printing problems with DDST (aka PCL6) printer RICOH Aficio SP C240DN

Question

I'm having big problems printing on a RICOH Aficio SP C240DN (a color laser printer). CUPS/OpenPrinting doesn't have a driver for exactly this printer. There are similar numbers but not 240DN.

It also seems there is no PPD file for this printer, as it doesn't accept PostScript at all. There are only so-called DDST and ICM drivers for Windows and Mac, but no PPD as opposed to slightly older models from RICOH (320DN for example). The technician at the company where I bought the printer said that DDST is a stripped-down version of PCL6.

The connection to the printer works, I can access the web interface for management, I can print test pages via buttons on the printer or via the web interface. If I try any other driver (320DN for example), the printer shows that it is receiving data, the spool on the computer is processing, and then it just thinks the job is finished and done but the printer does nothing.

I'm planning to return it, but was wondering if somebody could explain a bit about drivers (what is DDST?), and if somebody knows if there is any chance that such driver for Linux will be out in any time soon.

I'm actually ready to donate a small amount to somebody who would hack an open-source driver (for CUPS).

Solution 1

The DDST is a GDI or Raster printer driver. It uses the computers hardware to RIP the data and send the Raster (Raw image data) to the printer. These printers do not accept PCL, PostScript or HPGL data. You must use the DDST driver for the printer to work.

Solution 2

I am currently working on a protocol specification for the Ricoh C240DN. Sadly it's quite different to older BW printers like the SP 100, as it doesn't use PJL headers.

It uses banded JBIG images to transfer the data. I can already generate that JBIG data, only the undocumented headers which take place of the PJL headers in the SP100 prove to be quite difficult to reproduce.

I will post a link to my specs here, when I have publishable results.

UPDATE: here are my preliminary results. I still need to decode the GDIJ data, if anyone could be any help to me, don't hesitate to contact me. GDIJ at least contains paper weight information and maybe print time and date, which I just can't figure out.

Comments

[Admin]

Have you tried to reverse engineer the linux filter? I don't know how to install it but it must contain all the information to generate the files. support.ricoh.com/bb/html/dr_ut_e/re/model/spc240/… hope it helps :-)

[ekoeppen]

Please give a little more explanation, and information.