[Scottish] Re: Epson EPL5700L

[Kyle Gordon]

Colin McKinnon writes: 

> On Wednesday 29 October 2003 21:45, Kyle Gordon wrote: 
> 
>> Has anyone had any success in getting the Epson EPL5700L (that 'L'
>> suffix is the important bit) working on Linux through CUPS? I know that
>> the printer requires data in its own special 'EPL' format, but I'm not
>> sure how CUPS handles the conversion process. 
>>
> 
> I've gone off Epson printers.

Join the club :-)
> 
>> Due to a weird setup, my printer is connected through a JetDirect 170x
>> print server. Pointing CUPS at the 170x and telling it to use the LPR
>> queue on port 9100 seems to get the data sent to the printer, but the
>> printer locks up just after recieving the data, which is a sure sign
>> that the data is in the wrong format. 
>>
> 
> ....and there are few peices of technology I dislike more than HP Jetdirect cards! 
>

I got it and the Epson for free, so I can't really complain. And, bonus, it 
allows me to wire up the printer anywhere there is a network cable (or spare 
wireless AP in client mode) 

> IIRC, port 9100 (,9101,9102...) on a Jetdirecct card simply relays its output 
> to the parallel port - i.e. it don't talk BSD printer. A quick shufty on the 
> internet suggests that the 170x don't talk lpd at all. 
> 
> You could try using netcat to send a print file to port 9100 on the 170x - 
> which should work. Alternatively you could just tell cups to get on with it 
> by using a device URI of the form:
> 	socket://printer.ip.address:9100

I tried these suggestions, but the printer still just went into its error 
condition, and needed power cycled. I've given up on this machine, and 
relegated the Epson to the pile of bits to flog on Ebay at some point. In 
it's place, I dug out an HP 4000 (previously thought to be dead) from the 
garage, set it up, and it worked instantly with minimum of hassle. :-) 

>  
> 
> HTH 
> 
> Colin 
> 
Regards 

Kyle