search

ondrej-zary / carps-cups

CUPS driver for Canon CARPS printers
GNU General Public License v3.0
68 stars 22 forks source link

readme

CUPS driver for Canon CARPS printers

This provides rastertocups filter and PPD files (specified by carps.drv file) which allows these printers to print from Linux and possibly any other OS where CUPS is used.

carps-decode is a debug tool - it decodes CARPS data (created either by rastertocups filter or windows drivers), producing a PBM bitmap and debug output.

Printers known to use CARPS data format:

Printer type (IEEE1284 ID) Status
MF5730 works
MF5750 works
MF5770 works
MF5630 works
MF5650 should work
MF3110 works
imageCLASS D300 works
LASERCLASS 500 should work
FP-L170/MF350/L380/L398 should work
LC310/L390/L408S works
PC-D300/FAX-L400/ICD300 works
L180/L380S/L398S works
L120 not supported - different data format
MF3200 Series not supported - different data format, different header
MF8100 Series not supported - different data format, color

Compiling from source

Requirements: make, gcc, libcups2-dev, libcupsimage2-dev, cups-ppdc

To compile, simply run "make":

$ make

To install compiled filter and drv file, run "make install" as root:

# make install

or

$ sudo make install

You can then install the printer using standard GUI tools or CUPS web interface.

Problems with CUPS libusb backend

The libusb backend used by CUPS since 1.4.x is crap. The code is full of quirks for various printers and it's no surprise that it does not work properly with CARPS printers (at least MF5730 and D320) too - the first document prints but nothing more is printed until the printer is turned off and on again.

Seems that the printer gets confused by repeated (re)attaching of the usblp module caused by libusb using the same device.

Since 2018-03-04, this driver installs carps.usb-quirks file that enables "no-reattach" workaround in the CUPS libusb backend on all supported CARPS printers.

The following manual workarounds are not needed anymore (but are kept as reference).

Workarounds for CUPS libusb problems (not needed anymore - for reference only)

Easy workaround - blacklist usblp module (if you don't need it for other printers) by creating a file /etc/modprobe.d/usblp-blacklist.conf containing:

blacklist usblp

If the modules is already loaded, unload it:

$ sudo rmmod usblp

Another workaround is to set printer URI to the usblp device, e.g. "file:///dev/usb/lp0". For this to work, file: device URIs must be enabled in CUPS configuration: (/etc/cups/cups-files.conf)

FileDevice Yes

You need to restart CUPS then:

$ sudo service cups restart

Using file:// workaround with multiple USB printers (not needed anymore - for reference only)

If you have multiple USB printers, the usblp devices might be assigned differently on each boot or hot-plug. To avoid this, you can create an udev rule like this (example from Ubuntu 14.04 and Canon D320), e.g. /etc/udev/rules.d/canonD320.rules:

SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{ieee1284_id}=="MFG:Canon;MDL:imageCLASS D300;CLS:PRINTER;DES:Canon imageCLASS D300;CID:;CMD:LIPS;", SYMLINK+="canonD320"

You can find your printer's IEEE1284 ID by running:

# udevadm info -a --name=/dev/usb/lpX

When you are done restart udev:

$ sudo service udev restart

Ensure that /dev/canonD320 points to /dev/usb/lpX

Now you can map your printer as file:///dev/canonD320

Paper size problems

CARPS printers are very sensitive to paper size.

If only one page prints and the printer LCD shows "check paper size" or no pages are printed until you power cycle the printer, make sure the paper size you have set in the driver/document/application matches the size set on printer panel (LCD menus).