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I use the Xfce desktop on my Ubuntu 20.04.5 system.

I installed gnome-control-center in order to set up my HP Officejet Pro 8600 printer and followed the "normal" route for adding and configuring my network printer. When I fed the IP address to gnome-control-center, it selected the model as "HP Officejet Pro 8600, driverless, cups-filters 1.27.4". This procedure resulted in a config that looked good at least until I tried to use it. At that point, the printer started spitting out lots of blank pages, a few of which had random nonsense on them.

After power cycling the printer, a "new" printer showed up in the printers-localhost window, this one claims to have a model of HP Officejet Pro 8600 (that wasn't even an option when I went looking). However, it still prints rubbish.

I'm looking for suggestions on how to get this thing to print something useful instead of rubbish. I run this printer, autoconfigured by the gnome tools, from other Ubutnu desktops without these problems.

Toby Eggitt
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  • Thanks @Nmath, see updates above which actually seem to change the nature of the question considerably. – Toby Eggitt Nov 05 '22 at 17:13
  • Network is running just fine right now, those were historical situations, perhaps once or twice over several years. Absolutely rock solid at this point. – Toby Eggitt Nov 05 '22 at 19:24
  • Thanks @user68186 that fixed it. It's a bit odd, since my other Ubuntu desktops have worked fine without that. Well, anyway, appreciate the input. If you want to make that an answer, I'll mark it as accepted... – Toby Eggitt Nov 05 '22 at 21:01

1 Answers1

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hplip to the Rescue

Run the commands

sudo apt install hplip hplip-gui

followed by

hp-setup

If it does not find the network printer you may have to enter the IP address in the advanced settings.

enter image description here

Adjust the IP address to that of your printer.

These two commands almost always fixes printing and scanning for me after a new install or an upgrade.

Hope this helps

user68186
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