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Now I have input, I need output.

Started by rdonnelly, 2008.11.07, 23:55:42

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rdonnelly

Thanks Pete, I have some reading to do, I will give it a try when I get some free time.

Bob
Just waiting for eCS to have all the features................

rdonnelly

Well I visited the excellent web page: http://svn.netlabs.org/ecups/wiki/HowTo

Cups Website
http://localhost:631/

Add Printer

Name OkiC5510MFP
Location Office
Description Laser Printer

Continue

Device C5510 192.168.15.103 (C5510)
I selected this device, because it matched and had same IP

continue

Model
Their is no driver for this device, I picked
Generic PCL 6/PCL XL LF Printer-Cups+Gutenprint v5.2.0-beta3 Simplified (en)

Add Printer

Configure printer (poor match for my printer)

Click on OkiC5510MFP and go to printers page

Print Test Page

Nothing Happened

When I change the device to:
lpd://192.168.15.103/

Print test page

The printer initializes then throws a data error

So far, things are not going well. I have a $1500.00US printer that wont print off of my $200.00 OS  :-\
Just waiting for eCS to have all the features................

rdonnelly

#17
Well, this is what eCS support had to say about using this printer:

(0006065) Joachim (administrator) - 2008-11-17 23:49
http://bugs.ecomstation.nl/view.php?id=2272#6065
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If this is a GDI printer it is (almost) impossible to support, as all
intelligence is in the (windows) driver and not the printer itself. There
is no way for us to support that. If you can find a PPD (I found one for
an Oki C5550 MFP) then it should be possible to get it to work with Cups.

So, does any one know what  EXACT uri I should be using for this machine? It is a network printer on IP address 192.168.15.103
Dual booting to windoze is getting kind of old.

TIA Bob
Just waiting for eCS to have all the features................

warpcafe

Hi Bob,

I searched the OKI specs for the C5510MFP:
http://www.oki.co.uk/fcgi-bin/public.fcgi?cid=125&pid=5&prid=536&pdflag=1

This thing is a GDI printer, meaning it does not support any PCL or PS commands. This also explains why there is no Linux or Mac printer driver for it. You will never make it run on eCS unless someone figures out a windows printer driver "wrapper" a la GenMac for NICs... I don't think we'll see that in the near future.

Only because it's a network printer it doesn't mean that this solves driver problems. As you said: You ARE able to send data to the printer - but it won't understand it.
Interestingly, it seems that the C5550MFP *HAS* PCL6 and PS support. That also explains why Joachim said "I found a C5550 driver". I didn't follow that thread from the start, forgive me if you already told, but: Is there any chance for you to return that printer and go for a C5550 instead?

BTW: GDI printing is one of the most crappy inventions ever made, as it puts the processing requirements  into your PC instead of the printer (the opposite of what one would expect from a "peripheral" device). If you take a look at some differences between GDI and "real" printers, you can see what it boils down to:
- GDI printers are cheaper in most cases
- GDI printers come with a lot more memory
- GDI printers support windows only

What this means (and where it comes from):
- no PCL or PS "licensing" required, no compatibility with it needed (dunno if there is a licensing for it at all)
- not much intelligence is in the driver as the windows GDI API functions ("screen") are used for printing too
- raw data from GDI is sent to printer instead of "printer control" commands (-> needs more printer RAM)
I think of GDI printing like a simple swap of the device context from screen to print while using the same GDI routines. Not sure if that comes close but that's what my understanding is...

If my understandding is more or less correct, the interesting question then would be:
If someone makes the same thing for the Presentation Manager GDI calls... would this give us almost instant GDI support in OS/2 and eComStation?
But this is something for people with more tech insight into windows and OS/2 driver and GDI stuff.

And BTW: CUPS isn't actually a printer driver but more of a spooler. At least that is what Peter Koller told me during side-talks at Warpstopck Europe. I guess he's quite renowned for having at least SOME expertise in matters of graphics... ;) He's got an OKI color laser printer too BTW... I am not sure but think that he is thinking about digging into these ever-ongoing printing (driver) problems using an entirely different approach. Unfortunately while sounding very promising, the idea would mean a huge amount of work... with no guarantee that it will do a specific job...

Really sorry to tell bad news...
Cheers,
Thomas
"It is not worth an intelligent man's time to be in the majority.
By definition, there are already enough people to do that"
- G.H. Hardy

Michel

I don't know if the C5510 printer is supported, but there's a Linux driver foo2hiperc for Okidata's hiper-c protocol, see http://foo2hiperc.rkkda.com

Works for me in Ubuntu (Oki C5200).

You need to build this driver for OS/2 and configure eCups, maybe Paul Smedley can help you.

Michel

rdonnelly

Quote from: warpcafe on 2008.11.20, 10:37:45
Hi Bob,

I searched the OKI specs for the C5510MFP:
http://www.oki.co.uk/fcgi-bin/public.fcgi?cid=125&pid=5&prid=536&pdflag=1

Really sorry to tell bad news...
Cheers,
Thomas

Thomas, thanks for telling me the real story, as Joachim said, there is no OS2 support for this thing, I am going to totally give up on using cups. I had this printer for 3 plus years, so there is no returning it, and being a high end printer I dont expect it to die any time soon. I went through 3 or 4 MFPs before getting this one.

And to everyone else that helped. Thank You

Bob

Just waiting for eCS to have all the features................

rdonnelly

Quote from: Michel on 2008.11.20, 13:27:57
I don't know if the C5510 printer is supported, but there's a Linux driver foo2hiperc for Okidata's hiper-c protocol, see http://foo2hiperc.rkkda.com

Works for me in Ubuntu (Oki C5200).

You need to build this driver for OS/2 and configure eCups, maybe Paul Smedley can help you.

Michel


Mciheal, That all looks good, I see they take contributions for development, I would gladly pay for a driver if some one would develop it. But I dont even see GDI on that web site. I will inquire at the page contact.

Thanks for helping.
Just waiting for eCS to have all the features................

warpcafe

Hi Michel,

Quote from: Michel on 2008.11.20, 13:27:57
I don't know if the C5510 printer is supported, but there's a Linux driver foo2hiperc for Okidata's hiper-c protocol, see http://foo2hiperc.rkkda.com

Works for me in Ubuntu (Oki C5200).

You need to build this driver for OS/2 and configure eCups, maybe Paul Smedley can help you.

...this is indeed intersting news.
According to the specs page, the C5200 does not support PS or PCL... but "enhanced windows printing" which smells like a customized GDI... however they claim there is a Mac OSX capable printer for it, which in turn would mean that Linux is supported, hence the Ubuntu hiperc looks promising.

As I am not too savvy about porting Linux, surely Paul Smedley would be my first guess. And (@all) you could think about dropping in a bounty for it (but I would suggest you talk to Paul first...).

Either other way, if there will be a hiper-c driver for OS/2 (or CUPS) then be aware that this will be somthing that "only" supports OKI's proprietary protocol, which I doubt is used in a whole lot of their printer models, perhaps not even the C5510... (if that is a usual Windows GDI). But on the other hand, perhaps the C5510 also understands hiper-c and the drivers simply wraps GDI to hiper-c... who knows...

Cheers,
Thomas
"It is not worth an intelligent man's time to be in the majority.
By definition, there are already enough people to do that"
- G.H. Hardy

Michel

Bob,

GDI (Graphics Device Interface) is just the name of a set of drawing functions in Windows.

The foo2hiperc driver basically translates a postscript file to the printer's native raw data format (hiper-c).

So eCUPS has to be configured to generate postscript output and then use this driver to generate the printer data.

I hope this clarifies a bit

Michel

rdonnelly

Guys, all I want to do, is install a driver and print, just like I used to do with IBM OS/2.

I will talk to Paul Smedley, and will see about putting up a bounty. Or, I may just buy an HP Laserjet, or some other brand of OS/2 supported printer, this may be the cheapest solution. I see them on Ebay pretty cheap. But I would love to be able to use my current Oki, that was going to replace all the cheapo printers that I have replaced over the years.
Just waiting for eCS to have all the features................

RobertM

#25
On a related note, Heartland America, in it's last mailer, was selling a wide format HP inkjet (HP Deskjet 9800), decent resolution and... well, wide format. But here's the wonderfully interesting part. "Compatible with Microsoft Windows 95 and higher, Mac OS 10.x and higher, Linux, UNIX, OS/2, PalmOS and more."

;D

It's online too...
Heartland HP 9800

Kinda neat - and odd - seeing a printer in a current advertisement mentioning OS/2.

Rob


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Kirk's 5 Year Mission Continues at:
Star Trek New Voyages
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Pete

Hi Rob

Interesting.

Of course if you check the available HP supplied drivers for that model you will find linux, mac osx and many variations on a Windows theme - no mention of OS/2 or PalmOS though.

I would suggest that you contact the retailer and get confirmation of driver availability - you will probably find that if anyone is capable of answering it is because someone has informed them that the printer works with an older model driver from the OMNI driver package.

As there is a linux "driver" there is a chance the printer will work with CUPS - might take a little effort though.

Regards

Pete

RobertM

Hi Pete,

It is a simple PCL3 printer apparently. It is supported (according to an older or buried HP page) by the IBM OmniDriver...

This information is buried here when you scroll down to the compatibility matrix:
HP Deskjet 9800 Driver Page (old/more detailed one)

Looks like Heartland did their homework. I had to do a search on Google for the specific printer and OS/2 driver to find it.

Rob


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Kirk's 5 Year Mission Continues at:
Star Trek New Voyages
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Pete

Hi Robert

As I guessed it uses an older printer driver from the OMNI package - but which printer driver would you select as there is no mention of Deskjet 9800 in the OMNI package?

Not quite as straightforward as you thought, maybe  :-)

Regards

Pete

rdonnelly

Well guys, I just installed Linux Mint, install took less then a 1/2 hour in a single phase. I do not even know Linux yet, and I easily set up my "Impossible to print from GDI WinPrinter" in less then 5 minutes and printed a test page! This OS went in easier and faster than any OS I ever installed besides Dos. It had no complaints about drivers, or HD partitioning. I always felt intimidated by Linux. But Mint is sweet, and free.

Any ways it gave me a choice of network or USB printing, It printed using cups v1.3.x.
Interpreter Information, Postscript: Level 3, Version: 3010 (861), Product: GPL Ghostscript, Serial #:42

Well, this means printing GDI in OS/2 is possible with cups and some configuring.

Just waiting for eCS to have all the features................