Please, don’t laugh. Actually, you can laugh. But I have a 1992 Kodak Diconix 180Si inkjet I would like to use. It’s not a very fast or high quality output printer, but It’s very fun to watch print.
It’s basically a 9 pin dot matrix that sprays ink instead of hammering a ribbon. Talks plain text control codes and 9 pin Epson and IBM Proprinter graphics commands. I have the e-legacy docking station for my Latitude, so I have the classic, hardware LPT port needed to drive it.
I thought this would be easy, I had an old Okidata hooked up to Ubuntu some ten years ago… but that’s how long I’ve been away from Linux. From what I understand, CUPS should/usually has an option to add a local printer attached to a parallel or USB port and select a driver from a PPD definition. All I’m seeing is the option to set up a PDF printer or configure an internet-connected printer.
I know there’s been talk among the CUPS team of dropping all traditional printing interfaces in favor of IPP, but I didn’t see anything to indicate this had happened yet. Has it? Has anyone gotten one of these hooked up recently, maybe a newer Okidata or Epson used for multi part forms?