Re: [libreoffice-users] Possible LibreOffice Duplex Printing Bug

On 04/09/2014 05:31 PM, CVAlkan wrote:
> I'm using the following:
> 64 bit Ubuntu 12.04.3 LTS
> LibreOffice Version: 4.3.0.0.alpha0+ Build ID:
> be4035d00f37c492494fa7860955b6d0868c7f77
>    (This is required because of some bugs in 4.2 and below that affect me)
> HP OfficeJet 6700 (w/Dual sided printing set as default)
> CUPS 1.5.3
> HP-LIP 3.14.4
>
> When printing a single page in LibreOffice apps, using the Operating System
> printing dialogs, the following is true:
>
> a) I'm unable to select "current page" on the General tab, but must enter a
> specific page number under "Pages."
> b) I am able to select "one-sided" on the Layout tab. (Proper behavior)
> c) I've tested this in Writer, Draw and Impress. The labelling is somewhat
> inconsistent, but they all act the same. I didn't attempt to use Calc just
> because I got tired of experimenting.
> d) Even so, once the single page is printed, the paper is "sucked back in"
> and fed through a second time. Nothing prints of course, but this is
> actually a potentially serious problem under some conditions which I'll
> explain momentarily.
> e) Of importance, I think, is the fact that the left margin (on a landscape
> page - obviously this would be the top margin on a portrait page) is larger
> than it would typically be for a single sided page. Many printers I've had,
> including the current HP-6700 need to "reserve" some space (I guess to grab
> the paper) when printing double-sided. This belief by the printer that it is
> *supposed* to be printing in double sided mode might help to narrow down
> where the difficulty is.
>
> When printing a single page in LibreOffice apps, using the LibreOffice
> printing dialogs, the following is true:
> a) I AM able to select "current page" and, in fact, the current page (or
> slide) number is entered in the box for me. (Proper behavior)
> b) The Properties tab seems to "hang" while loading (mostly just the outline
> of the new sub-dialog box is displayed), although I've found that if you
> click the mouse somewhere on the header, it immediately appears completely.
> c) Attempting to select "off" under the Duplex options (i.e. single sided)
> causes blinking and flashing that's hard to describe, but I've very rarely
> been able to select "off" using the mouse as the cursor/highlight just keeps
> bouncing around. If, however, I just use the arrow keys, everything works.
> Luckily I'm old enough to remember what the keyboard is for.
> d) When the single page is printed, the printer does not attempt to suck the
> paper back in. (Proper behavior)
> e) On identical pages, using the LibreOffice dialogs permits the entire
> content to be printed without cutting off the left edge of the landscape
> pages. (Proper behavior)
>
> The reason this is more important than the extra three second or so return
> trip through the paper flipper is that Hewlett-Packard (and other printer
> manufacturers) do not recommend using double sided printing when using stock
> above a certain thickness (e.g. card stock) because doing so raises the
> likelihood of jamming the mechanism. With a default setting of double sided
> (and why else would I have purchased a double sided printer?), when I need
> to print on card stock, the chances of forgetting to set one-sided would be
> my fault, but if I set it and the driver ignores that setting, that (I
> believe) is a bug.
>
> It would seem that simply using only the LibreOffice dialogs would be a
> reasonable work-around, the flashing and needing to move between the mouse
> and keyboard unneccesarily is just trading one annoyance for another.
>
> To be fair, this problem might appear as if it could be caused by Ubuntu,
> CUPS, HP-LIP, or LibreOffice, but I believe I've narrowed it down to
> LibreOffice simply because I don't experience these problems when printing
> from several other applications I regularly use. But I acknowledge that it
> might be caused by some weird interactions among the aforementioned
> applications.
>
> So, should this be reported as a bug? Has anyone else noticed this behavior?
> And if it seems like a bug, how do I report it?
>
> Any comments or suggestions would be welcome.
>
>
>
> --
> View this message in context: 
> http://nabble.documentfoundation.org/Possible-LibreOffice-Duplex-Printing-Bug-tp4104713.html
> Sent from the Users mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

Nice long description.

First I have a HP 2300dn laser printer.  Use to run Ubuntu 12.04/MATE 
and now testing Linux Mint 16/MATE.

Yes, there is a page "weight" and "stiffness" requirement for reducing 
jamming of the paper.  Sometimes my printer jams when printing the 
second or third sheet of duplexing.   Some printer tell you to be 
careful with pre-punched paper [i.e. the 3 binder holes are already 
punched out for your convince].  I have some of that paper myself.  It 
is even a lighter weight that the "standard stock" paper.

My Epson inkjet printer has major duplexing issues with LO till I 
upgraded the OS to 12.04.  There is some issues with some printers. For 
some reason, LO page printing controls do not get passed "correctly" to 
the Linux printer driver when it does fine with Windows.  IT was mostly 
the printer driver issue for me.

When was the last time you updated the HPLIP setup.  I know that Ubuntu 
12.xx does not have the latest that you can find on the HP Linux driver 
page.  You have to download and run a .sh script that "makes" the proper 
driver setup for your install of Linux.  There is complete instructions 
on how to do this on the site.  That helped a lot with some issues I had 
in the past with lack of certain printer controls in Linux that were 
there using Windows.

Here is the page to start downloading the file.  You need to fill out 
the info.   The current version is HPLIP 3.14.4.
http://hplipopensource.com/hplip-web/install_wizard/index.html

Here is the instructions for Ubuntu 12.04 installation of the .sh file
http://hplipopensource.com/hplip-web/install/install/index.html


ALSO, sometimes the printer issues creep up as a corruption in the user 
config file/folder.  I tend to rename it and allow LO to rebuild a fresh 
one, like it does with a new "clean" install. Sometimes the printer 
controls for Linux printer drivers get "stuck" and cannot be changed to 
a new value, for some reason I never figured out.

The Duplexing of a sheet that has only one page seems "normal" to me.  
If you set the printer to duplex a document while printing, no matter if 
it is a single page or some other odd page number [3,5,7,9, etc.], the 
sheet that has only one page or printed side will be duplexed.  Since I 
take it that your printer prints out the sheets face down, that is what 
my HP laser printer does.  Also, that is what my Canon inkjet printers 
do.  This is normal for LibreOffice, for the Document Viewer, or any 
other package that produces multi-page documents.







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