# why is printing so difficult on gentoo?

## Gh0str1d3r

Hi,

I have a laptop with which I travel a lot. I like to have access to printers in a number of

different (new) locations, and hence must frequently install new printers.

In gentoo, I have to use http://localhost:631. There I can add a printer, when I

basically know everything about it (ip, protocoll, driver, etc.). Even then it is not straight

forward, since I have a million drivers in the list, most of them multiple times with

different pre- or surfixes (like Canon MULTIPASS MP 710 and Canon PIXMA MP 710).

Furthermore, the printer drivers are often not intuitively named. I need to use the

Canon iP4200 driver for my Canon MP 810 printer, which I found out after hours of

googling.

In other linux distributions, like ubuntu, the printer is found automatically, including

ip address, protocoll and a suggestion for a driver, which was for all cases I know of

always the correct one.

So why is it so complicated in gentoo, when it could be so easy?

Maybe there is a very easy way, and just the documentation needs some update...

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## chithanh

If you want network printers to be found automatically, you have to set

```
USE="avahi zeroconf"
```

in make.conf and add avahi to the default runlevel.

Regarding installation of drivers, there is very little developer interest in maintaining proprietary printer drivers in Gentoo. So you have to install the proper drivers yourself.

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## Slippery Jim

 *chithanh wrote:*   

> If you want network printers to be found automatically, you have to set
> 
> ```
> USE="avahi zeroconf"
> ```
> ...

 

That doesn't work for me.

In the CUPS web interface, When I click on "Find New Printers" on the Administration page, it lists the printers on my network, and then I can select one or more and add them to CUPS. I've always been able to do this. It works with or without the zeroconf and avahi use flags enabled. It works whether or not I have the "Show printers shared by other systems" option selected.

However, printers do not automatically appear in the list when I connect them to the network, and I don't see existing printers when I connect to the network.

More precicely, they don't list in CUPS. The gnome Avahi Discovery browser picks up new printers when they connect to the network (but strangely, it doesn't drop them when they disconnect; probably a GUI bug there, since they are delisted if I close and reopen the browser). Also, CUPS doesn't seem to be aware that a printer has disconnected; it always lists the printer as "idle, accepting jobs, published.", even when it's turned off.

What am I missing here?

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