Re: [Freedos-user] Print via USB / deprecate or improve PRINT queue tools?
I wrote: My main workhorse is a Dell OptiPlex GX270 running Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS. That is incorrect. My Linux PC is a Dell XPS 8300. -- members.iinet.net.au/~kilgallin/ ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Print via USB / deprecate or improve PRINT queue tools?
Thanks, Frank: Bryan says he's got a Linux computer. My main workhorse is a Dell OptiPlex GX270 running Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS. I also have networked a Lenovo Thinkpad L430, also running Ubuntu. A printer that natively understand PCL3 ... will commonly understand plain text. I'll ask around for ancient printers. -- members.iinet.net.au/~kilgallin/ ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Print via USB / deprecate or improve PRINT queue tools?
Thanks, Adam:
It's worse than that. I've tried to get many different printers
working under Linux (which generally has pretty good hardware support)
and it turns out that a lot of manufacturers cut corners on their
devices and don't support standard print protocols like PostScript or
PCL, and instead use a lightweight translation layer to pass the
drawing calls in the Windows API over to the hardware.
I've read that my Brother HL-3150CDN laser printer only does GDI!
It basically means there are a number of (usually cheap) printers out
there that will only work under Windows.
Ubuntu Linux prints to it OK. But apparently not my old PC running FreeDOS!
If you can find a modern printer that supports both
PostScript and PCL, there's a fair chance that you can still get a
parallel port interface adapter for it too so you won't need the USB
drivers anyway.
So what is a purchasable printer suitable for printing from FreeDOS on
bare-metal?
They're usually aimed at industrial/point-of-sale type
users where the modern equipment still all uses the traditional
interfaces.
I suppose something like this could list text.
{This is a thermal printer like you would find on a cash register or
adding machine. It will print simple strings passed to it via TTL
serial, bitmap images (poorly) and it can generate several different
formats of barcodes. This model can even print QR Codes!
The thermal printer takes 2.25" (57mm) wide thermal paper with a max
roll diameter of 1.5" (39mm). Thermal paper is inexpensive and commonly
found in most office supply stores in 85ft lengths. You may have to
remove some paper from these rolls in order for it to fit into the
printer. But, you can always use the excess paper in the printer, since
you don’t need to have a ‘core’ in the paper for it to work.
The back panel has 2 3-pin connectors; one for power and one for serial
communications. The thermal printer ships with default 19200bps baud rate.}
https://www.littlebird.com.au/products/thermal-printer-84b894b4-36b0-4928-a565-421143317622
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Re: [Freedos-user] Print via USB / deprecate or improve PRINT queue tools?
On Tue, Apr 20, 2021 at 10:23 AM Eric Auer wrote: > >> I have just connected my Brother HL-3150CDN laser printer to my Dell>> > >> OptiPlex GX270. > > I used the FreeDOS "print" command, unembellished. > > That is only needed for background printing. A more straightforward > way is to send the printer data to the printer port: COPY x.txt PRN > or COPY x.pdf LPT1 or similar. The PRINT command installed as a resident TSR. It provided the earliest example I am aware of of time slicing under DOS. (If memory serves, you could specify the number of foreground and background ticks for fine tuning. I believe the default was 6 and 2.) It was intended to ease the lives of folks doing writing they needed to print, like secretaries, so they didn't have to stop and sit in their hands waiting for a print job to finish before they could work again. Programmers disassembled MS's code to see how they did that, and a new class of TSR got created. I ran the MKS Toolkit under DOS, which provided the most complete implementation of all the Unix commands that made sense in a single taking environment. When I was booted in the Toolkit, I could use Korn shell aliases and shell functions to duplicate the functionally of the unix lp command, including adding, stopping, and deleting print jobs. Fun. :-) ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Print via USB / deprecate or improve PRINT queue tools?
Thanks, Eric: And actually it could work better to use the NETWORK for printing, because DOS (wired LAN) network drivers are more evolved than DOS USB drivers and you can use DOS versions of NETCAT or other tools to copy the contents you want to print to the IP and port of your printer as hopefully listed in your printer documentation or visible in some status information screen when you print from Linux I gather that Ethernet is a better bet than USB. Please try via network, or load USB drivers. Now I understand that I need to visit a friend with a Windows PC, in order to get an NDIS driver for DOS! -- members.iinet.net.au/~kilgallin/ ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Print via USB / deprecate or improve PRINT queue tools?
On 20 Apr 2021 at 10:49, Ralf Quint wrote: > If you are talking laser printers, then that might exclude printers > that are Postscript only, as they require some software on the > computer side to translate plain text into a Postscript data stream > that the printer understands. Not such a big deal for simple text > files, I have written such a tool in the past in less than an > afternoon, but it is still an additional step to be taken, unless you > are printing from a DOS application that by itself is capable of > printing in Postscript (AFAIK, both Word for DOS and WordPerfect for > DOS come with Postscript printer drivers). > Bryan says he's got a Linux computer. I've never seen a build of "mpage" for MS-DOS, but I recall old howto's for lpd / printcap and using scripts as filters. I'd just set up an extra queue for plain ASCII input and use a2ps or mpage to convert on the fly into postscript. > A printer that natively understand PCL3 ... will commonly understand plain > text. > thanks for correcting me, my memory is flakey :-) Frank ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Print via USB / deprecate or improve PRINT queue tools?
On 4/20/2021 8:24 AM, Adam Nielsen via Freedos-user wrote: I believe you have to install DOS USB drivers first. It's worse than that. I've tried to get many different printers working under Linux (which generally has pretty good hardware support) and it turns out that a lot of manufacturers cut corners on their devices and don't support standard print protocols like PostScript or PCL, and instead use a lightweight translation layer to pass the drawing calls in the Windows API over to the hardware. It basically means there are a number of (usually cheap) printers out there that will only work under Windows. Correct. So even if you do manage to get USB drivers, chances are slim you can get it to print. If you can find a modern printer that supports both PostScript and PCL, there's a fair chance that you can still get a parallel port interface adapter for it too so you won't need the USB drivers anyway. They're usually aimed at industrial/point-of-sale type users where the modern equipment still all uses the traditional interfaces. If you are talking laser printers, then that might exclude printers that are Postscript only, as they require some software on the computer side to translate plain text into a Postscript data stream that the printer understands. Not such a big deal for simple text files, I have written such a tool in the past in less than an afternoon, but it is still an additional step to be taken, unless you are printing from a DOS application that by itself is capable of printing in Postscript (AFAIK, both Word for DOS and WordPerfect for DOS come with Postscript printer drivers). A printer that natively understand PCL3 (PCL5 or PCL6 is nowadays not a sure thing of support anymore, specially on non-HP printers) will commonly understand plain text and can be used just fine, as long as you can physically connect it... Ralf -- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Print via USB / deprecate or improve PRINT queue tools?
> I believe you have to install DOS USB drivers first. It's worse than that. I've tried to get many different printers working under Linux (which generally has pretty good hardware support) and it turns out that a lot of manufacturers cut corners on their devices and don't support standard print protocols like PostScript or PCL, and instead use a lightweight translation layer to pass the drawing calls in the Windows API over to the hardware. It basically means there are a number of (usually cheap) printers out there that will only work under Windows. So even if you do manage to get USB drivers, chances are slim you can get it to print. If you can find a modern printer that supports both PostScript and PCL, there's a fair chance that you can still get a parallel port interface adapter for it too so you won't need the USB drivers anyway. They're usually aimed at industrial/point-of-sale type users where the modern equipment still all uses the traditional interfaces. Cheers, Adam. ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Print via USB / deprecate or improve PRINT queue tools?
On 20 Apr 2021 at 16:21, Eric Auer wrote: > > Hi Bryan, > > I believe you have to install DOS USB drivers first. And actually it > could work better to use the NETWORK for printing, because DOS (wired > LAN) network drivers are more evolved than DOS USB drivers and you can > use DOS versions of NETCAT or other tools to copy the contents you > want to print to the IP and port of your printer as hopefully listed > in your printer documentation or visible in some status information > screen when you print from Linux :-) > Eric has cracked it :-) There appears to be a version of Netcat for DOS, even including an example of how to copy a file to the printer: https://www.brutman.com/mTCP/mTCP_Netcat.html It requires just a packet driver for your NIC. So if printing into a file and copying that by an extra command is not a problem, there's your solution Bryan... Frank ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Print via USB / deprecate or improve PRINT queue tools?
Hi Bryan, I believe you have to install DOS USB drivers first. And actually it could work better to use the NETWORK for printing, because DOS (wired LAN) network drivers are more evolved than DOS USB drivers and you can use DOS versions of NETCAT or other tools to copy the contents you want to print to the IP and port of your printer as hopefully listed in your printer documentation or visible in some status information screen when you print from Linux :-) >> I have just connected my Brother HL-3150CDN laser printer to my Dell>> >> OptiPlex GX270. > I used the FreeDOS "print" command, unembellished. That is only needed for background printing. A more straightforward way is to send the printer data to the printer port: COPY x.txt PRN or COPY x.pdf LPT1 or similar. > The FreeDOS PC monitor listed the following line at the end of > information after I unsuccessfully attempted to print. > >> "Device to direct Print [PRN=0]". This message seems to have the purpose of giving feedback regarding which output device the background printing tool PRINT is using. Unfortunately, there is no PRINT.TXT and only a PRINT.ASM about James Tabor's PRINT 1.02 tool, but it seems to support only: PRINT /1 file.txt Which means "send file.txt to LPT1 in the background" where you can also use /2 or /3 to use LPT2 or LPT3 instead. The MS PRINT tool would also support /S:ticks /M:ticks /U:ticks /Q:count /B:size and /D:device. For things which MS PRINT would support directly, you need the separate PRINTQ tool in FreeDOS: Clear the queue or add more files to the queue later. The whole toolkit seems to be rather minimal in FreeDOS, probably because printing things in the BACKGROUND has been a rarely used feature in the last decade. This tool could use a lot of improvement, but maybe we could just warn people that it is not really necessary and the current tool version is only the most minimal implementation of the feature. > I expect that no data went to the printer. I agree, in particular if you have not loaded USB drivers. >> What do I need to do? Please try via network, or load USB drivers. Also, please use COPY filename LPT1 or COPY filename PRN or similar instead of using PRINT: Background printing adds complexity and gives you less clear view on potential transfer errors. Regards, Eric > http://wiki.freedos.org/wiki/index.php/Printer PS: PRINTQ is a small public domain tool by Robert Mashlan to add or cancel files on PRINT (MS, FreeDOS, etc.) print queues. ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
