USB Printer Not Detected After QTS 5.0.0.1808 Firmware Update

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graemev
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Re: USB Printer Not Detected After QTS 5.0.0.1808 Firmware Update

Post by graemev »

bms8197 wrote: Wed Oct 27, 2021 12:41 am
1. Install Container Station on your QNAP device using the QNAP web interface
I'd be interested to know how your "disk spindown" works after that. I removed container station from my nas as part of "debugging why the disks never went to sleep"
Since doing that , the disks are usually asleep at the start of each day and presumably when I'm away.

AFAIR: It had a spurious debug setting which cause it to log to disk every minute or so.
mr_salty
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Re: USB Printer Not Detected After QTS 5.0.0.1808 Firmware Update

Post by mr_salty »

Just chiming in to say I'm also unhappy about losing printer support - it's one of the main reasons I bought this NAS. Hopefully QNAP support is reading this and will reconsider, or at least provide some official alternatives.
rcblackwell
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Re: USB Printer Not Detected After QTS 5.0.0.1808 Firmware Update

Post by rcblackwell »

mr_salty wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 5:48 pm.... Hopefully QNAP support is reading this .....
They're not! Open a ticket with them to let them know your thoughts.
Robert Blackwell
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mr_salty
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Re: USB Printer Not Detected After QTS 5.0.0.1808 Firmware Update

Post by mr_salty »

good idea, thanks - I submitted one and hope everyone else here does the same

PS: looks like we're NAS twins :)
zhangang
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Re: USB Printer Not Detected After QTS 5.0.0.1808 Firmware Update

Post by zhangang »

Das-Korn wrote: Tue Oct 19, 2021 3:22 am Same problem here. I would love to see printer support feature back in QTS 5.

I used to print via IPP (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_ ... g_Protocol) CUPS directly.

What I did to work around the currently missing printer support is to run the CUPS service as a docker container. I used the olbat/cupsd docker image (https://github.com/olbat/dockerfiles/tree/master/cupsd).

DISCLAIMER
I'm not the guy who created that image nor would I recommend using the workaround for non-private use or in general if you're not familiar with cups or docker. You have to decide whether this is safe and secure to you use on your own in other words: No support, you're doing it on your own risk.

Code: Select all

docker run -d -p 631:631 -v /var/run/dbus:/var/run/dbus --device /dev/bus --device /dev/usb --name cupsd olbat/cupsd
You can now goto <your-qnap>:631 and add your printer manually (password print/print)

In case you did not create the container via container station you need to ensure to enable the auto start toggle for the container in the container station UI. Like that the service will survive a system reboot.

Regards
Das-Korn
I have the same problem and the solution is the same as you. But I can't print with airprint. I guess it's avahi's problem. Can you print by airprint? What should I do?
mrsimes
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Re: USB Printer Not Detected After QTS 5.0.0.1808 Firmware Update

Post by mrsimes »

Das-Korn wrote: Tue Oct 19, 2021 3:22 am Same problem here. I would love to see printer support feature back in QTS 5.

I used to print via IPP (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_ ... g_Protocol) CUPS directly.

What I did to work around the currently missing printer support is to run the CUPS service as a docker container. I used the olbat/cupsd docker image (https://github.com/olbat/dockerfiles/tree/master/cupsd).

DISCLAIMER
I'm not the guy who created that image nor would I recommend using the workaround for non-private use or in general if you're not familiar with cups or docker. You have to decide whether this is safe and secure to you use on your own in other words: No support, you're doing it on your own risk.

Code: Select all

docker run -d -p 631:631 -v /var/run/dbus:/var/run/dbus --device /dev/bus --device /dev/usb --name cupsd olbat/cupsd
You can now goto <your-qnap>:631 and add your printer manually (password print/print)

In case you did not create the container via container station you need to ensure to enable the auto start toggle for the container in the container station UI. Like that the service will survive a system reboot.

Regards
Das-Korn
Just came here to say thank you so much for sharing this solution. IMO, this works even better than the previous, native QNAP print sharing, so this has been a good outcome for me. All my devices, including AirPrint from my iPhone now find my USB attached printer via the cups docker container and everything just works. Previously I've had loads of issues with authentication being that I have a mix of MS and Apple devices, and the iPhone never worked. Now everything magically works over IPP. Just brilliant!
mr_salty
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Re: USB Printer Not Detected After QTS 5.0.0.1808 Firmware Update

Post by mr_salty »

I've been using the cups/docker workaround (thanks again!) but it got stuck in a state where I can see in the CUPS UI that it accepted print jobs but was stuck saying "Waiting for printer to become available.". The job numbers were in the 40s so it was working for a while before this happened.

Nothing I tried helped - canceling and reprinting the jobs, powercycling the printer, stop and starting the container, etc... there are some "solutions" on the net (i.e. https://www.linuxquestions.org/question ... 175652261/) about messing with udev that I'm not sure are applicable in a container environment - we're definitely running up against the amount I understand about both docker and udev/dbus at this point. So, eventually I went into container station and deleted the container and images, then ran the "docker run" command again, then set up the printer again, then it worked.

But, after the NAS rebooted I couldn't get to the cups UI anymore, and via `netstat -na` outside the container I could see it wasn't listening. So, I went into container station and added port forwarding from 631->631 TCP and the UI worked again... but the printer was again stuck in "Waiting for printer to become available" state. So, again, I deleted the container and images and set it up from scratch and it worked.

So, my current theory is that something is not persisting properly across reboots. Not sure why the port forwarding was OK the first time but not the second time, or what exactly is making the printer stop working. I did check all the settings this time in container station and see the port 631 forwarding as well as /var/run/dbus (read/write) under Shared Folders (both of those are in "Advanced Settings"). So, next time I reboot I'll see if it works and if those things persist. But, any thoughts / advice welcome - is this working ok for others?
mr_salty
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Re: USB Printer Not Detected After QTS 5.0.0.1808 Firmware Update

Post by mr_salty »

blah, ok, maybe my reboot theory is incorrect... just tried to print again and:

Code: Select all

processing since
Wed 29 Dec 2021 07:52:16 AM UTC 
"Waiting for printer to become available."
The only thing I changed AFAIK was toggling "auto-start" on in container station.

I don't see any useful logs inside the container or out.
mr_salty
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Re: USB Printer Not Detected After QTS 5.0.0.1808 Firmware Update

Post by mr_salty »

Well, I did do "docker inspect" before I blew the container again but foolishly didn't save the output (and since I used less it's not on my terminal). But, I swear I searched for "usb" and came up empty, whereas after recreating the container I see this whole "Devices" section... so, maybe when you mess around in container station that gets blown away somehow?

I saved the full output this time so I can compare if it stops working again. I guess we could pass `--restart unless-stopped` to `docker run` to make it start on boot without messing with container station? (or `docker update --restart unless-stopped cupsd` to change it after the fact).

Code: Select all

            "Devices": [
                {
                    "PathOnHost": "/dev/bus",
                    "PathInContainer": "/dev/bus",
                    "CgroupPermissions": "rwm"
                },
                {
                    "PathOnHost": "/dev/usb",
                    "PathInContainer": "/dev/usb",
                    "CgroupPermissions": "rwm"
                }
            ],
johnfryett
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Re: USB Printer Not Detected After QTS 5.0.0.1808 Firmware Update

Post by johnfryett »

I've only just updated the firmware and therefore become aware of this issue. Frankly, it's a disgrace - this is one of the features I need from a NAS and a line in the release notes is not sufficient to make up for significantly changing the functionality. I see too that the ramsomware attacks have restarted - one can only surmise that QNAP have done little at their end to ensure adequate protection for their customers.
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dosborne
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Re: USB Printer Not Detected After QTS 5.0.0.1808 Firmware Update

Post by dosborne »

johnfryett wrote: Thu Dec 30, 2021 10:22 pm IFrankly, it's a disgrace - this is one of the features I need from a NAS
While I can understand it is frustrating for some, I would be a lot happier if QNAP would focus on the core functions of a NAS (file sharing) and ensuring those things work rather than extraneous functions. I agree they should not be removing functionality that some have grown to rely on and a print server seems like a pretty minor thing to be easy to maintain though.

Does your printer not have any other connection point (like WiFi)? Have you considered something cheap and reliable like a Raspberry Pi to service you needs? Rather than go through all the trouble of setting up and maintaining the solution outlined here, it may be worth looking into an alternative solution for the long term.
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mr_salty
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Re: USB Printer Not Detected After QTS 5.0.0.1808 Firmware Update

Post by mr_salty »

One person's "extraneous function" is another's "core functionality". It was an advertised feature of the product that I relied on for years, and they discontinued it. I bought this box so I could spend my time on things other than maintaining a print server.
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jaysona
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Re: USB Printer Not Detected After QTS 5.0.0.1808 Firmware Update

Post by jaysona »

Ya, the setup and management horror, as well as the never ending time consumption of having to babysit something like this is just untenable.

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Re: USB Printer Not Detected After QTS 5.0.0.1808 Firmware Update

Post by mr_salty »

Adding the --privileged flag appears to have resolved my "Waiting for printer to become available" issue - I set it up, rebooted my NAS, and was able to print after the reboot, which was never the case before. I got the idea for this from various threads including https://stackoverflow.com/questions/242 ... ial-device. There is a "privileged" setting in container station under Advanced Settings -> Devices but it would not let me toggle that in the GUI; I had to delete the container and re-create it from the command line (then set up the printer again - I hope for the last time.) I also could make no sense of the rest of those device settings, and there's no real documentation I could find... but, the command line worked fine:

Code: Select all

docker run --privileged -d -p 631:631 -v /var/run/dbus:/var/run/dbus --device /dev/bus --device /dev/usb --name cupsd olbat/cupsd
I should also have done --restart unless-stopped as I noted earlier, but I just went into container station and flipped the switch to make it auto-start.
mr_salty
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Re: USB Printer Not Detected After QTS 5.0.0.1808 Firmware Update

Post by mr_salty »

mr_salty wrote: Tue Feb 15, 2022 4:11 pm Adding the --privileged flag appears to have resolved my "Waiting for printer to become available" issue
or... maybe not, tried to print last night and back to "Waiting for printer to become available."

thanks a ton for this, qnap. 😡
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