war story: supporting an old printer on Windows, with Linux
A friend has an old trusty HP LaserJet 4MP printer. This is so old that HP no longer makes Windows drivers for it and HP no longer has online manuals for it. I'm guessing that the 4mp model was introduced about 30 years ago. (I bought a LaserJet IIP in 1989 for $1400. Long dead.) It works fine under Linux (he has used Ubuntu). He did need a dongle to connect the serial or parallel port (I don't remember which) to a USB port on the computer. There is a hack to support this for use by Windows: <https://openprinting.github.io/wsl-printer-app/> Highlights: - run Ubuntu in WSL2 (requires Win11) - use ubunto-previow because that allows systemd, which is needed - use <https://github.com/dorssel/usbipd-win> to pass through the USB device to Ubuntu He is about to try this. I hope it work Boy is that a lot of duct tape.
That seems a lot. Doesn't windows have generic PCL or PS drivers? Even Apple's IPP assumes PCL On Mon., Jun. 5, 2023, 17:41 D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk, <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
A friend has an old trusty HP LaserJet 4MP printer.
This is so old that HP no longer makes Windows drivers for it and HP no longer has online manuals for it. I'm guessing that the 4mp model was introduced about 30 years ago. (I bought a LaserJet IIP in 1989 for $1400. Long dead.)
It works fine under Linux (he has used Ubuntu). He did need a dongle to connect the serial or parallel port (I don't remember which) to a USB port on the computer.
There is a hack to support this for use by Windows:
<https://openprinting.github.io/wsl-printer-app/>
Highlights:
- run Ubuntu in WSL2 (requires Win11)
- use ubunto-previow because that allows systemd, which is needed
- use <https://github.com/dorssel/usbipd-win> to pass through the USB device to Ubuntu
He is about to try this. I hope it work
Boy is that a lot of duct tape. --- Post to this mailing list talk@gtalug.org Unsubscribe from this mailing list https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
I have a "travel router" running openwrt and my printer is plugged in it. I should have paid $15 on the router, it's a palm sized tplink. It's running p910nd as the printer daemon and works well. Wireless printing even when the printer isn't wireless... On Mon, Jun 5, 2023, 22:36 Stewart Russell via talk <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
That seems a lot. Doesn't windows have generic PCL or PS drivers? Even Apple's IPP assumes PCL
On Mon., Jun. 5, 2023, 17:41 D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk, <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
A friend has an old trusty HP LaserJet 4MP printer.
This is so old that HP no longer makes Windows drivers for it and HP no longer has online manuals for it. I'm guessing that the 4mp model was introduced about 30 years ago. (I bought a LaserJet IIP in 1989 for $1400. Long dead.)
It works fine under Linux (he has used Ubuntu). He did need a dongle to connect the serial or parallel port (I don't remember which) to a USB port on the computer.
There is a hack to support this for use by Windows:
<https://openprinting.github.io/wsl-printer-app/>
Highlights:
- run Ubuntu in WSL2 (requires Win11)
- use ubunto-previow because that allows systemd, which is needed
- use <https://github.com/dorssel/usbipd-win> to pass through the USB device to Ubuntu
He is about to try this. I hope it work
Boy is that a lot of duct tape. --- Post to this mailing list talk@gtalug.org Unsubscribe from this mailing list https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
--- Post to this mailing list talk@gtalug.org Unsubscribe from this mailing list https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
participants (3)
-
D. Hugh Redelmeier -
Mauro Souza -
Stewart Russell