in the ppd instruction file for the printer, and if it weren't a valid option then you wouldn't be able to set it when you printed.  But there must be some minor error in the ppd file that prevents duplex from appearing during configuration.  I suppose you could edit the ppd file manually to set the default to long edge duplex instead of single sided; I don't see any other obvious solution (except of course just accepting the nuisance of setting it each time you print).

[johnaaronrose]

The option for Duplex selection in Printer - Properties - Printer Options was below the other options displayed in that window. I didn't previously notice the scroll bar. Sorry about that. Thanks for your help.

[johnaaronrose]

I'm having problems with printing LibreOffice Impress large presentations. I get no printing with the print queue showing that printer may not be connected. I'm able to print a presentation as handouts with 6 slides per page if I print a page at a time. I've tried uninstalling the printer & reinstalling it. Are there any diagnostics that I can run to see if the problem is in LibreOffice or the printer's driver / other software?

[bchemnet]

No diagnostics that I am aware of.  I run into this problem as well (and only with my Samsung printer, not with various others), often with Impress but occasionally elsewhere.  I've had reasonable success by exporting to a PDF and then printing that.  I'm not sure where the problem is or why that sometimes help.  It may be a file size/complexity issue - I have some small amount of image compression set for the PDF export.

And sometimes I just end up printing 1 page at a time.

[johnaaronrose]

The printing hangs whether slides or handouts are printed. Unfortunately the pdf method is only good for slides. However, it's useful to know that the problem is probably the Samsung printer's software rather than Impress.