Dot matrix printers: Does anyone else use a dot matrix printer under Linux (maybe Debian). Would like to buy a used one and would be interested in recommendations. E.g. specifically which drivers work / out of the box too. I need the printer for an experimental art project ( digital drypoint etching). Thanks in advance and sorry für Crossposting from Station

Posted in: s/Electronics

🚀 mimas2AC

Mar 11 · 2 months ago · 👍 stack, norayr

12 Comments ↓

🚀 stack · Mar 11 at 22:31:

Hey. I have an oki microline, but the last time i used it ubuntu was in single digits... I had it working and it was not too easy. but doable. Cant help much as it was like 10 years ago.

🚂 MrSVCD · Mar 12 at 16:56:

Before you buy, look up on the net if the printer supports linux officialy. also look into CUPS list of printers.

If you buy secondhand make sure that your computer has a parallel port since many secondhand ones are of that vintage that one is needed.

🚀 stack · Mar 12 at 18:27:

you may need to buy a USB-parallel port. I think that's what I did.

🐝 Addison · Mar 12 at 23:16:

My university had a few in the Computer Science department. The best thing about the CS program was the free printing we'd get. *sips beer* Yep

🚀 stack · Mar 12 at 23:32:

I loved dot matrix printers: I could print a few lines of code I was working on, or some list of whatever, tear off 1/4 of a page, and waste a whole lot less paper. My screen was 24x80, and I really needed to see a few things on paper while typing in new code...

👻 darkghost · Mar 13 at 12:20:

I've used an Oki Microline ML-186. Works with either Oki drivers in CUPS or the generic 9 pin dot matrix driver.

🚀 mimas2AC [OP] · Mar 17 at 09:38:

There are currently some used OKI printers for sale online, but very different models. Does anyone have an idea how or where within the OKI Data matrix printer model range to find a good fit for ( Linux / Debian)? I can't currently get a used ML 186, so I'm also thinking of using a different OKI model. Do you know more about this topic? Thanks in advance.

🚀 mimas2AC [OP] · Mar 17 at 09:42:

@darkghost I can't currently get a used ML 186, so I'm also thinking of using a different OKI model. Do you know more about this topic? Thankx

🚀 stack · Mar 18 at 01:17:

If you care about text only, any printer with a parallel port should work fine.

🐙 norayr · Mar 18 at 01:49:

i wonder how it works. you just cat ascii files to /dev/lp0?

i have an epson matrix printer which was working with msx2 machine. or was it something star? i need to understand how to use it one day, and also if it is possible to change the font. because if i print it is very likely that i will print something not in latin lettels.

🚀 stack · Mar 18 at 02:00:

@norayr: You sure can! You may have to flush the stream. I made an Emacs script to dump selected text right out!

👻 darkghost · Mar 18 at 22:57:

I can search the database at openprinting.org and it looks like there are a good number of Oki models supported. The Microline 600CL, Microline 620CL, ML 320, ML 321, and ML 380 are all listed as having excellent support.