MDL 10 and X125 with latest foomatic packages
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I installed the Cooker rpm packages for this month, but I am still trying to figure exeactly how this is suppose to be used to print to the Lexmark X125. The printer is detected in CUPS just fine, but if I attempt to print a test page. I am not seeing anything in the print que ?? Now I may be expecting to much at first, but I am also not sure exactly what the process is to get the printer to work correctly, I think there should a some sort of HowTo on exactly how this is suppose to work. I did read the above posts, so at least I am starting to get an idea now. Is the goals to have the printer install and work as any other printer should in Linux, or is it going to remain all being done from a terminal in order to print ? Thanks. At least someone is making an effort to get a driver out there, great job and keep it coming :)
Hi Relic,
The goal is to have the driver work out-of-the-box like any other driver. Unfortunately, the X125 needs a different spooler than the default spooler which makes it more difficult to configure (the printer requires bi-directional communication or it gets a buffer overflow).
The only Linux system I have is Red Hat 9 with LPRng so that was the only system I had to test with.
I'm trying to learn how SuSE, Mandrake and Fedora work and how they differ from Red Hat. I've learned that if I can write a CUPS driver instead of an LPRng I can support more Linux distributions out-of-the-box. However, CUPS is more involved and without a test system and with a work schedule that is getting busier this time of year (JavaOne is approaching) I'm finding it difficult to find the time.
I can install CUPS on my Red Hat 9, and I have started reading how CUPS works. Eventually I've got to do this because I want to upgrade to Fedora.
Many of the posts here offer various workarounds until the CUPS driver is working. Until then, I'm more than happy to accept code or advice from the community.
Various people have offered to write a HOWTO but I've only received one and it was for Red Hat 9 / LPRng and an earlier version of the driver. I'd like it to be updated before I post it.
- Mark
Yepper, I am in the same boat now with Mandrake, they no longer come with LPRng, they have strickly gone Cups now. So trying to find and install the LPRng packages is a pain in the buttocks !! I will continue to follow everything on the forums here. I will also provide input on any changes to the drivers that are being made. Cheers
I forgot to mention ... that it is hard to find where to specify for Cups, to use the /dev/null printer que. I did check some of the conf files in /etc/cups/*.conf files.
The reason you need to specify /dev/null for the LPRng driver is because LPRng does not support a separate spooler. The standard spooler just sends data to the port without reading anything. This will cause the X125 to lock up after about 1 page of data. In order to override the default spooler (which causes the printer to lock up due to a buffer overflow) I combine my own custom spooler with the driver and then tell the standard spooler to send to /dev/null.
CUPS is more advanced and allows for a separate spooler, so it's the right way to go in the long run. However, it cannot be tricked (as far as I can tell) into using no spooler, like LPRng can. The current driver will not work with CUPS unless you can figure out a way to use no separate spooler. A CUPS driver will have to be written.
- Mark