On Jan 30, 2011, at 12:06 PM, patrick keshishian wrote: >> It supports Postscript, and even has it's own lpd running so that you >> can FTP files to it to print. > > You keep saying and thinking that it supports post script. It does > not. Otherwise feeding it a postscript file would print the document, > not the postscript text/source.
A really minor nit: The printer *may* support PostScript, but only in a specific fashion. For example, many printers from the mid-90's only recognized the %! immediately preceded by a ^D or a new connection (any data send between the two (i.e., a ^D followed by a NL then a !%, or a new connection with a control character sent before the %!, would switch it to PCL). Likewise, some printers default to a PCL queue with LDP unless you explicitly name the queue you're printing to "ps" or "postscript". Debugging this crap is a pain in the ass, but not impossible. If you want to check your printers to confirm it prints postscript, send it these two lines: %! newpath clippath stroke showpage These four commands were the smallest PostScript I could figure out to send to a printer to print something without burning up tons of toner. It should produce a small line all the way around the page. You can send that to the printer with FTP. If it works as expected, then your printer supports PostScript. If it doesn't. . . Well, maybe you need to read the docs on your printer to figure out how to send it PostScript. Also, most printers will have a config page you can print out from the front panel. One thing that should show on the Config Page is the PostScript version. That's another way to tell if your printer supports PostScript. Your printer might also accept connections on port 9100 -- you can literally telnet to that port and type the above commands. I don't know if OpenBSD's "lpr" command can connect to a remote server directly, as Sun's can. You can telnet to the LPD port and try and fake it, but you have to know the magic NULL-prefixed commands. Your best bet is to scour the documentation for your printer. Good luck. Sean
