Subject: Re: No response when do lptest > /dev/ulpt0...anything else to try?
To: None <netbsd-help@netbsd.org>
From: Mark Tamola <marktam264@hotmail.com>
List: netbsd-help
Date: 03/08/2005 08:54:36
Thank you all for your kind suggestions.  However, I'm still unable to 
print.

I installed cups, per someone else's suggestions.  Using pksrc, I installed 
the cups, cupsomatic, and cupsomatic-ppds packages (in that order).  I then 
copied the example cupsd rc.d script to /etc/rc.d, and did a /etc/rc.d/cupsd 
start.  It complained about $cupsd not set correctly, so I modified 
/etc/rc.conf and added "cupsd=YES".  I then did a /etc/rc.d/restart, and it 
started cupsd with no error messages/warnings.  I then opened up firefox and 
got onto localhost:631 to connect to the cups web admin server.  I began to 
configure my printer, but found that the driver for my printer, an HP PSC 
1350 All-in-one, was not in the list.  So, I went onto www.linuxprinting.org 
and found the .PPD file for the HP PSC 1310, which was the closest one I 
could find.  I stuck the .PPD file in /usr/pkg/share/cups/model/HP.  I 
restarted cupsd and re-logged onto the cupsd web admin server.  I was now 
able to find the new driver for my printer, and so I selected it and 
completed setting up the printer.

Now, the printer was fully installed and configured with cups (I think).  So 
I proceeded to try a test page and...nothing.  No lights blinking, no paper 
cranking, no response.

I'm pretty sure the problems I'm experiencing are at a NetBSD driver level, 
as I can't even do a "cat textfile.txt > /dev/ulpt0".  It seems to me that 
the problem isn't even at the cups level, so I don't think it should even 
matter whether I use apsfilter, magicfilter, cups, LPRng, etc. so I don't 
think it would benefit me to go down the list trying each one.  I SHOULD be 
able to do a "lptest > /dev/ulpt0" or something really low level like that, 
so what's the deal?

-Mark

>From: Pavel Cahyna <pavel.cahyna@st.cuni.cz>
>To: Gary Thorpe <gathorpe79@yahoo.com>, 
>netbsd-help@netbsd.org,marktam264@hotmail.com
>Subject: Re: No response when do lptest > /dev/ulpt0...anything else to 
>try?
>Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 11:04:33 +0100
>
>On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 13:06:20 -0500, Gary Thorpe wrote:
>
> >
> > --- Mark Tamola <marktam264@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >> How do I set up the printer properly? If I can't even do a "cat
> >> file.txt >
> >> /dev/ulpt0", I don't know what else to try.
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >>
> >> -Mark
> >
> > I think this would only work with much older printers from the MS-DOS
> > era (most now would use PCL, postscript or some other high level
> > lanaguge to communicate with the PC). You will most likely have to use
> > ghostscript (or something else) to convert the output of lptest into a
> > format the printer will understand and then send that to /dev/ulpt0
> > (this is assuming nothing is actually wrong with the printer or the
> > driver) to get some results.
>
>I don't know what lptest do, but "cat file.txt > /dev/ulpt0" should work,
>as long as the file ends with a Form Feed (^L) character. In my
>experience, PCL laser printers can print ordinary text files, but don't
>output the page until it's completely full or a Form Feed is received.
>
>Bye	Pavel
>