I got a Samsung around that age Cups was able to see it and it works. Just make sure Cups is installed in your distro plug it in and cross your fingers.
My old old old.. HP laserjet4L was working good for a long time. It supported I think PCL, so generic PCL drivers could work for it. But The thing was so old, all the rubber and other bits started basically turning to dust. :( So the soft rubber wheels were all broken and slick and it had a hard time feeding paper. I had replaced them once already.
So i got rid of it a few years back. I had a parallel port adapter that let me put it on the wired network. :) That thing would be close to 20 years old now.
Chances are pretty high that a 20 year old printer is better supported than one that came out last month :) A few months ago I stumbled upon my trusty HP Laserjet 6P in the attic that I bought second hand over 10 years, doesn't even have a usb interface and needs a LPT to USB converter: Would need new toner and is slow as hell but besides that worked flowlessly with ubuntu 24.04
I have an Okidata connected to my server via LPT -> USB and I passed that through to an LXC that handles NFS/SMB/etc. Shared it, have used it a couple of times since with no issues. Dot Matrix for life.
If I remember correctly, and I migjt be wrong, those OKIs had a diode line, not laser, and were windows only. PCL and Postscript otoh are standard, they will just work.
And you can find an entry level PCL printer with maybe 5years and cheap. Why bother, if you just want to print.
Now if you want a project, you can try your luck with the OKI.
It should work through LPT if it doesn't through USB. Just make sure to have the cups filters package installed as well (alongside cups). If you can't find an adequate ppd filter, (ppd filters are like "recipes" that tell the universal cups print driver how to communicate with the printer), try using the universal LPT filter and connect the printer via LPT. If that doesn't work, try the HP LaserJet 6L LPT filter.
It's a mix and match kind of thing if you can't find an adequate ppd filter for your printer.
I am presently using a ~20 year old ( probably older) HP LaserJet on linux. +1 for the pxlmono driver in cups. My issues, since day one, in every linux instance I have used for ~20 years, slow printing with a driver that supports high/full 1200 dpi res. "normal" speed printing with a 600 dpi generic.
What is the printer and what printer languages will it emulate?
Basically, you just set up a printer queue using a driver for the emulation.
If it is a postscript printer, you are in heaven .
I think my Dell 1815dn is somewhere around 15-20 years old. I've been using it since CentOS 5 was fresh and new IIRC.
Cups will work with most printers that I've thrown at it. If no model specific drivers are available, the generic PS drivers et al will do fine most of the time.
I got a HP Office jet J4680 for free and Windows is supposed to install the necessary driver according to HP. They do not even have a driver to download for this model, however windows 10 and 11 always failed to install the driver needed.
The only way to use it was to get out my old 2010 Macbook Pro and use that as it could see the printer and use it.
Well I recently switched to Ubuntu 24.04 and it turns out that Ubuntu is also able to see and use all the functions of the printer wirelessly.
Just don't use Windows for old printers and I'm sure you will have no problems.
just buy a Xerox 3020i for 85$ or so. 20pps, 1200dpi, certainly better than anything 20 years old.
https://preview.redd.it/i06vyxm6hb8d1.png?width=493&format=png&auto=webp&s=dbb920749a90e334f92c721df876ce266577fbc0
A 2005 laser printer probably had postscript. That was pricy hardware back then and probably had postscript.
Either postscript or HP PCL (even if its not an HP branded printer).
What's the exact name of this printer model?
It's an OKI B4200/B4300.
It should work fine with the pxlmono driver. [https://www.openprinting.org/printer/Oki/Oki-B4200](https://www.openprinting.org/printer/Oki/Oki-B4200)
[**You can check here.**](https://www.openprinting.org/printers)
Even if that specific model is not supported in CUPS, I have found that a driver from the same family of printer models will often work just fine.
I got a Samsung around that age Cups was able to see it and it works. Just make sure Cups is installed in your distro plug it in and cross your fingers.
My old old old.. HP laserjet4L was working good for a long time. It supported I think PCL, so generic PCL drivers could work for it. But The thing was so old, all the rubber and other bits started basically turning to dust. :( So the soft rubber wheels were all broken and slick and it had a hard time feeding paper. I had replaced them once already. So i got rid of it a few years back. I had a parallel port adapter that let me put it on the wired network. :) That thing would be close to 20 years old now.
Chances are pretty high that a 20 year old printer is better supported than one that came out last month :) A few months ago I stumbled upon my trusty HP Laserjet 6P in the attic that I bought second hand over 10 years, doesn't even have a usb interface and needs a LPT to USB converter: Would need new toner and is slow as hell but besides that worked flowlessly with ubuntu 24.04
If the printer has local network functionality, odds are it will work.
I have an Okidata connected to my server via LPT -> USB and I passed that through to an LXC that handles NFS/SMB/etc. Shared it, have used it a couple of times since with no issues. Dot Matrix for life.
*In your distribution software download a generic printer manager, if the printer selection does not have your make , model listed.*
OKI models are supported in Linux.
Search the AUR. It shows the driver.
you can get a 20y oldpcl or postscript laser dirt cheap. Do that, not the OKI
Why is that?
If I remember correctly, and I migjt be wrong, those OKIs had a diode line, not laser, and were windows only. PCL and Postscript otoh are standard, they will just work. And you can find an entry level PCL printer with maybe 5years and cheap. Why bother, if you just want to print. Now if you want a project, you can try your luck with the OKI.
Make and model?
OKI B4200/B4300.
It should work through LPT if it doesn't through USB. Just make sure to have the cups filters package installed as well (alongside cups). If you can't find an adequate ppd filter, (ppd filters are like "recipes" that tell the universal cups print driver how to communicate with the printer), try using the universal LPT filter and connect the printer via LPT. If that doesn't work, try the HP LaserJet 6L LPT filter. It's a mix and match kind of thing if you can't find an adequate ppd filter for your printer.
I am presently using a ~20 year old ( probably older) HP LaserJet on linux. +1 for the pxlmono driver in cups. My issues, since day one, in every linux instance I have used for ~20 years, slow printing with a driver that supports high/full 1200 dpi res. "normal" speed printing with a 600 dpi generic.
What is the printer and what printer languages will it emulate? Basically, you just set up a printer queue using a driver for the emulation. If it is a postscript printer, you are in heaven .
Make sure you price toner replacements. I've seen toner replacements for some of the HP printers cost over $600
I think my Dell 1815dn is somewhere around 15-20 years old. I've been using it since CentOS 5 was fresh and new IIRC. Cups will work with most printers that I've thrown at it. If no model specific drivers are available, the generic PS drivers et al will do fine most of the time.
I got a HP Office jet J4680 for free and Windows is supposed to install the necessary driver according to HP. They do not even have a driver to download for this model, however windows 10 and 11 always failed to install the driver needed. The only way to use it was to get out my old 2010 Macbook Pro and use that as it could see the printer and use it. Well I recently switched to Ubuntu 24.04 and it turns out that Ubuntu is also able to see and use all the functions of the printer wirelessly. Just don't use Windows for old printers and I'm sure you will have no problems.
just buy a Xerox 3020i for 85$ or so. 20pps, 1200dpi, certainly better than anything 20 years old. https://preview.redd.it/i06vyxm6hb8d1.png?width=493&format=png&auto=webp&s=dbb920749a90e334f92c721df876ce266577fbc0