On 2020-02-05 13:56, Claus Assmann wrote:
I need to buy a printer to connect to one of my OpenBSD machines
and I prefer a USB connection (as I don't control the network at
my current place). Can I just buy any USB printer or are there
printers which do not work with OpenBSD? If so, what do I need
to check / avoid?
Any suggestion for something "cheap" (to print just a few documents
as needed)? I never had to buy a printer before, so I'm not familiar
with this area -- if possible I would like to get a printer/scanner
but I have no idea what I can buy locally :-(
A HP laserjet (which was a gift but broke today) worked only with
one of my OpenBSD machines which seemingly was related to the USB
HW, using a printcap entry like this:
usb:lp=/dev/ulpt0:sd=/var/spool/output/usb:sf:sh:tr=^D:
I don't know what you need in a printer, and I don't know what you mean
by cheap, so... YMMV.
However, I've found Brother **LASER** printers to be very good, and most
of them support PCL6 and/or PS3.
For example, the HL-L2370DW can only connect via USB, and supports PCL6,
and currently sells for ~C$150-160.
Just don't try to use their MFC-* line of color printers under UNIX
(except MacOS). FWIW, if you're in a situation where you have a spare
Mac, the Mac can bridge from CUPS/PDF format to Brother proprietary
format... bit pf a pain but it works.
-Adam
