On 23 Oct 1997, J Wunsch say:
> > I'm interested in any experiences you might have had with printing to a
> > LaserJet 4M printer (serial connection) and/or a LaserJet 4M+ with a
> > JetDirect card (ethernet connection).
> Well, the JetDirect is simple. It's just like any other network
> printer, use the rm= and rp= capabilities in /etc/printcap. You can
> probably take this part over from the SunOS machine directly.
> Regarding rp=, JetDirects usually support two printer queue names:
> RAW, meaning the byte stream will be shuffled 1:1 to the printer, and
> TEXT, where LF's will be replaced by CR-LF's, so you can print plain
> text files without getting a `staggered' output.
Something I should have mentioned in the original post: we want printing
to be reasonably seamless. That is, I don't want a user to have to
understand that they need to print PostScript to one queue and text to
another. I know this is a very basic concept, but I am dealing with very
basic users. (And when it comes to this printer stuff, I'm pretty basic
myself, as you've probably noticed.)
Quote:> > What I'm really interested in is a gander and your /etc/printcap, as well
> > as the filters you're using to Make It Go.
> You need the same filters you did need on the Sun. If there were no
> filters on the Sun, you don't need any on FreeBSD.
Here's how the JetDirect printer looked in SunOS's printcap, with names
changed to protect the innocent:
printer1:\
:mx#0:lp=/var/spool/printers/printer1/.null:\
:sd=/var/spool/printers/printer1:\
:lf=/var/spool/printers/printer1/log:\
:of=/usr/lib/hpnp/hplj.of.sh:\
:if=/usr/lib/hpnp/hplj.if.sh:\
:sh:
The JetAdmin software created this output, so don't ask me to explain
it...except I do know that those of and if files are SunOS specific and
don't work on FreeBSD. To ask me exactly what they did is to reach the
boundary of my knowledge.
Quote:> Starting with FreeBSD 2.2R, we have abandoned the old bitwise serial
> munging in /etc/printcap, and it has been replaced by the `ms'
> capability which takes stty-style arguments. So, for the serial
> printer, you need something like
> :br#9600:ms=cs8,clocal,-parenb,-opost:
> (I can't tell you much more, never having operated a serial printer
> myself.)
(Just for kicks, here is the SunOS printcap entry for the serial
printer...)
# PostScript printer driven by TranScript software
# PostScript and TranScript are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated
printer2:\
:lp=/dev/ttya:sd=/var/spool/printers/printer2:\
:lf=/var/spool/printers/printer2/log:af=/usr/adm/lw.acct:\
:br#38400:rw:fc#0000374:fs#0000003:xc#0:xs#0040040:mx#0:sf:sb:\
:if=/usr/tran/sparc/lib/psif:\
:of=/usr/tran/sparc/lib/psof:gf=/usr/tran/sparc/lib/psgf:\
:nf=/usr/tran/sparc/lib/psnf:tf=/usr/tran/sparc/lib/pstf:\
:rf=/usr/tran/sparc/lib/psrf:vf=/usr/tran/sparc/lib/psvf:\
:cf=/usr/tran/sparc/lib/pscf:df=/usr/tran/sparc/lib/psdf:\
:sh:
Couldn't begin to tell you what all that tran stuff is about. It was
installed years before I got here.
I am currently working with a filter that was suggested to me by a kind
net citizen that autoselects text or ps. Haven't got it quite working
yet, but it looks very promising.
Thanks to everyone for all your help, but the brass ring still eludes me.
Jeffrey Moskot
System Administrator
by