MATLAB: Are all of the printers displayed as having the name “DeviceURI Socket” in MATLAB 6.5.1 (R13SP1) on Linux

deviceurilocaljavaprintdlgMATLABprintprintdlgsocket

When I try to print from the File menu in MATLAB by selecting "File -> Print…" from the figure menu bar, the correct number of printers is displayed in the dialog but they all have the same name, "DeviceURI Socket".

When I print, I receive the following error message:

 ??? Error while evaluating uimenu Callback.
 ??? Error using ==> printdlg (LocalJavaPrintDlg)
 Error using ==> print
 Error using ==> /usr/local/matlabr13/toolbox/matlab/graphics/private/send
 Problem sending file to output device, system returned error :
 lpr: error - unable to print file: client-error-not-found
 Error in ==> /usr/local/matlabr13/toolbox/matlab/uitools/printdlg.m 
 (LocalInitFig)
 On line 464  ==>   if LocalJavaPrintDlg( Data, Dlgname )
 Error in ==> /usr/local/matlabr13/toolbox/matlab/uitools/printdlg.m
 On line 100  ==>    Dlg=LocalInitFig(Data);

Best Answer

This is due to the CUPS configuration on the Linux Debian system.

MATLAB looks for the "printers.conf" file in the directory /etc. However, in Debian systems, this file is located in /etc/cups.

CUPS generates its own /etc/printcap file for compatibility with applications that want to use the old printing system (for example lpr). For some reason, Debian sets that file to be in /var/run/cups/printcap instead of the default /etc/printcap.

To work around this issue, change the line in /etc/cups/cups.conf corresponding to the printcap file, remove the soft link in /etc/printers.conf to /etc/cups/printers.conf (if one exists), and restart CUPS.

At this point, the /etc/printcap file should contain the right information for MATLAB to print.

Related Solutions

MATLAB: Do I receive an error when using the File-> Print option in Mac OS X in MATLAB

This problem can occur when printing to a printer with a name that includes characters other than alphanumeric and underscores. In these situations, the “user-visible name” of the printer differs from the “programmatic name” of its queue, and MATLAB is unable to determine the programmatic name.

There are two solutions to this issue, both of which require administrative privileges. You may need the help of your IT department or a user with administrative privileges to take the following steps.

Simpler, Less Flexible Solution: Rename your printer so that its name includes only alphanumeric and underscore characters. This includes avoiding dots (“.”) in the name of networked printers.

More Complex, More Flexible Solution: Configure your Mac to provide the printer queue information MATLAB requires. You will need root access to perform these steps:

1. In Safari, navigate to "http://localhost:631"

2. Click on the “Administration” tab, and then “Edit Configuration File”

3. At the top of the editable block of text, add these lines:

Printcap /etc/printcap

PrintcapFormat BSD # For Snow Leopard only

4. Click “Save Changes”. It may take 30 seconds or longer for these changes to go into effect.

5. Restart MATLAB.

If this solution to provide the printer queue information does not resolve the issue, you may have to rename your printer as outlined in the first solution. This may happen if your printer name contains square brackets "[ ]", among other unsupported characters.

MATLAB: Am I unable to print from the ‘File -> Print’ menu in the MATLAB editor in the Linux machine running CUPS

When you print from the 'File->Print' menu, a totally different code path is taken from that used when you execute the PRINT command. When you print from the menu, Java is used to send the print job whereas the PRINT command interfaces directly with the operating system. In some cases, the results obtained from these two printing methods is different. In this case, Java is unable to find the default printer in your system, so printing from the menu fails.

This issue might be produced by a misconfiguration of the CUPS printing system.

Below, you will find the uncommented lines of the file '/etc/cups/cupsd.conf' for a Linux Fedora Core 4 running CUPS 1.1.17 that has a unique printer called Jupiter.

 LogFilePerm 0600
 MaxLogSize 2000000000
 LogLevel info
 Printcap /etc/printcap
 <Location />
 Order Deny,Allow
 Deny From All
 Allow From 127.0.0.1
 </Location>
 <Location /admin>
 AuthType Basic
 AuthClass System
 Order Deny,Allow
 Deny From All
 Allow From 127.0.0.1
 </Location>
 <Location /printers/jupiter>
 Order Deny,Allow
 Deny From All
 Allow From 127.0.0.1
 AuthType None
 </Location>
 Browsing On
 BrowseProtocols cups
 BrowseOrder Deny,Allow
 BrowseAllow from @LOCAL
 Listen 127.0.0.1:631

Also, here are the uncommented lines of the file '/etc/cups/printers.conf'

 <DefaultPrinter jupiter>
 DeviceURI lpd://printers/jupiter
 Location
 Info
 State Idle
 Accepting Yes
 JobSheets none none
 QuotaPeriod 0
 PageLimit 0
 KLimit 0
 </Printer>

You may also access 'cupsd.conf' through the web interface by visiting the following link (provided you are accessing the machine locally):

 http://localhost:631

Using the configuration files above, you might be able to print both from the file menu and using the PRINT command. Moreover, the output of the Java call that looks for the default printer is

javax.print.PrintServiceLookup.lookupDefaultPrintService
ans =
IPP Printer : jupiter

We have seen that in some Linux distributions, such as Debian 3.1, there is more that one line with the 'Listen' parameter in the CUPS configuration file. This line reads

 Listen /var/run/cups/cups.sock

Commenting this line out and restarting the CUPS service sometimes solved the issue. After restarting CUPS, close and open MATLAB before you try to print again.

Sometimes, leaving the above line uncommented and commenting this line:

 Listen localhost:631

also works. However, commenting out this line will disable the GUI for updating the CUPS configuration.

Some customer have also reported that the issue was caused due to an unusually named PPD file. Check the following folder that holds all the Printer Drivers (PPD):

/etc/cups/PPD

Check to see if any of the printer driver filenames have special characters in them. for example:

"HP_LaserJet_M1522nf_MFP_[00CNC89DN058]_(Fax).ppd"

Removing this driver and restarting cups and MATLAB seemed to resolve the issue. MATLAB was able to recognize other printers installed on the system.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

MATLAB: Do I receive an error when using the File-> Print option in Mac OS X in MATLAB

MATLAB: Am I unable to print from the ‘File -> Print’ menu in the MATLAB editor in the Linux machine running CUPS

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