Install foo2zjs Printer Driver


This page is for people that owns a printer with the Zenographics ZjStream wire protocol.  These are great printers but they suffer from poor Linux driver support.

The good folks over at http://foo2zjs.rkkda.com have a solution.  They have engineered a driver that will help you get your Zenographics engine printer working under Linux like a champ.  NOTE:  Folks that use Ubuntu Gutsy 7.10 and Ubuntu Hardy 8.04 report that the foo2zjs driver works well with some Zenographics printers, so inatallation of this driver driver may be unnecessary.  Try the foo2zjs driver suppiled with Gutsy, if that driver does not work then proceed.  I have perpared a script that updtates the foo2zjs driver on Gutsy and Hardy.

Remember if you find use of this driver please donate to their cause.  The authoring of the driver is completely by the goodness of them.

There are many printers that use the Zenographics engine.  I have compiled a list below:


Printer Model foo2zjs Identifier
HP Color LaserJet 2600n 2600n
HP Color LaserJet 1600 1600
Konica Minolta magicolor 2530 DL 2530
Konica Minolta magicolor 2490 MF 2490
Konica Minolta magicolor 2480 MF 2480
Xerox Phaser 6115MFP 6115
Konica Minolta magicolor 2430 DL 2430
Minolta/QMS magicolor 2300 DL 2300
Minolta/QMS magicolor 2200 DL 2200
Minolta Color PageWorks/Pro L cpwl
Samsung CLP-300 300
Samsung CLP-600 600
Samsung CLX-2160 2160
Samsung CLX-3160 3160
* Okidata 3200n3200
* Okidata 3300n3300
* Okidata 3400n3400
* Okidata 5100n5100
* Okidata 5200n5200
* Okidata 5500n5500
* Okidata 5600n5600
* Okidata 5800n5800
Xerox Phaser 6110 and 6110MFP 6110
Lexmark C500 500
HP LaserJet 1020 1020
HP LaserJet 1018 1018
HP LaserJet 1005 1005
HP LaserJet 1000 1000
HP Laserjet P1005 P1005
HP Laserjet P1006 P1006
HP Laserjet P1505 P1505


If you own one of these printers then you have been trying to get the printer to work under Ubuntu.

* Note, the Okidata line of printers the driver does have some limitations.  Read about those limitations here.

 Click this link here to read further on the foo2zjs driver installation (recommended).

I have compiled a shell script that will install the driver for the appropriate printer.  To download and execute the script open a terminal and type the following commands.



foo2zjs Printer Driver Installation

Change to your home folder.  Remember to choose either Feisty/Edgy/Dapper or Gutsy.  Gutsy uses a different print manager than older distros.
 cd ~

Download the script to your home folder (Ubuntu Feisty/Edgy/Dapper).
 wget http://www.stchman.com/tools/foo2zjs/ubuntu_foo2zjs_install.sh

 Download the script to your home folder (Ubuntu Gutsy)
 wget http://www.stchman.com/tools/foo2zjs/ubuntu_foo2zjs_install_gutsy_hardy.sh

Change the permission to executable on the script (Ubuntu Feisty/Edgy/Dapper).
chmod 755 ~/ubuntu_foo2zjs_install.sh

 Change the permission to executable on the script (Ubuntu Gutsy and Hardy).
chmod 755 ~/ubuntu_foo2zjs_install_gutsy_hardy.sh

Run the script with the proper foo2zjs Identifier.  It is imperative that you select the proper printer as the proper firmware needs to be loaded.  Substitute <foo2zjs_identifier> with the proper number in colume one from the chart above.  If you have a Laserjet 1000 then substitute 1000 for <foo2zjs_identifier>.  A number other than one from the chart will cause the script to terminate.

 Ubuntu Feisty/Edgy/Dapper
sudo ~/ubuntu_foo2zjs_install.sh <foo2zjs_identifier>

 Ubuntu Gutsy and Hardy
sudo ~/ubuntu_foo2zjs_install_gutsy_hardy.sh <foo2zjs_identifier>

The script will launch the Gnome CUPS Manager for Feisty/Edgy/Dapper or System Printer Configuration tool in Gutsy.  Select your printer and folow the onscreen selections.

Remove the script as it is no longer needed.  The script will take care of removing the archive and all associated temporary files.

 Ubuntu Feisty/Edgy/Dapper
rm -f ~/ubuntu_foo2zjs_install.sh

 Ubuntu Gutsy and Hardy
rm -f ~/ubuntu_foo2zjs_install_gutsy_hardy.sh

Your Zenographics based printer should now function under Ubuntu as well as it does under WIndows.  Cycle power on the printer and reboot your computer.  Happy printing.



If you wish to uninstall the foo2zjs driver follow the instructions below.

 foo2zjs Printer Driver Removal (optional)

 Change to your home folder
 cd ~

Download the source .tar.gz archive
 wget http://www.stchman.com/tools/foo2zjs/foo2zjs.tar.gz

Unpack the archive
 tar zxf foo2zjs.tar.gz

After the archive is unpacked, change to the folder created by the archive.
 cd foo2zjs

Uninstall the updated foo2zjs driver.
 sudo make uninstall

Remove the archive and the folder it created.
 rm -r -f foo2zjs
rm -f foo2zjs.tar.gz

The foo2zjs driver is now uninstalled.

I hope this tutorial helped.
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