usbprn(7D) Devices usbprn(7D)
NAME
usbprn - USB printer class driver
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/usb/clients/printer/usb_printer.h>
#include <sys/ecppio.h>
usbprn@unit-address
DESCRIPTION
The usbprn driver is a USBA (Solaris USB Architecture) compliant client driver that supports the USB Printer Class 1.0 specification. The
usbprn driver supports a subset of the ecpp(7D) parallel port driver functionality. However, unlike the STREAMS-based ecpp driver, usbprn
is a character driver.
The usbprn driver supports all USB printer-class compliant printers. For a list of recommended printers and USB parallel printer adapters,
visit http://www.sun.com/io.
The usbrpn driver includes support for communicating with many different printers. To use these printers, it may be nesessary to install
and configure additional format conversion packages available in the Solaris distribution. Configuration of these conversion packages under
the Solaris printing system can be simplified through the use of the printmgr(1M). This tool allows selection of printer manufacturer/model
information while creating a print queue. For USB connected printers, it attempts to pre-select the the manufacturer and model information
based on the 1284 device id supplied by the printer.
DEFAULT OPERATION
With certain minor exceptions (outlined in the Notes sections below), the usbprn driver supports a subset of the ecpp(7D) ioctl interfaces:
Configuration variables are set to their default values each time the USB printer device is attached. The write_timeout period (defined in
the ECPPIOC_SETPARMS ioctl description below) is set to 90 seconds. The mode is set to centronics mode (ECPP_CENTRONICS). Parameters can be
changed through the ECPPIOC_SETPARMS ioctl and read through the ECPPIOC_GETPARMS ioctl. Each time the USB printer device is opened, the
device is marked as busy and all further opens will return EBUSY. Once the device is open, applications can write to the device and the
driver can send data and obtain device id and status.
Note - Unlike the ecpp(7D) driver, usbprn resets configuration variables to their default values with each attach(9E). (The ecpp(7D)
driver resets configuration variables with each open(2).)
WRITE OPERATION
A write(2) operation returns the number of bytes successfully written to the device. If a failure occurs while a driver is transferring
data to printer, the contents of the status bits are captured at the time of the error and can be retrieved by the application program
using the ECPPIOC_GETERR ioctl(2) call. The captured status information is overwritten each time an ECPPIOC_TESTIO ioctl(2) occurs.
IOCTLS
The usbprn driver supports prnio(7I) interfaces. Note that the PRNIOC_RESET command has no effect on USB printers.
The following ioctl(2) calls are supported for backward compatibility and are not recommended for new applications.
ECPPIOC_GETPARMS
Gets current transfer parameters. The argument is a pointer to struct ecpp_transfer_parms. If parameters are not configured after the
device is opened, the structure will be set to its default configuration.
Note - Unlike the ecpp(7D) driver, only the ECPP_CENTRONICS mode is currently supported in usbprn.
ECPPIOC_SETPARMS
Sets transfer parameters. The argument is a pointer to a struct ecpp_transfer_parms. If a parameter is out of range, EINVAL is
returned. If the peripheral or host device cannot support the requested mode, EPROTONOSUPPORT is returned.
The transfer parameters structure is defined in <sys/ecppio.h>:
struct ecpp_transfer_parms {
int write_timeout;
int mode;
};
The write_timeout field, which specifies how long the driver will take to transfer 8192 bytes of data to the device, is set to a
default value of 90 seconds. The write_timeout field must be greater than one second and less than 300 seconds (five minutes.)
Note - Unlike the ecpp(7D) driver, only the ECPP_CENTRONICS mode is currently supported in usbprn. Also, the semantics of write_time-
out in usbprn differ from ecpp(7D). Refer to ecpp(7D) for information.
BPPIOC_TESTIO
Tests the transfer readiness of a print device and checks status bits to determine if a write(2) will succeed. If status bits are set,
a transfer will fail. If a transfer will succeed, zero is returned. If a transfer fails, the driver returns EIO and the state of the
status bits are captured. The captured status can be retrieved using the BPPIOC_GETERR ioctl(2) call. BPPIOC_TESTIO and BPPIOC_GETERR
are compatible to the ioctls specified in bpp(7D).
Note - Unlike the ecpp(7D) driver, only the ECPP_CENTRONICS mode is currently supported in usbprn. Additionally, bus_error and time-
out_occurred fields are not used in the usbprn interface. (In ecpp(7D), timeout_occurred is used.)
BPPIOC_GETERR
Get last error status. The argument is a pointer to a struct bpp_error_status. This structure indicates the status of all the appropri-
ate status bits at the time of the most recent error condition during a write(2) call, or the status of the bits at the most recent
BPPIOC_TESTIO ioctl(2) call.
struct bpp_error_status {
char timeout_occurred; /* not used */
char bus_error; /* not used */
uchar_t pin_status; /* status of pins which
/* could cause error */
};
The pin_status field indicates possible error conditions. The error status structure bpp_error_status is defined in the include file
<sys/bpp_io.h>. The valid bits for pin_status can be BPP_ERR_ERR, BPP_SLCT_ERR, and BPP_PE_ERR. A set bit indicates that the associated
pin is asserted.
Note - Unlike the ecpp(7D) driver, only the ECPP_CENTRONICS mode is currently supported in usbprn. Additionally, the bus_error and
timeout_occurred fields are not used in the usbprn interface. (In ecpp(7D), timeout_occurred is used.) Unlike ecpp(7D), the
BPP_BUSY_ERR status bit is not supported by USB printers.
ECPPIOC_GETDEVID
Gets the IEEE 1284 device ID from the peripheral. The argument is a pointer to a struct ecpp_device_id. Applications should set mode to
ECPP_CENTRONICS. If another mode is used, the driver will return EPROTONOSUPPORT. len is the length of the buffer pointed to by addr.
rlen is the actual length of the device ID string returned from the peripheral. If the returned rlen is greater than len, the applica-
tion should call ECPPIOC_GETDEVID a second time with a buffer length equal to rlen.
The 1284 device ID structure:
struct ecpp_device_id {
int mode; /* mode to use for reading device id */
int len; /* length of buffer */
int rlen; /* actual length of device id string */
char *addr; /* buffer address */
Note - Unlike ecpp(7D), only the ECPP_CENTRONICS mode is currently supported in usbprn.
READ OPERATION
The read operation is not supported and returns EIO.
ERRORS
EBUSY The device has been opened and another open is attempted. An attempt has been made to unload the driver while one
of the units is open.
EINVAL An unsupported IOCTL has been received. A ECPPIOC_SETPARMS ioctl(2) is attempted with an out of range value in the
ecpp_transfer_parms structure.
EIO The driver has received an unrecoverable device error, or the device is not responding, or the device has stalled
when attempting an access. A write(2) or ioctl(2) did not complete due to a peripheral access. A read(2) system
call has been issued.
ENXIO The driver has received an open(2) request for a unit for which the attach failed.
ENODEV The driver has received an open(2) request for a device that has been disconnected.
EPROTONOSUPPORT The driver has received a ECPPIOC_SETPARMS ioctl(2) for a mode argument other than ECPP_CENTRONICS in the
ecpp_transfer_parms structure.
FILES
/kernel/drv/usbprn
32-bit x86 ELF kernel module
/kernel/drv/amd64/usbprn
64-bit x86 ELF kernel module
/kernel/drv/sparcv9/usbprn
64-bit SPARC ELF kernel module
/dev/printers/n
Character special files
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
+-----------------------------+------------------------------+
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+-----------------------------+------------------------------+
|Architecture |SPARC, x86, PCI-based systems |
+-----------------------------+------------------------------+
|Availability |SUNWusb |
+-----------------------------+------------------------------+
SEE ALSO
cfgadm_usb(1M), printmgr(1M), ioctl(2), open(2), read(2), write(2), attributes(5), bpp(7D), ecpp(7D), usba(7D)prnio(7I), attach(9E)
Writing Device Drivers
Universal Serial Bus Specification 1.0 and 1.1
USB Device Class Definition for Printing Devices 1.0
System Administration Guide: Basic Administration
http://www.sun.com/io
DIAGNOSTICS
In addition to being logged, the following messages may appear on the system console. All messages are formatted in the following manner:
Warning: <device path> (usbprn<instance num>): Error Message...
Device was disconnected while open. Data may have been lost.
The device has been hot-removed or powered off while it was open and a possible data transfer was in progress. The job may be aborted.
Cannot access <device>. Please reconnect.
There was an error in accessing the printer during reconnect. Please reconnect the device.
Device is not identical to the previous one on this port. Please disconnect and reconnect.
A USB printer was hot-removed while open. A new device was hot-inserted which is not identical to the original USB printer. Please dis-
connect the USB device and reconnect the printer to the same port.
Printer has been reconnected but data may have been lost.
The printer that was hot-removed from its USB port has been re-inserted again to the same port. It is available for access but the job
that was running prior to the hot-removal may be lost.
NOTES
The USB printer will be power managed if the device is closed.
If a printer is hot-removed before a job completes, the job is terminated and the driver will return EIO. All subsequent opens will return
ENODEV. If a printer is hot-removed, an LP reconfiguration may not be needed if a printer is re-inserted on the same port. If re-inserted
on a different port, an LP reconfiguration may be required.
The USB Parallel Printer Adapter is not hotpluggable. The printer should be connected to USB Parallel Printer Adapter before plugging the
USB cable into host or hub port and should be removed only after disconnecting the USB cable of USB Parallel Printer Adapter from the host
or hub port.
SunOS 5.10 9 Oct 2004 usbprn(7D)