Adding EOP to raw or lpoptions?

Ty Unes riverty at gmail.com
Thu Dec 21 15:34:49 PST 2006


I'll try to be brief. I have a client that _had_ been running a SCO UNIX 
3.2 server with Keypoint Software as the main application. This server 
had 12 years on it and finally filled up the HDD. This is how I got 
involved.

I have successfully upgraded them to new Windows XP clients and a Xubuntu 
(Debian) server. With the help from their VAR, we ported the old SCO 
software on this new server and all is running fine. Except for printing!

They are using an Okidata ML320 9-pin Turbo printer. I would say to throw 
the printer away and get into a laser printer but this is not an option 
as they need to print things in triplicate using 3-part copy paper which 
of course needs the impact printer.

So here's the issue. Using the driver (ppd) for this printer in CUPS, the 
printer clips off the first 1-2 letters on the left-hand side of the 
paper. It also prints in either LQ mode _or_ graphics mode and prints 
very slow. I need the printer to print in draft mode for speed but cannot 
find a way to pass this option on to this printer either using the CUPS 
web interface, gnome-cups-manager, or kdeprint. The option for draft 
quality printing is simply not there. So, I tried checking for options 
manually using /etc/cups/lpoptions. No joy there either. The only way I 
have been able to print in draft quality mode is to add "raw=true" in 
lpoptions. With "raw=true" added, the printer prints fast and all 
characters on the left-hand side come out fine! Sounds great but there is 
one more _gotcha_ left.

With "raw=true" added, the printer simply stops wherever the last 
character in the print job is and doesn't eject the page. One has to 
manually go to the printer and force-feed the paper to the tear break, 
re-park the paper, and then select 'online' again for the next job. For 
clarity, if I send the printer a 5-page (1 file) job, it prints 
everything fine, respecting page breaks and even numbering pages 
correctly. But if I send 2 5-page jobs to the printer, the first 5 pages 
come out fine but then the second job starts printing _exactly_ at the 
next line in page 5. It's like it should be getting an EOP (end of page) 
before starting the second job but it doesn't and starts printing right 
in the middle of the last page of job 1. I hope this makes sense.

Either case, neither using the driver or printing raw will work although 
the raw option seems to be the closest. What can I do?

Specifics:

Xubuntu Linux 6.06 LTS (Debian)
CUPS V-1.1.2
Okidata Microline 320 Turbo (parallel)

Thank you for taking the time to read my post!

Ty Unes - KC Techheads
Merriam, Ks. USA.




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