Re: Does anyone know how to configure a Brother MFC-J5720DW with cups?
On Mon 14 Mar 2016 at 13:20:25 (+0000), Brian wrote:
> On Sun 13 Mar 2016 at 22:48:07 -0500, David Wright wrote:
>
> > On Sun 13 Mar 2016 at 19:32:04 (+0000), Brian wrote:
> > >
> > > I've said specifically it has a PDF converter. It must have; the printer
> > > does not understand PDF.
> >
> > Once again, I don't understand this statement because I don't
> > understand your terminology...
>
> "PDF filter" would be a suitable substitute for "PDF converter". But not
> "PDF interpreter".
OK. Debating what to call what happens between PDF and ink-on-paper
is "less important" (I'm learning) than my trying to tie down whether
that process takes place entirely in the printer, ie the box we bring
back from the store.
> > My question with pronouns removed: "So if a PDF arrives by AirPrint,
> > how does the MFC-J5720DW printer interpret the PDF if the MFC-J5720DW
> > printer doesn't have a PDF converter?"
> >
> > Your response AIUI with pronouns removed: "I've said specifically the
> > MFC-J5720DW printer has a PDF converter. The MFC-J5720DW printer must
> > have; the MFC-J5720DW printer does not understand PDF."
> >
> > Is that what you mean to say? If not, couuld you replace the
> > appropriate nouns by different nouns.
>
> Yes. But maybe my understanding of what an onboard PS/PCL/PDF interpreter
> does (stated in an earlier mail) is different from yours.
OK. Debating... (ditto as above).
> > None of your examples (the bits -> like -> this) have "AirPrint"
> > mentioned in them. I'm trying to learn from you what AirPrint is and
> > what it does. And yet your statements about it say things like
> > "The AirPrint facility handles a PDF (it has to)." and "Substitute PS,
> > PCL, QPDL etc for BUL to see how other manufacturers might deal with
> > AirPrint." which tell me nothing specifically about AirPrint.
>
> We seem to be both agreed that a PDF arriving at an AirPrint-compatible
> printer has to be dealt with in some way to ready it for printing. Let's
> leave it there. It is interesting to speculate how a printer processes a
> PDF sent from a driverless device but ultimately it is of no great
> consequence because it is not under our control.
It's of the greatest consequence if there's a way of getting a linux
box to send PDF files to an AirPrint printer and have them print.
It means you can walk into a store and just buy something, take it
home and it works. A bit like when I worked in a university: the
printers understood PDF files so I knew I could just send stuff to the
queue and it would print it.
Here's my old methodology for buying a printer:
-Go to the store and look and printers.
-Persuade wife to "check reviews" rather than buy straight away.
-Go home and look at linuxprinting-type websites for linux compatibility.
-Search forums for complaints/difficulties.
-List some linux-compatible models.
-Go back to store only to find that all these model numbers are out of
date and unavailable, replaced by shiny new models.
-Persuade wife that the shiniest model she wants is going to be a great
doorstop (or else she's going to have to print all my wants from a stick).
-Buy a printer.
-Find a driver that kind-of works.
-Work round the problems that the driver throws up.
> > > The part played by what is in the Bonjour broadcasts is crucial to the
> > > whole thing working. Apart from the questionable use of cp, IPP is used
> > > for printing and is what is advertised in the broadcasts.
> >
> > OK. I can see that CUPS has some work to do to find the printer with
> > whatever it uses (dnssd/avahi/bonjour/...). That part doesn't really
> > interest me in this discussion.
>
> It really should. Without Bonjour broadcasting by the printer AirPrint
> would not exist.
I wrote "in this discussion". Drivers, not discovery. AFAICT I'm
already using avahi to print now. I'm not, however, sending raw PDFs
to the discovered printer.
> > > The CUPS backend converts PDF to BUL.
> >
> > Why bother? The AirPrint technology built into the MFC-J5720DW printer
> > can do that. Why can't CUPS send PDF down the wire to the printer,
> > thereby avoiding all the driver-crap? You've just said "The AirPrint
> > facility handles a PDF" (requoted above). Why not let it do so?
>
> Why not, indeed? The Bonjour broadcasts of the printer should be picked
> up by avahi-daemon and the printer listed in the print dialogues of some
> applications (e.g Iceweasel/Firefox). These applications produce PDFs as
> a matter of course. They are sent directly to the printer and the
> printer sorts them in some way. No filtering on the machine is
> necessary so cupsd is not involved, whether or not it is on the system.
>
> This implementation of this idea was the objective being worked towards
> in
>
> https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2016/03/msg00401.html
>
> as a solution to Jarle Aase's issue. All we need is someone with an
> AirPrint printer to test it. :).
Yes. Has noone else on this list bought one? There's a huge list of
models. Unfortunately my model is HP Officejet Pro 85xx and one
needs 86xx for AirPrint inclusion.
> But if the printer is not AirPrint-compatible we will need cupsd and the
> backend filter. (That lead to the discussion of what happens on the
> printer).
>
> > > But, as it happens, you do not
> > > need cupsd to print to an AirPrint printer.
> >
> > OK. What's the minimum that you _do_ need? By minimum, I'm meaning
> > things like drivers; the things that linux users get tripped up by;
> > the things that make "perfectly functional" printers into doorstops.
>
> When cupsd isn't running no drivers are needed because the print job is
> sent directly to the AirPrint-compatible printer. avahi-daemon is
> required, of course.
>
> When sent to a non-compatible printer the minimum number of drivers
> needed is determined by the printer make and model when it is set up as
> a local or remote shared printer with CUPS.
Cheers,
David.
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