bumbler
December 20th, 2003, 13:53
Help me catch errors, please!
------------------------------------
[code:1:e72915ebd5]
Desktop FreeBSD Part 5: Printing (Revised)
Ed Hurst
20 December 2003
================================================== ======================
Note: The first version of this tutorial was a long and complicated
process of setting up the CUPS (Common Unix Printing Service) server
with some enhancements. Since publishing that, a few things have
changed on the website that offers the printer drivers and they are no
longer compatible with FreeBSD 4.9 in many cases. For now, I am
recommending that newbies to FreeBSD stick with the tried-and-true
Apsfilter package. What follows is far simpler, since Apsfilter has a
much easier setup. You can either try the drivers that come with the
CUPS package from FreeBSD, or use Apsfilter. If you have already tried
the CUPS setup and failed, remember to undo some of the changes to the
system, especially the renaming of the original "lp" commands in
/usr/bin. Also, stop the CUPS server
/usr/local/etc/rc.d/cups.sh stop
and change the script name back to cups.sh.sample, or move it to another
location, like /usr/local/etc/cups/.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As a writer, the only reason I ever got that first computer was because
it was far more efficient than a typewriter, and certainly more
readable than my own handwriting. The sheer volume of what I've turned
out over the years would be impossible for me to manage on paper. Add
to that all the stuff written by others that I wanted to save, and it
boggles the mind. Still, most of what I've written is read by others on
paper. That means I have to translate my electronic files into readable
paper copies. That first computer would have been nearly useless to me
without the attached printer.
Open Source printing is one of the most powerful systems, yet remains
an ugly kludge in some ways. When multi-user computing was born,
printing was either from machines that were merely automated
typewriters ("raw" printers) or the work of fancy type-setting
printers. These two elements remain the heart of Open Source printing.
It is not built into the system, but is an add-on if you need it. I no
longer print very much, but when I do, it needs to be clean and
readable.
INSTALLATION
To do this, life is much simpler if you login as root and run your
desktop by typing "startx" at the command line. I'm assuming here you
are using KDE. First, we have to make sure all the proper software
packages are present. Here is a list of what you'll need:
- apsfilter
- psutils-letter
- curl
- perl
- ghostcript-gnu
- cups-base
- cups-pstoraster
- gimp-print
- libijs
- foomatic-db
Perl is usually installed by default. The last four on the list allow
you a wider selection of print drivers that Apsfilter can use. One more
package is needed if you do anything with laser-jet printers: hpijs. As
with many things, if you choose to install these through the ports
system, you won't need to worry much about which package depends on
another. For example, if you simply install apsfilter this way:
cd /usr/ports/print/apsfilter/
make install
it will download, compile and install all the packages needed for
apsfilter itself. If you do the same for gimp-print, it will know to
get the libijs package on which it depends. The foomatic-db package
needs curl. If you try to install these as packages already built,
you'll get a warning when you try to install a package that depends on
another that's missing:
Can't find package xxxx!
or words to that effect. Then you will know precisely what's missing.
The exercise becomes more civilized if you learn at least one trick.
When you visit FreeBSD.org and look at the ports index, you will see at
the bottom of each package description a list of packages required to
build from source via ports. On the main page, on the left-hand column,
see the link "Ported Applications" under the "Software" heading.
SETUP
Once everything is installed, login as root. Apsfilter is setup only on
the command line, so simply type in a terminal window "apsfilter" and
ENTER. You will see an interesting ASCII art presentation that asks you
to accept the license. Obviously, you'll have to type "y" for yes or you
can't do the setup. Since it involves merely agreeing to send the author
a postcard, it shouldn't be too onerous. Send an e-mail to the address
specified and you should get back a snail-mail address to which you send
a simple postcard. Since the next screen asks you for your e-mail
address, and the script attempts to handle the whole thing for you,
it's not bad at all.
The next screen is just the title page, so hit ENTER. The following one
is for your information, and you should read it, then ENTER. If you
don't have a version of Ghostscript that Apsfilter can use, it will
terminate there with a message. If you followed my advice for
installation in the first lesson, this should not be an issue.
From there, the script branches out in several directions depending on
what it finds. It requires rather careful attention to the options
listed and the keyboard commands available for each section. If you
fail at any point, and feel you need to start over, simply hit CTRL+C
and the script will terminate. Then you can restart, being careful to
select the "o" option offered to overwrite the previous attempt. Don't
be ashamed of having to go through it several times; it happens to
seasoned veterans, too. It will be a little frustrating, but to make
the script any more idiot-proof would make the whole thing much larger
and harder to use.
One screen in particular will be confusing at first, and that is the
main options screen, because it shows a checklist of things you can do,
and off to the right whether (or how) each item is completed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
================================================== ================
A P S F I L T E R S E T U P -- MAIN MENUE --
================================================== ================
(D) Available Device Drivers in your gs binary
(R) Read Ghostscript driver documentation (devices.txt)
(1) Printer Driver Selection []
(2) Interface Setup []
(3) Paper Format []
(4) Printing Quality []
(5) Color Mode []
(6) Print Resolution in "dots per inch" []
(7) Default Printing Method []
------------------------------------------------------------------------
When asked to give the printer a system name, "lp" is the norm. Also,
the "PRINTER DRIVER SELECTION" page you may have to see several time
until you select the right type of driver:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please select the type of printer you want to install:
1) PostScript printer (generic)
2) PostScript printer (with ghostscript drivers)
3) printer driver natively supported by ghostscript
4) gimp-print (stp driver; version 4.2.x)
5) gimp-print (ijs driver; version 4.2.1 and later)
6) hpdj
7) pcl3 (successor to hpdj)
8) IBM Omni
9) various HP Deskjet drivers
10) PPA printer
11) official HP DeskJet drivers (hpijs 0.97)
12) official HP DeskJet drivers (hpijs 1.1 and later)
13) Epson printer (official drivers)
14) Lexmark inkjet printer
15) miscellaneous other drivers
16) non-printer devices (caution! -- read the handbook)
0) return to main menu
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first two are the easiest, if you have a Postscript-ready printer.
Number 3 is largely for dot-matrix and daisy-wheel printers. You should
probably try 4 and then 5 for most ink-jet type printers, however notice
the official driver groups offered further down. You will have to try
whatever you feel best suits your situation. At some point, you get to
test the setup before the final configuration is written. The test page
includes a photo of the author, among other things.
The whole process ends with a series of amusing self-promotions by the
authors, along with some important notices of recent changes in the
package. You'll need to start the print server; in a terminal window
type the command "lpd" and you should see a response indicating all is
well. To insure that the print server is started whenever you boot, put
this line in /etc/rc.conf:
lpd_enable="YES"
Once you are finished, you can then check the results easily in
KDE by going to Kmenu > Settings > Printing Manager. I usually do this
while logged in as root, to insure it all works properly. You can find
error messages at /var/log/lpd-errs. If you don't understand what you
see here, it should at least provide something you can post to forums
and newsgroups when seeking advice.
If all is right, the Printing Manager window should indicate a printer
with whatever name you chose to call it. In my case, "lp" is listed
first in the device window, with a printer icon. Click on it and use the
tabs in the lower half of the application window to see if all seems
normal. The last tab will offer you a chance to examine the settings and
printer another test page that is generated by the CUPS package. If you
like the results, be sure to go through the same procedure when logged
into KDE under your user account.[/code:1:e72915ebd5]
------------------------------------
[code:1:e72915ebd5]
Desktop FreeBSD Part 5: Printing (Revised)
Ed Hurst
20 December 2003
================================================== ======================
Note: The first version of this tutorial was a long and complicated
process of setting up the CUPS (Common Unix Printing Service) server
with some enhancements. Since publishing that, a few things have
changed on the website that offers the printer drivers and they are no
longer compatible with FreeBSD 4.9 in many cases. For now, I am
recommending that newbies to FreeBSD stick with the tried-and-true
Apsfilter package. What follows is far simpler, since Apsfilter has a
much easier setup. You can either try the drivers that come with the
CUPS package from FreeBSD, or use Apsfilter. If you have already tried
the CUPS setup and failed, remember to undo some of the changes to the
system, especially the renaming of the original "lp" commands in
/usr/bin. Also, stop the CUPS server
/usr/local/etc/rc.d/cups.sh stop
and change the script name back to cups.sh.sample, or move it to another
location, like /usr/local/etc/cups/.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As a writer, the only reason I ever got that first computer was because
it was far more efficient than a typewriter, and certainly more
readable than my own handwriting. The sheer volume of what I've turned
out over the years would be impossible for me to manage on paper. Add
to that all the stuff written by others that I wanted to save, and it
boggles the mind. Still, most of what I've written is read by others on
paper. That means I have to translate my electronic files into readable
paper copies. That first computer would have been nearly useless to me
without the attached printer.
Open Source printing is one of the most powerful systems, yet remains
an ugly kludge in some ways. When multi-user computing was born,
printing was either from machines that were merely automated
typewriters ("raw" printers) or the work of fancy type-setting
printers. These two elements remain the heart of Open Source printing.
It is not built into the system, but is an add-on if you need it. I no
longer print very much, but when I do, it needs to be clean and
readable.
INSTALLATION
To do this, life is much simpler if you login as root and run your
desktop by typing "startx" at the command line. I'm assuming here you
are using KDE. First, we have to make sure all the proper software
packages are present. Here is a list of what you'll need:
- apsfilter
- psutils-letter
- curl
- perl
- ghostcript-gnu
- cups-base
- cups-pstoraster
- gimp-print
- libijs
- foomatic-db
Perl is usually installed by default. The last four on the list allow
you a wider selection of print drivers that Apsfilter can use. One more
package is needed if you do anything with laser-jet printers: hpijs. As
with many things, if you choose to install these through the ports
system, you won't need to worry much about which package depends on
another. For example, if you simply install apsfilter this way:
cd /usr/ports/print/apsfilter/
make install
it will download, compile and install all the packages needed for
apsfilter itself. If you do the same for gimp-print, it will know to
get the libijs package on which it depends. The foomatic-db package
needs curl. If you try to install these as packages already built,
you'll get a warning when you try to install a package that depends on
another that's missing:
Can't find package xxxx!
or words to that effect. Then you will know precisely what's missing.
The exercise becomes more civilized if you learn at least one trick.
When you visit FreeBSD.org and look at the ports index, you will see at
the bottom of each package description a list of packages required to
build from source via ports. On the main page, on the left-hand column,
see the link "Ported Applications" under the "Software" heading.
SETUP
Once everything is installed, login as root. Apsfilter is setup only on
the command line, so simply type in a terminal window "apsfilter" and
ENTER. You will see an interesting ASCII art presentation that asks you
to accept the license. Obviously, you'll have to type "y" for yes or you
can't do the setup. Since it involves merely agreeing to send the author
a postcard, it shouldn't be too onerous. Send an e-mail to the address
specified and you should get back a snail-mail address to which you send
a simple postcard. Since the next screen asks you for your e-mail
address, and the script attempts to handle the whole thing for you,
it's not bad at all.
The next screen is just the title page, so hit ENTER. The following one
is for your information, and you should read it, then ENTER. If you
don't have a version of Ghostscript that Apsfilter can use, it will
terminate there with a message. If you followed my advice for
installation in the first lesson, this should not be an issue.
From there, the script branches out in several directions depending on
what it finds. It requires rather careful attention to the options
listed and the keyboard commands available for each section. If you
fail at any point, and feel you need to start over, simply hit CTRL+C
and the script will terminate. Then you can restart, being careful to
select the "o" option offered to overwrite the previous attempt. Don't
be ashamed of having to go through it several times; it happens to
seasoned veterans, too. It will be a little frustrating, but to make
the script any more idiot-proof would make the whole thing much larger
and harder to use.
One screen in particular will be confusing at first, and that is the
main options screen, because it shows a checklist of things you can do,
and off to the right whether (or how) each item is completed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
================================================== ================
A P S F I L T E R S E T U P -- MAIN MENUE --
================================================== ================
(D) Available Device Drivers in your gs binary
(R) Read Ghostscript driver documentation (devices.txt)
(1) Printer Driver Selection []
(2) Interface Setup []
(3) Paper Format []
(4) Printing Quality []
(5) Color Mode []
(6) Print Resolution in "dots per inch" []
(7) Default Printing Method []
------------------------------------------------------------------------
When asked to give the printer a system name, "lp" is the norm. Also,
the "PRINTER DRIVER SELECTION" page you may have to see several time
until you select the right type of driver:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please select the type of printer you want to install:
1) PostScript printer (generic)
2) PostScript printer (with ghostscript drivers)
3) printer driver natively supported by ghostscript
4) gimp-print (stp driver; version 4.2.x)
5) gimp-print (ijs driver; version 4.2.1 and later)
6) hpdj
7) pcl3 (successor to hpdj)
8) IBM Omni
9) various HP Deskjet drivers
10) PPA printer
11) official HP DeskJet drivers (hpijs 0.97)
12) official HP DeskJet drivers (hpijs 1.1 and later)
13) Epson printer (official drivers)
14) Lexmark inkjet printer
15) miscellaneous other drivers
16) non-printer devices (caution! -- read the handbook)
0) return to main menu
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first two are the easiest, if you have a Postscript-ready printer.
Number 3 is largely for dot-matrix and daisy-wheel printers. You should
probably try 4 and then 5 for most ink-jet type printers, however notice
the official driver groups offered further down. You will have to try
whatever you feel best suits your situation. At some point, you get to
test the setup before the final configuration is written. The test page
includes a photo of the author, among other things.
The whole process ends with a series of amusing self-promotions by the
authors, along with some important notices of recent changes in the
package. You'll need to start the print server; in a terminal window
type the command "lpd" and you should see a response indicating all is
well. To insure that the print server is started whenever you boot, put
this line in /etc/rc.conf:
lpd_enable="YES"
Once you are finished, you can then check the results easily in
KDE by going to Kmenu > Settings > Printing Manager. I usually do this
while logged in as root, to insure it all works properly. You can find
error messages at /var/log/lpd-errs. If you don't understand what you
see here, it should at least provide something you can post to forums
and newsgroups when seeking advice.
If all is right, the Printing Manager window should indicate a printer
with whatever name you chose to call it. In my case, "lp" is listed
first in the device window, with a printer icon. Click on it and use the
tabs in the lower half of the application window to see if all seems
normal. The last tab will offer you a chance to examine the settings and
printer another test page that is generated by the CUPS package. If you
like the results, be sure to go through the same procedure when logged
into KDE under your user account.[/code:1:e72915ebd5]