Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Predrag
Punosevac
Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 12:25 PM
To: David Kelly
Cc: Gary Kline; FreeBSD Mailing List
Subject: Re: DJ500 dead after >= 16 years.
David Kelly wrote:
On Wed, Feb 20, 2008 at 12:02:25AM -0800, Gary Kline wrote:
Nutshell, I'd like anyone's ideas/experiences with some of these
new HP/<<< or whateverbrand>>> printers. I wouldn't *mind* if I
could scan in text from a techy paper into HTML or PDF or text.
But mostly, like 99.44% plain black text. My old deskjet used
gs as a filter to print PostScript. Do we have any such plugin
support, or are printers still roll-your-own? [FWIW, I can't
seem to get CUPS working... altho it maay be my misssing
/dev/lpt0.]
Why don't you check http://www.linux-foundation.org/en/OpenPrinting for
the most comprehensive information available.
Just couple a comments. I would keep native LPD spooling system instead
installing CUPS unless you need to use something
like HPLIP drivers.
You do not need CUPS for the hplip drivers, you can use lpd if you
want.
To be perfectly clear on this, all that CUPS is, is 4 things:
Spool manager - LPD does this
Speaks IPP protocol - LPD also does this except it speaks LPR protocol
Easy user interface for the options needed by some of the more complex
filters. - lpd does NOT do this BUT, you can do it by writing
your own filter script and coding the options you want into it.
Note that most options are set once and forget, so CUPS really
doesen't add much here. CUPS uses Postscript PPD files to automagically
generate the webpage the user fills out to select these options.
web-interface for job mangement - well who needs this for a
personal printer attached to a workstation?
The reason CUPS is used so much is that it dummifies the
chain of hooking together programs into a black box. So,
people who don't understand what is going on can setup a
printer by clicking buttons. That is fine if your printer
model is supported. But if it doesen't work or if the model
is a new one that the cups people haven't quite yet got around
to testing with, or nobody has written a .PPD file for it,
you have to understand what is going on then.
I've posted the following before, but here's the instructions
I use for setting up my C84 without CUPS, so you can see
how this kind of thing works. They are just a bit old but
still work if you change the version #s. The setup uses the IJS output
from Ghostscript and feeds it into gimpprint. The HPLIP
scheme works exactly the same way except that instead of
gimpprint, you use the hpijs driver along with the required
options:
1) setup print queue
Add the following to the end of /etc/printcap:
lp-epson|Epson C84 Color printer:\
:sh:\
:lp=/dev/lpt0:sd=/var/spool/output/lp-epson:lf=/var/log/lpd-errs:mx=0:\
:of=/usr/local/bin/epsonfilter:rw:
lp-epson-raw|Epson C84 Color Printer - raw for Windows systems:\
:sh:\
:lp=/dev/lpt0:sd=/var/spool/output/lp-epson-raw:lf=/var/log/lpd-errs:\
:mx#0:rw:
Create the print queues:
cd /var/spool/output
mkdir lp-epson
mkdir lp-epson-raw
Add in access for the local systems
cat /etc/hosts.lpd
# $FreeBSD: src/etc/hosts.lpd,v 1.4 1999/08/27 23:23:42 peter Exp $
#
# See lpd(8)
#machine.domain
tedwin2k.freebsd-corp-net-guide.com
192.168.1.60
tedsdesk.ipinc.net
ip-port-rtr1.ipinc.net
sunrise.ipinc.net
nat-rtr#
Run some test prints through the queues:
cd /etc
ls -l | lpr -P lp-text
Send a test print page from the Windows 2K workstation
via lpr to the print queue on the BSD box
(do a chmod 664 on the lock file in the lp-epson-raw queue, since network
LPR doesen't set the mask up properly per submitted bug)
2) Install the tools to image a printjob for the Epson, as follows:
cd /usr/ports/print/gimp-print
make WITHOUT_CUPS=yes
cd work/gimp-print-4.2.7/src/escputil
./escputil -i -u -r /dev/lpt0 (checks ink levels)
./escputil -n -u -r /dev/lpt0 (prints nozzle alignment)
(try some other commands to see if the level of support is better)
cd ../../../../
make WITHOUT_CUPS=yes install
cd ../ghostscript-gnu
make install
Deselect all the printers, leave in stp and ijs driver, as well
as all the X-windows drivers and the jpg and other image drivers.
test the ghostscript install:
cd /root
man -t which > which.ps
gs -dBATCH -sDEVICE=jpeg -sOutputFile=test.jpg which.ps
open test.jpg in a browser and see if the page is there
Now test gimpprint and ghostscript:
first manually with the command,
gs -sDEVICE=ijs -sIjsServer=/usr/local/bin/ijsgimpprint -sDeviceManufacturer
=EPSON -sDeviceModel=escp2-c84 -sIjsParams=Quality=720x360sw,InkType=CMYK
,MediaType=Plain -dIjsUseOutputFD -dNOPAUSE -dBATCH -sOutputFile=test.out
/usr/local/share/ghostscript/7.07/examples/colorcir.ps
lpr -P lp-epson-raw test.out
Create the file /usr/local/bin/epsonfilter with the following contents:
#!/bin/sh
#
# Script that runs gimp-print for the Epson
#
/usr/local/bin/gs -q -sDEVICE=ijs -sIjsServer=/usr/local/bin/ijsgimpprint -s
DeviceManufacturer=EPSON -sDeviceModel=escp2-c84 -sIjsParams=Quality=720x
360sw,InkType=CMYK,MediaType=Plain -dIjsUseOutputFD -dNOPAUSE -dNOBATCH -dSA
FER -sOutputFile=- -
test with firefox and
use the printer lpr -P lp-epson
test PS file: /usr/local/share/ghostscript/7.07/examples/colorcir.ps
This is now a real thing!!! Thank you so much for this how to!
I was wondering myself why would one need CUPS to use HPLIP but I never
had the gut to
ask anybody as I didn't want to look like an idiot. In reality the only
semi-serious document about setting HPLIP I have seen for
FreeBSD is Daniel W. Steinbrook's how to which walks you through but
doesn't explain how the things really work and why does he need CUPS.
I learned a lot from your The FreeBSD Corporate Network's Guide.
I would really love to see you personally updating chapter about
printing in the Handbook.
Chapter is well written but seems that it lacks details about filters
and drivers necessary to set printers which speak only PCL.
Most users including the University where I work do have some if not
most printers which do NOT speak Post Script. The knowledge to edit the
printcap file and how to utilize various filters seems to me as
paramount importance.
However, like probably on many other places the system administrators
choose "easy" route which is using CUPS and buying
printers that are documented to work with PPD files they can get from
Linux Printing web-site. I do not think that they have every used
foomatic rip to get PPD for a printer.
Even worse they use Ubuntu for Printer Server and they are clueless what
is really going on. At some point I was contemplating to buy
http://www.amazon.com/CUPS-Common-Printing-System-White/dp/0672321963
and try to learn how really CUPS does work.
The problem with that is that the more I learn about Unix Printing it is
less clearly to me why the hack do we need CUPS anyway. For a really
novice user I find apsfilter and running ./SETUP script far easier than
using idiotic CUPS web-tool.
Native LPD system is easy to trouble shoot, including network
printing and I am not a system administrator by profession.
Whole that mambo-jambo thing about security problems with LPD in the
past seems absurd as even my home printer servers and stations are
behind two layers of firewalls deep behind in the LAN zone.
I would really love to see you writing a book about Unix printing as
except the above book about CUPS I have not
seen a single book entirely dedicated to Unix printing. I would love to
learn from you advantages and disadvantages of common spooling systems
LPD, LPRng, CUPS, and PDQ. I would love to see comprehensive paper
explaining in the details
printing process on the printers which speak PostScript or PCL. And
trust me I did read blue and green book for Post Scrip language and are
read through HP technical notes regarding CPL release.
I would love to see comprehensive compassion of various auxiliary
filters a2ps, apsfilter, magicfilter, ifhp, foomatic and explanation how
they work. I would love to see driver comparation ghostscrip vs
gutenprint vs hplip.
I would love to see lots of examples of the printcap files which were
used on real *BSD machines in various situations network situation
including heavy network printing with various groups, priorities, and
quotas.
Maybe most people who use computers want them just to work but I
personally love to know how they do it. In detail:-)
Most Kind Regards,
Predrag Punosevac
Ted
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