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Reverse-engineered CUPS driver for Phomemo receipt/label printers

72 pointsposted 8 days ago

19 Comments

jamesbelchamber

8 hours ago

Agh, I got myself a Niimbot D110 because it seemed to be the best supported "cheap" label printer (using the excellent https://niim.blue/ website).

If I knew these printers had CUPS drivers I might have gone that way instead..

somehnguy

4 hours ago

Whoa, I had no idea about niim.blue, thanks for posting that. These little printers are great - replaced my Dymo completely.

ValdikSS

4 hours ago

I use Xiqi printer for barcode printing on a self-adhesive paper. It's about $11 only, battery powered, light, bluetooth.

bayindirh

4 hours ago

I have a D110 and D110-H, and they're little, neat printers. What's not to like about them?

Crosseye_Jack

2 hours ago

> What's not to like about them?

The required RFID label stock? But the rolls are imo reasonably priced from the likes of AliExpress, so not the end of the world.

(unless there is a way to use non RFID label rolls I'm not aware of)

ValdikSS

4 hours ago

CUPS driver for Xiqi printers ("FunnyPrint" application)

https://github.com/ValdikSS/printer-driver-funnyprint

saxenaabhi

2 hours ago

Does anyone know any good wifi printers receipt printers?

The only one I could find was Epson TM-30III but it's like 280E here.

There are very few cases where there's a good reason for a printer of any kind to be on WiFi and even less for a receipt printer. If it's being used in a portable application with a laptop or mobile device that's what USB or Bluetooth are for. If it's sitting on a checkout counter and needs to be shared between multiple PCs that's what ethernet is for.

I'm not saying that there are absolutely no situations where WiFi is actually beneficial in a printer, but most of the time that a printer is connected to WiFi it's just making the printer less reliable than it could be if it was connected another way for no reason other than the user not liking wires.

A universal truth of networking: If it can be practically wired it should be wired. Wireless is for things that move and things that need to be put in weird spots it doesn't make sense to ever wire.

mk_stjames

2 hours ago

So, after seeing how cheap and available these Phomemo printers are and with this CUPS driver looking like a good option, my instinct as someone who also wants one of these sitting permanently on my home network as to appear all the time on all my machines' available printer options, is to get one and tether it permanently to a tiny linux SBC that has bluetooth and running the driver and print sharing. Like the OrangePi Zero 2w I have sitting unused in a drawer somewhere collecting dust.

triyambakam

9 hours ago

Are these devices popular? My friend has two and is excited about them, but I have no exposure to them outside of that, so it's cool to see it pop up here.

zihotki

8 hours ago

They are quite handy for some people. Once you get one, you'll start labeling all stuff. It's fun and also helps finding stuff faster.

trollbridge

6 hours ago

I assume part of the appeal is much cheaper label supplies than eg Epson?

bayindirh

4 hours ago

The appeal is the ability to make decent labels which can withstand almost all indoor use and abuse for a reasonable amount of time.

I generally hand-label my boxes and things with specialized ink, and they hold very well even after a decade.

But if I'm going to label a spice jar or something gonna handled a lot, I use the printer. It's legible, resistant/resilient enough and reprinting things is easy.