printer compatibility sparsity. [SOLVED]

As its been stated several times before, if PCL(5/5e/6) or Postscript is supported you'll be fine and it doesn't matter at all if there's a specific printer driver or not.
 
dalpets said:
There's another driver , yes another one *!#.^@

Driver - HP LaserJet Pro 400 Printer M401dn | HP® Customer Support

support.hp.com support.hp.com
Click to expand...
Ignore it. It's specific to some old System V derivatives of Unix (HP-UX and Solaris), and not relevant to your situation.

Install the FreeBSD print/hplip port or package.

Then install cups(1) and configure it to use the PostScript Printer Description (ppd) file named hp-laserjet_400_m401-ps.ppd.

As others mention, you could use a generic PostScript ppd file for the M401dn, but the model specific hp-laserjet_400_m401-ps.ppd will extract maximum functionality of the printer, enabling the entire feature set for your specific model. This can have a significant impact on both behaviour and performance.
 
It is the easiest route, as cups is the de-facto standard on desktop now.
You call "Manage printers", add a printer and in one step of the questionnaire you can upload the ppd file to cups.
That's all. No need to look into the handbook, except you need lpr for some reason.
 
gpw928 said:
HP have a ppd file named hp-laserjet_400_m401-ps.ppd
Click to expand...
You can avoid installing print/hplip and it's dependencies by just installing the ppd. As long as the ppd references the use of HP's emulation of Postscript, you should not need other drivers. If the ppd uses plxmono as a driver, you will need to install ghostscript.
There are several ways to obtain the ppd.
1. Extract it from the FreeBSD packages
2. Extract it from HPLIP source code - it is a plain text file
3. Generate your own using foomatic-db-engine, OpenBSD readme instructions here

In FreeBSD, it goes in /usr/local/share/cups/model/
 
shepper;
How do I extract ppd from 12.2?
can I view these ppd's to ascertain which printers are supported before I purchase?
Thanks
 
The refurbished hp 401dn that I was intending to purchase is very expensive for what it is (at least 10yrs old, 38,000 print count, 30 day warranty for $259 ($AUS), including $50 freight.
Is there anything else in the more modern hp (mono only) laser range that would be a better bang for my buck, say within $50 or so, or a tad more?

In this store, in my vicinity (free pickup), there maybe some later models that you may consider to be a better buy at the prices indicated there ($AUS). The HP laserjet Pro M404's are in my price range, but are they any good & would they work with 12.2

​

https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/search?q=hp mono laser&view=grid&page=1&sortBy=bestmatch

I would appreciate your opinions.
Thanks
 
dalpets said:
HP laserjet Pro M404
Click to expand...
A quick spec search says it does Postscript. And it says "manual" duplex, and this iirc is not what you said you wanted.

It is really difficult to assist, you have to search yourself for "<model_id> specifications" to judge whether a particular item serves your requirement.

I always did it that way, that I looked what good brands printers are available at the moment. The market prices fluctuate much, and can sink very much when a big refurb lot hits the market. This is what I perused to get my Kyocera printers for 30 Euros instead of a three-digit number.

In addition there is the fact that many people prefer light home printers, shy away from power workhorses that weigh maybe 15-30kg.
In the refurb market, this makes business-grade printers much cheaper than much-demanded home printers.

And your area the market isn't that big like in Germany, for example. See how much choices you'd have on ebay Germany when searching only for the HP 401dn, some for less than 100 euros (shipping included).
So maybe it could be a viable tactic just to look at the current market situation on ebay Australia?
Looking at there, I probably would look at this or that, for example.
 
The HP M404DN (D=automatic duplex; N=network) is fine - it has PostScript 3 emulation. It's pretty much identical to the M401DN that I have on FreeBSD 12.2. I use the native lpd(8) for printing and not print/cups. There's no wireless capability so I have a cheap ($US 10 from eBay AU) Chinese pocket wifi router plugged into the printer's ethernet port. Works with my FreeBSD and macOS systems.
 
dalpets said:
shepper;
How do I extract ppd from 12.2?
Click to expand...
It is a plain text file in the hplip source code. Many manufacturers have either PostScript emulation and/or PCL support. In my 3rd post in this thread, I linked the manufacturers specifications page for 2 Brother printers. If you go back on click on the link to the printer specifications you will see that the cheaper one used GDI and the more expensive on PCL6. All printer manufacturers have specification pages like I linked for you.

It will be more efficient if you look at printers in your price/feature range and look up the specs yourself. Also, do not get too hung up on HP. Their older, enterprise laserjets were well made. Their home office based printers are no where near as good, and in my opinion, Brother makes better and cheaper to feed home laserjets.
 
Purchased HP M404DN (D=automatic duplex; N=network) with PostScript 3 emulation. Arrives 22/3.

Thanks ALL for your indulgence.
 
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