The TTY names appear if the Pi's onboard UART is enabled, on the Pi4 it is disabled and on models prior to the Pi4 it is enabled. The detection of a connection is part of the issue, and that could be contacts, though unlikely, more it is noise on the line or potentially a ground loop issue.
If the ground is being held high or it is noisy then the signal on the tx/rx of the USB is not going to be detected, because the relative potential to ground is not there.
A volt meter is the tool for the job, both detecting AC and DC potentials.
When powered off with the cable in the machine using a continuity tester you should get good <5ohm readings between the printer main board and the USB pin for the Pi end. If this is the case, then it is not the cable as such, and you're looking at noise or ground loop issues.
With everything plugged in and turned on, testing on AC and DC voltage, between the Pi and the printer frame should be 0V or very close to it. 0.1-0.2V isn't unusual from induced loads. More than this and there is likelihood of noise or ground loop issues. aka things are not grounded and the voltage potential will create signalling issues.
Another potential... Have you changed your printer firmware? The serial connection for USB can be set wrong or used for something else. Not saying it is, just another thing to check if you have created new firmware for your printer.
I have never changed my printers firmware
So it's the OctoPi 1.4.0 IMG so it's possible that it's the promiscuous new /dev attempts that are confusing it from auto-detecting. Presumably foosel's counter-plugin for that would help.
Running dmesg, plug the printer in and then running it again should indicate what new lines are seen. These lines should indicate a new /dev entry. If not, then there is a problem.
If your serial cable is over GPIO pins on the Pi (instead of a USB Type-A connector) then you might need to disable Bluetooth and turn off serial-over-console but this doesn't sound like what you're doing.
Note that the Pi 4B has both USB Type 2 and Type 3 connectors. Try moving over to a Type 2 connector.
Turns out is in indeed the printer. I purchased a new printer to double production For my business, I hooked it up to the raspberry pi and it connected immediately. I will stick with this, and run it on just one. I cannot risk taking apart the printer and having issues when I need it to fulfill orders. Thanks for your Time.
"ssh in and do a sudo lsusb". Not very helpful.
Really? It will show if it's detected at the OS level.
edited your post because of the mail ad in the signature
Oops. Sorry. Turned off now
It may if the reader had a clue to what that is.
Maybe stay out of conversations if you have nothing to add but argument.
So you won't help by explaining what you are talking about?
If you don't know what lsusb is for then you don't belong using an ssh terminal.
A bit less attitude on both sides here please, be friendly to each other and remember the human.
"SSH in" = connect via SSH, e.g. with putty. Explained in the RPi docs, see here for an overview and here for the Win10 specific guide.
"do a sudo lsusb" = once you are connected via USB, type in sudo lsusb and hit enter.
Thank you foosel.