[cups.general] Can not get proper output on Lexmark 2491

[Chad Wilson]

"Guenther Frick" wrote:
> Chad Wilson wrote:
> > Greetings,
> > I have been struggling with this problem for longer than I care to mention. Here is the scenario. We have some Lexmark 2491 impact printers that are connected via HP JetDirects. When trying to print, I always get either post/ghostscript formatting code, or raw output with improper carriage returns (typical of the cascading look you get from printing a windows plain text file under UNIX)
> > I have tried using lpadmin and the various command line tools to configure and tweak the conf files, to no avail. Accepting my lack of expertise, I opted to use redhats(this is running on RH ES3) redhat-printer-config-gui utility. This utility seemed the most flexiable compared to the menu driven interface, webmin, or other interactive tools. Using redhat-config-printer-gui I have found that I can specify the printer as either a JetDirect type or UNIX LPD Server and still reach the printer. As far as drivers, Raw is the only driver that will give me ledgiable output. The text-mode driver still spits out ghostscript or postscript --I wouldn't know the difference. And all the various other was of configuring the postscript driver also result in the unprocessed postscript code.
> > The only thing these printers are used for is for users printing out plain text data (sourcecode, output from programs, etc) If I could just fix the problem with the cascading carriage return/line feed, then I would be content. However, getting this thing to fully functional would be optimal.
> > The printer is an impact tractor feed, 136 col, 24pin Lexmark. Thats about all I know about it. When trying to use the Omni 24pin drivers, I get total garbage...the printhead doesnt even move properly.
> > Any suggestions? Would it help to paste you some of my conf files?
> > Thanks in advance.
> >
> > Chad Wilson
> >
> The printer needs most probably an Epson driver. Look at
> linuxprinting.org for an driver. Most drivers for needle printers
> are provided by Ghostscript. You need Foomatic (from linuxprinting.org)
> in order to use it with CUPS.
> Read:
> http://linuxprinting.org/cups-doc.html
>
My understanding thus far of Linux printing is so:
Everything is first converted to PostScript from its On-Screen format via a pre-filter to MIME-type application/postscript.
If you have a PS printer, then life is easy and you just convert to the MIME-type application/vnd.cups.postscript and backend it to the printers PS Interpreter/RIP.
If you dont have a PS printer, then it has to use GhostScript as the RIP and possibly a combination of other filters to get the appropriate raster format.
I am still a bit confused on what other phases are involved to get it converted to the proper PDL and where cupsomatic/foomatic fit in.
I know that the impact printers we have support "Espon emulation" and IBM's PPDS. What is the series of conversions that I must pass to get a file to print properly? Obviously I need proper MIME type handlers but beyond that I am lost. There are no PPD's for this printer, nor is it listed anywhere as being directly supported by foomatic, cups-raster, or ghostscript. Going on the hunch that "Espson Emulation" might lead to a solution, I am trying the Espon/Omni 24 pin 136 column driver. Thanks for the input.

Chad