
    $Id: README.me,v 1.9 1999/03/21 15:28:47 henryk Exp $




                     LEXMARK 7000 PRINTER DRIVER FOR LINUX
                        (AND OTHER OPEN SOURCE SYSTEMS)


                            (C) 1999 Henryk Paluch
                           paluch@bimbo.fjfi.cvut.cz
                                March 21, 1999
                            PROGRAM RELEASE: 990321


Hi folks!

     This  is  my  fourth  release  of Lexmark 7000 driver for Linux.  The most
important thing is fixed line overflow, that could occure, when  printing  some
large pictures (like golfer.ps).


Lexmark  does NOT provide protocol specification for third party. They consider
it "copyrighted". So, this work is completely based on  disassembling  printing
files  (using  driver for Windows and Print to File capability in programs). It
does mean, that this program comes WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY! Use  it  on  your  own
risk only!


     This release is not "Plug & Play". Read the instructions carefully.


1.  CURRENT FEATURES


 o Black/White  printing  600x600 dpi only (if you need 600x300d dpi, use older
   990207 revision, please)
 o work as filter PBM -> printer, e. g. easy integration with Ghost-Script
 o available under GNU GPL license including source code
 o script for easy integration into RedHat's printing system
 o support for Lexmark 5700
 o from 990321 relase should not crash, when printing  large  amount  of  black
   pixels :-)



2.  SUPPORTED PRINTERS

     The  table  below  shows  experience of Lexmark users with my driver.  Pay
attention to column 'WORKS'.


Model          Works   Notes
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Lexmakr 7200   YES     reported by Dan Davis
Lexmark 7000   YES     reported by Nigel Lock and myself :-)
Lexmark 5700   YES     reported by Brian Wainscott and others.
Lexmark 3200   NO      reported by Chris Davis
Lexmark 1100   NO      reported by Ben Adler. The protocol seems
                       to be very different. I'll need tons of
                       luck to have success



     I'm curious to see report on Lexmark 5000 and others  that  use  the  same
12A1970  cartridge.  Any  heros  there? Please report your experience to inform
other users of that printers.


3.  FILES


File                  Description
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Makefile              project Makefile
README                this file
lexmarkprotocol.txt   description of "top secret" protocol
pbm2l7k.c             the Lexmark 7000 driver (works as filter)
pr5700.prn            initialization (prologue) for Lexmark 5700
pr7000.prn            initialization (prologue) for Lexmark 7000
ps-to-printer.fpi     automatic printing for RedHat 5.x
psprint               prints postscript file to /dev/lp1 (obsolete)
stairs.pbm            test bitmap for all 192 ink jets
stairsb.prn           Black & White stairs for Lexmark 7000
stairsc.prn           Colour stairs for Lexmark 7000



4.  INSTALLATION


4.1.  Compilation


     Simply type

    $ make



     It should compile pbm2l7k.c into pbm2l7k binary. Works "out of the box" at
least on RedHat 5.2


4.2.  Integration into RedHat's printing system

 (1)   Backup    your    existing   file   /usr/lib/rhs/rhs-printfilters/ps-to-
       printer.fpi

 (2)   Copy these files into /usr/lib/rhs/rhs-printfilters/

           # cp pbm2l7k pr*.prn ps-to-printer.fpi \
              /usr/lib/rhs/rhs-printfilters


 (3)   Owners of Lexmark 5700 need to add `-m 1' to change driver mode to  Lex-
       mark 5700 instead of default - Lexmark 7000. See

           # ./pbm2l7k -h

       for  more  information.  It  does  mean that you should manualy add this
       switch in ps-to-printer.fpi and psprint  script,  if  you  have  Lexmark
       5700.


 (4)   Configure at least one printing entry in /etc/printcap. You may use Red-
       Hat printing tool. Just select any *NON*  PostScript  printer  you  wish
       (PCL DeskJet or LaserJet). Printer selection and resolution is overriden
       to Lexmark in my ps-to-printer.fpi script.  Do *NOT*  check  `Fast  text
       printing', otherwise text printing will not work.

 (5)   Set correct paper size. Add either `-sPAPERSIZE=a4' or `-sPAPERSIZE=let-
       ter' to gs command in psprint and ps-to-print.fpi scipts.

 (6)   Cross fingers and try to print some file :-)


4.3.  Manual printing of Post-Script files


     See psprint script, how to do it.


5.  NOTES


    As I stated above, this driver is *pre-pre-pre-pre ALPHA* version.  Use
    it  on  your own risk. I'll gladly appreciate bug reports and bug fixes
    concerning this driver. I also hope, that Lexmark will change his  "OSS
    deny" policy soon.



     The most recent version of this driver should be available on:

    http://bimbo.fjfi.cvut.cz/~paluch/l7kdriver/
    ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/hardware/drivers/lexmark7000*.tar.gz



     I  hope  you will enjoy this "underground" release of Lexmark 7000 printer
driver

             Henryk Paluch, paluch@bimbo.fjfi.cvut.cz


6.  THANKS


     I'd like to thanks to many people for feedback and help to make the driver
to work on additional Lexmark models. The list comes in chronological & chaotic
order:

7200 series:

Dan Davis - thanks for report, and notice about docs

7000 series:

Nigel Lock - thanks for report, and notice about unclear point in  installation
docs.

5700 series:

Stephen  Vinall,  Peter Mott, Brian Wainscott, Javier Munoz, Phil Humpherys for
feedback and help.


1100 series:

Ben Adler - thanks for reports and nice test patterns.


I apologize if someone is missing. I have little chaos in my mailbox ;-)

