MintPRINT
=========
MintPRINT lets classic AmigaOS applications print to modern network
printers - the same IPP/AirPrint printers phones and modern computers
already use - with no printer-specific software needed on the printer
side. It is a real DEVS:Printers/ printer.device driver plus MintPrint
Settings, a GUI setup, discovery and test tool.
Print from applications that use AmigaOS' standard printer graphics dump
interface (including MultiView, GraphicDump and many paint/DTP programs).
MintPRINT converts printer.device raster callbacks into JPEG, PWG Raster,
or PDF and submits the resulting document directly to the printer's IPP
endpoint over the network.
AmigaOS 3.1 is supported by a separate classic driver build. Newer
AmigaOS releases use the normal extended driver build. Both use the same
MintPrint Settings GUI and the same IPP/JPEG/PWG/PDF backend.
Archive contents
----------------
This archive contains two drawers:
MintPRINT/
MintPrintSettings GUI setup, discovery and test tool
MintPRINT driver for newer printer.device versions
MintPRINT-OS31/
MintPrintSettings same GUI setup, discovery and test tool
MintPRINT classic AmigaOS 3.1 driver build
Use MintPRINT-OS31 on AmigaOS 3.1.
Use MintPRINT on AmigaOS 3.2 and later systems, including AmigaOS 3.5/3.9
and newer classic AmigaOS releases.
Features
--------
- Real DEVS:Printers/ printer.device driver
- AmigaOS 3.1 support via a dedicated classic driver build
- 68000-compatible driver
- Prints using JPEG, PWG Raster, or PDF, selectable per printer
- LAN printer discovery using SSDP and mDNS
- IPP capability query - reads the printer's supported media, trays,
colour modes, quality settings and document formats directly
- Up to eight saved printer profiles (Unit0-Unit7), with one active
for printing at a time
- Printer make/model shown after a successful query
- Built-in test page sent through printer.device
- Warns if a printer advertises none of the formats MintPRINT can
produce, with information on reporting the printer for support
- Detects and offers to install or update the bundled driver
- No printer-specific Amiga driver or vendor software required
Requirements
------------
- Motorola 68000 or later
- AmigaOS 3.1 or later
- A running TCP/IP stack providing bsdsocket.library. This is required
for every printing path because MintPRINT talks directly to the
printer over IP.
- A network printer supporting IPP and at least one document format
MintPRINT can generate: JPEG, PWG Raster, or PDF
- AirPrint or IPP Everywhere printers are the most likely to work
without additional printer-specific support
MintPrint Settings performs network discovery and IPP capability parsing
and therefore needs a larger stack than small classic Amiga utilities.
Use the supplied MintPrintSettings.info file when launching from
Workbench.
Installation
------------
Extract the archive and choose the drawer for your AmigaOS version:
AmigaOS 3.1:
use MintPRINT-OS31/
AmigaOS 3.2 or later:
use MintPRINT/
Copy the selected drawer wherever you like and run MintPrintSettings.
On first run MintPrintSettings detects that DEVS:Printers/MintPRINT is
missing and offers to install the bundled driver. On later runs, if the
driver bundled beside MintPrintSettings is newer than the installed copy,
it offers to update it.
Reboot after any driver install or update. A printer driver segment that
is already resident in memory will not pick up a replaced file until the
system reloads it.
After rebooting:
1. Open Prefs/Printer and select MintPRINT as the printer.
2. Run MintPrintSettings.
3. Enter the printer IP/hostname and IPP path, or use Discover.
4. Press Query Printer to read the printer's capabilities.
5. Select the document engine and required media/tray/colour/quality
options.
6. Save the settings.
7. Use Test Print to verify the complete printer.device -> MintPRINT ->
IPP path.
The active printer configuration is Unit0. Additional configurations can
be stored in Unit1-Unit7 and copied to Unit0 when required.
AmigaOS 3.1 notes
-----------------
The OS3.1 package uses a classic pre-V44 printer driver structure and a
compatibility rendering path for the older printer.device raster format.
The IPP networking and JPEG/PWG Raster/PDF output code is shared with the
newer driver build.
MintPrintSettings should be launched using the supplied icon so its
configured stack size is used. If launching from a Shell on a classic
system and using a build which does not provide its own enlarged stack,
set a large Shell stack first, for example:
Stack 400000
Reporting a problem
-------------------
If MintPrint Settings' Query reports that your printer does not support
any format MintPRINT can produce, or printing otherwise fails, please
open an issue at:
https://github.com/boingball/MintPRINT/issues
and attach the output of windows_ipp_probe.py (included in the source
repository) run against the printer from a Windows PC on the same
network. This helps separate printer-side IPP behaviour from Amiga-side
driver problems without requiring any Amiga-specific diagnostic tools.
When reporting an AmigaOS 3.1 problem, please also mention that the
MintPRINT-OS31 driver build is being used.
Source Code
-----------
Source code, build instructions and development history:
https://github.com/boingball/MintPRINT
Credits
-------
Driver, GUI, IPP client, and the JPEG/PWG Raster/PDF document encoders
by Darren Banfi (boingball), developed with assistance from Anthropic
Claude.
History
-------
1.0.0 Initial Aminet release.
- DEVS:Printers/MintPRINT driver
- Separate AmigaOS 3.1 classic driver build
- JPEG, PWG Raster and PDF document backends
- MintPrint Settings GUI
- LAN printer discovery
- IPP capability query
- Up to eight saved printer profiles
- Built-in printer.device test page
- Automatic driver install/update
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