Ubuntu
cups package

Can't log in to CUPS admin

Asked by Alf HP Lund

While trying to install my printer, a Brother MFC-J4510DW, on Ubuntu Studio 13.10 I completely fail to log in to CUPS admin pages at http://localhost:631/printers/

I tried my username and password (there is one user on the system).

I edited /etc/cups/cupsd.conf:
    added Allow localhost under <Location /admin/> and <Location /admin/conf>
    at <Location /admin/conf> I changed Require user @SYSTEM
        (there is no group called SYSTEM available to me)
        to Require user @lpadmin

I suspect my problems might be related to the printer driver installation. I got the printer drivers from here: http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/bsc/public_s/id/linux/en/download_prn.html#MFC-J4510DW

I checked dependencies and installed lib32stdc++ as requested by "my brother" (installed both lib32stdc++4.8-dev and lib32stdc++6-4.7-dev as I have no idea what is the difference between them).

The driver debs I installed through Ubuntu Software Center, having to ignore a warning about bad quality (E: mfcj4510dwlpr: maintainer-address-missing Brother Industries, Ltd.). However, after install, the package didn't show as installed, the button in USC still said 'install'. But with dpkg -l | grep Brother it seems to be installed anyway. I made sure to install the lpr driver before the cupswrapper as per install instructions on brother's website.

The printer shows as installed and I can print a test page, but neither through http://localhost:631/printers/ (can't log in as described above) or the printers dialogue ('apply' button is grey) am I able to change printer settings.

Thankful for any and all input on this headache!

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Ubuntu cups Edit question
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Alf HP Lund
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Revision history for this message
Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#1

Maybe the terminal command

sudo system-config-printer

helps.

Revision history for this message
Alf HP Lund (alf-c) said : 		#2

Thank you for answering, but sorry: The command doesn't help. I still cannot change settings.

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#3

Please don't run GUI applications with sudo. Please use and advise gksudo. It sets up the environment correctly and does not break files in the OS.

If you run:

gksudo firefox http://localhost:631

Does it work ok?

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#4

Also what is the output of :

lsb_release -a; uname -a; groups

Thanks

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Alf HP Lund (alf-c) said : 		#5

Thanks you for answering!

Output of lsb_release:

No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 13.10
Release: 13.10
Codename: saucy
Linux musikkmaskinen 3.11.0-14-lowlatency #6-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT Wed Nov 20 23:59:04 UTC 2013 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
username adm cdrom sudo audio dip plugdev lpadmin sambashare

gksudo firefox http://localhost:631 does not enable me to edit config files - I still cannot log in.

For some reason gksudo had to be installed manually. Does XCFE use something else by default?

I reverted to the original config file, but still no luck. /etc/cups/cupsd.conf says 'Require user @OWNER @SYSTEM' or 'Require user @SYSTEM' in all sections regarding authentication. Do I have to change these values? And if I have to, why doesn't the default installation 'just work'?

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#6

I'll check my file later and give you a link to download mine.
Gimme an hour or so

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Alf HP Lund (alf-c) said : 		#7

I uninstalled the drivers and reinstalled from command line, getting these messages:

mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/var/spool/lpd/mfcj4510dw’: No such file or directory
chown: cannot access ‘/var/spool/lpd/mfcj4510dw’: No such file or directory
chgrp: cannot access ‘/var/spool/lpd/mfcj4510dw’: No such file or directory
chmod: cannot access ‘/var/spool/lpd/mfcj4510dw’: No such file or directory

Created /var/spool/lpd and installed again, without error messages. Printer shows in cups and print dialogue, but still no go on changing printer settings.

/var/spool/cups is owned by root, shows group lp 'none' and 'none' for the rest. Could this be the cause?

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#8

andy@fileserver:~$ ls -l /etc/cups/cupsd.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4617 May 13 2013 /etc/cups/cupsd.conf

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8850924/cupsd.conf

That's my cupsd.conf file. I have not manually edited it myself. Hope this helps

Revision history for this message
Alf HP Lund (alf-c) said : 		#9

For unrelated reasons I had to shut down my laptop and leave it for a couple of days. When restarting, I tried again and... (drum roll)... Now it works. No updates, nothing, just restarting. I'm happy about that, but I feel none the wiser. I guess I was too stressed to remember rebooting was an option.

So restarting CUPS through sudo /etc/init.d/cups restart didn't do the trick, the machine had to reboot. Graargh.

Merry X-mas to all you guys, and thanks again for providing help.