Why won't HP provide their own drivers for linux?

[nolinuxdrivers]

"If you need to download Linux drivers, you will be directed to a website that is outside HP Customer Support."

Well, I tried that. for the past week.  The link it directs me to has a "driver" that is horribly broken... it complains that it can't access a sound library on my system, it says there is no system tray installed, it needs to get some sort of "plugin" from yet *another* website (that fails to authenticate) and on and on.  I finally just gave up trying to get their driver to work; it is obviously not a fully debugged (or even functional) driver.

There are a lot of other sites that also claim to have hp printer drivers, but after trying to get any of them to work, one of them screwed up my system to the point that I now get 'system error' popups at every single reboot.

Why not support linux users with a driver from HP that just works?  We are getting ready to migrate our servers to linux, but all of our engineering department's plotters are HP (2 T-120s and a T520)... if linux support is this bad for a simple home color laser printer, then I can't even begin to imagine how big of a disaster it may cause for an entire department.

[Dragon-Fur]

@nolinuxdrivers 

HPLip provides Linux drivers for many printers (almost 2900 at this writing), and you are correct: 

Not every printer is supported.

Our community cannot answer the question "Why" - we are not apprised of internal support decisions made by HP. 

My guessing about the reasons provides you no benefit.

For those reading:

HP Linux Imaging and Printing > More Information >

HP Linux Imaging and Printing HPLIP Installation Information

List of Supported Printers in HPLIP

HPLIP - All Supported Printer Models

Column "Minimum HPLIP Version" indicates the HPLIP version needed to find the driver for the selected printer.

Additional Information:

There are three printers in the T120 24 inch printer series (that I can find):

CQ891A, CQ891B, CQ891C

CQ891A Product Introduced 2012

B & C models - Introduced 2017 

(Data may be inaccurate, though the source is trusted)

Printer Homepage:

HP DesignJet T120 24-in Printer

Software and drivers for HP DesignJet T120 24-in Printer

Note on Web page:

Information

Firmware upgrade required: HP DesignJet T120/T520 printer series. How to install

Available:  Firmware

NOTE:  Always read all information before installing Firmware onto a printer.

Linux is open-source - there may be an alternative method to build a print server for your print requirements.

For example, printer administration with CUPS, if it is already installed:

Open your Browser (Firefox, for example)

type in the Address Bar:

localhost:631

What to do?

If you would like to do so, contact the HP Executive Team

Executive Team: CEO email | HP® Official Site

In general, I suggest you outline any communication as a request for service as opposed to a simple complaint.   That is a personal suggestion only, of course.  You must do what is best for your situation.

Thank you for participating in the HP Community Forum.

We are a world community of HP enthusiasts dedicated to supporting HP technology.

Click Thumbs Up on a post to say Thank You!

Answered? Click post "Accept as Solution" to help others find it.

[nolinuxdrivers]

Okay, today I did a full install of ubuntu 19.04.

My HPCP1025NW is on the list of supported printers, but the HP sidriver site sends me to an external site for a driver.  (Specifically, sourceforge.)

Following those instructions, I did:

sh hplip-3.19.8.run

Which gave me:

/Gtk-Message: 17:15:27.980: Failed to load module "gail"
/Gtk-Message: 17:15:27.980: Failed to load module "gail"/Gtk-Message: 17:15:27.980: Failed to load module "canberra"

This is why I wish HP would provide their own drivers, at least they'd have a good dependency list!

So I installed those missing packages manually and tried running the script again.

Now it wants a plugin.

-----------------------------------------

Option Description
---------- --------------------------------------------------
d Download plug-in from HP (recommended)
p Specify a path to the plug-in (advanced)
q Quit hp-plugin (skip installation)

Enter option (d=download*, p=specify path, q=quit) ? d

-------------------
| DOWNLOAD PLUGIN |
-------------------

Checking for network connection...
Downloading plug-in from:
Downloading plug-in: [\ ] 0% Plugin is not accessible. Trying to download it from fallback location: [https://developers.hp.com/sites/default/files/hplip-3.19.8-plugin.run]
Receiving digital keys: /usr/bin/gpg --homedir /home/xxxxxx/.hplip/.gnupg --no-permission-warning --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys 0x4ABA2F66DBD5A95894910E0673D770CDA59047B9
error: Unable to recieve key from keyserver
Do you still want to install the plug-in? (y=yes, n=no*, q=quit) ?

I tried going with “yes” but then ended up with an error message and an error dialogbox:

No systemtrayicon available

No system tray detected on this system.
Unable to start, exiting.

Out of curiosity, I tried launching the HP device manager.
It also complains that it needs a plugin.
Trying to download and install from an authorized server fails to receive a key… do I want to install it anyway?

Well, obviously doing it from the cli fails, I assume so will doing it from a gui…
But I tried anyway.
It says it was successful, but then immediately gives me an error box that says the device needs a plugin.

It then tells me to run "hp-plugin" as a normal user.

Try running hp-plugin from cli… which launches a gui.

And it loops back up to “do you want to install from an authorized server…

Unable to recieve key from keyserver
Without this, it is not possible to authenticate and validate the plug-in prior to installation.
Do you still want to install the plug-in?

It says it was successful, but then gives me an error box that says the device needs a plugin.

Lather rinse repeat.
Jesus.

Hp-doctor returns:

--------------
| PERMISSION |
--------------

USB HP-LaserJet-CP1025nw Required - - OK Node:'/dev/bus/usb/002/004' Perm:' root lp rw- rw- rw- rw- r--'

Checking for Configured Queues....
warning: Fail to read ppd=/etc/cups/ppd/HP-LaserJet-CP1025nw.ppd file
warning: Insufficient permission to access file /etc/cups/ppd/HP-LaserJet-CP1025nw.ppd
warning: Could not complete Queue(s) configuration check

Insufficient permissions?

Okay, lets try elevated permissions.

Sudo hp-doctor returns
error: hp-doctor should not be run as root/superuser

So tried:
sudo chmod 644 /etc/cups/ppd/HP-LaserJet-CP1025nw.ppd

hp-doctor now says
error: PPD file for 'HP-LaserJet-CP1025nw' is not correct. Need to choose correct PPD file.  Why didn't it install the correct one... 
Do you want to remove and re-configure? (y=yes*, n=no, q=quit) ?
' HP-LaserJet-CP1025nw' removed successfully.
Re-configuring this printer by hp-setup…

HP Linux Imaging and Printing System (ver. 3.19.8)
Plugin Download and Install Utility ver. 2.1

Copyright (c) 2001-18 HP Development Company, LP
This software comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
This is free software, and you are welcome to distribute it
under certain conditions. See COPYING file for more details.

(Note: Defaults for each question are maked with a '*'. Press to accept the default.)

-----------------------------------------
| PLUG-IN INSTALLATION FOR HPLIP 3.19.8 |
-----------------------------------------

Option Description
---------- --------------------------------------------------
d Download plug-in from HP (recommended)
p Specify a path to the plug-in (advanced)
q Quit hp-plugin (skip installation)

error: Unable to recieve key from keyserver

Lather, rinse, repeat.

So then
went to https://developers.hp.com/hp-linux-imaging-and-printing/plugins

Downloaded the hplip-3.19.8-plugin.run and hplip-3.19.8-plugin.run.asc files.

Re-installed.
When it asked for a plugin, I pointed it to the downloaded file.

Unable to recieve key from keyserver
Without this, it is not possible to authenticate and validate the plug-in prior to installation.
Do you still want to install the plug-in?

Sure. Why not.

Hey, great successful again.

Popup says I need to install a plugin.

And hp-doctor is back to insufficient permissions:
--------------
| PERMISSION |
--------------

USB HP_LaserJet_CP1025nw Required - - OK Node:'/dev/bus/usb/002/004' Perm:' root lp rw- rw- rw- rw- r--'

Checking for Configured Queues....
warning: Fail to read ppd=/etc/cups/ppd/HP_LaserJet_CP1025nw.ppd file
warning: Insufficient permission to access file /etc/cups/ppd/HP_LaserJet_CP1025nw.ppd
warning: Could not complete Queue(s) configuration check

Checking for HP Properitery Plugin's....

No plug-in printers are configured.

Now what?

Why doesn't HP just provide a driver for their hardware without requiring jumping to some other website which (obviously) can't write a driver?