Network printer found but cannot print

Solution 1:

OK I got the printer working. After reading @fossfreedom's comment I looked again at the add printer applet.

The last time I tried to add the printer I searched for it by clicking "Find Network Printer" under "Network Printer" and selected the printer in the list of available printers in the network.

This time I also clicked "Find Network Printer" but I also entered the printer's IP and clicked "Find" which shows another entry in the list "JetDirect ...". I selected this printer and finished the installation wizard.

It worked!

Solution 2:

You always need to have nss-mdns (libnss-mdns, depending on distribution) installed and you need to have mdns in the hosts line in /etc/nsswitch.conf to print via DNS service discovery. I guess it's too late for the original poster but I googled this page when looking for the solution.

hosts:       files mdns_minimal dns mdns

You also need to have avahi-daemon running to provide the backend for multicast DNS.

Solution 3:

You can try unpausing the printer (this happens to me with network printers in Ubuntu occasionally).

Try opening the CUPS web interface at http://localhost:631 and selecting the Printers tab. There click on the printer's name and select the resume printer option from the Maintenance drop-down menu.

Source: this Ubuntu forums post.