Creating dummy ASCII driver for thermal printer (Star TSP600)

[Luis Da Costa]

> Luis Da Costa wrote:
>
> >> Luis Da Costa wrote:
> >>
> >> >> Luis Da Costa wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> > Hello everyone,
> >> >> >
> >> >> > I am new here, so if this is not the right place to post this please
> >> >> > tell me.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > I bought a thermal Star TSP600 for my POS installation. Normally
> >> >> > this device has a official website (licensed under GPLv2 if I'm not
> >> >> > wrong, which is pretty cool and useful), but it only works (under
> >> >> > Gnu/Linux and Mac, not on Windows) with the USB and Ethernet
> >> >> > version... and as you may already imagine my version is a Serial
> >> >> > one.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Long story short. After a long time understanding how all of this
> >> >> > should work, I've found a way to print. Simply by doing this :
> >> >> >
> >> >> > echo "Hello World" >> /dev/ttyUSB0
> >> >> >
> >> >> > It works nice (with no accents as expected) but this isn't a
> >> >> > solution for a POS installation since I need the software
> >> >> > (proprietary) to work with this printer (by using Cups as you may
> >> >> > already understood).
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Under Fedora 18 I've managed to make it print something under cups
> >> >> > using one of those generic drivers : - PostScript
> >> >> > - Raw Queue
> >> >> > - Others from other printers randomly chosen.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > After installing them with one of the generic drivers, I've tested
> >> >> > with gedit and it would print, sometimes slowly, sometimes faster,
> >> >> > but in all the cases I couldn't even understand what was printed
> >> >> > (the best I got was one of the drivers that printed in big fonts all
> >> >> > the settings used for printing like the font used, the size used
> >> >> > etc..).
> >> >> >
> >> >> > So my question is (as I know programming, and need to have this
> >> >> > printer working until the end of this month, and I am trying to not
> >> >> > use Windows, since it works in there perfectly), is it possible to
> >> >> > create a dummy driver for this kind of situations ? Or is it
> >> >> > possible to edit the original ppd from this printer in order to add
> >> >> > the serial support ?
> >> >> >
> >> >> > If yes, could anyone help me do this ? (Or just help me find a
> >> >> > better solution that would work under cups in order for the POS
> >> >> > software to recognize the printer and use it).
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Thanks in Advance for all the help. And sorry for my horrible
> >> >> > English.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Best Regards,
> >> >> > Luis Da Costa
> >> >>
> >> >> Look at
> >> >> http://www.starasia.com/productshow.asp?id=82
> >> >> for Linux drivers.
> >> >>
> >> >> Helge
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Hi Helge,
> >> >
> >> > Thanks for the help. But as I already said, those drivers are only for
> >> > the Ethernet and USB version and I've got a Parallel/Serial version
> >> > which is not compactible. I've already tried those drivers and they
> >> > give me problems with the rasterstar filter, and when they don't, they
> >> > simply don't print...
> >> >
> >> > I have better results with the Raw Queue drivers that with those ones
> >> > :S
> >> >
> >> > Thanks in Advance,
> >> > Luis Da Costa
> >>
> >> The driver(s) are independent of the backend used. For your serial
> >> version you need to use the serial backend of CUPS. But it seems your
> >> serial connection needs to be capable of transferring 8-bit binary data.
> >>
> >> Helge
> >>
> >
> > Hi there again,
> >
> > I've tried to install those drivers in a Fedora 14 i686 box with sucess,
> > then I added the printer, and selected the same options as the printer
> > output in the debug mode :
> >
> > - Baud Rate : 9,600bps
> > - Data Bits : 8 Bits
> > - Parity : None (Odd)
> > - Handshake : DTR
> >
> > But nothing to do, I only receive "????????????" and some weird
> > characters.
> >
> > The only difference is that sometimes with some options the text just
> > prints upside down.
> >
> > What should I do then ? And how can I know if my serial connection is
> > capable of transferring 8-bit binary data ? I have it connected to a
> > serial-to-usb cable, can this be the problem ?
> >
> > Sorry for all this questions, and thank you for all you help.
> >
> > Best Regards,
> > Luis Da Costa
>
> Am I right in assuming that your Fedora box's USB port is connected to your
> printer's serial port by the usb-to-serial cable? That may indeed be the
> cause of your issues.
> To further dig into your problems, please do:
> - execute
>   cupsctl --debug-logging
> - print a (not too big) test job to your printer
> - execute
>   cupsctl --no-debug-logging
> - post (an URL to) the portion of your /var/log/cups/error_log that contains
>   all the messages related to the test job.
>
> Helge
>


Hi again,

Before anything thanks again for taking your time to answer me.

I haven't done the Gnu/Linux test yet, but I've been testing it on Windows with the same configuration.

So I have  USB-to-SERIAL adapter connected to a SERIAL-to-PARALLEL (that comes with the machine) cable, connected to the printer. Connecting it directly to the board on a PC with a Serial port does exactly the same thing (but with less cables).

Now on Windows I had to search a lot and for it to install the printer (as a legacy one, but that's not the point). And I've found that on Windows I have the exact same results as on Gnu/Linux... But only until I changed the drivers.

On Gnu/Linux we only have 1 driver, the Raster Driver that works only with Ethernet and USB, but on Windows we have 2 drivers, the Line Driver and the Raster Driver. Since Windows Vista Star Micronics (at least for this device) stopped shipping 2 drivers (well they stopped shipping drivers at all since we have to go to the Windows Update thing to search them when installing the printer). After some testing I was able to correctly print, but only using the driver on Line Mode (on Raster Mode I wouldn't understand a thing of what was printed).

I also changed the DIP Switches from the Parallel interface (because we can change it, but the USB one cost 50$ almost the same as the printer) in order for it to have a Baud Rate at 19,200bps instead of 9,600bps. The speed was up but it would take like 30 seconds to print for a normal size paper (which is a lot since I have a lot of costumers at the same time in my Bar).

So for now this is what I know that could help making things work under Gnu/Linux:
1 - On parallel mode I can only use the Line Mode which is slow. But speed can be increased in 2 ways :
 - Changing the font in order to use the stock font from the printer (don't know how)
 - Increase the Baud Rate (already did and it saved me only 5 seconds something like that).
2 - Change the interface but it is expensive.. It's a solution but not for now (and even after that I would need to have a rasterstar working under Gnu/Linux 64bits since the only version available is for 32 bits).

I will test your commands and I will report it back to you.

Thanks in Advance,
Luis Da Costa