Adding Postscript and PCL Printer Definition to 11i System

[Karl Balsmeier]

I just got a request for something i've not done on HP-UX 11.11i before.

How does one go about adding a postscript and pcl printer definition to "server" and "Xwindows" for the HPLJ5SI at ip address 10.45.w.xyz?

Is this something that takes place at the .profile, .dtlogin level, depending on user's shell and X interface?

If so, can someone paste in a typical .file?

-karlski

[Donny Jekels]

do you mean a printer driver?

[Karl Balsmeier]

Nope, I actually meant: How do I find out if HPPI is on my system. If it isn't, How do I configure it once installed using the IP address I have.

Once configured, how do I then verify if the scheduler is on, and then send a test page to the printer via console command such as lp.

Additionally, where in CDE would I have a user peek to add this printer?

: )

[S.K. Chan]

You can verify quickly if you got the print installer on your system by running /opt/hpnpl/bin/hppi. If /opt/hpnp dir does not exist it means you don't have it.
You can download it from here ..http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Home.jsp?locale=en_US&prodTypeId=18972&prodSeriesId=27349
It has all you need including how to install set it up and configure. Also take a look at its FAQ.

[Bill Hassell · Accepted solution]

It is a good idea to download the latest HPPI code as mentioned. The code on the 11.11 system may be a bit old. Now there is a very important question: Is the LAN connection plugged into an HP JetDirect interace? If it is, HPPI will do everything for you. Actually, you just need one command: addqueue if the printer already has an IP address, subnet mask and router/gateway address. It would look like this:

/opt/hpnpl/bin/addqueue -h IP_address -q print_queue_name

Ping the printer to check the IP address. You can print a selftest page on the printer which will include the JetDirect card settings.

Now all of this ASSUMES that this printer has an HP JetDirect LAN interface. If it has some other connection (non-HP), then HPPI will not work. You must use sam to add the card as a "remote printer", not a network printer. Note also that options to the lp command (-o) will not work and all ASCII files will have to be filtered through ux2dos.

Note also that unlike a PC, HP-UX has no printer drivers. Instead, there is a simplistic script that can manipulate ASCII files with options like landscape or 12 chars/in or duplex printing. HP-UX knows nothing about printer languages like PCL or Postscript. PCL is just plain ASCII with escape sequences to control printer features, while Postscript is a completely foreign language. To print something in Postscript, you need a program that knows how to produce a compatible Postscript program. There are some freeware tools that can do this but nothing in HP-UX that will convert PCL to Postscript.

(one nit for the experts...the postscript printer script can convert a simple ASCII file into a Postscript level one data stream with very limited features, but that's it)

[Sam McKnight]

Please let me carry Bill's response a little further. I recently purchased an HP 2600dn printer to use on a unix network. After downloading hppi, I was able to set up the printer.

As I understand it, to set up the printer properly, I need three things. First, I need a ppd file for the printer. This file is installed in an application and tells the application what features the printer has. I got this file from the hp web site. Second, I need a model script for the printer. hppi does not have a model script for the 2600, and I could not find one on the website. Therefore, I used the hppi model script net_genericpcl3printer (I think that is what it's called). That seems to work. Third, because the 2600 prints the 130 some fonts in Postscript Level 3 and my word processing application is Level 2 with some 30 fonts, I need the screen font files for the new Level 3 fonts if I want to take full advantage of the printer. I cannot find any font files on the hp site that I can download and I even have tried using a pc on the web site and on the cd that came with the printer. Does anyone know how I can get the screen font files for the new Level 3 fonts?