How to Install a Printer on Ubuntu: A Simple Guide

Setting up a printer on your Ubuntu system can sometimes seem complicated, but it’s generally a straightforward process. This guide will walk you through installing printer drivers on Ubuntu, drawing from a user’s successful experience with a Canon G1500 printer on Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS. This tutorial is designed to help users, even those who are not very technically experienced, to get their printers working.

If you’re looking to install printer drivers, you often need to add software sources to your system. Here’s how to do it using the graphical interface:

1. Open Software & Updates: Navigate to your system settings and find “Software & Updates.” This tool allows you to manage your software sources.

2. Enable Source Code Repositories: In the “Software & Updates” window, go to the “Ubuntu Software” tab. Make sure the “Source code” option is checked. This is necessary to access the source packages required for building drivers.

3. Add Proposed Repositories: Next, go to the “Other Software” tab and click “Add.” You will need to add two lines, one at a time. These lines point to the Ubuntu proposed repository, which may contain updated packages:

   deb [http://jp.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/](http://jp.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/) xenial-proposed main restricted universe multiverse

   and

   deb-src [http://jp.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/](http://jp.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/) xenial-proposed main restricted universe multiverse

   These lines tell your system where to find the necessary software components. Click “Add Source” after pasting each line.

4. Close and Update: Close the “Software & Updates” window. Ubuntu will prompt you to reload the software information. Click “Reload” to update your system’s package lists. This step ensures your system knows about the new software sources you just added.

After updating the software sources, you need to update your system’s package information using the terminal. Open a terminal window and enter the following command:

sudo apt update

This command refreshes the list of available packages from all the sources configured in your system, including the ones you just added. You might be asked to restart your computer after this step; if so, go ahead and restart.

Now you need to install the build dependencies required to compile printer drivers. Run this command in the terminal:

sudo apt-get build-dep cups-common gimp-gutenprint libgutenprint-dev

This command attempts to install the necessary packages. However, you might encounter an error message saying something like: “E: It is necessary to insert some “source” URIs in sources.list file”. This indicates that your sources.list file, which lists your software sources, might not be correctly configured to include source code repositories.

If you encounter the “source URIs” error, you need to check and edit your sources.list file.

1. Access sources.list: The sources.list file is located in /etc/apt/. You can access and edit this file using a text editor with administrative privileges.

2. Edit sources.list: In the terminal, use the following command to open sources.list with the mousepad text editor (you can replace mousepad with gedit or your preferred text editor):

   sudo mousepad /etc/apt/sources.list

   Before making changes, it’s a good practice to create a backup copy of the sources.list file. You can copy it to your desktop as a safety measure.

3. Check for deb-src lines: Once the sources.list file is open, look for lines that start with deb-src http://. These lines are for source code repositories. If you see a # character at the beginning of these lines, it means they are commented out and inactive.

4. Uncomment deb-src lines: To enable these source repositories, remove the # character from the beginning of any deb-src lines. Make sure the lines are active so your system can find the source packages.

5. Save the file: After uncommenting the necessary lines, save the sources.list file and close the text editor.

Now that you have corrected your sources.list file, try running the build dependency command again:

sudo apt-get build-dep cups-common gimp-gutenprint libgutenprint-dev

If this command runs without errors, proceed to install essential build tools using the following command as suggested in the original helpful guide:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

This command installs a collection of essential tools required for compiling software, which is often necessary for installing printer drivers from source.

By following these steps, you should be able to resolve issues related to installing printer drivers on Ubuntu, even if you are new to Linux systems. Remember to carefully follow each step and ensure your software sources are correctly configured. This guide provides a detailed walkthrough based on real user experience, aiming to make the process as clear and easy as possible.