Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

tide · Joined: 13 Aug 2010 Posts: 56

Hi all

perhaps somebody could hint out to me, what I'm not getting! Followed the instructions:

Started cups wizard

downloaded Pentax-PocketJet_II-pentaxpj.ppd
(said "works perfectly) from www.linuxfoundation.org

Copied it to usr/share/cups/model

ran the installer again and selected my printer from the drop down menu
Correctly at LPT1 too (parallel printer)

Said all fine and if I wanted to print a test page?

Sure I did but that's where nothing happened. Printer doesn't show it's receiving data and that's that.

Bit puzzled why the CUPS install page says something about:
"/usr/lib/cups/filter/foomatic-rip failed"

Printer Driver: Pentax PocketJet II Foomatic/pentaxpj (recommended)
Printer State: idle, accepting jobs, published.
Device URI: parallel:/dev/lp0

Sorry probably thick but I'm absolutely lost!

tide · Joined: 13 Aug 2010 Posts: 56

Forgot to mention: Puppy 4.2.1. running on an ex windows laptop

rcrsn51 · Posted: Tue 21 Sep 2010, 14:12 Post subject:

Contrary to popular belief, a PPD file alone is not enough to install a printer. You almost always need some additional driver software. The PPD is just a configuration file that sets up the print job.

If you follow the links at openprinting.org, you end up here with the source code for a Pentax driver.

I'll see if it can be compiled in Puppy 4.2.1.

rcrsn51 · Posted: Tue 21 Sep 2010, 14:53 Post subject:

Here is a PET for your Pentax Pocketjet II. It installs both the driver program and the PPD file.

It runs correctly under simulation so hopefully it will work with the actual printer.

[Edit] Attachment deleted. Continue reading!

tide · Joined: 13 Aug 2010 Posts: 56

Thanks for your help! It does seem that I don't get the error message anymore. Instead puppy now proudly claims to have completed the job of printing a test page. Unfortunately however my printer remains silent. I did check the connections! Should I uninstall the CUPS PPD file thingy first?

cheers

tide · Joined: 13 Aug 2010 Posts: 56

Okay, deleted the printer. Checked, then reinstalled via cups wizzard. Checked if the installed pet was ok, no problems there. Finally ran a printer dip switch self test to make sure IT was ok and it was. No communication between puppy and printer though!

rcrsn51 · Posted: Tue 21 Sep 2010, 17:14 Post subject:

The problem is that the author's documentation does not even mention CUPS. The driver is designed to work with the older LPD print spooler system.

So, in spite of the fact that openprinting.org provides a PPD file for this printer, I don't know how to get it working in Puppy.

tide · Joined: 13 Aug 2010 Posts: 56

Cheers for trying, really appreciate it! And what a shame, the pocketjet is just so useful as it's by far the smallest printer I know. Sort of fixed a 486-Laptop by unsoldering and replacing the damn CMOS battery.
Printer runs fine with anything from Win 3.x to XP, maybe even Win 7.
Seems to me that one always needs at least one windows machine for all the stuff that Linux won't do. Wishing it wasn't so!

rcrsn51 · Posted: Wed 22 Sep 2010, 13:04 Post subject:

I have sent a message to the driver's author asking if he has any CUPS-specific instructions.

tide · Joined: 13 Aug 2010 Posts: 56

Wow, thanks again! Do I feel embarrassed now Shocked

Must admit I struggle to understand what CUPS actually IS.
I mean I know what a driver is and I take it the PDD is more
of a printer definition file. Coming mainly from a Windows
background I'm feeling slightly lost at the moment.

Getting on fairly well with Puppy and certainly enjoying it but
when a PET doesn't work for whatever reason or say the
command line pops up I always feel a bit less at home!

tide · Joined: 13 Aug 2010 Posts: 56

P.S.: Seeing your thread concerning Brother printers, checked their site. Pentax is now owned by brother and while the PJII/PJ200 is an obsolete model they now sell the newer PJ III range (USB/IfR and Bluetooth). Unfortunately none of them comes with Linux drivers though.

rcrsn51 · Posted: Wed 22 Sep 2010, 21:33 Post subject:

Courtesy of the pentaxpj driver's author here, we may have a solution. This method does not involve installing a CUPS printer - printing will be done from the command line.

1. Install the PET below. Unlike the previous PET, it does not change CUPS.

2. When you want to print from an application, look for an option called "Print to File". This setting has different names, depending on the application. You want Postscript format. Name the file something like "output.ps"

3. The file will be created in /root. To test it, click on the file and open it in the PDF viewer program.

4. Open a terminal window in /root by pressing the back-tick key above the Tab key. Type:

tide · Joined: 13 Aug 2010 Posts: 56

That's great news! Just tried it with a simple text file and it works.
Entered the terminal, typed "pentax etc.ps" and that's it. It's probably not the most convenient way but suits me fine. No problem at all with printing to file first as long as I ultimately get things to the printer. This really is quite a leap forward for me in Puppy usability. A million thanks!

One last question though: the back tick thingy doesn't work on my keyboard, takes
Shift to do a back tick but that doesn't seem to cut the mustard with puppy. Easy enough to right click an select it from the drop down menu but a lot of keyboard shortcuts don't seem to work.

Anyways: great to have the printer working!

tide · Joined: 13 Aug 2010 Posts: 56

It seems I can't print pictures at all and PDF files can't be printed to file. That's odd.

tide · Joined: 13 Aug 2010 Posts: 56

Good news: I CAN print PDF files. Open terminal in folder and type:

pentax file.pdf

doesn't work with jpg though