Printer Questions

[Vicky]

Hi everyone,

I have an Amiga 2500HD. It has a SupraGVP board w/RAM, a 2091 contro9ller and an A2630 accelerator card. I have installed a flicker fixer, a new hard drive, and 3.1 ROM and installed Workbench 3.1. NOW, I would like to install a printer for it that works off the Amiga and I'm stumped. I have an HP OfficeJet pro L7550 sitting ri9ght next to it, on my newwork. I have the USB root to hub cable, a USB female to female adapter, and a USB male to parallel cable connected to the Amiga parallel port. I have tried about 80 HP drivers and the message is always the same. "System Message. Printer not ready.". I am assuming that the parallel port is working because one of my unsuccessful attempts to do this involved running a cable from the printer port of the Amiga to my USB hub. Windows XP Device Manage saw an "unknown device", which I am assuming was the Amiga.

Can this even be done?

[nineoc]

Hello Vicky:

First, let me preface this by saying that I am nowhere near the Amiga whiz that most of the folk are that frequent this forum, so my two cents here may not be helpful to you.

I am also not familiar with the A2500HD, but I do have two A2000HD machines that I print with, using a Lexmark E260DN, which has a parallel input, so for me, it is just a matter of running the parallel cable from the Amiga to the printer and using the Postscript Printer driver in the Print Options dialogue box.

Prior to the Lexmark E260, I was using a Lexmark E322 till it died.

With my limited knowledge, I believe that you should have success with any Postscript printer that has a parallel port.

Hope this is of use to you.

[source]

I don't think that setup would work. I have not tried it before, but I would imagine that there would be specific drivers required to run that way.

[nineoc]

For drivers, I use Turboprint which has the Postscript driver.

[Vicky]

Originally Posted by nineoc

Hello Vicky:

First, let me preface this by saying that I am nowhere near the Amiga whiz that most of the folk are that frequent this forum, so my two cents here may not be helpful to you.

I am also not familiar with the A2500HD, but I do have two A2000HD machines that I print with, using a Lexmark E260DN, which has a parallel input, so for me, it is just a matter of running the parallel cable from the Amiga to the printer and using the Postscript Printer driver in the Print Options dialogue box.

Prior to the Lexmark E260, I was using a Lexmark E322 till it died.

With my limited knowledge, I believe that you should have success with any Postscript printer that has a parallel port.

Hope this is of use to you.

It is. My printer is a USB printer. I will have to do some research on Postcript. I don't know a lot about it. Thank you VERY much.

[Vicky]

Originally Posted by source

I don't think that setup would work. I have not tried it before, but I would imagine that there would be specific drivers required to run that way.

Well, I made the printer work withg WinUAE with an HP 550C driver. It prints very nicely with that driver. i DON'T WHERE TO GO FROM THERE.

[Vicky]

Originally Posted by nineoc

For drivers, I use Turboprint which has the Postscript driver.

I may need to check that out. I would hate to buy the driver and find out that I need a hardware driver./

[nineoc]

Again, I am not familiar with your A2500 setup, just my A2000's.

So, let's back up a bit, if you don't mind.

What exactly are you trying to accomplish?

Are you wanting to print from the Emulation as well as the Amiga?

If so, you may have to get a different printer, particularly one that has a parallel input, as well as the required printer driver.

Printing from the Emulator on a PC is different than printing directly from the Amiga itself.

I use Amiga Forever myself, and am able to configure it to use the USB connection to print with my Lexmark E260dn laser printer, and my Canon Pixma IP4000 colour inkjet, both of which which have BOTH USB and PARALLEL inputs.

Yes, the Amiga requires drivers for the various printers, but there is some software called Turboprint, which is a software package that was developed for the Amiga, and contains printer drivers for a number of printers. It also runs my Canon IP4000. For the laser printer, it is a Postscript capable printer, so it can use the Postscript driver which is not brand or model specific, other than it must be Postscript capable.

Here is a link to the Manufacturer.

http://www.irseesoft.de/default.htm

Check the "Printers supported by Turboprint" section under the "Document" heading.

Postscript is a language used in printing. Here are a couple of articles that do a reasonable job of explaining it, although they are very tech
oriented and can make your head spin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PostScript

http://www.howtogeek.com/100016/prin...is-postscript/

Hope this helps.

You are welcome to PM if you require further details.

[Cymru]

My dear Vicky,

Your USB-to-parallel cable will ONLY convert a USB signal to a parallel port, i.e., it will not convert a parallel port signal (from the Amiga) to a USB port; thus is only allows a you to print from a USB port to a parallel printer, not the other way around.

If you want to use your USB printer via the USB port you only have 3 options: (1) you could get a USB card for your A2000/2500HD; the Thylacine is in production (by hand) in small numbers -- contact Genny_Flick on Amibay. (2) you can use the LPT2USB device for sale on the web. Option (3) is to put a network card in your A2500 and print across your network to a printer on your network.

I have and have used all three. The easiest is the LPT2USB device that plugs into your PARALLEL port and sends all printer commands to a USB port to your printer -- no software needed. It is transparent. The schematics are available online if you care to build your own (for $25), the ready to go device runs about $90 USD.

However the most versatile is printing across your network; I change printers with a mouse click and can print to my duplex color laser, my mono laser, or my inkjet.

If you need more information then PM me and I will get you my normal email address.

[nineoc]

Originally Posted by Cymru

My dear Vicky,

Your USB-to-parallel cable will ONLY convert a USB signal to a parallel port, i.e., it will not convert a parallel port signal (from the Amiga) to a USB port; thus is only allows a you to print from a USB port to a parallel printer, not the other way around.

If you want to use your USB printer via the USB port you only have 3 options: (1) you could get a USB card for your A2000/2500HD; the Thylacine is in production (by hand) in small numbers -- contact Genny_Flick on Amibay. (2) you can use the LPT2USB device for sale on the web. Option (3) is to put a network card in your A2500 and print across your network to a printer on your network.

I have and have used all three. The easiest is the LPT2USB device that plugs into your PARALLEL port and sends all printer commands to a USB port to your printer -- no software needed. It is transparent. The schematics are available online if you care to build your own (for $25), the ready to go device runs about $90 USD.

However the most versatile is printing across your network; I change printers with a mouse click and can print to my duplex color laser, my mono laser, or my inkjet.

If you need more information then PM me and I will get you my normal email address.

Hello Cymru, Wayne here.
Have been following Vicky's adventure in printing, and would also be interested in your instructions for network printing. I have several PC's, Macs and Amigas in the loop, printing to a large format Epson inkjet, a Canon inkjet, and a mono laser.

My system is all hardwired, and the amigas go through a parallel switch, but the usb cables have to be switched when going back and forth from the PC's and Mac.

Would be nice to simplify it.

[Cymru]

Networking is simple when you use 1) the LPR.device and the instructions (the redirection command or the DEVS:config file) and 2) a TCP/IP stack OTHER than AmiTCP v3 -- Miami or better yet, RoadShow. The LPR.device files are on Aminet.

I am away on business until this evening when I can post the actual commands and file changes. It works in both OS 3.9 & 4.1, but I'm not sure of 3.1/3.5. I use a simple IconX file to copy ENV variables and switch printers. Postscript/Ghostscript is not required when using Final Copy and PageStream. I have TurboPrint v7.60, but the regular printer drivers (including the PS) from OS 3.9 & 4.1 work fine -- on my Dell workgroup printer, HP inkjet, HP ColorLaser, and Samsung mono laser. I use a combination of wired and wireless; all that is needed are the TCP/IP addresses.

[nineoc]

Originally Posted by Cymru

Networking is simple when you use 1) the LPR.device and the instructions (the redirection command or the DEVS:config file) and 2) a TCP/IP stack OTHER than AmiTCP v3 -- Miami or better yet, RoadShow. The LPR.device files are on Aminet.

I am away on business until this evening when I can post the actual commands and file changes. It works in both OS 3.9 & 4.1, but I'm not sure of 3.1/3.5. I use a simple IconX file to copy ENV variables and switch printers. Postscript/Ghostscript is not required when using Final Copy and PageStream. I have TurboPrint v7.60, but the regular printer drivers (including the PS) from OS 3.9 & 4.1 work fine -- on my Dell workgroup printer, HP inkjet, HP ColorLaser, and Samsung mono laser. I use a combination of wired and wireless; all that is needed are the TCP/IP addresses.

Hmm. This is over my depth, so I will pass the info along to someone I know locally who may be able to assist.

Thank you for the information.

[Cymru]

Originally Posted by Vicky

I may need to check that out. I would hate to buy the driver and find out that I need a hardware driver./

Check out this web site: http://www.lpt2usb.net/

The cost is now down to $69 USD and it works with the Amiga fine. The Amiga never knows it is not printing to a parallel printer, and the USB printer has no idea it is receiving data from anything other than a USB port.

[Vicky]

Originally Posted by Cymru

Check out this web site: http://www.lpt2usb.net/

The cost is now down to $69 USD and it works with the Amiga fine. The Amiga never knows it is not printing to a parallel printer, and the USB printer has no idea it is receiving data from anything other than a USB port.

This worked.

http://aminet.net/package/comm/tcp/NetPrinter

[Vicky]

Originally Posted by nineoc

Hello Cymru, Wayne here.
Have been following Vicky's adventure in printing, and would also be interested in your instructions for network printing. I have several PC's, Macs and Amigas in the loop, printing to a large format Epson inkjet, a Canon inkjet, and a mono laser.

My system is all hardwired, and the amigas go through a parallel switch, but the usb cables have to be switched when going back and forth from the PC's and Mac.

Would be nice to simplify it.

This worked.
http://aminet.net/package/comm/tcp/NetPrinter

[Vicky]

Originally Posted by Cymru

My dear Vicky,

Your USB-to-parallel cable will ONLY convert a USB signal to a parallel port, i.e., it will not convert a parallel port signal (from the Amiga) to a USB port; thus is only allows a you to print from a USB port to a parallel printer, not the other way around.

If you want to use your USB printer via the USB port you only have 3 options: (1) you could get a USB card for your A2000/2500HD; the Thylacine is in production (by hand) in small numbers -- contact Genny_Flick on Amibay. (2) you can use the LPT2USB device for sale on the web. Option (3) is to put a network card in your A2500 and print across your network to a printer on your network.

I have and have used all three. The easiest is the LPT2USB device that plugs into your PARALLEL port and sends all printer commands to a USB port to your printer -- no software needed. It is transparent. The schematics are available online if you care to build your own (for $25), the ready to go device runs about $90 USD.

However the most versatile is printing across your network; I change printers with a mouse click and can print to my duplex color laser, my mono laser, or my inkjet.

If you need more information then PM me and I will get you my normal email address.

This worked with a network printer.

http://aminet.net/package/comm/tcp/NetPrinter

[Nosferax]

My solution: I bought a $10 Epson Actionprinter 4000 24 pins dot matrix printer. The box of paper for it cost me more

It's an LQ compatible model (ESC\P) but it's compatible all the way down to the venerable MX.