printer compatibility sparsity. [SOLVED]

D

dalpets

I have spent many hours attempting to find a compatible printer for my needs, needs that are quite unsophisticated for home use, say up to $250 (Aus).

There are dauntingly long lists online but they tend to be riddled with printers that are no longer available. I find it hard to believe that it is such a tortuous exercise & I sometimes wonder why people like me continue to persist with this & other unix/linux systems. Having said that I realize that I am in an area that is largely populated by professionals who would probably buy high end stuff anyway & in that sense I am an outlier. The other downside is that even if I found compatibility with Linux I'm sure you would agree that compatibility would not necessarily follow for Unix like systems such as FBSD.

Anyhow, I would be appreciative of some recommendations for the acquisition of a Brother or HP printer for my lower end needs, ones with a half decent reputation (mono laser, deskjet etc) & reasonably easy to install in FBSD 12, without me going into a convoluted headspin.

Bottom line, I need to rely on experienced users so that I don't waste my money on a incompatible dud!

Thank You for any help.
 
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In general, any printer that supports Postscript will (trivially) work. Also, PCL is well supported.
For other printer languages, you might find opensource filters like e.g. print/splix for Samsung's SPL.
You might be out of luck if your printer only supports an exotic/proprietary language.

dalpets said:
The other downside is that even if I found compatibility with Linux I'm sure you would agree that compatibility would not necessarily follow for Unix like systems such as FBSD.
Click to expand...
If you can use a printer with Linux, you can probably use it with FreeBSD as well. An exception would be if the driver (filter) is only available as closed source binary from the manufacturer. If you identified the software you would need, just check on freshports whether a port for FreeBSD already exists.
 
Maybe a wireless printer can be an option to bypass the compatibility issue:
forums.freebsd.org

Does LPD still work on FreeBSD 12.0?

I have been having problems getting LPD to work on FreeBSD 12.0 . I must admit it has been some years since I have used LPD specifically for printing but I have spent quite a lot of time trying to get this working on bare metal and virtual machines and I consistently get the same result. My...
forums.freebsd.org forums.freebsd.org
 
Thanks, but this machine would be at home in an office environment and is far too expensive as a home printer.
 
By recomanding a wireless printer I was refering in general, not to that particular brand and model. There are quite a few printers in the price range you put.. I myself have a Samsung SCX-3405FW (monochrome laser). I paid for it something like 250 € 6 or 7 years ago.
 
You're really looking for the bottom of the barrel at that range but.... (Australia is notoriously expensive when it comes to hardware overall)

Brother MFC-L2750DW Best Price in Australia | Buy with Shopbot.com.au

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www.shopbot.com.au
Supports PCL6 and Postscript 3, scans to "network" (at least FTP is listed so it's doable) etc

Another option
www.costco.com.au

Lexmark Mono Multifunction Laser Printer MB2236ADWE | Cos...

The Lexmark MB2236ADWE is an impressive multifunction laser printer that can perform two-sided printing at a speed of up to 34 pages per minute. It features front-panel USB, Wi-Fi connectivity, a 2.8 inch LCD touch screen and Cloud Connector that allows you to integrate printing and scanning...
www.costco.com.au www.costco.com.au
https://www.mediaform.com.au/lexmar...a4-wireless-mono-multifunction-laser-printer/ (in stock, slight higher price)

I have no idea about any of the retailers/etailers, ie reliable etc.
 
I would recommend you avoid a MultiFunction Scanner/Printer. FreeBSD assigns a driver to USB devices on boot and only HPLIP provides drivers that switch from printer to scanner. I'm not fond of HPLIP, I think its a bloated Python mess but it is the only MFC option.
 
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I have not had to buy a printer in a long time. My used HP LaserJet 4050n printers endure, but I do know what I would look for in a new printer.

cups(1) has become ubiquitous for Unix and Linux printing. I used to run lpr/lpd for many years, but cups(1) got dragged into my systems as a dependency for so many other things I just gave up, and used it. I did, however, have to install the HP specific package hplip to get a good ppd file for PostScript support on the HP 4000 LaserJet family. It works extremely well, and I recommend it. I can't remember the last time I had a problem printing anything (sometimes it's slow, as CPU power is low).

Therefore, it's the cups(1) (not FreeBSD) compatibility that matters, and cups(1) does hide a multitude of compatibility issues.

To see what printer hardware is current, go to the printer vendors' web sites, or one of the retailers with good faceted searching. Officeworks (Printers) looks OK. Get a short-list.

I would settle on the basic physical functional specs like page size, trays, wet ink or toner, colour, duplexing, copying, scanning, faxing, and cloud/mobile phone support (e.g. AirPrint).

Consider the interface that suits you best: usually USB, WiFi, or network cable.

Then do some basic research on cups(1) compatibility for your short-list. The authority is handy, but never really completely up to date.

HP seem really good at supporting all their printers for cups(1) with hplip. However, to get a ppd file for their newest models, you may have to download their HPLIP tar package source code which contains (compressed) ppd files (usable by cups(1) ) for all their printers.

There's also plenty of chatter on the Internet regarding cups(1) for other printer brands. e.g. I just found this regarding Linux compatible printers.

Narrow it down from there. Look at the reviews.

Do check the price of consumables.

Come back when you have a few plausible candidates for which you have verified cups(1) compatibility, price, and availability.
 
Does it really have to be a new printer?
Why not buy an refurbished printer?

I am using a refurbed Kyocera Postscript color laser printer with Ethernet (personally using only lpd and JetDirect protocols) I bought for Eur 30.
Toner is cheap also. Drum capacity left was about 80k pages, I will never use that up.
Shipping (Eur 35) was more expensive than the printer (weight 28kg).
PPD file is available on the Kyocera site.
The thing is robust, fast and reliable, takes even 160g sheets with no complaints.

When it eventually breaks some day, I definitely will get another refurbed Kyocera.
 
shepper said:
I would recommend you avoid a MultiFunction Scanner/Printer. FreeBSD assigns a driver to USB devices on boot and only HPLIP provides drivers that switch from printer to scanner. I'm not found of HPLIP, I think its a bloated Python mess but it is the only MFC option.
Click to expand...
Works just fine, just the LAN connection.
 
Zirias said:
In general, any printer that supports Postscript will (trivially) work. Also, PCL is well supported.
For other printer languages, you might find opensource filters like e.g. print/splix for Samsung's SPL.
You might be out of luck if your printer only supports an exotic/proprietary language.


If you can use a printer with Linux, you can probably use it with FreeBSD as well. An exception would be if the driver (filter) is only available as closed source binary from the manufacturer. If you identified the software you would need, just check on freshports whether a port for FreeBSD already exists.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks, but new postscript printers tend to be higher end with a weightier price tag & most probably way overqualified for my needs.
 
Then look out for PCL. Or for a proprietary language that DOES have an opensource driver/filter as a last resort (I gave SPL as an example).
 
At this point all I've been able to come up with, within my budget, is the Brother HL-L2350DW mono B&W wireless laser printer that is said to work with the Cups, LPD/LPRng Printer Driver in Linux.
What is the probability that this machine would also work with this driver in FreeBSD? (Brother only has an install tool for linux (rpm) & linux (Deb).
Is the wireless aspect problematical for FreeBSD?
If this not a good proposition I will work on Zirias's above PCL suggestion.
Thanks.
 
dalpets said:
At this point all I've been able to come up with, within my budget, is the Brother HL-L2350DW mono B&W wireless laser printer that is said to work with the Cups, LPD/LPRng Printer Driver in Linux.
What is the probability that this machine would also work with this driver in FreeBSD? (Brother only has an install tool for linux (rpm) & linux (Deb).
Is the wireless aspect problematical for FreeBSD?
If this not a good proposition I will work on Zirias's above PCL suggestion.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Use a generic PCL driver, from experience Brother can be a bit picky when it comes to PCL support no idea about support for scanning etc. It probably supports at least ftp over network, wireless is usually very unreliable when it comes to MFPs and/or printers in general which one of the main reasons you don't see it at all on higher end models.
 
I'm running a Brother HL-5450DN as a Network Printer with a static IP. It has been rock solid for ~5 years. I picked it up online for $100 but have never seen it at that price since. It worked well with both PCL6 and BRScript (Postscript emulation). Some of the cheaper Brother printers are supported by print/brlaser - see Thread 58656
 
Most brother printers also support HP LaserJet emulation - the LaserJet driver must be amongst the oldest and most stable driver interfaces on the planet. Even old crappy proprietary systems from the 90s support that driver and the brother printers will happily work with them.
We've been deploying brother printers by the dozens (HL-L22xx, 23xx and 32xx) and they have been the easiest to support driver-wise (on any OS). The kyoceras and epsons we used before were a complete nightmare (and the kyoceras died like flies) compared to brother.
The HL-L2350s are our new workhorses after the 2250 disappeared. They can be used either via the LaserJet driver or using the ppd from OSX driver package (plus a filter IIRC. Can check on mondays when I'm back at work if you want).
With the generic LaserJet driver you only have to adjust the printable area manually once as it defaults to pretty high values (~35mm for each edge), but they work like a charm.


Usable SANE USB scanners are dirt cheap nowadays, so except if you have to photocopy a lot, I'd definately go with a printer and scanner as separate devices. If you have to often scan multiple pages, have a look at document scanners. They are also very affordable now and can directly store to network shares (NFS, SMB, SCP etc...), send via mail or directly to a printer, so you never have to deal with any drivers.
 
Most brother printers also support HP LaserJet emulation
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Are you referring to the ljet4 (PCL5) driver in ghostscript. The HL-L2350 does not support PCLx.
According to Brother HL-L2350 Specs the print driver is GDI. This likely will work with the print/brlaser port but it is not specifically listed in the brlaser site. The HL-L2340 and HL-L2360 are supported by brlaser.

If you can swing the Brother HL-L2370DW, it has PCL6 capability - it would use the ljet4/plxmono driver in print/ghostscript. The ljet4 is 600dpi while the plxmono supports 1200dpi. The HL-L2370 is a sure thing while the HL-L2350 is an educated guess.

The HL-L2370DW MSRP is on Brothers USA site - in the States this model has been on sale for ~$150.
 
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I'm still harping & I'm still hunting for a printer. I can't believe that printer manufacturers don't make some meager attempt to classify their printers in some way for the benefit of unix & linux communities. Surely that would be a proactive marketing endeavour. Obviously it is not profitable to do so!

I also find it hard to understand that these communities seem to be largely using aged & unavailable printers. Those two factors make it terribly hard for new users to get a handle on available printers in the market place that are compatible with their choice of distribution & to not make expensive mistakes.

The conundrum here is that everyone is holding back, not wanting to be favoring third party hardware, but at the expense of users. Why should that be a problem any more than taking the virtuous lead by representing & supporting the value of free software?

Further, printers also seem to not get much air time by users on distro forums & that makes me wonder if many users use printers with their distros. The other possibility is that most are are able to untangle the maze of technicalities involved & I'm just a dumb arse. Overall my perception is that this pervasive sparseness may be one significant factor in limiting the growth of the said communities in the market place. Just maybe, if others don't see a need, then the various distro administrators should take a more proactive approach to dissuade newcomers from walking away in frustration. At the moment they probably will never know!

Maybe at the end of the day there is a cost for free software, that is when you don't play by the rules of the quid pro quo rules of the corporate world.
Thanks for hearing me out!
 
I never had any problem with any printer because I only ever bought printers with a network interface and a builtin postscript interpreter – those will work with ANY system, all you need is a PPD file. But admittedly, they are not at the lowest end of the price range. What I did in the past was buying a "refurbished" printer instead of a new one to save money.

But then, I also operated some infrastructure for my parents for a long time. I remember when my father just bought some Brother printer without asking me – it had a NIC, but no postscript interpreter. Back then, I had the print server running on Linux with cups and luckily found an opensource driver/filter working with that printer as well.

My now ancient HP LaserJet 5M had a postscript interpreter that died a few years ago. Luckily, it also speaks PCL and cups is still perfectly able to print on it.

So, I can only repeat:
* If your printer supports postscript, you're fine.
* If it supports PCL, you're probably fine as well, as there are perfectly working opensource PCL filters.
* In any other case, search the web, look for specific opensource filters targeting the proprietary language your printer speaks. Chances are you will find something, but you should make sure before buying.
 
Printer manufacturers (for the home market at least) earn a living by selling ink, not printers. The printer market is very mature, which means that all the players (= printer vendors) have a working business plan; no need to change anything, they just need to milk this cow as long as they can. Doing anything new, like caring for a possible new target group of buyers (= unix & linux community)? Not interesting, doesn't provide any projected extra income.

Navigating in the market when shopping for a new printer is possible (but not easy) - as has been show already in this thread.

Also, it is 2021, how much dead tree printouts do you need? Most of it can probably be printed to file (PDF or postscript or other format at your choice) and carried with you.
 
dalpets
You wrote you are from Australia.
I do not know the market situation there. Is no refurbished hardware available?

I bought my Kyocera printer (actually 2, each 30 euros, one stashed away as backup) from a commercial refurbisher.
Yes, they were 3,4 years old, had already ~20k, 30k pages printed. But that is nothing for a business class printer with a drum life of 100k pages.
Print is fast (up to 20 pages/min), duplex, multiple cartridges, 500-1000 pages each, Postscript, Ethernet, supports even LPR.

Personally, I fail to understand why you insist in buying a new low-end printer for much money, instead of taking a highend business-grade printer that has a little bit of use but works perfectly for almost no money.
 
Zirias;

Thanks for again making pertinent points, as a guide for me in finding a compatible printer. I will most certainly take your responses on board.
 
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