Do all Linux-compatible printers work?

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Kurmangazy
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Joined: 13 Jun 2011
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Sun Aug 07, 2011 3:12    Post subject: Do all Linux-compatible printers work? Reply with quote
I am hoping to get an old printer to work with a router (that I haven't bought yet). My question is, if the printer is supported by Linux, does that mean it will work with DD-WRT?

Thanks.

Edit: And, I think I already know the answer to this, but just to be sure: Does the computer need to have drivers for the printer to print over the network? This printer is not supported under Windows 7/Vista, but if the router supports the printer, Windows 7 computers can print to it, correct?
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gobbledigook
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Joined: 06 Apr 2009
Posts: 727

PostPosted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 14:06    Post subject: Reply with quote
hi there,

i believe the windows PC would still need the printer driver Sad

see printer sharing in the wiki

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useful links:
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Kurmangazy
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 13 Jun 2011
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 17:03    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks for the reply. In Linux you can accept Postscript and basically emulate a Postscript printer. Is that possible in DD-WRT? I imagine that would require a router with more memory. But if you can run any Linux software, then it should be possible in theory. Does anyone know if this would work?

Thanks.
gobbledigook
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Joined: 06 Apr 2009
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 17:24    Post subject: Reply with quote
ok well you should check out optware the right way (link in my sig) it has cups in its list of packages which should do the job Smile
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Kurmangazy
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 19:45    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks for the help. I'm abandoning this project for now, because I tried getting the printer in question (a Laserjet 1000) to work in Ubuntu, and it wouldn't, so that bodes ill for getting it working on a router.
gobbledigook
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Joined: 06 Apr 2009
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 22:03    Post subject: Reply with quote
ok,

looks like you need hplip i would download and install from source not through synaptic, see here, obviously check if it is already installed via synaptic and uninstall first.

maybe practice on your ubuntu machine... hplip is available as an optware package as well, so if you do try to get it on the router you will need to install optware on USB and it looks like hplip is installed with it but if not then from cli do ipkg-opt install hplip, can't help with the setup as no need to use it myself

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Kurmangazy
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Joined: 13 Jun 2011
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 3:09    Post subject: Reply with quote
I got the printer working under Ubuntu (I'm not one to shrink from a challenge). It took all day. Hplip actually didn't work. I needed to use foo2zjs. My next challenge is to make sure I can print over the network without the client supporting the printer, which there is no reason it shouldn't work (in Ubuntu). I also need to confirm that foo2zjs works in DD-WRT. Is there a simple way to find out if it's included?

Thanks.

Edit: Maybe that synaptic issue is why it wouldn't work under hplip. It worked fine out of the box with the foo2zjs package from apt, though, once I uninstalled hplip.
gobbledigook
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:29    Post subject: Reply with quote
cool Smile

if you can leave the ubuntu box on you could turn that into your print server as a last resort/medium term fix..

http://www.nslu2-linux.org/ is the place to start for getting packages for optware on dd-wrt, foo2zjs would need to be cross-compiled. or post in fraters optware thread in the broadcom forum req he cross compile it for you, although i'm sure he is very busy!!

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Please search the forum and dd-wrt wiki before posting, you may be surprised Wink
useful links:
Optware the right way
list of optware packages
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Kurmangazy
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 13 Jun 2011
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 17:11    Post subject: Reply with quote
gobbledigook wrote:
if you can leave the ubuntu box on you could turn that into your print server as a last resort/medium term fix..


Yeah. I printed something in Ubuntu last night that I needed. It's not a good solution, though, because I use Windows 99% of the time on my box, and I don't plan to switch.

Do you have a general idea of what kind of router I need to buy to run this sort of advanced software? In terms of RAM and flash requirements? Thanks.
Pinnochio
DD-WRT User


Joined: 11 Sep 2010
Posts: 110

PostPosted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 18:37    Post subject: Reply with quote
Are you planning on using your router for a word processor too?

Routers move data. They don't care if the data comes from windows, or ubuntu or OSX. You don't need your router to be able to run programs in order for a network printer to print through a router. And it doesn't matter which operating system the Router is using to move data. You just have to make sure that your computer can send the data to the router, the router can move it, and the data will arrive in the format that the printer can use.
Kurmangazy
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Joined: 13 Jun 2011
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 20:49    Post subject: Reply with quote
Pinnochio: The situation is complicated by the fact that the printer has no driver support in the client OSes, and even the Linux support is patchy. I need the router to do more than just move data. I need it to translate between something the clients can send and what the printer can receive.
gobbledigook
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Joined: 06 Apr 2009
Posts: 727

PostPosted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 13:00    Post subject: Reply with quote
Kurmangazy wrote:

Do you have a general idea of what kind of router I need to buy to run this sort of advanced software? In terms of RAM and flash requirements? Thanks.


you shouldn't need anything particularly powerful, just one with a USB port to add a flashdrive for installing optware...

to cross-compile you could set up a VM easily enough, instead of compiling on the router, but i'm speculating as i've never had to do it!!!

it is totally an advanced project... might be easier to get a diff network printer, i have an old HP4 i picked up on ebay for £10 Smile

_________________
Please search the forum and dd-wrt wiki before posting, you may be surprised Wink
useful links:
Optware the right way
list of optware packages
broadcom announcements, peacock and recommended builds
Kurmangazy
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 13 Jun 2011
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 17:18    Post subject: Reply with quote
gobbledigook wrote:
you shouldn't need anything particularly powerful, just one with a USB port to add a flashdrive for installing optware...


In what situations would you need a router with more RAM and flash, then? I'm concerned that, since the router has to do an extra preprocessing step on the print job, it might need to hold the entire job in either RAM, or flash, or both before printing it. I have a lot of general computer know-how, but I don't have extensive experience with printing, so I don't have much basis for guessing what the requirements might be. In principle, the router could most likely do the processing on a pipeline and not have to store much data at any point in time. But I don't want to buy some equipment and find out that it can't be made to work.

Quote:
to cross-compile you could set up a VM easily enough, instead of compiling on the router, but i'm speculating as i've never had to do it!!!


I would expect to cross-compile on my PC. Compiling could easily demand more resources than anything else I'm trying to accomplish with the router.

Quote:
it is totally an advanced project... might be easier to get a diff network printer, i have an old HP4 i picked up on ebay for £10 Smile


You're right. I'm only going to work on this project until I get bored with it. I like the idea of doing the most with the least hardware and saving money, but you have to draw the line somewhere. I did look into replacing the printer. I want a wireless solution, though, so that requires either a more sophisticated network printer, or investing in a separate wifi print server. I found a wifi laser printer on newegg for $65, so that might be worth it. This is actually not my printer, it's my roommate's, and she would put down some or all of the cash for any new hardware. The more money I can save her, the more likely I can get this up and running sooner. Then I can also use it sooner. I get the feeling that this LJ1000 is pretty well-made, so I'd rather not replace it with a cheap piece of junk that will break down. Furthermore, I have a kind of a sentimental desire to not see good hardware go to waste just for lack of software. Sad

I looked into hacking together a Windows 7/Vista driver for this printer, since code already exists to do all the processing, and all that's needed is to basically plug it in in the right place. But that task started to seem ridiculous after I started looking into it. I wonder why Microsoft hasn't created some sort of emulation layer to get old printers to work in newer OSes, using the old drivers. How hard could it be? It's all user-space code. Or why there is no Open Source project to write Windows drivers for old hardware. I guess the OSS community turns up their noses at that sort of thing. Never mind that the potential user base is large. Even having drivers in Windows might not solve the essential problem, though, because this is a "host printer" and needs to have its firmware uploaded to it every time it turns on, so it might not work with a regular network print server. But at least it might make the router's job simpler.
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