6 ms·

Emulate legacy printer drivers for CUPS with QEMU

135 points by onny 6y ago

rietta 6y ago
I love this. How to keep a working older printer going and make it useful!
tyingq 6y ago
That's an interesting approach. For these "win printers" that need host-side processing, another solution is this generic HBPL cups driver: https://github.com/mikerr/foo2zjs https://github.com/mikerr/foo2zjs
Tade0 6y ago
A few years ago my father had a similar problem so I "emulated" the drivers by firing up a VirtualBox machine with Windows XP, which had them, because the printer was from that era. Worked like a charm.
myself248 6y ago
I wonder if this overall concept can be done for Synaptics touchpad drivers. Just wrap them in an emulator so I can use the vendor's drivers that work well.
- tyingq 6y ago
  That would be pretty similar to how ndiswrapper[1] works for network drivers. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NDISwrapper https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NDISwrapper
dmarinus 6y ago
I love these hacks! Did you know you can find the source code of this "driver" (foo2hbpl1) on the internet archive? http://web.archive.org/web/20151008025637/http://www.cybercom.net/~dcoffin/hbpl/foo2hbpl1.c http://web.archive.org/web/20151008025637/http://www.cyberco...
- mobilio 6y ago
  Source is here: https://github.com/mikerr/foo2zjs https://github.com/mikerr/foo2zjs
  - asveikau 6y ago
    Wait. Their "legacy driver I need qemu to run" is foo2zjs? The gpl thing that I remember being in a bunch of Linux distro package repos? The one that I have run on arm just fine? Still in debian. https://packages.debian.org/buster/printer-driver-foo2zjs https://packages.debian.org/buster/printer-driver-foo2zjs
    - mobilio 6y ago
      Yup. I didn't understand it too.
- ac29 6y ago
  Not sure where you saw foo2hbpl1 referenced, they are using this driver: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/xerox-phaser-6000-6010/ https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/xerox-phaser-6000-6010/ Which definitely contains 32-bit x86 code.
fithisux 6y ago
It would be better if companies released documentation. Governments should have done their job. Doing. the "emulator" thing is a short term solution. Continuing the emulator thing is like agreeing that governments can get away by not doing their job.
- boudin 6y ago
  Or having to opensource drivers and firmwares for the hardware they decide to stop maintaining. This is such a waste of hardware, especially for things that don't age much like printers.
- Wowfunhappy 6y ago
  Even if the documentation was public, there's no guarantee anyone would take the time to get drivers working on ARM in modern Linux. I actually think emulation is a good long-term solution for legacy applications. My NES rom of Super Mario Brothers is probably the most cross-platform and future-proof piece of software on my computer, because every platform has an NES emulator! You write (or port) an emulator once per platform, and suddenly the whole NES library opens up.
  - swiley 6y ago
    Wasn’t this the idea behind java?
    - Wowfunhappy 6y ago
      Java runs in a VM rather than an emulator, but, basically yes!
b3lvedere 6y ago
Did something similar with an old Dymo LabelWriter 320 which does not work on Windows 10. So i connected it to a Raspberry Pi, installed Cups, compiled the Dymo drivers and now i have a small print server.
- wolfhumble 6y ago
  Which server did you decide to run on the Raspberry Pi?
  - throwaway2048 6y ago
    CUPS is a (network) Print Server
asveikau 6y ago
I run lpd on a raspberry pi to share my printer. I used to share it to Windows hosts with samba but then I realized Windows supports lpd printers. (As does Mac and anything Unix-like.) I am probably 20 years late in saying this, but I honestly don't know why cups is a thing. lpd works fine and has always struck me as simpler. It's smaller with fewer dependencies. This config is way more complicated than mine. Any time people talk about Unix printing they always assume you mean cups.
- hedora 6y ago
  I don’t think LPD supported auto discovery or printer-specific configuration dialogs. Cups is a bit too complicated for my taste though. Some settings live in the print dialog, others at localhost:631 (which password does it want, again?), and some are only accessible in /etc.
- bluGill 6y ago
  If you only have one printer CUPS doesn't do much. If you have hundreds of printers it starts to make sense. Though they system we have at work where you print and then go to whatever printer and sign in makes more sense. The printout isn't there when you arrive, but at least it isn't on some printer in a different city.
- kstrauser 6y ago
  LPD was awesome for sending a file, as-is, to a pre-configured printer. CUPS is awesome for changing things on the fly, like color vs. black-and-white or two-sided printing, or for giving clients enough information about the printer that they can automatically configure the correct driver.
dehrmann 6y ago
Reminds me of ndiswrapper. Linux doesn't support your network card? Use the Windows drivers! The time I used it, even with the adapter layer, it was more stable than the native Linux drivers.
- cbhl 6y ago
  And ndiswrapper ran binary drivers. Literally ran the machine code and provided hooks to make the driver work. Of course, that meant you couldn't plug a Windows-only USB Wifi stick into an ARM machine (say, a Raspberry Pi 1) and use ndiswrapper. Luckily, Broadcom added Wi-Fi to the newer Pis...
  - voltagex_ 6y ago
    I haven't run into a USB wifi stick that I couldn't find a driver for, for a while. Now the problem is which of the 11 Github forks to trust. Are there any other manufacturers still bothering with USB wifi devices other than Realtek and Mediatek?
- app4soft 6y ago
  > Linux doesn't support your network card? Use the Windows drivers! What about GPU drivers? Should I try that way to run AMD Catalyst Windows driver instead of Mesa under Linux for ATI Radeon Xpress 1250?
rubatuga 6y ago
AirPrint is great for iOS devices, where you can't install printer drivers.
riedel 6y ago
qemu was the only way I could my fathers printer working on his new arm chromebook by installing cups on the Linux subsystem . It is really ridiculous how many Linux supported printers only support x86 .
baq 6y ago
i have an oldish canon printer in the same situation and an rpi right next to it... bookmarked!

135 points by onny 6y ago

I love this. How to keep a working older printer going and make it useful!

That's an interesting approach. For these "win printers" that need host-side processing, another solution is this generic HBPL cups driver: https://github.com/mikerr/foo2zjs https://github.com/mikerr/foo2zjs

Tade0 6y ago

A few years ago my father had a similar problem so I "emulated" the drivers by firing up a VirtualBox machine with Windows XP, which had them, because the printer was from that era. Worked like a charm.

myself248 6y ago

I wonder if this overall concept can be done for Synaptics touchpad drivers. Just wrap them in an emulator so I can use the vendor's drivers that work well.

tyingq 6y ago
That would be pretty similar to how ndiswrapper[1] works for network drivers. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NDISwrapper https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NDISwrapper

dmarinus 6y ago

I love these hacks! Did you know you can find the source code of this "driver" (foo2hbpl1) on the internet archive? http://web.archive.org/web/20151008025637/http://www.cybercom.net/~dcoffin/hbpl/foo2hbpl1.c http://web.archive.org/web/20151008025637/http://www.cyberco...

mobilio 6y ago
Source is here: https://github.com/mikerr/foo2zjs https://github.com/mikerr/foo2zjs
- asveikau 6y ago
  Wait. Their "legacy driver I need qemu to run" is foo2zjs? The gpl thing that I remember being in a bunch of Linux distro package repos? The one that I have run on arm just fine? Still in debian. https://packages.debian.org/buster/printer-driver-foo2zjs https://packages.debian.org/buster/printer-driver-foo2zjs
  - mobilio 6y ago
    Yup. I didn't understand it too.
ac29 6y ago
Not sure where you saw foo2hbpl1 referenced, they are using this driver: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/xerox-phaser-6000-6010/ https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/xerox-phaser-6000-6010/ Which definitely contains 32-bit x86 code.

fithisux 6y ago

It would be better if companies released documentation. Governments should have done their job. Doing. the "emulator" thing is a short term solution. Continuing the emulator thing is like agreeing that governments can get away by not doing their job.

boudin 6y ago
Or having to opensource drivers and firmwares for the hardware they decide to stop maintaining. This is such a waste of hardware, especially for things that don't age much like printers.
Wowfunhappy 6y ago
Even if the documentation was public, there's no guarantee anyone would take the time to get drivers working on ARM in modern Linux. I actually think emulation is a good long-term solution for legacy applications. My NES rom of Super Mario Brothers is probably the most cross-platform and future-proof piece of software on my computer, because every platform has an NES emulator! You write (or port) an emulator once per platform, and suddenly the whole NES library opens up.
- swiley 6y ago
  Wasn’t this the idea behind java?
  - Wowfunhappy 6y ago
    Java runs in a VM rather than an emulator, but, basically yes!

b3lvedere 6y ago

Did something similar with an old Dymo LabelWriter 320 which does not work on Windows 10. So i connected it to a Raspberry Pi, installed Cups, compiled the Dymo drivers and now i have a small print server.

wolfhumble 6y ago
Which server did you decide to run on the Raspberry Pi?
- throwaway2048 6y ago
  CUPS is a (network) Print Server

asveikau 6y ago

I run lpd on a raspberry pi to share my printer. I used to share it to Windows hosts with samba but then I realized Windows supports lpd printers. (As does Mac and anything Unix-like.) I am probably 20 years late in saying this, but I honestly don't know why cups is a thing. lpd works fine and has always struck me as simpler. It's smaller with fewer dependencies. This config is way more complicated than mine. Any time people talk about Unix printing they always assume you mean cups.

hedora 6y ago
I don’t think LPD supported auto discovery or printer-specific configuration dialogs. Cups is a bit too complicated for my taste though. Some settings live in the print dialog, others at localhost:631 (which password does it want, again?), and some are only accessible in /etc.
bluGill 6y ago
If you only have one printer CUPS doesn't do much. If you have hundreds of printers it starts to make sense. Though they system we have at work where you print and then go to whatever printer and sign in makes more sense. The printout isn't there when you arrive, but at least it isn't on some printer in a different city.
kstrauser 6y ago
LPD was awesome for sending a file, as-is, to a pre-configured printer. CUPS is awesome for changing things on the fly, like color vs. black-and-white or two-sided printing, or for giving clients enough information about the printer that they can automatically configure the correct driver.

dehrmann 6y ago

Reminds me of ndiswrapper. Linux doesn't support your network card? Use the Windows drivers! The time I used it, even with the adapter layer, it was more stable than the native Linux drivers.

cbhl 6y ago
And ndiswrapper ran binary drivers. Literally ran the machine code and provided hooks to make the driver work. Of course, that meant you couldn't plug a Windows-only USB Wifi stick into an ARM machine (say, a Raspberry Pi 1) and use ndiswrapper. Luckily, Broadcom added Wi-Fi to the newer Pis...
- voltagex_ 6y ago
  I haven't run into a USB wifi stick that I couldn't find a driver for, for a while. Now the problem is which of the 11 Github forks to trust. Are there any other manufacturers still bothering with USB wifi devices other than Realtek and Mediatek?
app4soft 6y ago
> Linux doesn't support your network card? Use the Windows drivers! What about GPU drivers? Should I try that way to run AMD Catalyst Windows driver instead of Mesa under Linux for ATI Radeon Xpress 1250?

rubatuga 6y ago

AirPrint is great for iOS devices, where you can't install printer drivers.

riedel 6y ago

qemu was the only way I could my fathers printer working on his new arm chromebook by installing cups on the Linux subsystem . It is really ridiculous how many Linux supported printers only support x86 .

baq 6y ago

i have an oldish canon printer in the same situation and an rpi right next to it... bookmarked!