Problems Printing with Firefox

Sun Mar 18 12:53:57 MST 2012

Hi Mark

On Sun, Mar 18, 2012 at 11:51 AM, Mark Phillips
<mark at phillipsmarketing.biz>wrote:

>
>
> 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 :) .
>>
>
Did you verify the GTK?

Did you check for the gtkrc file?

You didn't give us your exact distro (there are many debian testing
versions) so I could not be sure this was not the Firefox gtk bug:

>
>> 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!
>>
>

Set the default printer:

lpoptions -d printer-name

The ‘d’ option sets the default printer.

If your shell is bash (which is the most common), you’d use the syntax in
your *~/.bashrc* file:

export PRINTER=printer-name

> 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.
>

Right....let's reset the printer:

As a first step, reset the selected printer in your Firefox preferences:

   1. Type *about:config <http://kb.mozillazine.org/About:config>* in the
   Location Bar and press Enter. A list of preferences will appear.
   2. Find the preference *print.print_printer* (Note: this preference is
   missing in Firefox profiles where you've never used the printer.)
   3. Right-click (context-click) that preference and select *Reset*. (Some
   users may need to reset all the *print.printer* preferences for a
   particular printer, if resetting this one master preference doesn't solve
   the problem.)
   4. Restart Firefox and see if the problem is resolved.

Note: If you get the warning dialog, "Printing failed when starting the
document" and if the *print.print_printer* preference has no printer shown,
either you don't have a printer selected, or Firefox doesn't know it is
installed on your system.

Follow this instruction to reset by double clicking on print.print_printer
and setting your default:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-newbie-8/firefox-not-seeing-cups-printers-869422/
[edit<http://kb.mozillazine.org/index.php?title=Problems_printing_web_pages&action=edit&section=2>
]
Does not print to paper at all:

If you are having a problem with Firefox not printing to paper at all, and
you don't receive a warning dialog:

   - Press {Ctrl + P} on the keyboard and make sure that you don't have
   Print to file selected under Printer > Comment:
   - Make sure that your correct printer is selected at Printer > Name:.

See full link:  http://kb.mozillazine.org/Problems_printing_web_pages

>
>>
>> Respond with logs and test output with exact versions please?
>>
>
What is:
# uname -a

Do you have a 64bit distro?  If so, Firefox cannot use the 64bit GTK
(another bug); just install the 32 bit.

>
> 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"
>
Missing the uname -a kernel version, (relevant to known bugs, libraries and
fixes).

But just manually adding or resetting your Firefox printer (if everything
else is normal) (after upgrade) should fix it.

>
> Thanks for the suggestions!
>
> Mark
>
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