Can't get rid of form feeds on canon image runner 2200

[aseidas]

Hello,
I have been trying to solve a problem at a customers site for about 2 weeks now. They are doing a demo of a canon imagerunner 2200. The thing that is keeping them from buying it is an annoying form feed at the beginning of every document sent from our application on the SCO box (5.0.5 enterprise). I have looked through several of the doc on pcunix.com and can't seem to find the solution.
I have tried looking for the form feed characters in the script (HPLaserJet) for the printer in /var/spool/lp/admins/lp/interfaces/model.orig
I cannot find any form feed characters. I was told by the Canon rep that the printer could emulate an HP Laser Jet so I used the HP interface script thinking it would give me more flexibility. I origanally just added it through scoadmin->printer (form feed there as well).The Canon rep claims there is no way to supress the initial form feed on the printer itself w/o mapping it through the windows driver with print server software. Any ideas? Any help would be appreciated!

Aseidas "John" Blauvelt

 

[pcunix]

The simple test is to send data WITHOUT any interface.

So, if it were a parallel printer:

lc /etc > /dev/lp0

but since this is a network using HPJet protocol

lc /etc | netcat -h printer -p 9100

(see

http://pcunix.com/KevinSmith/netcat/

if you don't have netcat )

If the printer does an immediate formfeed, then it is coming from its own software. If so, you might try telneting to it- some of these HP printers with built in network cards allow you to control banner pages, etc. In fact, the default IS to print a banner page.
on the HP's, but I don't know about Canon.

Tony Lawrence
SCO Unix/Linux Resources

http://pcunix.com

tony@pcunix.com

 

[edfair]

In lpstat -l is the printer named model.orig? That is where you said you were looking. Think you meant /interface/hp.
Leading ff should be in the last 1/4 page, several lines before the file is dumped. echo `\014\c` or something similar. Getting old and can't remember the details without looking. Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[pcunix]

"model.orig" indicates a printer set up by the HP printer manager. A wrapper script is in the interface/lp directory runs output through the script in interface/lp/model.orig/ and then passes the output to the networked printer,

So a printer named "sam" has both interface/lp/sam and interface/lp/model.orig/sam and the place to look for formfeeds is under model.orig as he said.

Tony Lawrence
SCO Unix/Linux Resources

http://pcunix.com

tony@pcunix.com

 

[pcunix]

Boy is my typing backward this morning.

I was trying to save space and got myself all backwards

Here's the correction:

model.orig" indicates a printer set up by the HP printer manager. A wrapper script is in the usr/spool/lp/admins/lp/interfaces directory runs output through the script in usr/spool/lp/admins/lp/interfaces/model.orig/ and then passes the output to the networked printer,

So a printer named "sam" has both usr/spool/lp/admins/lp/interfaces/sam and usr/spool/lp/admins/lp/interfaces/model.orig/sam and the lace to look for formfeeds is under model.orig as he said.

But Ed, you do bring up a good point. When he said he loooked for form feeds, I assumed that since he knew where to look he knew what he was looking for- and you are right, he may not have.


Tony Lawrence
SCO Unix/Linux Resources

http://pcunix.com

tony@pcunix.com

 

[aseidas]

I did know what I was looking and where I was looking for it. Point taken. I should have specified what I was looking for where I was looking for it....or something

Aseidas "John" Blauvelt

 

[edfair]

No implecations, just trying to understand the problem. Tony is the "guru" and I'm learning via osmosis because anything that is a problem for you will eventually show up in something I support.
Did anything show different with the netcat?
Do you have another printer that could be swapped to see if it is something particular to the Canon? Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[pcunix]

Tony is not the guru:

http://pcunix.com/wiz.html

I struggle just like everyone else-MORE than everyone else I often think!

Maybe I have some benefit from more than 20 years doing it day after day, but that's all I have. I get confused, I make dumb mistakes, and there's tons of stuff I still don't understand very well at all- not even well enough to ask an intelligent question!

There are very few guru's in the world. I'm definitely not one. But enough of that nonsense.

I too would like to know what happened with netcat. My bet is that the printer itself is doing a header page.

Tony Lawrence
SCO Unix/Linux Resources

http://pcunix.com

tony@pcunix.com

 

[edfair]

20 years="guru" 12 years=still wet behind the ears.
How about"nearguru"?
I've used a laptop and a parallel/serial converter under dos/gwbasic to capture the data stream at the plug to absolutely know what is on the wire.
Seems logical that a network printer would have a form feed at the beginning of a job to insert a divider and/or to clean the buffer. But it should also have some way to shut it off for those systems that have it resident. Wonder if installing a ^h at the beginning would backspace over the ff if it is self generated?
My background is "host" so my questions are more to generic hardware than to the network, so be gentle on me. I like to think I'm not as dumb as I sometimes appear. Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[pcunix]

I'm every bit as dumb as I sometimes appear

The backspace wouldn't help if it is the print server itself that's doing it because it sends it out before it even "looks" at the real data to be printed.

But the real HP's that have this dubious feature come up with a nice little menu if you telnet to them and you can shut off this annoyance, add cr/lf translation and other stuff..

Tony Lawrence
SCO Unix/Linux Resources

http://pcunix.com

tony@pcunix.com

 

[pcunix]

Ed's comment about using a laptop to capture the data is also of interest.

In the "old days", when you could always count on there being a Wyse 60 terminal around somewhere, these terminals were (and still are if you have one) a great way to capture data "off the wire" because you can put them in "monitor" mode which doesn't interpret control characters- it just shows you what it got.. combine that with a cheap parallel to serial converter and you've got a great dignostic tool.

That's one reason I still keep a couple of these around..
Tony Lawrence
SCO Unix/Linux Resources

http://pcunix.com

tony@pcunix.com