Problems Brother MFC-7440N networked to Ubuntu 11.10

Cannot install printer

[WacoJohn]

I have successfully done this before .. several times . but for some reason, it is not working this time.

I THINK I might know what the problem is. I am not going to describe the ultimate problem .. it is too long and entailed. Instead, I would appreciate answers to the following questions:

One of the requirements is to:

sudo dpkg -i --force-all cupswrapperMFC7440N-2.0.2-1.i386.deb

When I do that, I get this:

jb@Compaq:~/Desktop$ sudo dpkg -i --force-all cupswrapperMFC7440N-2.0.2-1.i386.deb
[sudo] password for jb: 
Selecting previously deselected package cupswrappermfc7440n.
(Reading database ... 169667 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking cupswrappermfc7440n (from cupswrapperMFC7440N-2.0.2-1.i386.deb) ...
Setting up cupswrappermfc7440n (2.0.2-1) ...
jb@Compaq:~/Desktop$ cups stop/waiting
cups start/running, process 2724

and it HANGS right there (cursor blinking under the word 'cups').

I am no 'Nix Wiz ... but I read this to mean the install of the pkg tells a cups process (2724) to stop/wait, then after some kind of action, tells the process (2724) to start running again. Maybe I am wrong, but it just sits there .. until I hit return on the keyboard .. and then I get a terminal prompt. Somehow this does not seem right to me .. like maybe the process does NOT restart .. but should.

But then it is more confusing because 2724 was not running before the pkg install and it certainly isn't running after I hit the return key:

jb@Compaq:~/Desktop$ sudo dpkg -i --force-all cupswrapperMFC7440N-2.0.2-1.i386.deb
[sudo] password for jb: 
Selecting previously deselected package cupswrappermfc7440n.
(Reading database ... 169667 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking cupswrappermfc7440n (from cupswrapperMFC7440N-2.0.2-1.i386.deb) ...
Setting up cupswrappermfc7440n (2.0.2-1) ...
jb@Compaq:~/Desktop$ cups stop/waiting
cups start/running, process 2724 

CURSOR HANGS HERE UNDER THE WORD cups AND I HIT THE RETURN KEY AND GET A TERMINAL PROMPT (NEXT LINE)

jb@Compaq:~/Desktop$ ps ux
USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TTY STAT START TIME COMMAND
jb 1382 0.0 0.0 2040 400 ? Ss 22:35 0:00 /bin/sh /etc/xd
jb 1410 0.0 0.0 3852 16 ? Ss 22:35 0:00 /usr/bin/ssh-ag
jb 1413 0.0 0.0 3744 184 ? S 22:35 0:00 /usr/bin/dbus-l
jb 1414 0.2 0.3 4904 1572 ? Ss 22:35 0:08 //bin/dbus-daem
jb 1422 0.0 0.3 6324 2004 ? S 22:35 0:00 /usr/lib/xfce4/
jb 1428 0.0 0.2 5228 1156 ? S 22:35 0:01 xscreensaver -n
jb 1430 0.0 0.8 29744 4324 ? Sl 22:35 0:00 xfce4-session
jb 1435 0.5 1.3 23352 7084 ? S 22:35 0:19 xfwm4 --display
jb 1437 0.0 0.4 19844 2532 ? S 22:36 0:00 xfsettingsd --f
jb 1438 0.0 0.7 21552 3692 ? S 22:36 0:00 Thunar --sm-cli
jb 1440 0.0 0.3 8888 1728 ? S 22:36 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/g
jb 1444 0.2 2.1 160228 10668 ? Sl 22:36 0:07 xfce4-panel --d
jb 1446 0.0 0.2 31468 1164 ? Ssl 22:36 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs//
jb 1450 0.0 1.9 161320 9656 ? S 22:36 0:03 xfdesktop --dis
jb 1453 0.0 0.9 20732 4812 ? S 22:36 0:00 /usr/lib/xfce4/
jb 1455 0.0 1.1 157044 5800 ? Ssl 22:36 0:00 xfce4-power-man
jb 1459 0.0 1.3 146400 6612 ? S 22:36 0:00 /usr/lib/xfce4/
jb 1460 0.0 1.0 22676 5376 ? S 22:36 0:00 /usr/lib/xfce4-
jb 1461 0.0 1.6 175344 8256 ? Sl 22:36 0:01 /usr/lib/xfce4-
jb 1462 0.0 0.4 21964 2304 ? S 22:36 0:00 xfce4-settings-
jb 1466 0.0 0.9 48612 5072 ? Sl 22:36 0:01 update-notifier
jb 1475 0.0 1.9 166804 9648 ? Sl 22:36 0:01 /usr/lib/policy
jb 1479 0.0 2.3 38148 11808 ? S 22:36 0:01 /usr/bin/python
jb 1482 0.0 0.8 275224 4140 ? Ssl 22:36 0:00 xfce4-volumed
jb 1486 0.0 0.2 97256 1264 ? S<l 22:36 0:00 /usr/bin/pulsea
jb 1504 1.5 1.1 20692 5604 ? S 22:36 0:50 /usr/lib/xfce4-
jb 1505 0.0 1.7 150588 8720 ? S 22:36 0:01 /usr/lib/xfce4/
jb 1520 0.0 0.4 9628 2512 ? S 22:36 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/g
jb 1522 0.0 0.3 8976 1724 ? S 22:36 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/g
jb 1524 0.0 0.3 19064 1824 ? Sl 22:36 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/g
jb 1527 0.0 0.4 9312 2268 ? S 22:36 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/g
jb 1529 0.0 0.7 122716 3600 ? Sl 22:36 0:00 /usr/lib/indica
jb 1531 0.0 0.6 41480 3076 ? Sl 22:36 0:00 /usr/lib/indica
jb 1533 0.0 0.7 62256 3608 ? Sl 22:36 0:00 /usr/lib/indica
jb 1562 0.1 2.1 160056 10820 ? Sl 22:36 0:05 /usr/bin/xfce4-
jb 1563 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? Z 22:36 0:00 [xfc] <defunct>
jb 1564 0.0 0.5 7144 3036 pts/0 Ss 22:36 0:01 bash
jb 1842 18.0 29.6 553672 150524 ? Sl 22:38 9:30 /usr/lib/firefo
jb 1854 0.0 0.3 8504 1976 ? S 22:38 0:01 /usr/lib/libgco
jb 2687 1.7 6.7 70280 34436 ? Sl 23:22 0:08 /usr/bin/python
jb 2792 0.0 0.6 42768 3272 ? Sl 23:23 0:00 /usr/bin/gnome-
jb 2809 0.0 0.2 4752 1060 pts/0 R+ 23:30 0:00 ps ux
jb@Compaq:~/Desktop$ 

as you can see . no process 2724. Maybe my interpretation is totally wrong, and I am getting myself off the track, but I am desperately trying to find out why I can (no longer) install this printer. I have tried EVERYTHING I can possibly find .. at the Brother site, the Ubuntu Forums, and though I have succeeded several times in the past, there is something different this time and I can NOT get it to work.

If I am not 'on to it' .. then I will have to describe the entire scenario .. which is pretty entailed .. with everything I have tried, where I came up with what I have tried, and what happens when I try .. so I am hoping this leads to a solution.

Sorry for the small font size. This editor is a bit different from what I am accustomed to.

Thank you in advance for any help you can give.

[lammert]

Hi WacoJohn, first of all a warm welcome to WebmasterWorld!

Your ps -ux only lists processes running under user jb. A list with ps -ax would give you all the processes including daemons running as root or other user. The cups daemon may try to spawn as another user.

I am not familiar with all the details of cups, but it may try to start in interactive mode if it is started from an interactive shell or from a normal user account as in your case. Redoing the installation process logged in as root may therefore give different results.

[WacoJohn]

Thank you for the welcome and the reply. I learn a bit more already.

It could very well be that I am off on a tangent from the core problem. It just seems odd to me the deb install never exits until I hit the return key .. which MIGHT explain the primary problem.

Not sure what to do next. I guess I need to know if the cupswrapper install succeeds .. in spite of the 'hang'. Even with hitting the enter key to exit the HANG .. it appears it installs OK .. but I still cannot get the printer installed ... (the 'big' primary problem). Cannot succeed with either a network connection or a local USB connection .. which, I suppose would have to be another thread.

Thank you so much for your courteous and quick reply. I will use your mentoring to further try to make progress.