[cups.general] Where to get PPD files?

[Helge Blischke]

John Jason Jordan wrote:
> On Thu, 01 Nov 2007 08:27:47 -0700
> Kurt Pfeifle <k1pfeifle at gmx.net> dijo:
> 
> 
>>John Jason Jordan wrote:
>>
>>>First, I said I had a 4M Plus, not a 4L. But that's OK, I had already
>>>been there. I ended up at:
>>>http://openprinting.org/show_printer.cgi?recnum=HP-LaserJet_4M_Plus
>>>And there is no option to download a PPD file.
>>
>>Indeed. Something is not working any more on that website...
>>
>>However, you should be able to print out stuff on the 4M Plus using
>>the "laserjet.ppd" that ships with CUPS.
>>
>>Check if it is installed on your system:
>>
>>   su
>>   lpinfo -m |grep laserjet.ppd
> 
> 
> This resulted in a list of lots of PPD files, only two of which said
> "HP" in the name of the vendor, and neither was for a 4M+. However,
> there was something really strange in the list. Lots of entries like
> the following:
> 
> foomatic:Kyocera-P-2002-laserjet.ppd Kyocera P-2002 Foomatic/laserjet
> foomatic:Okidata-OL400-laserjet.ppd Okidata OL400 Foomatic/laserjet
> (recommended)
> 
> Now, this confuses the devil out of me. I thought "laserjet" was a
> trademark of Hewlett-Packard. 
> 
> 
>>   ls -l /usr/share/cups/model/laserjet*
> 
> 
> This just resulted in "no such file."
> 
> This whole PPD file issue is a mess, part of which is caused by my
> failure to grasp what a PPD file does. I thought that you didn't need a
> PPD file for a non-PostScript printer (e.g., the 4+, which has PCL
> only), and that if you wanted to use a printer in PostScript mode the
> PPD file was required. Yet, the file I used says it is for the 4+ or 4M
> +. 
> 
> Adding to the confusion, the files usually have a cryptic name in order
> to keep them in the ancient 8.3 format, and I haven't found any web
> site with a cross-reference to the actual brand and model of the
> printer. For example, when I unzipped the .exe file from Adobe I got 39
> files with names like "BGHP30W1.PPD." That makes it pretty hard to
> figure out which is the correct PPD file. In my case I guessed that it
> had to be HP4PLUS3.PPD or HP4PLUS6.PPD. I knew that PPD files are text
> files, so I opened each one in Gedit. Reading down to about the 20th
> line I found a reference that one was for the HP4+ or 4M+ at 300 dpi
> and the other was for 600 dpi. I used the HP4PLUS6.PPD file and it
> seems to work. However, I have no idea if it is actually using the
> PostScript SIMM installed in the printer, or if the other driver I
> installed (where I did not use a PPD file) is a PCL only driver. When
> you go to install a new printer in CUPS (Gutsy amd64) there are a
> bewildering array of options (foomatic, gutenprint, use PPD file or
> not?) and I can't figure out which to use. I just want to be able to
> install the driver for the printer without first needing a degree in
> computer science.
> 
> OK, enough ranting. I'll shut up now. :)
> 

If you need a PPD for the HP LJ 4M Plus that is known to work, let me
know, I have one.

Helge

-- 
Helge Blischke
Softwareentwicklung

H.Blischke at acm.org