[cups.general] Oki B440dn

[Johannes Meixner]

Hello,

On Sep 28 13:55 Axel Braun wrote (shortened):
> does anyone know if this printer works with CUPS (1.4.4, as it ships with
> openSUSE 11.3). I could not find it in the linuxprinting.org database.

The question is not whether or not a particular printer model
works with CUPS but whether or not there is a driver plus a PPD file
for a non-PostScript printer available or only a PPD file for a
real PostScript printer.

Have a look at the openSUSE manuals or see
http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:CUPS_in_a_Nutshell
and
http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Purchasing_a_Printer_and_Compatibility

Regarding the Oki B440dn:
A search using Google found this German technical data page
http://www.oki.de/drucker/monodrucker/desktop-printers/detail.aspx?prodid=tcm:90-3483-16
---------------------------------------------------------------------
B440
....
Druckersprachen: PCL5e, PCL6, PostScript 3, IBM ProPrinter, EPSON FX
---------------------------------------------------------------------
("Druckersprachen" means "printer languages")

Therefore the Oki B440dn should be a PostScript level 3 printer.

In this case use the exact matching PPD file from Oki for
your model to get all its features supported, see
http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Purchasing_a_Printer_and_Compatibility

You may have to ask Oki how to get it (e.g. somewhere on their
driver CD or somewhere on their Internet web pages).

You can set up the printer with a PPD file using the "lpadmin"
command as described in "Command-line Tools" at
http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:CUPS_in_a_Nutshell

Alternatively or additionally you may make the PPD file available
for CUPS so that various printer set up tools can use it to set
up a printer: Copy the PPD file to /usr/share/cups/model/
or use in YaST the [Add Driver] or [Driver Packages] function.

For plain printing you may use the generic PPD file for generic
PostScript printers but this would not support all features
of the specific model Oki B440dn (e.g. a duplex unit - if the
addendum "d" in the model name means "duplex").

In YaST use the search function to find "generic" PPD files,
see the help text in YaST or see "Command-line Tools" at
http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:CUPS_in_a_Nutshell
if you prefer to use the "lpadmin" command.

By the way:
If the addendum "n" in the model name means "network", see
http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Printing_via_TCP/IP_network
and
http://www.cups.org/documentation.php/doc-1.4/network.html


Kind Regards
Johannes Meixner
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