using lpr with a second printer

using lpr with a second printer

[Cheryl Homiak]

I now have a braille embosser as lp1. I can run it using
cat (filename) >/dev/lp1
but I can't figure out how to get it to work with an lpr command. I see that
there is a -P (printer) option, but I don't know what I am to use with the -P.
It didn't like lp1 or /dev/lp1. Can anybody help me with this?

Thanks.

Cheryl

Re: using lpr with a second printer

[Adam Myrow]

Lpr doesn't use device files in the normal sense.  It uses a file called
/etc/printcap.  The file defines each printer and what it can do.  Did you
use some menu or something to set up your first printer?  The "-P" option
merely selects from pre-defined printers.  I've never edited the printcap
directly since it's one of the few things that Slackware can set up for
you, although you have to manually run a command to do it.  Basically, the
printcap file says where to store spooled jobs for each printer, what
device it should print to, and what filters to use.  The Slackware system
uses a set of scripts called Apsfilter which turns everything you print
into Postscript and stuffs it into Ghostscript to figure out.  It also
supports a few other options.  In particular, you can set a printer up and
tell the filter to send everything directly to the printer without any
interpretation.  This would seem ideal for an Embosser.  See if your
printer configuration tool lets you specify something along those lines
and add that as a new printer.  Tell it to print to /dev/lp1.

Re: using lpr with a second printer

[Igor Gueths]

Hi Cheryl. What kind of computer do you currently have this working on? Is
it a Dell? If so what model? Thx!

May you code in the power of the source,
may the kernel, libraries, and utilities be with you,
throughout all distributions until the end of the epoch.

On Thu, 1 May 2003, Cheryl Homiak wrote:

> I now have a braille embosser as lp1. I can run it using
> cat (filename) >/dev/lp1
> but I can't figure out how to get it to work with an lpr command. I see that
> there is a -P (printer) option, but I don't know what I am to use with the -P.
> It didn't like lp1 or /dev/lp1. Can anybody help me with this?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Cheryl
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>

Re: using lpr with a second printer

[Cheryl Homiak]

Hi Igor.
Somebody built this for me and it's I believe an intel motherboard, not a dell.
but I got a card with a parallel port on it for my second printer. No problem
there; the printer port is recognized and prints with cat, just would like to
use lpr. The embosser by the way is an old Versapoint.
I never really had to mess with /etc/printcap with my inkprint printer, though
I've used todos to filter so the line breaks come out right. I'm told the -l
option will work with lpr for .brf files.
well, will have a look at /etc/printcap.
Thanks.

Cheryl