On 10 Mar 2006, at 23:39, Steve Jacobs wrote: > Adobe PostScript level 2 printer. The PPD file is properly installed > > (as far as I know). > > Thanks for the suggestions. > > Still, the fact that cups reports the wrong paper sizes for the > printer suggests that it's reading the wrong ppd or the ppd contains > the wrong information. Scribus is unlikely to print very dependably > unless it gets the the right printer information from cups via the > ppd. > > If in fact there is no other ppd to try, I'd do one of these things:
At this point I' no longer positive that I have the right PPD. In fact, I can't even figure out what is installed. A search of *.ppd revealed: /etc/cups/ppd/laserjet5Si.ppd 25,431 6/25/2005 /usr/share/cups/model/HPLJ5SIM.PPD 36,762 6/25/2005 Unfortunately it would probably take me weeks of study to figure out which folder is which, whether it matters that there are two different PPD files in different folders and which one is installed in CUPS. I do know that the printer is a Laserjet 5SiMx. The "Mx" was added to the model name for printers that have the PostScript SIMM in them (as mine does). In the Windows world there are two drivers for this printer -- one is the PostScript driver and is labeled for the "Mx" printer. The other is the PCL5 driver, and is just labeled "5Si." You can install them both, and some users do. Printing to the PCL driver is frequently faster, which is important for long print jobs. This printer was designed to handle print jobs involving thousands of pages per job and taking all day to complete, so speed is frequently an issue. In my case, I bought this printer new in 1996 and it now has 2.4 million copies on it, almost all printed from Windows using the PostScript driver over ethernet. I've had the occasional problem, but nothing remotely like the mess I'm having printing to it from Linux. Let's hope it's just a PPD issue. I'm pretty sire the HPLJ5SIM.PPD file is the one currently in use. How can I verify that it is the one CUPS is using? Also, how can I find out if this is the best/latest PPD file to use? > 1. Grab a ppd (from linuxprinting.org or wherever) for some other > laserjet that describes same resolution and paper sizes. Maybe another > lj5 incarnation. I went there and after 15 minutes of reading I'm more confused than when I started. It's a typical Linux page -- gives you every detail in the world whether it's useful or not. I don't want to earn a degree in CompSci just to get my printer working in Linux. :( There was a link to a page with PPD files. I navigated to the one for the 5SiMx. But I can't download the PPD. When I select it it suddenly opens it in a page in a browser showing the text of the file. > 2. Open the ppd in a text editor, scroll down to the paper size > declarations, and manually change them to the right values. I've done > this before and it often works. Don't forget to restart cups when > you're done. I've heard of doing this. But in my case this printer is so common and so old that surely this would not be necessary. I'm serious when I say HP sold millions of these, starting about 1995. That there would not be a proper PPD file for it is inconceivable. Besides, I print to it from my Windows desktop using a PPD file that works perfectly and displays every feature without fail. The question is which is the right PPD for Linux and how to make sure it is installed. Thanks for the suggestions. :)
