HPLIP Binary Plugin Installation

Abhijit Kshirsagar, 05 February 2016

Recently, I ran into this exact bug with my junk laserjet printer P1108.

Package: hplip
Version: 3.13.4-1
Followup-For: Bug #605589

Since the update to 3.13.4 I cannot seem to print with my P1005. When sending a job to the printer, a window pops up asking to install theplugin. When following the dialogs, they end saying that the plugin isinstalled, followed by another window saying it failed. Manually launching hp-plugin completes the plugin installation successfully,the printer comes alive, but sending a print job goes back to requesting theplugin.

The solution is here

Briefly:

  1. Create the directory /var/lib/hp
  2. Update hplip-gui
  3. Install/update cups-pk-helper if required
  4. Unplug, then re-plug in printer
  5. HPLip will ask to download and install the plugin, which is a run file.

If you are behind a firewall or your internet connection is dodgy, this automatic download will fail, and you will need to manually download and install the plugin:

  1. In a terminal run hp-plugin
  2. Watch the terminal for URL of the plugin file. Download *.run file from hplip website.