Problems Printing with Firefox

[Mark Phillips]

On Sun, Mar 18, 2012 at 10:01 AM, Lisa Kachold <lisakachold at obnosis.com>wrote:

> Hi Mark
>
> On Sun, Mar 18, 2012 at 7:49 AM, Mark Phillips <mark at phillipsmarketing.biz
> > wrote:
>
>> I have Firefox 11.0 installed, as well as Google Chrome 17.0.963.65,
>> Opera, and of course, Epiphany on my Debian testing machine. I use cups for
>> printing over the network to my hp printer. Chrome, Opera, Epiphany all
>> recognize all the installed printers on my network, but Firefox does not
>> see any of them. I don't even have the print to file option that most posts
>> on the subject talk about. When I look in firefox's about:config at all the
>> print* settings, the printer is there, but it does not show up in the print
>> dialog and I cannot print from firefox.
>> Anyone else have this problem, and know how to solve it?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Mark
>>
>
> Reference:  http://wiki.debian.org/SystemPrinting
>
> A) Have you logged into Cups to see if there is an error?
>

> http://localhost:631
>
> WHAT IS THE ERROR message in the logs?
>

Yes, I have looked at the cups error logs as well as the admin portal.
There are no errors from firefox, since it never sees any of the printers.
All other applications (browsers, libreoffice, etc.) print without errors.

>
> B) What does system-config-printer say?
> http://cyberelk.net/tim/software/system-config-printer/
>
> Is it not postscript?  See D - below related to firefox and postscript
>

Just curious - why would I use system-config-printer when I have the cups
web interface? According to the system-config-printer info on debian.org - "In
terms of features, it (i.e. system-config-printer) aims to be as complete
as the CUPS web administration tool, while being integrated to the desktop."


>
> C) If this is a "permissions issue", you might have to add the Firefox
> invoking user to the group file:
>
> sudo usermod -a -G lpadmin tom
>
> firefox is running under user mark, and I am in the lpadmin group

>
> D) Are you using a postscript printer?  Do you have kprinter installed?
>

I use gnome, not kde, so no kprinter. gtklp runs and finds all the printers.

Also, why would the type of printer make a difference? If cups can print to
that printer, why would firefox care, unless firefox doesn't use cups?

>
> Firefox:
> 1. First, if you haven't done so, you need to print to PostScript in order
> for the needed entry in prefs.js to be populated. This will be done
> automatically the first time you print. Open any web page and go to:
>
> File --> Print --> choose PostScript/default (it should be the default if
> you haven't installed any printers yet) --> click "Print"
>

The problem is that there are no printers int he File --> Print dialog, so
nothing to print to.

>
> Once you have done this and it prints, it'll add the PostScript entry you
> need to edit.
>
> 2. In the URL bar, type
>
> about:config to open the config page.
>
> 3. In the "Filter" bar, type
>
> print.printer_PostScript/default.print_command
> This should filter everything out but that line.
>
> 4. Right-click on the line, click on "Modify", and change the entry to say
>
> kprinter then click OK. This will make Firefox print to kprinter any time
> you select the "PostScript/default" printer.
>
> 5. Right-click anywhere in the white space, then click on "New -->
> Boolean" to add a new Boolean entry. Type
>
> print.always_print_silent
>
> and set its value to "true". This will force Firefox to print to the
> default printer without prompting you. If "PostScript/default" is the only
> printer you have and there are no local / network printers, it works great
> and you can stop here. But if you installed a printer through CUPS, it
> complicates things as Firefox will want to use that as a default and all
> your prints will go there without prompting you! So even if you don't have
> a local printer, it's a good idea to add the following line in case you add
> one later.
>
> 6. Once again, right-click and choose "New --> Boolean". Type
>
> print.postscript.cups.enabled
> and set its value to "false". That will disable CUPS printing in Firefox,
> and it will default to the "PostScript/default" printer. And since you've
> changed the output of that to kprinter, you'll see a "processing" dialog
> for a split second when you print, after which kprinter will open up. There
> you can choose all your printers, including PDF, PostScript, and any CUPS
> installed printers :) .
>
> E.  If you have an older version of debian (known gtk bug issues) you
> might try (verify) this:
>
> 1. From the terminal change into the gtk-2.0 directory...
> cd /etc/gtk-2.0  [if you have a different version,check for the gtkrc file
> as in 2.]
>
> 2. Use sudo and a text editor (my editor of choice is "vi") to create the
> gtkrc file in the /etc/gtk-2.0 directory...
> sudo vi gtkrc
>
> 3. Add the following to your newly-created gtkrc file...
> gtk-print-backends="lpr,file"
>
> 4. Exit the text editor and save your newly-created gtkrc file.
>
> 5. Re-start your computer to incorporate the changes.  [Not sure why they
> suggest this step, but it's in all the posts...]
>
> 6. Re-open firefox and you should be able to print to "lpr" from it!
>

I can print from the command line with lpr with no problem. If I go to
about:config in firefox, my printer is there with all its different
options. But the line print.printer_list is empty. The print.print_command
has lpr ${MOZ_PRINTER_NAME:+-P"$MOZ_PRINTER_NAME"}, so I know it is trying
to use lpr (same as the print.postscrip.print_command). But lpr works from
the command line.

It seems to be that firefox is not finding the list of printers from
wherever it is supposed to find them, and so it cannot print.

>
>
> Respond with logs and test output with exact versions please?
>

Exact versions of what? In my original post I had:
"Firefox 11.0 installed, as well as Google Chrome 17.0.963.65, Opera, and
of course, Epiphany on my Debian testing"

Thanks for the suggestions!

Mark
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