Turning the cheapest printer into the smartest (with a Raspberry Pi)

[@Msyjsm]

This video worked like a charm for my wife's HP PSC 1350 (the PSC 1300 drivers work for all 1300 series printers) on both Windows and Mac, thank you for your excellent tutorial!

[@hml]

Great to hear! This setup has been working for me for years now, both with MacOS and Android.

[@levon9]

Love your terminal, looks like you are on a Mac? Any idea what that font is? These days I'm primarily a Windows user (work), and Linux at times, but have no access to a Mac. Great video - super clear, I will check out your other videos too. I may try and see if I can attach my vintage HP 1080 LaserJet this way to my Windows 10 system.

[@hml]

Thank you! Yeah, I am on a Mac, but been on Linux before, and all my .dotfiles just worked on a Mac. You can see all my config files at gitlab.com/nethunter/dotfiles. And the font I use is "Source Code Pro for Powerline" (github.com/powerline/fonts/tree/master/SourceCodePro)

[@stepheneyles2198]

Thank you very much for this informative video! I've managed to follow it through, some hiccups on the way which I was able to solve with Google's help... I think some differences in software versions and printer type means that it takes a bit of time to get it working, but also teaches us abit more about R. Pi and Linux on the way! The main question I have is : Will this all stay working if I have powered off the Raspberry Pi then turn it on again? Or do I have to go through this procedure every time I want to use the printer? My idea was to save having to carry the printer to my laptop (or vice versa), this should save me time but obviously will not if I have to reprogram it every time! ;-))

[@hml]

I'm glad the video helped! I wonder - what didn't work properly? This will definitely keep on working if you turn the Pi on/off, as long as it's the same printer.

[@GO-nd3kg]

thank you! so far the easiest video to follow. i have a problem.. what if my printer isnt listed? I have a canon MF 3010

[@hml]

I'm glad you liked it! Usually you can download either Linux drivers for the printer, or just the PPD file. For the Canon MF3010, you can download it here: www.canon-europe.com/support/consumer_products/products/fax__multifunctionals/laser/laserbase_mf_series/i-sensys_mf3010.html?type=drivers&language=en&os=linux%20(32-bit)

[@Black-Opal]

Thank you for the tutorial. I have the identical printer, an HP M15a. I notice @ 4:54, there's 2 choices for the same printer, one with a USB in the name. What is the difference between the two. Also, @ 5:12, on my system, when selecting "model", there was a "driverless" option, which I chose. I'm curious why there are so many HP_Laserjet_m14-m17, hpcups 3.2.1.2 models listed? What I did differently was that I entered "sudo apt-get install hplip" to get the latest hp printer drivers.

[@hml]

Sorry for taking so long to reply, your comment ended up in spam! Anyway, the driver "name" is auto-generated by CUPS, based on the printer/driver support. So all of those drivers - are basically different drivers for the same printer, coming from different sources. Some of them could come from the GutenPrint, or OpenPrinting projects, or other open source projects, or from HP themselves. Basically, the best support should come from HPLIP, since it's lead by HP themselves. So while "driverless" could work, it won't do any transformations/cleanups that other drivers could do, which is why a real driver is preferred.

[@ioannisypatidis9170]

Hi, what about samsung printer? Do we need to install any libraries?

[@hml]

Samsung printers should just work! But if not, Samsung probably has CUPS drivers that you could load. CUPS is the same system used by Macs, so pretty much anything that supports a Mac should work with this.

[@Schnoidz]

At about the 4 minute mark you mention adding the HP Library if your printer is an HP printer. I have a Brother printer. Is a Brother Library needed? Thanks for this video, I have an unused Pi Zero W that needs a project.

[@hml]

So basically CUPS suppoerts a lot of Brother printers out of the box, so in most cases that should be enough, but if it's not supported out of the box, you can install `printer-driver-brlaser`, which adds support for a lot of Bother laser printers. You cannot use the official Brother drivers, since they cannot run on a Raspberry Pi.

[@Schnoidz]

@@hml Thanks, I'll give this a try!

[@andy_warb]

This video is super useful! My Dell 1350cnw stopped working a couple of years ago due to Dell not updating printer drivers for new macs. I’ve been using an old MacBook Pro as a print server to keep it alive but it’s total overkill and keeps crashing. Hopefully I can set this up on my Octoprint Pi and breathe some life back into my setup! Cheers!

[@hml]

Great to hear! Definitely let me know how it goes. I generally prefer to keep my Octroprint PI separate, since heavy load on Octoprint Pi can ruin a perfectly good print... Though Octoprint is usually very light, so it should be OK in 99% of the cases.

[@andy_warb]

@@hml yeah I have my Octoprint running on a 3b+ and it seems to be more than beefy enough to handle the load (also we 2d print like once in a blue moon so hopefully it'll be fine). Will keep my eyes on it though!

[@andy_warb]

Bah. Didn’t work in the end... all sorts of driver weirdness. Your guide worked perfect but couldn’t quite make it over the finish line

[@hml]

@@andy_warb oh, that's really a shame! What didn't work? Did you succeed adding the printer? I found that the Xerox Phaser driver could work with the Dell 1350cnw (blogs.gentoo.org/titanofold/2015/01/10/dell-1350cnw-on-gentoo-linux-with-cups/)

[@andy_warb]

@@hml yeah I found that exact tutorial, got the driver running but each time I tried to print a test page CUPS would complain something about a missing filter and no further information as to what the missing filter was. I tried a bunch of research and a few things but didn't get it working. Gave up after about three hours :D

[@anitachavezh]

Amazing!! It works really well. Thank you!!

[@hml]

Awesome! I'm glad it worked well for you!

[@garry57700]

Thank you. How to add OKI C332 please

[@hml]

The OKI C332 is supported by CUPS, the print server we use here, so you can just download the PPD file from here: www.oki.com/eu/printing/support/drivers-and-utilities/colour/46403102/, and the rest of the setup is exactly as it is in the video

[@intergallactic]

How does the PC know that the printer.local answers to that specific local IP that raspberry runs?

[@hml]

Your Raspberry Pi broadcasts it's (hostname).local over the local network using mDNS, so you can access your Raspberry Pi from anywhere on the local network without setting up a dedicated DNS.

[@intergallactic]

I actually had to use the legacy raspberry OS instead of lite version and it worked automatically, but thanks @@hml

[@luie.no1noob]

After I set this up, how can I print directly from my mobile without involving my pc?

[@hml]

If your on iPhone, you can follow this: support.apple.com/en-us/HT201387, the printer just appears as AirPrint. If your on Android it just appears as a network printer if the phone and printer are on the same network.

[@luie.no1noob]

@@hml alright thanks, I will try with my hp 1020+, thanks 👍

[@luie.no1noob]

@@hml hey, I got it working fine after installing a extra plugin. But I wanted to ask if I could run both Pi hole and CUPS on the same raspberry Pi zero 2W at the same time? Like will the pi be able to handle both?

[@hml]

Yeah, absolutely! Well, depends on which Pi and how much traffic you have on your network

[@hml]

@@luie.no1noob I think it should work fine, CUPS doesn't take much resources, especially when it's not printing. PiHole depends on the traffic, and I personally prefer AdGuard, so might be worth trying both.

[@thefranciscomata]

My comment keeps getting deleted when I respond but I have the DOTRUN Linux file now. How do I upload this to Pi when I'm not using a desktop version but only the lite version?

[@hml]

A simple version would be to use something like "WinSCP" (if you're on Windows), or click "Cyberduck" on a Mac to connect to the Pi. Alternatively, you can either do "scp" from the terminal to the machine, or right click the file, and copy it to the Pi, and download it there with "wget". If this isn't clear, feel free to visit our Discord at discord.gg/24dah6vu, and I'll help you further.

[@thefranciscomata]

@@hml It was clear although the Discord isn't working for me it says invalid invite when I try and join but I do have one last question. Can I plug in 2 printers to work on one Raspberry Pi for Airprint or is it only a one printer type of device?

[@hml]

You can easily connect as many printers as you can physically connect... So at least 4, maybe more with a hub. Printing doesn't take too many resources.

[@thefranciscomata]

@@hml Thank you so much. So I wouldn't have to use an adapter I got my hands on a Raspberry Pi 4B 8GB of Ram for $75. Can't wait to test out other stuff on the Pi as well. I just wanna say I found a video from someone else and it was blurry and 30 minutes long. Your video did the job and was straight to the point. Thank you so much for posting. Now I have both of my Zebras on Airprint! :)

[@The123Smoke123]

Ok, I guess that you've said it for a dramatic effect, but in case you know where to get Raspberry Pi Zero W for $10 - I urge you to share this sacred knowledge with us! 😄

[@hml]

Well, this video is 2 years old, so since then the price increased a bit, like everything else... So now they are $15 everywhere, for example: www.adafruit.com/category/933

[@gavins7542]

what if it says access denied?

[@hml]

I'll need more info, access denied to what/when?

[@gavins7542]

@@hml all good it was my firewall preventing ssh access

[@hml]

Awesome, I'm glad it works for you.

[@alibabaei1953]

How it handles paper jams or if printer has no paper?

[@hml]

It handles it pretty much the same way any desktop would handle it - you get all the regular errors/messages. It just behaves as a network printer.