14.7.2.4
PPD Files from Printer Manufacturers in the manufacturer-PPDs
Package
The manufacturer-PPDs package contains PPD les from printer manufacturers that
are released under a suciently liberal license. PostScript printers should be cong-
ured with the suitable PPD le of the printer manufacturer, because this le enables
the use of all functions of the PostScript printer. YaST prefers a PPD le from the
manufacturer-PPDs, but YaST cannot use a PPD le from the manufacturer-PPDs
package if the model name does not match. This may happen if the manufacturer-PPDs
package contains only one PPD le for similar models, like Funprinter 12xx series.
In this case, select the respective PPD le manually in YaST.
14.8 Troubleshooting
The following sections cover some of the most frequently encountered printer hard-
ware and software problems and ways to solve or circumvent these problems. Among
the topics covered are GDI printers, PPD les and port conguration. Common network
printer problems, defective printouts, and queue handling are also addressed.
14.8.1 Printers without Standard Printer Language Support
These printers do not support any common printer language and can only be ad-
dressed with special proprietary control sequences. Therefore they can only work
with the operating system versions for which the manufacturer delivers a driver. GDI
is a programming interface developed by Microsoft* for graphics devices. Usually
the manufacturer delivers drivers only for Windows, and since the Windows driver
uses the GDI interface these printers are also called GDI printers. The actual problem
is not the programming interface, but the fact that these printers can only be ad-
dressed with the proprietary printer language of the respective printer model.
Some GDI printers can be switched to operate either in GDI mode or in one of the
standard printer languages. See the manual of the printer whether this is possible.
Some models require special Windows software to do the switch (note that the Win-
dows printer driver may always switch the printer back into GDI mode when printing
from Windows). For other GDI printers there are extension modules for a standard
printer language available.
Some manufacturers provide proprietary drivers for their printers. The disadvantage
of proprietary printer drivers is that there is no guarantee that these work with the
installed print system or that they are suitable for the various hardware platforms.
In contrast, printers that support a standard printer language do not depend on a
special print system version or a special hardware platform.
Instead of spending time trying to make a proprietary Linux driver work, it may be
more cost-eective to purchase a printer which supports a standard printer language
(preferably PostScript). This would solve the driver problem once and for all, elimi-
nating the need to install and congure special driver software and obtain driver
updates that may be required due to new developments in the print system.
174 Start-Up
