I broke my printer today, or maybe I broke CUPS?

[SpecialEd]

Suddenly my printer stopped working, after some upgrades this afternoon.

Error logs

E [27/Mar/2017:09:35:36 -0400] [Client 2] Returning IPP client-error-bad-request for Create-Printer-Subscriptions (/) from localhost
E [27/Mar/2017:11:31:38 -0400] HP_HP_Photosmart_C7200_series: File \"/usr/lib/cups/filter/hpcups\" not available: No such file or directory
E [27/Mar/2017:11:31:39 -0400] HP_HP_Photosmart_C7200_series: File \"/usr/lib/cups/filter/hpcups\" not available: No such file or directory

specialed@specialed-Q500A:~$ sudo apt install cups
[sudo] password for specialed:  
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree        
Reading state information... Done
Starting pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 1
Starting 2 pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 1
Investigating (0) cups [ amd64 ] < none -> 2.1.3-4 | 2.1.3-4ubuntu0.2 > ( net )
Broken cups:amd64 Depends on libcups2 [ amd64 ] < 2.1.3-4ubuntu0.2 > ( libs ) (= 2.1.3-4)
 Considering libcups2:amd64 263 as a solution to cups:amd64 10014
Broken cups:amd64 Depends on cups-core-drivers [ amd64 ] < none -> 2.1.3-4 | 2.1.3-4ubuntu0.2 > ( net ) (>= 2.1.3-4)
 Considering cups-core-drivers:amd64 0 as a solution to cups:amd64 10014
   Reinst Failed early because of libcups2:amd64
 Considering cups-core-drivers:amd64 0 as a solution to cups:amd64 10014
 Considering cups-core-drivers:i386 0 as a solution to cups:amd64 10014
   Reinst Failed early because of libcups2:i386
Broken cups:amd64 Depends on cups-daemon [ amd64 ] < none -> 2.1.3-4 > ( net ) (>= 2.1.3-4)
 Considering cups-daemon:amd64 0 as a solution to cups:amd64 10014
   Reinst Failed early because of libcups2:amd64
 Considering cups-daemon:i386 0 as a solution to cups:amd64 10014
   Reinst Failed early because of libcups2:i386
Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
cups : Depends: libcups2 (= 2.1.3-4) but 2.1.3-4ubuntu0.2 is to be installed
       Depends: cups-core-drivers (>= 2.1.3-4)
       Depends: cups-daemon (>= 2.1.3-4)
       Recommends: printer-driver-gutenprint but it is not going to be installed
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

I've googled it a bit and searched in this forum but I have no idea where to go from here. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Snowhog]

You show the installation command: sudo apt install, but are you updating the package cache beforehand: sudo apt update

The package cache needs to be updated before attempting to install a package. Also of importance, are you dist-upgrading (fullupgrade when using apt as opposed to apt-get) your system? There is a huge difference between doing upgrade vs fullupgrade. The sequence of commands should be:

sudo apt update [this updates the package cache]
sudo apt full-upgrade [this performs a 'smart' update of installed packages on your system and handles package dependencies 'intelligently']
sudo apt install new_package(s) [if wanting to install new packages]

So you might want to try:

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade && sudo apt install --reinstall cups

[SpecialEd]

Thanks Snowhog I did as instructed but unfortunately, got the same results.

specialed@specialed-Q500A:/$ sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade && sudo apt install --reinstall cups
[sudo] password for specialed:  
Get:1 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security InRelease [102 kB]
Hit:2 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial InRelease                                                                                                   
Get:3 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates InRelease [102 kB]                                                                                  
Hit:4 http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu xenial InRelease                                                                                                   
Hit:5 http://ppa.launchpad.net/peek-developers/stable/ubuntu xenial InRelease                                                                                
Ign:6 http://repo.vivaldi.com/stable/deb stable InRelease                                                                                                    
Hit:7 http://repo.vivaldi.com/stable/deb stable Release                                                   
Get:8 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports InRelease [102 kB] 
Hit:9 http://ppa.launchpad.net/teejee2008/ppa/ubuntu xenial InRelease    
Hit:10 http://archive.neon.kde.org/user xenial InRelease 
Hit:11 http://ppa.launchpad.net/unit193/encryption/ubuntu xenial InRelease
Hit:12 http://ppa.launchpad.net/utappia/stable/ubuntu xenial InRelease
Hit:13 https://repo.skype.com/deb stable InRelease
Get:14 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/main amd64 Packages [234 kB]
Get:15 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/main i386 Packages [226 kB]
Get:16 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/main amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [54.1 kB]
Get:17 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/main DEP-11 128x128 Icons [112 kB] 
Get:18 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/universe amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [32.1 kB]
Get:19 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/universe DEP-11 128x128 Icons [98.5 kB] 
Get:21 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 Packages [499 kB] 
Get:22 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main i386 Packages [488 kB]
Get:23 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [288 kB]
Get:24 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main DEP-11 128x128 Icons [453 kB] 
Get:25 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/universe amd64 Packages [448 kB] 
Get:26 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/universe i386 Packages [436 kB] 
Get:27 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/universe amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [160 kB]
Get:28 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/universe DEP-11 128x128 Icons [467 kB]
Get:29 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/multiverse amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [2,516 B]
Get:30 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports/main amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [3,324 B]
Fetched 4,306 kB in 1s (2,730 kB/s) 
Reading package lists...

Done
Building dependency tree        
Reading state information... Done
1 package can be upgraded. Run 'apt list --upgradable' to see it.
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree        
Reading state information... Done
Starting pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 0
Starting 2 pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 0
Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
 cups-browsed cups-server-common hplip-data libart-2.0-2 libcupscgi1 libcupsmime1 libgutenprint2 libhpmud0 libsane-hpaio libsnmp-base libsnmp30
 linux-headers-4.8.0-41 linux-headers-4.8.0-41-generic linux-image-4.8.0-41-generic linux-image-extra-4.8.0-41-generic python3-pexpect python3-pil
 python3-ptyprocess python3-renderpm python3-reportlab python3-reportlab-accel
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
The following packages will be upgraded:
 eject
1 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 23.0 kB of archives.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 eject amd64 2.1.5+deb1+cvs20081104-13.1ubuntu0.16.04.1 [23.0 kB]
Fetched 23.0 kB in 0s (121 kB/s) 
(Reading database ... 269739 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../eject_2.1.5+deb1+cvs20081104-13.1ubuntu0.16.04.1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking eject (2.1.5+deb1+cvs20081104-13.1ubuntu0.16.04.1) over (2.1.5+deb1+cvs20081104-13.1) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.5-1) ...
Setting up eject (2.1.5+deb1+cvs20081104-13.1ubuntu0.16.04.1) ...
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree        
Reading state information... 

Done
Starting pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 1
Starting 2 pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 1
Investigating (0) cups [ amd64 ] < none -> 2.1.3-4 | 2.1.3-4ubuntu0.2 > ( net )
Broken cups:amd64 Depends on libcups2 [ amd64 ] < 2.1.3-4ubuntu0.2 > ( libs ) (= 2.1.3-4)
 Considering libcups2:amd64 265 as a solution to cups:amd64 10014
Broken cups:amd64 Depends on cups-core-drivers [ amd64 ] < none -> 2.1.3-4 | 2.1.3-4ubuntu0.2 > ( net ) (>= 2.1.3-4)
 Considering cups-core-drivers:amd64 0 as a solution to cups:amd64 10014
   Reinst Failed early because of libcups2:amd64
 Considering cups-core-drivers:amd64 0 as a solution to cups:amd64 10014
 Considering cups-core-drivers:i386 0 as a solution to cups:amd64 10014
   Reinst Failed early because of libcups2:i386
Broken cups:amd64 Depends on cups-daemon [ amd64 ] < none -> 2.1.3-4 > ( net ) (>= 2.1.3-4)
 Considering cups-daemon:amd64 0 as a solution to cups:amd64 10014
   Reinst Failed early because of libcups2:amd64
 Considering cups-daemon:i386 0 as a solution to cups:amd64 10014
   Reinst Failed early because of libcups2:i386
Done
Some packages could not be installed.

This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
cups : Depends: libcups2 (= 2.1.3-4) but 2.1.3-4ubuntu0.2 is to be installed
       Depends: cups-core-drivers (>= 2.1.3-4)
       Depends: cups-daemon (>= 2.1.3-4)
       Recommends: printer-driver-gutenprint but it is not going to be installed
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

[GreyGeek]

Time to clean up your package database.

Repeat the two commands until they don't do anything.
sudo apt-get -f install
sudo dpkg --configure -a

Then follow those with
sudo apt-get autoremove

There is a dandy little script called "ucaresystem-core" that does the updates, uploads, autoremove and cleans up the debris in one shot.
It is here.

Once CUPS is removed and the damage cleaned up then reinstall CUPS.

[SpecialEd]

Thanks for the response GreyGeek. I d/l the uCareSystem script but it wouldn't accept my root password. Wierd. I did it manually, repeatedly with the commands you gave and always got the same responses. In the end I'm right where I started.

specialed@specialed-Q500A:~$ sudo apt-get -f install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Starting pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 0
Starting 2 pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 0
Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
specialed@specialed-Q500A:~$ sudo dpkg --configure -a
specialed@specialed-Q500A:~$ sudo apt-get autoremove
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Starting pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 0
Starting 2 pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 0
Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
specialed@specialed-Q500A:~$

Print Service is unavailable Bad File Descriptor.

Best,

SE

[acheron]

Downgrade any cups packages that are 2.1.3-4ubuntu0.2 back down to 2.1.3-4

There was an update going into the ubuntu xenial-updates that was pulled, but obviously you got part of it before it was completely got rid of.

[SpecialEd]

Downgrade any cups packages that are 2.1.3-4ubuntu0.2 back down to 2.1.3-4

There was an update going into the ubuntu xenial-updates that was pulled, but obviously you got part of it before it was completely got rid of.

Thank you acheron, here is the result from trying that:

specialed@specialed-Q500A:~$ sudo apt-cache show cups | grep Version        
Version: 2.1.3-4ubuntu0.2
Config-Version: 2.1.3-4
Version: 2.1.3-4
specialed@specialed-Q500A:~$ sudo apt-get install cups 2.1.3-4       
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree        
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package 2.1.3-4
E: Couldn't find any package by glob '2.1.3-4'
E: Couldn't find any package by regex '2.1.3-4'
specialed@specialed-Q500A:~$ 

[acheron]

You missed the equals (=).

sudo apt-get install cups=2.1.3-4

Without it, apt sees the 2.1.3-4 as a another package name.

[SpecialEd]

You missed the equals (=).

sudo apt-get install cups=2.1.3-4

Without it, apt sees the 2.1.3-4 as a another package name.

specialed@specialed-Q500A:~$ sudo apt-get install cups=2.1.3-4
[sudo] password for specialed: 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Starting pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 1
Starting 2 pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 1
Investigating (0) cups [ amd64 ] < none -> 2.1.3-4 | 2.1.3-4ubuntu0.2 > ( net )
Broken cups:amd64 Depends on libcups2 [ amd64 ] < 2.1.3-4ubuntu0.2 > ( libs ) (= 2.1.3-4)
 Considering libcups2:amd64 261 as a solution to cups:amd64 10014
Broken cups:amd64 Depends on libcupscgi1 [ amd64 ] < none -> 2.1.3-4 > ( libs ) (>= 1.4.2)
 Considering libcupscgi1:amd64 0 as a solution to cups:amd64 10014
   Reinst Failed early because of libcups2:amd64
Broken cups:amd64 Depends on libcupsmime1 [ amd64 ] < none -> 2.1.3-4 > ( libs ) (>= 1.4.0)
 Considering libcupsmime1:amd64 0 as a solution to cups:amd64 10014
   Reinst Failed early because of libcups2:amd64
Broken cups:amd64 Depends on cups-core-drivers [ amd64 ] < none -> 2.1.3-4 | 2.1.3-4ubuntu0.2 > ( net ) (>= 2.1.3-4)
 Considering cups-core-drivers:amd64 0 as a solution to cups:amd64 10014
   Reinst Failed early because of libcups2:amd64
 Considering cups-core-drivers:amd64 0 as a solution to cups:amd64 10014
 Considering cups-core-drivers:i386 0 as a solution to cups:amd64 10014
   Reinst Failed early because of libcups2:i386
Broken cups:amd64 Depends on cups-daemon [ amd64 ] < none -> 2.1.3-4 > ( net ) (>= 2.1.3-4)
 Considering cups-daemon:amd64 0 as a solution to cups:amd64 10014
   Reinst Failed early because of libcups2:amd64
 Considering cups-daemon:i386 0 as a solution to cups:amd64 10014
   Reinst Failed early because of libcups2:i386
Broken cups:amd64 Depends on cups-server-common [ amd64 ] < none -> 2.1.3-4 > ( net ) (>= 2.1.3-4)
 Considering cups-server-common:amd64 0 as a solution to cups:amd64 10014
 Re-Instated cups-server-common:amd64
Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
cups : Depends: libcups2 (= 2.1.3-4) but 2.1.3-4ubuntu0.2 is to be installed
       Depends: libcupscgi1 (>= 1.4.2) but it is not going to be installed
       Depends: libcupsmime1 (>= 1.4.0) but it is not going to be installed
       Depends: cups-core-drivers (>= 2.1.3-4)
       Depends: cups-daemon (>= 2.1.3-4)
       Recommends: printer-driver-gutenprint but it is not going to be installed
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.
specialed@specialed-Q500A:~$

[acheron]

Well, yes. You need to downgrade/install ALL the cups related packages you have installed at version 2.1.3-4ubuntu0.2 down to 2.1.3-4.

sudo apt-get install cups=2.1.3-4 libcups2=2.1.3-4

etc... for them all in one line.

do apt update and clear the cache to make sure you don't get the wrong version again