🚀 go-pugleaf

In csu.unix.linux Matthew Leinhos <leinhos@cs.colostate.edu> wrote:
: Hi everyone,

: Could anyone tell me if there is a way to tell my printer is using its
: on-board memory when I print something? I suspect that it isn't -- my
: system "cat"s a file to the lp port until the print job is done, even
: though I've 2M of mem on my HP LJ2P. I would like to fix this, but don't
: know how...

When you send a file to the printer, you send it in some printer 
language.  In the case of your printer, it is probably HP PCL. 
The printer takes the commands in this language, and expands it
into a bitmap the size of the page.  Then, it spins up the engine,
and dumps the whole bitmap to the printer.
You need memory for the bitmap, memory for the commands, and
memory for the various stacks and heaps used as part of the language.

That said, your printer is most likely using its memory.  However,
it probably only fills its memory one printed page at a time.  

Or rather, the printer doesn't accept the entire job, then start working
on it.  It takes a page, generates the bitmap, prints it, then grabs the
data for the next page.  The printer is using its memory, but not as 
you think it should.

The thing you are looking for is a print buffer.  I'm not sure how much
of your printer's 2M of memory is used for buffer, how much for bitmap,
and how much for data...  I don't know how to find out, either.  Under
PostScript, there are some commands you can use to get memory information
from the rasterizer, and I expect that similar commands exist under
PCL, but it would probably be more difficult than it is worth.

If this annoys you, consider putting your cat process in the background
(with an &), or setting up LPD, which handles this spooling for you.

Otherwise, I think your printer isn't 'broken'.  Its only a LJ2, after
all.  Poor thing.  :)

-- 
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Michael J. Dwyer                    Digital Watches are a neat idea!
mdwyer@holly.ColoState.edu       http://WWW.CS.ColoState.EDU/~dwyer/
Computer Science Major                      Amateur Radio Tech N0ZAP