Why do I have multiples of same printer?

[frittered]

I originally installed Ubuntu on my wife's computer because it had a reputation for just working no-matter what. It is rapidly losing that reputation at this locality.
I'm having a rabbit problem. I couldn't resolve this with 18.04 and still have it after upgrade to 20.04. (this has been going on for a few years) A new problem has developed and I don't know if it's an extension of the same problem: The printers won't work until I re-install them now. Besides the old problem where once I install a printer, more than one will appear with a slightly altered name (rabbits, ghost rabbits).
After installation, the printer will function like a normal printer. A day or so later, it won't function. If I go into settings I might find a restart button that implies there is a problem to resolve with the printer. If I re-install the printer, it will perform the print job during the installation procedure.
I'm getting tired of the nonsense with the printer. If this won't go away with your help and assistance, I'm going to have to install a different distribution, other than ubuntu.

[brian_p]

It is traditional to mention:

• The connection method. USB? Network?

• The printer model.

• Any vendor drivers installed.

[ajgreeny]

I have seen this happen for quite a long time, ie years, though I do not remember when it started.

In my case I use an HP Envy All in One printer and in any print dialogue it appears three times, all of which work fine, so I am not bothered by this duplication, which I suspect may partly be because the printer is detected by hplip and also by the CUPS system, though I accept that should be only two instances.
See screenshot

[frittered]

ok, I always use a network printer as I usually have more than one computer that needs access to a printer and my house and office are always "networked" since time began, I only buy printers that have an ethernet port and I turn-off any "wifi" crap on the printer. I've been having this "rabbit" problem since 16.04 LTS, 14.04LTS did not have this problem. The first time was with a HP deskjet, problem never resolved, symptoms were multiple instances of a printer install, one install would be the one I installed(functional instance), another would be named after the host computer and another would be something else but all would have the model name of the printer. Only one of the installs would print, removing the non-functioning printers are futile, they just re-appear.

Presently, I have an Epson ink-jet and a Brother laser-jet (both have scanners and fax) installed and 6 printers installed according to the "settings" info. Only two are real and right now it's a battle to get either one to function and take print-jobs. Both of these printers were installed via company supplied install drivers using their supplied routine from their support web-site. The rabbits appeared a day later, after a wake-up period. My non-ubuntu systems do not have the rabbit issues. There are no "Windows" systems to cause trouble here.

[brian_p]

ok, I always use a network printer as I usually have more than one computer that needs access to a printer and my house and office are always "networked" since time began, I only buy printers that have an ethernet port and I turn-off any "wifi" crap on the printer. I've been having this "rabbit" problem since 16.04 LTS, 14.04LTS did not have this problem. The first time was with a HP deskjet, problem never resolved, symptoms were multiple instances of a printer install, one install would be the one I installed(functional instance), another would be named after the host computer and another would be something else but all would have the model name of the printer. Only one of the installs would print, removing the non-functioning printers are futile, they just re-appear.

Presently, I have an Epson ink-jet and a Brother laser-jet (both have scanners and fax) installed and 6 printers installed according to the "settings" info. Only two are real and right now it's a battle to get either one to function and take print-jobs. Both of these printers were installed via cI do not understandusing their supplied routine from their support web-site. The rabbits appeared a day later, after a wake-up period. My non-ubuntu systems do not have the rabbit issues. There are no "Windows" systems to cause trouble here.

Epson ink-jet and a Brother laser-jet are not good enough. What are the precise models?

I do not understand what "company supplied install drivers " involves and what it does.

[frittered]

Brother model is a MFC-L3750CDW Epson is a WF-3640. This is so not helpful to the problem as the same symptoms are presented by a host of other models of printers. The problem behaves like malware and occurs immediately after a wake-up from a sleep-cycle. Both Brother and Epson have drivers available from the websites. I'm not into writing my own code as I am not a device resource with vast support utilities. I don't like having to battle wits with an obstreperous OS just to get a print-job done.
I'm talking my wife into using a different brand of Linux that does not have this printer problem.

[brian_p]

Brother model is a MFC-L3750CDW Epson is a WF-3640. This is so not helpful to the problem as the same symptoms are presented by a host of other models of printers. The problem behaves like malware and occurs immediately after a wake-up from a sleep-cycle. Both Brother and Epson have drivers available from the websites. I'm not into writing my own code as I am not a device resource with vast support utilities. I don't like having to battle wits with an obstreperous OS just to get a print-job done.

You have decided that a printer model and the way you deal with it on a modern printing system is
irrelevant. It is hardly worthwhile carrying on, especially with all the moaning.

I'm talking my wife into using a different brand of Linux that does not have this printer problem.

All distributions use the same printing system. The problem is between the chair and the keyboard.

[frittered]

Obviously not, as the RedHat based system I use does not have a duplicity issue the Ubuntu system is having and it never has! (I use it daily and have been using it for more than a decade, actually closer to two decades)(printing is never an issue with it after the printer is installed)
I have a similar opinion of yourself. Now that we have exchanged insults perhaps we can move to resolving the problem? Since the multiplicity of printers in the settings menu has nothing to do with the manufacturer of the printer has been established!
What has Ubuntu done to correct the problem?
I'm severely tired of attempting to correct the problem of print-jobs not happening just because it's the next day or an hour later after the system went to sleep because the user left the system to do something else.

[frittered]

I have seen this happen for quite a long time, ie years, though I do not remember when it started.

In my case I use an HP Envy All in One printer and in any print dialogue it appears three times, all of which work fine, so I am not bothered by this duplication, which I suspect may partly be because the printer is detected by hplip and also by the CUPS system, though I accept that should be only two instances.
See screenshot

I have had this problem for years, but it's getting worse. Not only do I have multiple printers of which only one worked, the one that did work is now having problems. What did you do to fix your problem? I've been having these issues since about 14.04LTS and it's becoming a major issue.
I usually get 3 printers showing. The one installed has a "-series" added to it's name, another has a".local" and a third will have the "hostname" tacked on. Usually the one installed with a "-series" is the one that works, but something has changed since a recent update and now I have to re-install the same printer over and over again to resolve it not performing an accepted print-job. This printer is an MFC-L3750CDW. When it prints, the job looks pretty nice.
Recently, after the previous updates, the 2nd printer: Epson wf-3640 has quit re-duplicating itself after deleting it's duplicates, I'm not sure if this has to do with making the other printer the default printer.

Thank you in advance for your assistance

[ajgreeny]

I didn't do anything to solve this as it has not become a problem for me; whichever of the instances of my wireless printer I choose in the print dialogue makes no difference and the print job happens as expected.

My printer connects by wireless only, no ethernet or USB cable is used and it uses a static IP adďress on my LAN, so I wonder if this is the reason for your problem.