LINUX PRINTER DRIVER APPLICATION NOTES

Linux printer drivers will support all recent FGL printers.  Please note that the only printer status information readily available with these drivers is whether or not the printer is ready to receive data.  These drivers will not return status on any interface. 

Driver Download

Download one of the driver files below.  The 32 bit files can be used with either intel or amd based computers.  The 64 bit drivers must be targeted for the appropriate manufacturer’s hardware.  The .deb files are intended for Ubuntu, Debian, Mint and most other Linux versions with the exception of Suse, CentOS, Fedora and Redhat which should use the .rpm files. The .tbz files should be used with FreeBSD while archlinux 32 and 64 can be tried if everything else fails.

Place the appropriate driver file on your desktop.  Be careful to select the proper print resolution (200, 300 or 600 dpi).

Before Installing the Printer Driver, verify that CUPS is installed:

• dpkg -l | grep cups
• if installed, proceed to printer/driver installation section
• if not, install CUPS
  • apt-get install cups

NOTE: You will get an error message if you install the drivers before CUPS is installed. To install CUPS and fix the error, send:

• apt-get -fy install

All instructions are based upon the use of the Ubuntu version of Linux.  Other versions of the Linux operating system will operate in a similar, but not identical manner.

• Right click on the driver to start the install process (kubuntu package menu/install package)
• Enter your password
• Hit enter to exit installation as prompted
• Go to System Settings/Printers
• Click Add from Printers – System Settings
• Add Printer/Class
• Hit next and select local printer (parallel, serial, USB)
• Select BOCA printer from Local Port Selection
• Select correct BOCA printer model (verify correct print resolution – 200, 300 or 600 dpi) from Printer Model Selection
• Select Driver from Driver Selection
• Continue hitting “next” as required until printer name is requested
• Enter a printer name from General Information
• Hit next until installation complete

Printer/Driver Installation (Ethernet)

All instructions are based upon the use of the Ubuntu version of Linux.  Other versions of the Linux operating system will operate in a similar, but not identical manner.

• Right click on the driver to start the install process (kubuntu package menu/install package)
• Enter your password
• Hit enter to exit installation as prompted
• Go to System Settings/Printers
• Click Add from Printers – System Settings
• Add Printer/Class
• Hit next and select network printer (TCP)
• Enter Printer IP Address from Network Printer Information
• Select correct BOCA printer model (verify correct print resolution – 200, 300 or 600 dpi) from Printer Model Selection
• Select Driver from Driver Selection
• Continue hitting “next” as required until printer name is requested
• Enter a printer name from General Information
• Hit next until installation complete

If the BOCA printer model is not available in “Printer Model Selection”, you can either re-install the driver or restart your computer.

General

A printer driver translates the graphical information displayed in your Linux application into a printer friendly format.  In order to properly format the data, the user must correctly establish the page size and margins.  In general, you should use the smallest margins which do not cause the data to wrap around to the opposite side of the ticket.  Apple supports the following methods of defining page sizes:

• Vendor (BOCA) Defined - We have pre-defined some common page (ticket) sizes which can be used with any Windows application.  You must use a BOCA defined page size to define your document.  If you cannot locate the proper size, choose the next larger size and use the margins to define your ticket size.
• Custom Size - This option does not work properly.  We do not recommend the use of this method.

All of the data sent to Linux is provided in graphical format.  This differs from our Windows print drivers which utilize the printer’s resident fonts to send certain fonts as text, not graphics.  Our Windows drivers define tickets as width x length with the landscape mode of a 2 x 5.5 ticket printing as shown below.  Our Linux drivers define tickets as length x width with the portrait mode of a 5.5 x 2 ticket as shown below.

Printer Models (adjustable vs. fixed and reverse adjustable)

Due to a variety of legacy issues and driver limitations, an adjustable FGL printer operating in portrait mode requires an <rte> command in order to properly format the ticket.  This command only needs to be sent once as it is permanently stored in the printer's memory.  (You can send the printer and <rtd> command to reverse an erroneously sent <rte> command.)  Please note the manner in which the printer formats the ticket in the various scenarios shown below.