Setting Up an HP Printer on Arch Linux

Here’s the quick setup flow I use whenever I need an HP printer working under Arch:

1. Install CUPS: sudo pacman -S cups
2. Enable the CUPS service right away so it stays running after reboots: sudo systemctl enable --now cups
3. Install HP’s tooling: sudo pacman -S hplip
4. Plug the printer in via USB and run sudo hp-setup -i. Make sure you run it as root, otherwise you’ll get the classic “No device selected/specified” error. Most of the prompts can stay on their defaults—just keep hitting Enter.
5. Install the GUI helper: sudo pacman -S system-config-printer
6. Launch system-config-printer, click Add, pick your printer, and choose HPLIP as the backend.
7. Print a test page to confirm everything is talking properly.
8. If GTK apps (Evince, Okular, etc.) complain about missing printers, install gtk3 as well.