Printer Add button not enabled in ubuntu 12.04

When CUPS is not running the Printers panel looks like this on my Ubunbu 12.04:

enter image description here

Is this what you see?

About CUPS:

  • Use this command to check whether CUPS is installed:

    dpkg --list | grep ' cups '
    

    Typical output when installed is:

    ii  cups                1.5.3-0ubuntu4      Common UNIX Printing System(tm) - server
    

    If you don't see any output, install CUPS:

    sudo apt-get install cups
    

    and start it:

    Ubuntu 12.04: sudo service cups start

    Ubuntu 16.04: sudo sudo systemctl start cups.service

  • If it is already installed it may not be running, check it like this:

    ps -ef|grep cups | grep -v grep
    

    Typical output when running is:

    root       925     1  0 Oct17 ?        00:00:00 /usr/sbin/cupsd -F
    

    If you don't see any output CUPS is not running. Start it like this:

    Ubuntu 12.04: sudo service cups start

    Ubuntu 16.04: sudo sudo systemctl start cups.service

Could you try it and post any problems?

More information on CUPS:

  • Ubuntu 12.04: https://help.ubuntu.com/12.04/serverguide/cups.html

  • Ubuntu 16.04: https://help.ubuntu.com/16.04/serverguide/cups.html