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Ivan
Asked: 2009-05-01 09:56:30 +0800 CST

Printing big files from Linux causes PostScript errors

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I've been trying to make a Dell 5110cn printer to work from Linux, to no avail.

I've tried sharing the printer from both a Linux and a Windows machine, and in either case, Windows clients can always print fine.

When a Linux client sends a print job that's larger than a few hundred KBs, the printer chokes and prints pages with what appear to be PostScript errors, like:

ERROR: ioerror
OFFENDING COMMAND: image
STACK:
  lot's of characters

I've been struggling with this for weeks now, and nowhere have I found an answer or a pointer.

linux printing

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Ok, well, here's some food for thought:

    • Ditch the PPD. Yeah, that seems counter-intuitive, but really, you'll be fine without it.

    • Use a different printer language. Select PCL 5e as the print language, if possible. Sticking with older, matured protocols allows you to avoid incompatibilities and/or bugs with the implementation of newer ones. You might not get all the features you want, but you'll get something functional.

    • Turn the Windows box into a print server. If you have an LPR service available on your windows box, "Attach" the printer to the windows machine, enable LPR services and point the Linux box at the windows machine, turning it into a print server.

    • Enable Proprietary Driver Support. If you have a "newer" Linux distro, the CUPS service should be able to "detect" the presence of the printer easily. If you are running Ubuntu or Debian, be sure to include support for non-free software, as it's (unfortunately) necessary for stubborn hardware that can't be dragged along for the ride. Ubuntu has a GUI tool in the System menu that allows you to detect hardware that needs non-free drivers, and install the driver.

    • Switch Print Drivers. Here's a dirty little secret - you can use the same print driver on several dozen printers from different vendors, and they will cover different models. I don't know how many times I've had to use "Apple LaserWriter 600" to just get a vanilla postscript driver installed on a Windows box for a non-printing function.

    I'm sure there's more, but this is what comes to mind ATM.

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