Zebra 2824 printer CUPS driver

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Level 1

10 points

Zebra 2824 printer CUPS driver

Hi, I have a Zebra 2824 label printer that I would like to use with some software I'm developing. Has anyone got this or a similar printer working in Mac OS 10.4?
Are there any CUPS drivers for it or would I need to write one myself?

When I plug in the printer it shows up in the printer utility but there isn't any zebra printer models listed so I can't get it to print anything.

Any help or leads would be much appreciated.

iMac 20" Intel Core Duo, Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Posted on Jul 19, 2006 10:34 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 19, 2006 12:53 PM in response to Tylr

Hi Tylr,
I don't know anything about Zebra but I can search the web. According to "Switching To Mac Blogcast", "There are only one or two things I need to do on a pc and one of them is printing from a zebra postal label printer. Zebra has informed me that their printers are not compatible with a Mac.....". I also saw a reference to the fact that Zebra approached gutenprint (then gimp-print) for help but I didn't see a follow-up. Of course I didn't search far so that doesn't mean that there was no follow-up. Oh, there is a /usr/share/cups/model/zebra.ppd printer description on Mac OS X but I don't know anything about it.
--
Gary
~~~~
It would be nice to be sure of anything
the way some people are of everything.

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Answer 2

Tylr Author

Level 1

10 points

Jul 19, 2006 1:51 PM in response to Gary Kerbaugh

Hi Gary,
Thanks for your response. Unfortunately I've already seen that excerpt from my web searches and the zebra.ppd from a command line "locate cups".

I've read that CUPS supports Zebra printers that use the Zebra Programming Language (ZPL) (The zebra.ppd seems to confirm this). The printer I have uses Epson Programming Language (EPL) which I have just learned is supported in CUPS 1.2. Mac OS 10.4.7 uses 1.1.23.

So once I upgrade my version of CUPS, do I need to set up CUPS manually via the command line or will the printer "just work"? As I said earlier I didn't see any Zebra printer models in the printer setup window.

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Answer 3

Jul 19, 2006 7:27 PM in response to Tylr

Hi Tylr,
If you overwrite Apple's installation then you wouldn't have to change anything but that's not recommended. Otherwise, future system updates will doubtless break your installation. It is better to install it elsewhere, traditionally with an INSTALL_ROOT of /usr/local.

In that case yes, you would have to edit the /System/Library/StartupItems/PrintingServices/PrintingServices script to point to the new version of cupsd that you installed. That should allow you to configure printing services through the web interface at http://localhost:631/. I don't know how will effect Apple's Printer Setup Utility but I assume that it communicates with the cupsd daemon too so if you start the new one you installed, everything should work together. However, I don't know how Apple's Printer Setup Utility works so all you can do is try it and see.
--
Gary
~~~~
By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may
eventually get to be boss and work twelve.
-- Robert Frost

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