Did I change anything? Yep, I do so all the time. I have software updates running all the time. It might be any of the bleeding edge crap that that's installed on my machine. Many computers in the desktop Linux world have a delicate software ecology, and mine is no exception. It could also be any of the stupid things that I do to my computer. It also could be any of the stupid things the folks at Ubuntu and Canonical do to my computer. It could be someone else, somewhere else. I break software all the time. I'm real good at that. I break things, then I fix them. I don't think that I broke Flash crossword puzzle printing -- it could have something to do with the software update installs that are going on all the time -- but I'm not sure. It could be that Flash update that slid in the other day, so don't be quick to blame me and my promiscuous use of synaptic and configure; make; make install to /usr/local.
Chasing for an answer, I researched Samsung, Cups, Linux, Adobe Flash and the Dark Magical Arts. I tried different web browsers. Opera. Chrome. Kazehakase, even. I reinstalled the printer drivers, following tweedledee's excellent and exhaustive instructions on the Ubuntu Forums. (I know, tweedletee? You're taking advice from someone called tweedledee? Hush up! Tweedledee know what (s)he is talking about.) I waved a dead chicken over the computer, the printer and my unemployed son. No joy. As far as I can determine, I can print from anything except an Adobe Flash crossword puzzle program.
It will not print to the printer,
It will not print to a PDFer.
It will not print on a box,
It will not print from Firefox.
It will not print on a box,
It will not print from Firefox.
It will not print here or there
It will not print anywhere.
I like green eggs and SPAM,
but I do not like Flash, Sam I Am.
I think the printer and the print system is OK, but there is some problem related to Flash. My last problem related to Flash was also related to the crossword puzzle. That one one was really annoying -- Flash would not respond to mouse clicks. Great fun. I couldn't do anything with it, it just sat there and ignored me, like just like my friends and family. The problem was neither Flash, nor the Firefox web browser. The problem was the Compiz window manager used by the default Ubuntu Gnome desktop. Change the window manager to Metacity, and the crossword puzzle works. (Remember, a delicate software ecology can be part of running of a free and open source operating system. There are a lot of cooks stirring the pot.)
Someone else on the web figured this out. I didn't know Compiz from Metacity before this. I'm running Metacity right now. Compiz is still "borken".
Someone else on the web figured this out. I didn't know Compiz from Metacity before this. I'm running Metacity right now. Compiz is still "borken".
Well, everything worked until now. Now printing is "borken" for the Flash crossword puzzle, and I can't find a fix. The work around was to boot Windows Vista, and print the crossword puzzle. (Go figure. It works great there.) This is unacceptable not only because it is surrendering to the dark side of the force, but because it also takes half of forever. It wouldn't be so bad to be evil if it were only a bit faster. I spent a day tweaking this broken-down Edsel of an operating system, and it's still is way too slow. It's like a Crown Vic with a four cylinder engine. For an evil company, full of really smart people, bent on world software domination, this is a sorry excuse for an operating system. I'm tired of booting this slowpoke every stinking day for the woman I love.
So the new work around is to change crossword puzzles. I needed to find one that I can print out for Lizzy. So good-bye, Chicago Tribune crossword puzzle. Good-bye to flash crossword puzzles. Yes, even though both of Lizzy's parents worked for the Trib, it's time to move on. It' been fun. Hello, Washington Post crossword puzzle, which uses Java instead of Flash. It also can generate a .gif file, which I can print out.
Problem almost solved. I'm calling it a day.
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