Date: Fri, 2 Feb 1996 17:14:19 -0700 From: Wes Peters <wes@btsslc.com> To: joe.gazarik@jabs.com (Joe Gazarik) Cc: questions@freebsd.org Subject: I need drivers for the Epson Stylus Color printer and ES-600 C scanner Message-ID: <199602030007.QAA21261@freefall.freebsd.org> In-Reply-To: <54380592@toto.iv>
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Joe Gazarik writes:
> Please help!!!! I have a 90 MHz Pentium to which I am going to shortly
> be adding on FreeBSD 2.1. My computer is a Packard Bell Legend 105CD.
> The computer hardware seems to be supported by FreeBSD. My problem is
> that I also have an Epson Stylus Color printer and an Epson ES-600C
> flatbed scanner both of which are vital to my work. I need drivers for
> the two epson devices mentioned above so that FreeBSD 2.1 will recognize
> them and so I can use them in UNIX. Please help me! Epson has been
> pretty uncooperative and you guys are my last hope. I really need these
> drivers for the printer and scanner. Please tell me where I can get
> them. Thanks, I appriciate. Also, just off the top of your head, do
> you remember any known conflicts between a Packard Bell Legend 105CD and
> FreeBSD. Any and all info would be very helpful.
Whoa, calm down! ;^) As the handbook says (or at least *should* say):
"Don't Panic."
"Printer drivers" in UNIX are not at all like what MS-Windows and
Macintosh users think of when they ponder printer drivers. Most
printers on the planet can be wired up to a FreeBSD system and use to
print *text*.
Graphics is another ball of wax. Neither UNIX nor Xwindows specifies
any sort of printer support; the closest you can get to a common
denominator is PostScript(tm), and even that is not universally
supported. Most text and graphics processors do support PS to some
extent today.
Fortunately, there is a program supplied by the Free Software
Foundation, called "ghostscript", which can produce PS output on most
modern printers. I have an Epson Stylus 300, the super-cheap black
and white version of your printer, and ghostscript works quite nicely
with it. All of the Stylus printers use an output language called
"ESC/P2", which is supported by ghostscript. Here's the kicker: no
color support (that I know of).
Ghostscript does support color; drivers are available for at least one
of the HP color inkjets (the 660, I think). A clever hacker could
probably glean from this how ghostscript specifies colors to a printer
driver, and use this information to add color support for the escp2
driver. If I had a color Stylus, I'd probably be willing to help, but
I don't have one to play with. I might be able to be talked into it
for the cost of a Color Stylus II (hint hint).
I can't help you with the scanner support; sorry, I know nothing about
them. The usual avenue of approach is to find someone who's already
done a scanner driver and (reverently) offer to loan them your
equipment until they can hack up a driver for you.
This may seem somewhat chaotic, but that's the way free software
works. On the other hand, you usually get what you want faster and
better than if you buy a support contract from some big, uncaring
company who doesn't really care about your piddling ability to affect
it's bottom line. ;^)
Good luck!
> Most Respectfully Yours,
>
> Joe Gazarik (joe.gazarik@JABS.com)
> P.S. Could you also give me details as to going about obtaining Motif
> 2.0 for FreeBSD and X-Windows. Thanks again!!
Look at the FreeBSD web pages, under "commercial products"?
--
I'd rather be sailing.
Wes Peters BTS SLC wes@btsslc.com
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