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Date:      Sun, 12 Aug 2001 13:36:32 -0400 (EDT)
From:      Jim Freeze <jim@freeze.org>
To:        John Merryweather Cooper <jmcoopr@webmail.bmi.net>
Cc:        Mike Meyer <mwm@mired.org>, <questions@FreeBSD.ORG>
Subject:   Re: What is the magical incantation necessary to print to /dev/ulpt0
Message-ID:  <Pine.BSF.4.32.0108121329170.94319-100000@www.stelesys.com>
In-Reply-To: <20010812095648.Q477@johncoop>

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On Sun, 12 Aug 2001, John Merryweather Cooper wrote:
> On 2001.08.12 06:26 Mike Meyer wrote:
> > John Merryweather Cooper <jmcoopr@webmail.bmi.net> types:
> >
> > LexMark tends to make cheap winprinters.  That lexmark claims the z51
> > works on "DOS through Windows" instead of "DOS" makes me think you
> > have one. If so, the only hope for making it work is to find a
> > ghostscript driver for your printer.
> >
The lexmark printer works through DOS because it has a DOS printer driver.
The lexmark consumer inkjet printers have a propietary file format.
They do not understand postscript or pcl. Essentially, the data
must be rasterized into cmyk binary data before it is sent to the printer.
Last time I looked there were about five different drivers that
worked with ghostscript. These drivers reverse engineered the printhead
and converted RGB data from ghostscript into the propietary lexmark cmyk
binary format.

Lexmark also recently released a linux driver. I have not heard if anyone
has got this to work with freebsd.

If you want to test if your printer is getting data, do a print to file
on a windows machine (something small, like a single black pixel.)
Then, copy that file to the printer port from you freebsd machine.
It should print just the same as from the pc.

Please forgive me if this is all common knowledge and I have misunderstood
the problem.


Jim



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Jim Freeze
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