"Adding Printer" dialog asks for root password?

Question

I try to set up my printer under Ubuntu. So far it worked that I succeed to install the drivers. But Ubuntu says: No driver available for this model. This is the problem that Ubuntu doesn't recognize the right model, so I have to add and the choose the right driver manually. No problem I thought. But when I try to add a printer, I'm prompted to provide a root password although I didn't set up one? So i'm not able to confirm the dialog and add my printer, what's the reason?

Solution 1

Try to set a root password, if you realy want to log as root. In terminal type: "sudo passwd root" (without quotes).

Solution 2

If you don't want to hassle with the root passwords you can just do: gksudo system-config-printer

Comments

[OverStacked]

the normal password doesn't work.

[OverStacked]

Thanks, this worked so far as a workaround. It was also mentioned here.bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/system-config-printer‌​/+bug/…

[MichielB]

This is the best workaround. I found it was because I messed with users and groups on my system and I was not a member of the lpadmin group. To add yourself to this group you can run 'sudo usermod -aG lpadmin yourusername'.

[MichielB]

Setting a root password is considered a bad idea, also mentioned in the bug report. The gksudo solution mentioned is better.