RetroPrinter Support

Hello

I bought a Retroprinter module to replace our old HP DeskJet 920c and directly save a PDF. It is connected to a measurement receiver for EMC measurements, running Windows NT.

First I tried to emulate an HP printer. I used the following config:

machine: Raspberry
emulation: HP
retain_data: Yes
output_printer: No
output_PDF: Yes
offline_switch: No
usb_passthrough: No
timeout: 4
character_threshold: 2
curse_timeout: No
bit_depth: 8 (I tried 7 too)
auto_linefeed: No
linefeed_ending: Windows
page_size: A4
output_path: /usbstick
sdl_available: No
use_ramdisk: Yes
ignore_codes: No
ignore_strings: Default

But this way I get only garbage out and in the PDF folder only one RAW file appears.

After that I tried to switch to an Epson printer. I changed emulation to Epson and installed an Epson MX80 and LQ630 in Windows NT.
With these I get the graphic I want to print as a PDF, but only in black and white and not in color.

If I install an Epson Stylus Color I get again only garbage. I tryed 7 and 8 Bit without any success.

Does anyone have any idea what I need to change in the configuration to get the graphic in color?

Hmm it is interesting that you have come across these issues.

When capturing data from a Windows based machine, you must ensure that you are using the latest v3.19a software as a minimum - as this implements a corrected graphics mode which seems to be used by some Windows drivers (which process the page and send a graphics dump only).

If the HP raw data is corrupt then it is likely to be the handshaking option which needs to be adjusted (we offer values of 0 to 4 to alter the timing of the various signals - 0 is the standard centronics configuration, but many people seem to find that a setting of 2 is required).

As for colour - our Epson emulation works exactly the same as an original dot matrix / inkjet printer, so it will print colour if the necessary Epson ESC/P2 control codes are sent by the original equipment. Early dot matrix printers used an ink ribbon which was generally black only (or black and red on some daisywheel printers), so it is unlikely that a Windows driver written for one of those would send any colour commands.