I am trying to get a FreeBSD system to print to a Canon PIXMA iX4000 printer that is connected by USB. Canon do not support this printer on any operating systems other than Mac or Windows but Gutenprint supports it.
I have installed Gutenprint using the FreeBSD package on FreeBSD 12.1-RELEASE-p2 and configured CUPS following the instructions in the FreeBSD handbook. I can access CUPS Administration and start the 'Add Printer' process. CUPS successfully detects the iX4000 as a Local Printer. When I select it and continue to the next configuration dialog, CUPS reports that the printer is connected as usb://Canon/iX4000?serial=91.... but when I click continue again, CUPS fails to find any printer drivers.
[codeAdd Printer Canon_iX4000 Error
Unable to get list of printer drivers:
No error: 0
[/code]
The Gutenprint PPD for the iX4000 is present on the system.
/usr/local/share/cups/model/gutenprint/5.3/C/stp-bjc-PIXMA-iX4000.5.3.ppd.gz
From the console, lpinfo finds the printer
But lpinfo fails to find any drivers
The CUPS man page for lpinfo has a note that made me wonder if Gutenprint works with CUPS anymore:
'CUPS printer drivers and backends are deprecated and will no longer be supported in a future feature release of CUPS. Printers that do not support IPP can be supported using applications such as ippeveprinter(1).'
My USB printer does not support IPP, it has no direct network connection capability.
I haven't used Gutenprint in a long time so I am not entirely certain how CUPS should behave when using the Gutenprint CUPS driver. I remember that CUPS at one time would give the option to select a driver with a name in the form of 'CUPS+Gutenprint-Canon...'. I don't know if this is still true, but CUPS 2.2.12 does not even give me the option to provide a PPD of my own.
So, does Gutenprint 5.3 work with CUPS 2.2.12 and USB attached printers?
I have installed Gutenprint using the FreeBSD package on FreeBSD 12.1-RELEASE-p2 and configured CUPS following the instructions in the FreeBSD handbook. I can access CUPS Administration and start the 'Add Printer' process. CUPS successfully detects the iX4000 as a Local Printer. When I select it and continue to the next configuration dialog, CUPS reports that the printer is connected as usb://Canon/iX4000?serial=91.... but when I click continue again, CUPS fails to find any printer drivers.
[codeAdd Printer Canon_iX4000 Error
Unable to get list of printer drivers:
No error: 0
[/code]
The Gutenprint PPD for the iX4000 is present on the system.
/usr/local/share/cups/model/gutenprint/5.3/C/stp-bjc-PIXMA-iX4000.5.3.ppd.gz
From the console, lpinfo finds the printer
Code:
# lpinfo -v
network lpd
network ipp
network beh
network http
network https
network ipps
network socket
direct usb://Canon/iX4000?serial=91....
But lpinfo fails to find any drivers
Code:
# lpinfo -m
lpinfo: No error: 0
The CUPS man page for lpinfo has a note that made me wonder if Gutenprint works with CUPS anymore:
'CUPS printer drivers and backends are deprecated and will no longer be supported in a future feature release of CUPS. Printers that do not support IPP can be supported using applications such as ippeveprinter(1).'
My USB printer does not support IPP, it has no direct network connection capability.
I haven't used Gutenprint in a long time so I am not entirely certain how CUPS should behave when using the Gutenprint CUPS driver. I remember that CUPS at one time would give the option to select a driver with a name in the form of 'CUPS+Gutenprint-Canon...'. I don't know if this is still true, but CUPS 2.2.12 does not even give me the option to provide a PPD of my own.
So, does Gutenprint 5.3 work with CUPS 2.2.12 and USB attached printers?