Horun wrote on 2020-04-22, 02:44:

Hmm you could not network print from XP even though there are drivers for XP ? That does not sound good. Are you sure your router is not part of the issue ? Possibly blocking some ports.. Just a thought as I do see Xp32 and XP 64 drivers for your printer which should allow network printing if configured properly.

I think OP meant that he could not print from Windows 98 to the printer shared by XP . At least that's how I understood it .

Horun wrote on 2020-04-22, 02:44:

Hmm you could not network print from XP even though there are drivers for XP ? That does not sound good. Are you sure your router is not part of the issue ? Possibly blocking some ports.. Just a thought as I do see Xp32 and XP 64 drivers for your printer which should allow network printing if configured properly.

That won't work. You have to have drivers for the printer you are using for the OS you are trying to print from if you are sharing or using a network printer.

It's possible to install the network printing suplment for windows 98
https://www.thewichitacomputerguy.com/blog/st … sing-windows-98
Then the driver you are going to use is a generic HP laser JET PCL6 driver.

It will print plain text black n white. Your printer should support PCL6

Btw I know this works with any network attached printer that is using Ethernet that supports HP PCL6
you printer does support pcl 6

Warlord wrote on 2020-04-22, 04:30:

It's possible to install the network printing suplment for windows 98 https://www.thewichitacomputerguy.com/blog/st … sing-wind […]
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It's possible to install the network printing suplment for windows 98
https://www.thewichitacomputerguy.com/blog/st … sing-windows-98
Then the driver you are going to use is a generic HP laser JET PCL6 driver.

It will print plain text black n white. Your printer should support PCL6

Btw I know this works with any network attached printer that is using Ethernet that supports HP PCL6
you printer does support pcl 6

According to my understanding of the manual and other references, OP's printer does not support PCL 6 or any version of PCL or PostScript .

oh you are right i miss read theres another printer with almost the same name that does. Yeah sorry about that your printer is no good for windows 98. Find a printer that supports pcl 5 or 6 and you retry my advice.

There's another protocol/printer language to try.. Good old HPGL.

It was supported by various plotters and popular printers,
including HP LaserJet Plus and HP Deskjet 500. :)

Edit: Makes me wonder why no one mentioned it yet.
Did it already become a forgotten relic, just as DXF vector graphics format ?

I used to "print" into HPGL files, in order to let my PenMan plotter robot from the 80s become alive.
To do so, I saved my AutoSketch (DOS) drawings as HPGL files and used COPY command to send it over serial..

Boy, times seemingly have changed. Still miss that little robot. :(

Yes I miss read and thought OP could not print from XP to the Brother printer.

I'm trying to go back to this, has anyone used CUPS-PDF to print from an old machine?

At this point I am tempted to get the version of my machine that does support PCL. I am so annoyed mine doesn't support it. I didn't know anything about PCL when I bought it, if I knew, I would have.

List of current-ish Brother printers that support PCL:
https://support.brother.com/g/b/faqend.aspx?c … _001#other-faqs

So here is an idea... Not sure if the software exists for it though. The ERP system we had where I used to work, saved files to a network folder and there was a service on the server that monitored that folder. Whenever something showed up in that folder, it printed to the printer.

If there is something like that, you could print to pdf to the network share and then the monitor service would print it and then delete the file.

cyclone3d wrote on 2022-07-19, 21:29:

So here is an idea... Not sure if the software exists for it though. The ERP system we had where I used to work, saved files to a network folder and there was a service on the server that monitored that folder. Whenever something showed up in that folder, it printed to the printer.

This is kind of what I have been trying to do to no avail.
Is there a way to have a Raspberry Pi that would show up as a generic PCL printer on the network, and would save anything sent to it as a file, that then can be placed in a watch folder that my actual printer can access?

If there is something like that, you could print to pdf to the network share and then the monitor service would print it and then delete the file.

The problem is, there is NO software/drivers for Windows 9X that print to PDF, at least none I could find that would work.
If there was anything I could use that "prints" to PDF, this would be solved real quick. But afaik there isn't.

So I think the only solution would be what I described above: some sort of "generic laser printer emulator" running on the network that would work with standard Windows 9X drivers.

kikendo wrote on 2023-03-20, 20:16:

The problem is, there is NO software/drivers for Windows 9X that print to PDF, at least none I could find that would work.
If there was anything I could use that "prints" to PDF, this would be solved real quick. But afaik there isn't.

So I think the only solution would be what I described above: some sort of "generic laser printer emulator" running on the network that would work with standard Windows 9X drivers.

What about PDFCreator 0.9.3 ? I use this on Windows 95. It's a virtual printer that spits out a PDF-file from any print-capable application.

Not free but old copies of Adobe Acrobat installed a virtual pdf printer. (Version 5 been the most common version well into XP days)

leonardo wrote on 2023-03-21, 20:14:

What about PDFCreator 0.9.3 ? I use this on Windows 95. It's a virtual printer that spits out a PDF-file from any print-capable application.

I'll give that a try. It rings a bell, maybe I tried it. Will let you know, thanks!

chinny22 wrote on 2023-03-22, 11:30:

Not free but old copies of Adobe Acrobat installed a virtual pdf printer. (Version 5 been the most common version well into XP days)

I didn't know!
Everything is free nowadays , me matey, shiver me timbers!

kikendo wrote on 2023-03-24, 14:53:

I'll give that a try. It rings a bell, maybe I tried it. Will let you know, thanks! […]
Show full quote

leonardo wrote on 2023-03-21, 20:14:

What about PDFCreator 0.9.3 ? I use this on Windows 95. It's a virtual printer that spits out a PDF-file from any print-capable application.

I'll give that a try. It rings a bell, maybe I tried it. Will let you know, thanks!

chinny22 wrote on 2023-03-22, 11:30:

Not free but old copies of Adobe Acrobat installed a virtual pdf printer. (Version 5 been the most common version well into XP days)

I didn't know!
Everything is free nowadays , me matey, shiver me timbers!

It's been a while since your last post, but this just worked for me on a modern printer without support for PCL (not sure if the fact PostScript works is due to CUPS or whether it's due to the printer possibly supporting PDF/PostScript direct printing).
EDIT: Looks like it's using GhostScript, so likely through CUPS.

EDIT : PostScript print test/benchmark
Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

My LaserJet 3050 just died and I needed to replace it (might look into repairing it later). While I don't really ever need to print directly from Windows 9x, it's fun to be able to .

EDIT2: I think this is the latest version of that PostScript test/benchmark.
The author's website is archived here https://web.archive.org/web/19980429205953/ht … illes.net/~jsg/

But the download link does not seem to work. I sourced the file elsewhere, but have not tested it yet.
EDIT3: Version 5.6 does not seem to be working all that well with GhostScript, for me at least.

EDIT4:
The 3.2 version :

Printing from a DOS application under Windows 98 might not work with a networked printer configured to use IPP. I can't get port capture to work.

I suspect it would work with SAMBA (an older version would be needed to support Windows 9x clients).

darry wrote on 2020-04-21, 00:16:

Custom Raw Port/Port 9100 is supported , which is good, but since PCL and Postscript are not supported, chances do not look good

i’m coming back to this issue and just realized that the specs say “ PCL6, BR-Script3 ” as emulated printers, so why did you say neither were supported?

Is there a generic PCL driver I could try on Windows 98? the one in the Brother aite is not for Windows 98

kikendo wrote on 2024-07-28, 14:42:

darry wrote on 2020-04-21, 00:16:

Custom Raw Port/Port 9100 is supported , which is good, but since PCL and Postscript are not supported, chances do not look good

i’m coming back to this issue and just realized that the specs say “ PCL6, BR-Script3 ” as emulated printers, so why did you say neither were supported?

Is there a generic PCL driver I could try on Windows 98? the one in the Brother aite is not for Windows 98

AFAICT, that compatibility only applies to these models :
DCP-L2540DW/HL-L2380DW/MFC-L2720DW/MFC-L2740DW

NOT to the MFC-L2700DW

Source https://support.brother.com/g/b/spec.aspx?c=c … 2700dw_us_eu_as

Version 5.2 of that PPST can be found in the Simtel mirror (at sunset.se ftp or archive org) under simtelnet/msdos/postscrp/
found a results txt for it, attached...if anyone interested....

kikendo wrote on 2024-07-28, 14:42:

darry wrote on 2020-04-21, 00:16:

Custom Raw Port/Port 9100 is supported , which is good, but since PCL and Postscript are not supported, chances do not look good

i’m coming back to this issue and just realized that the specs say “ PCL6, BR-Script3 ” as emulated printers, so why did you say neither were supported?

Is there a generic PCL driver I could try on Windows 98? the one in the Brother aite is not for Windows 98

How about trying out the HP LaserJet Plus or HP Deskjet 500 driver ?
- I remember that it was common in the DOS days to use them for HPGL/PCL compatible printers.

Second was the Epson driver, I think, since many printers had emulation mode for Epson.

Here's what AutoSketch 1.x supports in terms of plotters and printers.

Jo22 wrote on 2024-08-01, 07:26:

How about trying out the HP LaserJet Plus or HP Deskjet 500 driver ? - I remember that it was common in the DOS days to use them […]
Show full quote

kikendo wrote on 2024-07-28, 14:42:

darry wrote on 2020-04-21, 00:16:

Custom Raw Port/Port 9100 is supported , which is good, but since PCL and Postscript are not supported, chances do not look good

i’m coming back to this issue and just realized that the specs say “ PCL6, BR-Script3 ” as emulated printers, so why did you say neither were supported?

Is there a generic PCL driver I could try on Windows 98? the one in the Brother aite is not for Windows 98

How about trying out the HP LaserJet Plus or HP Deskjet 500 driver ?
- I remember that it was common in the DOS days to use them for HPGL/PCL compatible printers.

Second was the Epson driver, I think, since many printers had emulation mode for Epson.

Here's what AutoSketch 1.x supports in terms of plotters and printers.

Unless I am mistaken in my interpretation of official documentation (see my previous comment), or said documentation is wrong, the MFC-L2700DW specifically does not have any PCL or PostScript compatibility. I suspect that undocumented HPGL support is even less likely.