HP-UX

Hi Guys,
I have been trying to resolve a printing problem but nothing works out .
I have an Epson LQ 680 (dot matrix printer) . I need to print a file . The paper length should be 34 .Left margin should be 5. I have tried the following things after researching from the man pages.

Code:

pr -t -l34 -o5 fileName | lp
lp -dprintername -olength=34 -onopagebreak fileName

But in both these cases i get a problem where in the first page is printed properly but the second page and pages after spits out blank lines and it doesn't obey the page length .
My other case was

Code:

pr -F -o5 fileName | lp

where form feed characters are read properly amd aligned but the printer takes default length of paper size as 66. I need to override this paper length settings through shell script whenever i print.
Since other applications use the same printer i can't set the page size in the server .

I am using HP - UX , Bourne Shell.

I heard that we can echo the printer settings in unix.I have the printer codes in Hexa decimal values. (\x1B\x43\x21)

Have tried using

Code:

echo $
echo ""

But nothing is working.I am a newBee to Unix .

Any help on how to echo the printer page length dynamically using any unix commands .

---------- Post updated 12-18-11 at 11:41 AM ---------- Previous update was 12-17-11 at 09:53 PM ----------

Has anyone faced this issue Guys .Please let me know if so.. Thanks

What HP-UX version?
How is configured the printer?

This seems to be a 10-year-old printer for DOS and early Windows.
Epson LQ-680Pro, Documents & Manuals - Technical Support - Epson America, Inc.

Which HP computer?
Which HP-UX version?
How is this printer physicaly connected to the HP computer?
If it is actually connected to the network, how is this achieved and is there a HP Jet Direct Box?
If it is actually connected to a Windows server, please describe how that is configured and how the HP-UX server sends print.
How was the print queue installed in HP-UX? Was there any special printer driver software for HP-UX from Epson?

Code:

Addendum: That Escape sequence looks familiar (standard Epson one).
 (\x1B\x43\x21)         Is the same as ESC C 33   (set page length to 33 lines.

We have to work in Octal for the Escape Character and the Number in Shell.

If you don't have a special Epson print filter and you wish to send that escape sequence before your printout file called "fileName":

Code:

(
echo "\0033C\0041\c"
cat fileName
) | lp -d printername    ....etc

However of there is some other driver there it will override your settings. Really need to know everything about how this printer is configured. In practice you will probably end up sending a whole list of Escape Sequences to get this right.

Thanks guys for the reply. I am using HP-UX 11i V3.

The printer is configured in a Windows XP machine and remotely connected to unix server.There is no HP DirectBox(Windows machine acts as one).

The printer is remotely connected to the LPD port.

No special driver from Epson. It's just the same HP - UX remote printer driver.

Configured as a remote printer, the HP-UX knows nothing about the printer except its hostname (or IP...), therefore ignores all options you would try to send... (man lp and specially 1m rlp ...).
I did long ago (>10 years...) configure a laserjet in such a way, so I know you could "encapsulate" PCL in the file to print but would an Epson accept the HP PCL?

I hope it's a kind of a no. . But i would like to try that option instead of thinking . Can you please let me know how to encapsulate PCL into the file.

You mean to say through some escape codes like <FF><DC2> .

The easiest would be to write a script that would parse the give lp option, create the PCL sequence and put that in head of a new file, append the the to print perhaps rename the final file in /tmp and send that to the spool...
some sequences:

Code:

LANDSCAPE="^[&l1O"
WRAP="^[&s0C"
SMALL="^[(s16.66h7V"
2SIDES="^[&l1S"
MARGIN="^[&a"
NOLOGO="^[&f1y8X"
RESET="^[E"
BIGCHAR="^[(s1p16v0b4148T"
DEFLT_FNT="^[(8U^[(s0p12h10v0s0b3T"
BEGIN="^[&l26A"

Or create a string sequence to send to the printer, then send the files to print, then reset the printer...