Hans - 2004-03-12

Intro
-----------

This is a workaround how to use the Lexmark X125 printer driver without a functional printqueue setup like CUPS or LPRng, which seems to be a major problem, avoiding the necessity to type shell commands to initiate the printout.

This solution will permit the launch of postscript file prints with hotkey keyboard commands. It should be possible to achieve prints from any application which is able to primarily "print" to a postscript .ps file in the print options.

Assumption:

You have successfully installed Mark Roths Lexmark X125 driver version 0.2.2 or later. Sucessfully means it's stored in a directory somewhere, most likely in /usr/bin or /usr/local/bin and you are able to successfully launch prints of postscript files on the commandline by calling the driver executable with the respective options as described in Marks setup readme:

> /[path to]/x125_cmyk_print.sh letter 600 /dev/usb/lp0 k 1 < /[path to]/print.ps (example for 600 dpi black, bidirectional)

Well, this example assumes that there is an existing postscript file called print.ps at the location /[path to]/. You get the idea. If you find that you can print with this command as root but not as user, make the driver file executable to the world (everyone) by switching to the directory of the driver and type:

> chmod a+rw x125_cmyk_print.sh

as root.

If this doesn' t work for you, try to fix it first. You won't be able to set up the hotkey commands if you fail at this stage.

Setup instructions
------------------------------

You will need to download and install the program "XBindKeys" from source. It can be found at:

     http://hocwp.free.fr/xbindkeys/xbindkeys.html

Download the file

    http://hocwp.free.fr/xbindkeys/xbindkeys-1.7.1.tar.gz

Follow the very good setup instructions on the site to install and configure xbindkeys.

Copy a default configuration file ".xbindkeysrc" to your user home directory according to the instructions given.
(If you cant see the file in your browser, dont forget to enable the "show hidden files" option.)

Open a texteditor like Kate (in KDE), open the .xbindkeysrc file and copy the following lines to the bottom:

#-------------------------------------------
# Lexmark X-125 hotkey setup
#-------------------------------------------
#
#Print black 300 dpi, PageSize a4 (Draft)
"cat /home/[user]/print.ps | /[path]/x125_cmyk_print.sh a4 300 /[path to printer device] k 1"
   Control + p

#Print black 600 dpi, PageSize a4
"cat /home/[user]/print.ps | /[path]/x125_cmyk_print.sh a4 600 /[path to printer device] k 1"
   Alt + p

#Print color 600 dpi, PageSize a4
"cat /home/[user]/print.ps | /[path]/x125_cmyk_print.sh a4 600 /[path to printer device] cmyk 1"
   Control+Alt + p
#
#-------------------------------------------

Edit the commands so they fit your local environment:

[user]    your valid account username, pointing to your /home directory
[path]     The path to the x125 printer driver (most likely /user/bin or /usr/local/bin)
[path to printer device]    most likely /dev/usb/lp0 if the printer is connected to the first USB-port.

You can, of course, also choose another pagesize than a4 by substituting "a4" with another format, f.e. "letter".

Save the file, open a shell and start xbindkeys running in the background:

    >xbindkeys &

Youre now ready to run. If you want to print, you have to create a postscript printfile /home/[user]/print.ps from the printing environment of any given application. Make sure it always writes the output to the specified file. (If a file "print.ps" is present from a previous printout, you will be prompted to confirm "overwrite file?", I havent found a workaround to avoid this.) If you have done this you can now pass on the the printjob to the X125 by hitting

Control-p    for a 300 dpi black draft printout
Alt-p        for a 600 dpi black printout
Control-Alt-p    for a 600 dpi color printout

without having to leave the application and open a shell to type a command.

Voila!

If you have understood the principles of this setup you can of course tweak this to your own taste, f.e.:

- apply other hotkey combinations
- add other print options (resolution, pagesizes) and bind them to additional hotkeys

If you dont integrate the xbindkey program launch in your xsession startup procedure, dont forget to restart xbindkeys after a reboot of your system.

Thats it. This may be a solution which isnt exactly to be called "elegant" but I think its quite usable if you havent yet managed to set up a functional LPRng printqueue with the X125 driver. It should be good enough to serve as a workaround and give you a brake until you give it another try to get the queue running. (As it does for me. Unfortunately some people want to WORK with their boxes instead of fighting with them. :) :)

Comments and questions are appreciated. Post here or mail to: hans.linde@t-online.de

Hans Linde
(Germany)

PS: You dont need this if you want to print from OpenOffice. See my OpenOffice Tutorial in this forum.

Intro
-----------

This is a workaround how to use the Lexmark X125 printer driver without a functional printqueue setup like CUPS or LPRng, which seems to be a major problem, avoiding the necessity to type shell commands to initiate the printout.

This solution will permit the launch of postscript file prints with hotkey keyboard commands. It should be possible to achieve prints from any application which is able to primarily "print" to a postscript .ps file in the print options.

Assumption:

You have successfully installed Mark Roths Lexmark X125 driver version 0.2.2 or later. Sucessfully means it's stored in a directory somewhere, most likely in /usr/bin or /usr/local/bin and you are able to successfully launch prints of postscript files on the commandline by calling the driver executable with the respective options as described in Marks setup readme:

> /[path to]/x125_cmyk_print.sh letter 600 /dev/usb/lp0 k 1 < /[path to]/print.ps (example for 600 dpi black, bidirectional)

Well, this example assumes that there is an existing postscript file called print.ps at the location /[path to]/. You get the idea. If you find that you can print with this command as root but not as user, make the driver file executable to the world (everyone) by switching to the directory of the driver and type:

> chmod a+rw x125_cmyk_print.sh

as root.

If this doesn' t work for you, try to fix it first. You won't be able to set up the hotkey commands if you fail at this stage.

Setup instructions
------------------------------

You will need to download and install the program "XBindKeys" from source. It can be found at:

     http://hocwp.free.fr/xbindkeys/xbindkeys.html

Download the file

    http://hocwp.free.fr/xbindkeys/xbindkeys-1.7.1.tar.gz

Follow the very good setup instructions on the site to install and configure xbindkeys.

Copy a default configuration file ".xbindkeysrc" to your user home directory according to the instructions given.
(If you cant see the file in your browser, dont forget to enable the "show hidden files" option.)

Open a texteditor like Kate (in KDE), open the .xbindkeysrc file and copy the following lines to the bottom:

#-------------------------------------------
# Lexmark X-125 hotkey setup
#-------------------------------------------
#
#Print black 300 dpi, PageSize a4 (Draft)
"cat /home/[user]/print.ps | /[path]/x125_cmyk_print.sh a4 300 /[path to printer device] k 1"
   Control + p

#Print black 600 dpi, PageSize a4
"cat /home/[user]/print.ps | /[path]/x125_cmyk_print.sh a4 600 /[path to printer device] k 1"
   Alt + p

#Print color 600 dpi, PageSize a4
"cat /home/[user]/print.ps | /[path]/x125_cmyk_print.sh a4 600 /[path to printer device] cmyk 1"
   Control+Alt + p
#
#-------------------------------------------

Edit the commands so they fit your local environment:

[user]    your valid account username, pointing to your /home directory
[path]     The path to the x125 printer driver (most likely /user/bin or /usr/local/bin)
[path to printer device]    most likely /dev/usb/lp0 if the printer is connected to the first USB-port.

You can, of course, also choose another pagesize than a4 by substituting "a4" with another format, f.e. "letter".

Save the file, open a shell and start xbindkeys running in the background:

    >xbindkeys &

Youre now ready to run. If you want to print, you have to create a postscript printfile /home/[user]/print.ps from the printing environment of any given application. Make sure it always writes the output to the specified file. (If a file "print.ps" is present from a previous printout, you will be prompted to confirm "overwrite file?", I havent found a workaround to avoid this.) If you have done this you can now pass on the the printjob to the X125 by hitting

Control-p    for a 300 dpi black draft printout
Alt-p        for a 600 dpi black printout
Control-Alt-p    for a 600 dpi color printout

without having to leave the application and open a shell to type a command.

Voila!

If you have understood the principles of this setup you can of course tweak this to your own taste, f.e.:

- apply other hotkey combinations
- add other print options (resolution, pagesizes) and bind them to additional hotkeys

If you dont integrate the xbindkey program launch in your xsession startup procedure, dont forget to restart xbindkeys after a reboot of your system.

Thats it. This may be a solution which isnt exactly to be called "elegant" but I think its quite usable if you havent yet managed to set up a functional LPRng printqueue with the X125 driver. It should be good enough to serve as a workaround and give you a brake until you give it another try to get the queue running. (As it does for me. Unfortunately some people want to WORK with their boxes instead of fighting with them. :) :)

Comments and questions are appreciated. Post here or mail to: hans.linde@t-online.de

Hans Linde
(Germany)

PS: You dont need this if you want to print from OpenOffice. See my OpenOffice Tutorial in this forum.

Intro
-----------

This is a workaround how to use the Lexmark X125 printer driver without a functional printqueue setup like CUPS or LPRng, which seems to be a major problem, avoiding the necessity to type shell commands to initiate the printout.

This solution will permit the launch of postscript file prints with hotkey keyboard commands. It should be possible to achieve prints from any application which is able to primarily "print" to a postscript .ps file in the print options.

Assumption:

You have successfully installed Mark Roths Lexmark X125 driver version 0.2.2 or later. Sucessfully means it's stored in a directory somewhere, most likely in /usr/bin or /usr/local/bin and you are able to successfully launch prints of postscript files on the commandline by calling the driver executable with the respective options as described in Marks setup readme:

> /[path to]/x125_cmyk_print.sh letter 600 /dev/usb/lp0 k 1 < /[path to]/print.ps (example for 600 dpi black, bidirectional)

Well, this example assumes that there is an existing postscript file called print.ps at the location /[path to]/. You get the idea. If you find that you can print with this command as root but not as user, make the driver file executable to the world (everyone) by switching to the directory of the driver and type:

> chmod a+rw x125_cmyk_print.sh

as root.

If this doesn' t work for you, try to fix it first. You won't be able to set up the hotkey commands if you fail at this stage.

Setup instructions
------------------------------

You will need to download and install the program "XBindKeys" from source. It can be found at:

     http://hocwp.free.fr/xbindkeys/xbindkeys.html

Download the file

    http://hocwp.free.fr/xbindkeys/xbindkeys-1.7.1.tar.gz

Follow the very good setup instructions on the site to install and configure xbindkeys.

Copy a default configuration file ".xbindkeysrc" to your user home directory according to the instructions given.
(If you cant see the file in your browser, dont forget to enable the "show hidden files" option.)

Open a texteditor like Kate (in KDE), open the .xbindkeysrc file and copy the following lines to the bottom:

#-------------------------------------------
# Lexmark X-125 hotkey setup
#-------------------------------------------
#
#Print black 300 dpi, PageSize a4 (Draft)
"cat /home/[user]/print.ps | /[path]/x125_cmyk_print.sh a4 300 /[path to printer device] k 1"
   Control + p

#Print black 600 dpi, PageSize a4
"cat /home/[user]/print.ps | /[path]/x125_cmyk_print.sh a4 600 /[path to printer device] k 1"
   Alt + p

#Print color 600 dpi, PageSize a4
"cat /home/[user]/print.ps | /[path]/x125_cmyk_print.sh a4 600 /[path to printer device] cmyk 1"
   Control+Alt + p
#
#-------------------------------------------

Edit the commands so they fit your local environment:

[user]    your valid account username, pointing to your /home directory
[path]     The path to the x125 printer driver (most likely /user/bin or /usr/local/bin)
[path to printer device]    most likely /dev/usb/lp0 if the printer is connected to the first USB-port.

You can, of course, also choose another pagesize than a4 by substituting "a4" with another format, f.e. "letter".

Save the file, open a shell and start xbindkeys running in the background:

    >xbindkeys &

Youre now ready to run. If you want to print, you have to create a postscript printfile /home/[user]/print.ps from the printing environment of any given application. Make sure it always writes the output to the specified file. (If a file "print.ps" is present from a previous printout, you will be prompted to confirm "overwrite file?", I havent found a workaround to avoid this.) If you have done this you can now pass on the the printjob to the X125 by hitting

Control-p    for a 300 dpi black draft printout
Alt-p        for a 600 dpi black printout
Control-Alt-p    for a 600 dpi color printout

without having to leave the application and open a shell to type a command.

Voila!

If you have understood the principles of this setup you can of course tweak this to your own taste, f.e.:

- apply other hotkey combinations
- add other print options (resolution, pagesizes) and bind them to additional hotkeys

If you dont integrate the xbindkey program launch in your xsession startup procedure, dont forget to restart xbindkeys after a reboot of your system.

Thats it. This may be a solution which isnt exactly to be called "elegant" but I think its quite usable if you havent yet managed to set up a functional LPRng printqueue with the X125 driver. It should be good enough to serve as a workaround and give you a brake until you give it another try to get the queue running. (As it does for me. Unfortunately some people want to WORK with their boxes instead of fighting with them. :) :)

Comments and questions are appreciated. Post here or mail to: hans.linde@t-online.de

Hans Linde
(Germany)

PS: You dont need this if you want to print from OpenOffice. See my OpenOffice Tutorial in this forum.

Intro
-----------

This is a workaround how to use the Lexmark X125 printer driver without a functional printqueue setup like CUPS or LPRng, which seems to be a major problem, avoiding the necessity to type shell commands to initiate the printout.

This solution will permit the launch of postscript file prints with hotkey keyboard commands. It should be possible to achieve prints from any application which is able to primarily "print" to a postscript .ps file in the print options.

Assumption:

You have successfully installed Mark Roths Lexmark X125 driver version 0.2.2 or later. Sucessfully means it's stored in a directory somewhere, most likely in /usr/bin or /usr/local/bin and you are able to successfully launch prints of postscript files on the commandline by calling the driver executable with the respective options as described in Marks setup readme:

> /[path to]/x125_cmyk_print.sh letter 600 /dev/usb/lp0 k 1 < /[path to]/print.ps (example for 600 dpi black, bidirectional)

Well, this example assumes that there is an existing postscript file called print.ps at the location /[path to]/. You get the idea. If you find that you can print with this command as root but not as user, make the driver file executable to the world (everyone) by switching to the directory of the driver and type:

> chmod a+rw x125_cmyk_print.sh

as root.

If this doesn' t work for you, try to fix it first. You won't be able to set up the hotkey commands if you fail at this stage.

Setup instructions
------------------------------

You will need to download and install the program "XBindKeys" from source. It can be found at:

     http://hocwp.free.fr/xbindkeys/xbindkeys.html

Download the file

    http://hocwp.free.fr/xbindkeys/xbindkeys-1.7.1.tar.gz

Follow the very good setup instructions on the site to install and configure xbindkeys.

Copy a default configuration file ".xbindkeysrc" to your user home directory according to the instructions given.
(If you cant see the file in your browser, dont forget to enable the "show hidden files" option.)

Open a texteditor like Kate (in KDE), open the .xbindkeysrc file and copy the following lines to the bottom:

#-------------------------------------------
# Lexmark X-125 hotkey setup
#-------------------------------------------
#
#Print black 300 dpi, PageSize a4 (Draft)
"cat /home/[user]/print.ps | /[path]/x125_cmyk_print.sh a4 300 /[path to printer device] k 1"
   Control + p

#Print black 600 dpi, PageSize a4
"cat /home/[user]/print.ps | /[path]/x125_cmyk_print.sh a4 600 /[path to printer device] k 1"
   Alt + p

#Print color 600 dpi, PageSize a4
"cat /home/[user]/print.ps | /[path]/x125_cmyk_print.sh a4 600 /[path to printer device] cmyk 1"
   Control+Alt + p
#
#-------------------------------------------

Edit the commands so they fit your local environment:

[user]    your valid account username, pointing to your /home directory
[path]     The path to the x125 printer driver (most likely /user/bin or /usr/local/bin)
[path to printer device]    most likely /dev/usb/lp0 if the printer is connected to the first USB-port.

You can, of course, also choose another pagesize than a4 by substituting "a4" with another format, f.e. "letter".

Save the file, open a shell and start xbindkeys running in the background:

    >xbindkeys &

Youre now ready to run. If you want to print, you have to create a postscript printfile /home/[user]/print.ps from the printing environment of any given application. Make sure it always writes the output to the specified file. (If a file "print.ps" is present from a previous printout, you will be prompted to confirm "overwrite file?", I havent found a workaround to avoid this.) If you have done this you can now pass on the the printjob to the X125 by hitting

Control-p    for a 300 dpi black draft printout
Alt-p        for a 600 dpi black printout
Control-Alt-p    for a 600 dpi color printout

without having to leave the application and open a shell to type a command.

Voila!

If you have understood the principles of this setup you can of course tweak this to your own taste, f.e.:

- apply other hotkey combinations
- add other print options (resolution, pagesizes) and bind them to additional hotkeys

If you dont integrate the xbindkey program launch in your xsession startup procedure, dont forget to restart xbindkeys after a reboot of your system.

Thats it. This may be a solution which isnt exactly to be called "elegant" but I think its quite usable if you havent yet managed to set up a functional LPRng printqueue with the X125 driver. It should be good enough to serve as a workaround and give you a brake until you give it another try to get the queue running. (As it does for me. Unfortunately some people want to WORK with their boxes instead of fighting with them. :) :)

Comments and questions are appreciated. Post here or mail to: hans.linde@t-online.de

Hans Linde
(Germany)

PS: You dont need this if you want to print from OpenOffice. See my OpenOffice Tutorial in this forum.

Intro
-----------

This is a workaround how to use the Lexmark X125 printer driver without a functional printqueue setup like CUPS or LPRng, which seems to be a major problem, avoiding the necessity to type shell commands to initiate the printout.

This solution will permit the launch of postscript file prints with hotkey keyboard commands. It should be possible to achieve prints from any application which is able to primarily "print" to a postscript .ps file in the print options.

Assumption:

You have successfully installed Mark Roths Lexmark X125 driver version 0.2.2 or later. Sucessfully means it's stored in a directory somewhere, most likely in /usr/bin or /usr/local/bin and you are able to successfully launch prints of postscript files on the commandline by calling the driver executable with the respective options as described in Marks setup readme:

> /[path to]/x125_cmyk_print.sh letter 600 /dev/usb/lp0 k 1 < /[path to]/print.ps (example for 600 dpi black, bidirectional)

Well, this example assumes that there is an existing postscript file called print.ps at the location /[path to]/. You get the idea. If you find that you can print with this command as root but not as user, make the driver file executable to the world (everyone) by switching to the directory of the driver and type:

> chmod a+rw x125_cmyk_print.sh

as root.

If this doesn' t work for you, try to fix it first. You won't be able to set up the hotkey commands if you fail at this stage.

Setup instructions
------------------------------

You will need to download and install the program "XBindKeys" from source. It can be found at:

     http://hocwp.free.fr/xbindkeys/xbindkeys.html

Download the file

    http://hocwp.free.fr/xbindkeys/xbindkeys-1.7.1.tar.gz

Follow the very good setup instructions on the site to install and configure xbindkeys.

Copy a default configuration file ".xbindkeysrc" to your user home directory according to the instructions given.
(If you cant see the file in your browser, dont forget to enable the "show hidden files" option.)

Open a texteditor like Kate (in KDE), open the .xbindkeysrc file and copy the following lines to the bottom:

#-------------------------------------------
# Lexmark X-125 hotkey setup
#-------------------------------------------
#
#Print black 300 dpi, PageSize a4 (Draft)
"cat /home/[user]/print.ps | /[path]/x125_cmyk_print.sh a4 300 /[path to printer device] k 1"
   Control + p

#Print black 600 dpi, PageSize a4
"cat /home/[user]/print.ps | /[path]/x125_cmyk_print.sh a4 600 /[path to printer device] k 1"
   Alt + p

#Print color 600 dpi, PageSize a4
"cat /home/[user]/print.ps | /[path]/x125_cmyk_print.sh a4 600 /[path to printer device] cmyk 1"
   Control+Alt + p
#
#-------------------------------------------

Edit the commands so they fit your local environment:

[user]    your valid account username, pointing to your /home directory
[path]     The path to the x125 printer driver (most likely /user/bin or /usr/local/bin)
[path to printer device]    most likely /dev/usb/lp0 if the printer is connected to the first USB-port.

You can, of course, also choose another pagesize than a4 by substituting "a4" with another format, f.e. "letter".

Save the file, open a shell and start xbindkeys running in the background:

    >xbindkeys &

Youre now ready to run. If you want to print, you have to create a postscript printfile /home/[user]/print.ps from the printing environment of any given application. Make sure it always writes the output to the specified file. (If a file "print.ps" is present from a previous printout, you will be prompted to confirm "overwrite file?", I havent found a workaround to avoid this.) If you have done this you can now pass on the the printjob to the X125 by hitting

Control-p        for a 300 dpi black draft printout
Alt-p            for a 600 dpi black printout
Control-Alt-p    for a 600 dpi color printout

without having to leave the application and open a shell to type a command.

Voila!

If you have understood the principles of this setup you can of course tweak this to your own taste, f.e.:

- apply other hotkey combinations
- add other print options (resolution, pagesizes) and bind them to additional hotkeys

If you dont integrate the xbindkey program launch in your xsession startup procedure, dont forget to restart xbindkeys after a reboot of your system.

Thats it. This may be a solution which isnt exactly to be called "elegant" but I think its quite usable if you havent yet managed to set up a functional LPRng printqueue with the X125 driver. It should be good enough to serve as a workaround and give you a brake until you give it another try to get the queue running. (As it does for me. Unfortunately some people want to WORK with their boxes instead of fighting with them. :) :)

Comments and questions are appreciated. Post here or mail to: hans.linde@t-online.de

Hans Linde
(Germany)

PS: You dont need this if you want to print from OpenOffice. See my OpenOffice Tutorial in this forum.