Install and share your printer

Drivers

It is recommended to install your printer as generic, even if you have the drivers.

Some users have reported that the plugin works even with printers installed with drivers, but the only way I have tested is with the generic way

Warning

If you have already installed your printer with the drivers, uninstall it before following this guide

Linux and Raspberry Pi OS

Power on your printer and connect it to a USB port. Then run:

ls /dev/usb/

Your printer must be listed. For example, mine is lp1:

hiddev0 lp1

Now execute:

stat /dev/usb/lp1

Where lp1 is your printer's name that you get when executed ls /dev/usb

Once the command is executed look at the output and search for something like Gid: (7/ lp)

In my case, lp is the group the printer belongs to. Add the user that will run the plugin to that group. My user is parzibyte and the group is lp, so the command is:

sudo usermod -a -G lp parzibyte

Now reboot:

sudo reboot

Once the computer restarts, print a test page:

echo -e "Hello\nPrinter\n" >> /dev/usb/lp1

Check your printer. It should have printed the text. Now it is ready for being used with the plugin

Tips

In this command set, my printer was always lp1 and my user was parzibyte. In your case, that may change, so write the commands according to your printer name and user name

Windows

This guide works on Windows 8, 8.1, 10 and 11. Some labels may change.

Power on your printer and connect it to a USB port. Then go to Printers & Scanners, click Add device, wait until The printer that I want is not listed, click on Add manually, then choose Add a local printer or network printer with manual settings

Now it's time to choose a port. Choose the first that starts with USB for example USB002

Warning

If later the printer test page does not work, uninstall and follow this guide again but choosing a different port

In the next window choose Generic and Generic / Text Only

Caution

Name your printer by using only lowercase letters and make sure to share it with the same name

Finally, assign a name to your printer and print a test page. If it works, then you are ready to use the plugin. If it does not, choose another port and make sure you share your printer