110 lines
4.1 KiB
HTML
110 lines
4.1 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN">
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<HTML>
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<META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="SGML-Tools 1.0.9">
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<TITLE>The Linux Printing Usage HOWTO: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions</TITLE>
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<LINK HREF="Printing-Usage-HOWTO-6.html" REL=next>
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<LINK HREF="Printing-Usage-HOWTO-4.html" REL=previous>
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<LINK HREF="Printing-Usage-HOWTO.html#toc5" REL=contents>
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<A HREF="Printing-Usage-HOWTO-6.html">Next</A>
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<A HREF="Printing-Usage-HOWTO.html#toc5">Contents</A>
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<HR>
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<H2><A NAME="s5">5. Answers to Frequently Asked Questions</A><!--printing!frequently asked questions--><!--printing!FAQ--><!--FAQ!printing usage--></H2>
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<P>
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<P>Q1. How do I prevent the staircase effect?
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<!--
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printing!staircase effect
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-->
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<P>A1. The staircase effect is caused by the way some printers expect lines to
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be terminated. Some printers want lines that end with a
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carriage-return/line-feed sequence (DOS-style) instead of the line-feed
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sequence used for UNIX-type systems. The easiest way to fix this is to see
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if your printer can switch between the two styles somehow---either by
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flipping a DIP switch, or by sending an escape sequence at the start of each
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print job. To do the latter, you need to create a filter (see Q2).
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<P>A quick fix is to use a filter on the command-line. An example of this
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might be
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
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<PRE>
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$ cat thesis.txt | todos | lpr
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</PRE>
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</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>
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<P>Q2. What is a filter?
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<!--
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printing!filter
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-->
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<P>A2. A filter is a program that reads from standard input (<EM>stdin</EM>),
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performs some action on this input, and writes to standard output
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(<EM>stdout</EM>). Filters are used for a lot of things, including text
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processing.
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<P>
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<P>Q3. What is a <EM>magic</EM> filter?
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<!--
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printing!magic filter
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-->
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<P>A3. A magic filter is a filter that performs an action based on a file's
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type. For example, if the file is a plain, text file, it would simply print
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the file using the normal methods. If the file is a PostScript file, or any
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other format, it would print it using another method (ghostscript). Two
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examples of this is magicfilter and APSfilter. One caveat of these filters
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is that the appropriate programs have to be installed before you install
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the filter.
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<P>The reason for this is that when the magicfilter gets installed, it queries
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your system for specific programs (such as ghostscript - if it finds it, then
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it knows it can handle PostScript data), then builds itself based on what it
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finds. To handle all the printer files, you should probably have at least
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the following installed:
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<UL>
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<LI>GhostScript</LI>
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<LI>TeX</LI>
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<LI>NetPBM</LI>
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<LI>jpeg utilities</LI>
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<LI>gzip</LI>
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</UL>
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<P>
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<P>Q4. What about the Windows Printing System? Will Linux work with that?
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<!--
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printing!Windows Printing System (WPS)
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-->
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<P>A4. Maybe. Printers that accept only the WPS commands will not
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work with Linux. Printers that accept WPS and other commands
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(such as the Canon BJC 610) will work, as long as they're set to
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something other than WPS format. Other printers, such as some HP DeskJet
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820Cxi/Cse, will *not* work with Linux. That being said, Linux can act
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as a print server (See Samba) for Win95 machines, since Win95 has drivers
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for those printers.
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<P>
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<P>Q5. What kinda cheey system is this? I can't print more than 6 pages
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or else I get a "file too large" error.
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<!--
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printing!file too large error
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-->
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<P>A5. One of the options in the /etc/printcap file relates to the maximum
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size of a print file. The default is 1000 disk blocks (about 500k?). For
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PostScript files and the like, this will give you maybe 6-8 pages with
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graphics and all. Be sure to add the following line in the printer
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definition:
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<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
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<PRE>
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mx=0
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</PRE>
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</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
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The primary reason for this is to keep the spool partition from getting
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filled. There is another way to do it, by making lpr create a soft
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link from the spool directory to your print file. But you have to remember to
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add the <CODE>-s</CODE> option to lpr every time.
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<P>
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<HR>
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<A HREF="Printing-Usage-HOWTO-6.html">Next</A>
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<A HREF="Printing-Usage-HOWTO-4.html">Previous</A>
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<A HREF="Printing-Usage-HOWTO.html#toc5">Contents</A>
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