HP OfficeJet Linux driver (hpoj) documentation index
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Introduction
This software provides Linux support for most "multi-function" (or
"all-in-one") peripherals from Hewlett-Packard, including OfficeJet,
LaserJet, and Printer/Scanner/Copier ("PSC") products. It consists of:
- Low-level drivers and libraries to communicate with the device.
Depending on your hardware and operating system configuration, you
may connect devices directly to your workstation with a parallel port or
USB (Universal Serial Bus), or to a LAN (Local Area Network)
using certain models of HP JetDirect print servers.
- An application programming interface (API) known as "PTAL" (Peripheral
Transport Abstraction Libary) that hides the differences
in accessing devices connected via parallel, USB, or JetDirect.
- Printing support, largely powered by
ghostscript,
the HP inkjet driver
(for selected models),
and one of various print spoolers (Berkley lpd, gnulpr, LPRng, CUPS,
PDQ, etc.) that may already be installed on your computer.
- Scanning support, powered either by
Scanner Access Now Easy (SANE)
or by "ptal-hp scan", a
command-line application provided with the hpoj package.
- Graphical and command-line applications to access various features of the
peripheral, such as displaying status of the device and setting the clock.
The
Supported Devices page
on the hpoj web site
has the most up-to-date list of models and functionality that are
supported by the hpoj software.
Installation and setup
Follow these steps to install the hpoj software initially, or to set up
new peripherals later:
- Compiling and installing the software
- Setting up basic device connectivity
- Setting up printing
- Setting up scanning
Additional support resources
In addition to this documentation provided with the hpoj software,
the following support resources are provided for your convenience:
World-wide web
- The hpoj web site is at
http://hpoj.sourceforge.net.
- Information on known bugs and possible solutions or workarounds is
available on the
Bugs and TODO page. If you run into trouble with the software,
be sure to check this page before reporting a bug.
- This documentation provided with the software is also mirrored on the
Documentation page.
Mailing lists
Visit the Mailing lists
page to subscribe/unsubscribe and/or to browse the message archives.
- hpoj-announce@lists.sourceforge.net -- New software release
announcements (read-only).
-
hpoj-devel@lists.sourceforge.net -- Feedback, problem reports,
and technical discussions. Your comments about the software, documentation,
and/or website are greatly appreciated, because we want to make them
useful to as many people on as many systems as possible. Before writing,
make sure you're subscribed to the mailing list so you'll get any
responses, or at least state in the body of your message that you're not
subscribed to the list so people will know to also reply to you.
Direct e-mail
David Paschal is the current maintainer of the hpoj software. For most
matters, it is preferable to use the hpoj-devel mailing list described
above. However, if you really prefer to contact David directly, he can
be reached at david_paschal@hp.com (work) and
paschal@rcsis.com (home). For faster response, send/reply to
both addresses.
High-level command reference
These commands access specific high-level functions of the device
and are probably of interest to most users:
- ptal-hp -- Device configuration and
status
- ptal-hp scan -- Scanning on
certain models which are not (yet) supported by SANE
- xojpanel -- QT application that
displays the contents of the peripheral's LCD panel (not supported on certain
models)
Low-level command reference
These commands exercise basic low-level connectivity to the device.
They are useful for testing the communications path when first setting
up a device and for debugging problems, but otherwise, they are probably
of interest mainly to advanced users and developers.
- ptal-devid -- Displays the device
ID string or certain fields
- ptal-connect -- Connects to
various stream services on the peripheral
- ptal-print -- Alias for
ptal-connect that defaults to
connecting to the print service
- ptal-pml -- Gets/sets PML objects
Administration and daemon command reference
- ptal-mlcd -- Low-level I/O
(MLC/1284.4) driver daemon for parallel-port and USB connections
- ptal-printd -- Daemon that
simulates a printer character device in /dev/ptal-printd and routes
the data through the PTAL I/O path
- ptal-init -- Starts/stops the
daemons and probes for USB devices
- ptal-start.conf -- Called by
ptal-init to start the daemons
- ptal-stop.conf -- Called by
ptal-init to stop the daemons
Technical information
The following information is intended for developers of applications
using the hpoj software's services, and for those desiring a deeper
understanding of the hpoj software and/or of the underlying device
protocols.