Print job to M2070 printer crashes cups

Printing used to work fine but for some reason I don’t know it stopped working. My printer is a M2070FW (Samsung).
I took the logs from the journal:

Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc dbus-daemon[763]: [system] Activation via systemd failed for unit 'dbus-org.freedesktop.Avahi.service': Unit dbus-org.freedesktop.Avahi.service not found.
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc dbus-daemon[763]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.Avahi' unit='dbus-org.freedesktop.Avahi.service' requested by ':1.2886' (uid=1000 pid=21780 comm="gnome-control-center printers " label="unconfined")
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc dbus-daemon[763]: [system] Activation via systemd failed for unit 'dbus-org.freedesktop.Avahi.service': Unit dbus-org.freedesktop.Avahi.service not found.
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc cupsd[21942]: free(): invalid pointer
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc audit[21942]: ANOM_ABEND auid=4294967295 uid=0 gid=0 ses=4294967295 subj==unconfined pid=21942 comm="cupsd" exe="/usr/bin/cupsd" sig=6 res=1
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc kernel: kauditd_printk_skb: 1 callbacks suppressed
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc kernel: audit: type=1701 audit(1606379247.074:485): auid=4294967295 uid=0 gid=0 ses=4294967295 subj==unconfined pid=21942 comm="cupsd" exe="/usr/bin/cupsd" sig=6 res=1
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc audit: BPF prog-id=34 op=LOAD
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc kernel: audit: type=1334 audit(1606379247.087:486): prog-id=34 op=LOAD
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc kernel: audit: type=1334 audit(1606379247.087:487): prog-id=35 op=LOAD
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc audit: BPF prog-id=35 op=LOAD
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc systemd[1]: Started Process Core Dump (PID 21989/UID 0).
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc audit[1]: SERVICE_START pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj==unconfined msg='unit=systemd-coredump@4-21989-0 comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc kernel: audit: type=1130 audit(1606379247.091:488): pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj==unconfined msg='unit=systemd-coredump@4-21989-0 comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc systemd[1]: org.cups.cupsd.service: Main process exited, code=dumped, status=6/ABRT
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc dbus-daemon[763]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.Avahi' unit='dbus-org.freedesktop.Avahi.service' requested by ':1.2887' (uid=1000 pid=21780 comm="gnome-control-center printers " label="unconfined")
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc dbus-daemon[763]: [system] Activation via systemd failed for unit 'dbus-org.freedesktop.Avahi.service': Unit dbus-org.freedesktop.Avahi.service not found.
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc gsd-color[1830]: failed to connect to device: Failed to connect to missing device /org/freedesktop/ColorManager/devices/cups_M2070FW
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc systemd-coredump[21990]: [🡕] Process 21942 (cupsd) of user 0 dumped core.
                                                   
                                                   Stack trace of thread 21942:
                                                   #0  0x00007f6228bd4615 raise (libc.so.6 + 0x3d615)
                                                   #1  0x00007f6228bbd862 abort (libc.so.6 + 0x26862)
                                                   #2  0x00007f6228c165e8 __libc_message (libc.so.6 + 0x7f5e8)
                                                   #3  0x00007f6228c1e27a malloc_printerr (libc.so.6 + 0x8727a)
                                                   #4  0x00007f6228c1f64c _int_free (libc.so.6 + 0x8864c)
                                                   #5  0x00007f6228d99f0f n/a (libcups.so.2 + 0x39f0f)
                                                   #6  0x00007f6228d99dcb ippDelete (libcups.so.2 + 0x39dcb)
                                                   #7  0x0000558d5287489c n/a (/usr/bin/cupsd + 0x1389c)
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc systemd[1]: systemd-coredump@4-21989-0.service: Succeeded.
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc kernel: audit: type=1131 audit(1606379247.401:489): pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj==unconfined msg='unit=systemd-coredump@4-21989-0 comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc audit[1]: SERVICE_STOP pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj==unconfined msg='unit=systemd-coredump@4-21989-0 comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc systemd[1]: org.cups.cupsd.service: Failed with result 'core-dump'.
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc audit[1]: SERVICE_STOP pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj==unconfined msg='unit=org.cups.cupsd comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=failed'
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc kernel: audit: type=1131 audit(1606379247.441:490): pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj==unconfined msg='unit=org.cups.cupsd comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=failed'
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc audit: BPF prog-id=35 op=UNLOAD
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc audit: BPF prog-id=34 op=UNLOAD
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc kernel: audit: type=1334 audit(1606379247.501:491): prog-id=35 op=UNLOAD
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc kernel: audit: type=1334 audit(1606379247.501:492): prog-id=34 op=UNLOAD
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc systemd[1]: org.cups.cupsd.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 5.
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc systemd[1]: Stopped CUPS Scheduler.
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc audit[1]: SERVICE_START pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj==unconfined msg='unit=org.cups.cupsd comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc audit[1]: SERVICE_STOP pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj==unconfined msg='unit=org.cups.cupsd comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc systemd[1]: org.cups.cupsd.path: Succeeded.
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc systemd[1]: Stopped CUPS Scheduler.
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc systemd[1]: Stopping CUPS Scheduler.
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc systemd[1]: Started CUPS Scheduler.
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc kernel: audit: type=1130 audit(1606379247.604:493): pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj==unconfined msg='unit=org.cups.cupsd comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc kernel: audit: type=1131 audit(1606379247.604:494): pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj==unconfined msg='unit=org.cups.cupsd comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc systemd[1]: org.cups.cupsd.socket: Succeeded.
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc systemd[1]: Closed CUPS Scheduler.
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc systemd[1]: Stopping CUPS Scheduler.
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc systemd[1]: Listening on CUPS Scheduler.
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc systemd[1]: Starting CUPS Scheduler...
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc dbus-daemon[763]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.Avahi' unit='dbus-org.freedesktop.Avahi.service' requested by ':1.2888' (uid=1000 pid=21780 comm="gnome-control-center printers " label="unconfined")
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc dbus-daemon[763]: [system] Activation via systemd failed for unit 'dbus-org.freedesktop.Avahi.service': Unit dbus-org.freedesktop.Avahi.service not found.
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc systemd[1]: Started CUPS Scheduler.
Nov 26 09:27:27 amaury-pc audit[1]: SERVICE_START pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj==unconfined msg='unit=org.cups.cupsd comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
Nov 26 09:27:48 amaury-pc gnome-shell[1674]: setup_framebuffers: assertion 'width > 0' failed
Nov 26 09:27:48 amaury-pc gnome-shell[1674]: setup_framebuffers: assertion 'width > 0' failed
Nov 26 09:27:48 amaury-pc gnome-shell[1674]: setup_framebuffers: assertion 'width > 0' failed
Nov 26 09:27:48 amaury-pc gnome-shell[1674]: setup_framebuffers: assertion 'width > 0' failed
Nov 26 09:27:48 amaury-pc gnome-shell[1674]: setup_framebuffers: assertion 'width > 0' failed
Nov 26 09:27:48 amaury-pc gnome-shell[1674]: setup_framebuffers: assertion 'width > 0' failed
Nov 26 09:27:48 amaury-pc gnome-shell[1674]: setup_framebuffers: assertion 'width > 0' failed

One can see that cups crashes followed by a systemd core dump. After a few retries, the cups service just restarts and forgets about the print job. In the GNOME settings, I can see the printer disappearing from the list of printers and reappearing later.

I’d appreciate greatly any idea about what could be going wrong or how I could fix things.

If CUPS crashes - it is usually due to the print job containing invalid chars or the PPD file contains invalid information.

Most - if not all print jobs - work by sending a series of printer control characters using PCL. If the spool file gets corrupted for one reason or another - it may create a result like this. What the exact cause in your case is - that is blowing in the wind - the eternal bit fields.

Another possible cause - may be a missing restart after an update.

The cups service has been renamed due to an upstream decision so if you have updated cups and not restarted then cups is failing because the old service has been removed and the new service not loaded.

systemctl list-unit-files | grep cups

You need to manually enable the new service depending on the result of above command

Thank you a lot for your answer!
Yes, I’ve seen the upstream notice on my arch machine but to me it looks like the renaming did not hit manjaro users just yet. I still have:

org.cups.cupsd.path                    enabled         disabled     
cups-browsed.service                   disabled        disabled     
org.cups.cups-lpd@.service             static          -            
org.cups.cupsd.service                 enabled         disabled     
org.cups.cups-lpd.socket               disabled        disabled     
org.cups.cupsd.socket                  enabled         disabled

I don’t think invalid chars are the cause because I try to print normal text from a pdf. Printing directly from libreoffice was already difficult and either printed only the first page (although more should have been printed) or nothing at all. Exporting from libreoffice to pdf, opening the pdf with the standard viewer and printing from there worked before. Now, unfortunately, this leads to the above issue…

So, I guess the PPD file could be the culprit. Unfortunately, the drivers package available online (support dot hp dot com… somehow, I am not allowed to post a link in here) does not contain a ppd file for this specific model.
Still, I do have a ppd file for this printer, though I do not remember where I got it from, but my server (pure arch linux machine) can print with it. Manjaro can’t and I can’t figure out why not.

After the cups update from arch linux hit the manjaro users, it seems that my problem is gone. I still had to enable and start manually cups.service, but now printing works again just like on arch and suddenly I can even print multiple pages from libreoffice.

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