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Print via Brother BR-Script3 PostScript instead of the vendor driver

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The HL-4150CDN emulates PostScript 3, so CUPS converts client documents to PostScript and forwards them to socket://<ip>:9100. The official BR-Script3 PPD turns device options (tray, duplex, colour, media type, toner save, ...) into setpagedevice instructions. This drops the i386 multiarch runtime and the broken Brother vendor filter chain, and removes the unused Brother Linux packages from the repo.
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README.md
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@@ -1,23 +1,50 @@
# Printserver
A containerized CUPS print server that shares a **Brother HL-4150CDN** network
printer over IPP and advertises it via AirPrint (mDNS/DNS-SD), so client
devices can print without installing the Brother driver themselves.
printer over IPP and advertises it via AirPrint (mDNS/DNS-SD). It prints by
sending **PostScript (BR-Script3)** straight to the printer, so no vendor driver
and no 32-bit libraries run in the container.
The container bundles:
- CUPS (IPP/IPP Everywhere + web admin on port 631)
- CUPS (IPP + web admin on port 631) with cups-filters for format conversion
- Avahi / DNS-SD for AirPrint discovery (UDP 5353)
- The Brother HL-4150CDN LPR + CUPS wrapper drivers and 32-bit runtime libs
- Brother's official HL-4150CDN **BR-Script3 PPD** for device options
## How it works
The HL-4150CDN emulates PCL6 and BR-Script3 (PostScript 3), and accepts
PostScript over raw AppSocket (port 9100). CUPS converts whatever a client
sends into PostScript and the BR-Script3 PPD turns the selected queue options
into PostScript `setpagedevice` instructions:
```
macOS / iOS / Windows / Linux container printer
┌─────────────────┐ IPP/AirPrint ┌──────────────────────────┐ raw ┌────────────┐
│ AirPrint (URF) │ ───────────────▶ │ CUPS │ ──────▶ │ HL-4150CDN │
│ PDF / PostScript│ │ URF/PWG/PDF → PostScript│ :9100 │ BR-Script3 │
└─────────────────┘ │ pstops → setpagedevice │ └────────────┘
└──────────────────────────┘
```
For example, `Duplex=DuplexNoTumble BRPrintQuality=Color InputSlot=Tray2`
becomes:
```postscript
<</Duplex true /Tumble false>>setpagedevice
<</BRProcessColor 4 /BRHrc 0>>setpagedevice
<</ManualFeed false /BRTraysw false /BRFeeder 1>> setpagedevice
```
## Layout
| Path | Purpose |
| --- | --- |
| `Containerfile` | Image definition (Debian base, i386 multiarch, Brother driver install) |
| `Containerfile` | Image definition (Debian base, CUPS + cups-filters + Avahi, BR-Script3 PPD) |
| `cupsd.conf` | Container CUPS configuration (listen on all interfaces, share printers) |
| `entrypoint.sh` | Starts D-Bus, Avahi and CUPS, then registers the printer queue |
| `assets/Brother HL-4150CDN/` | Brother driver `.deb` packages used at build time |
| `assets/Brother HL-4150CDN/ppd/` | Official BR-Script3 PPD used for the queue |
| `assets/Brother HL-4150CDN/Windows/` | Vendor Windows driver the PPD was extracted from |
## Prerequisites
@@ -32,15 +59,8 @@ Run from the repository root:
podman build -t printserver:latest .
```
On an arm64 host, build for x86_64 explicitly (the Brother binaries are i386
and need an x86_64 target):
```sh
podman build --platform linux/amd64 -t printserver:latest .
```
The build installs the Brother LPR and CUPS wrapper packages from
`assets/Brother HL-4150CDN/` and verifies that the PPD and filter are in place.
The image is architecture-independent (no i386 or other 32-bit binaries), so it
builds natively on x86_64 and arm64 hosts alike.
## Run
@@ -50,7 +70,7 @@ networking**:
```sh
podman run -d --name printserver \
--network host \
-e PRINTER_IP=192.168.1.50 \
-e PRINTER_IP=192.168.100.7 \
-e PRINTER_NAME=HL-4150CDN \
printserver:latest
```
@@ -61,34 +81,34 @@ podman run -d --name printserver \
| --- | --- | --- |
| `PRINTER_IP` | *(empty)* | IP address / host name of the network printer. A device URI is derived from it (see `PRINTER_PROTOCOL`). |
| `PRINTER_URI` | *(empty)* | Full device URI. Overrides `PRINTER_IP` when set. |
| `PRINTER_PROTOCOL` | `lpd` | Protocol used with `PRINTER_IP`: `lpd`, `socket` or `ipp`. |
| `PRINTER_PROTOCOL` | `socket` | Protocol used with `PRINTER_IP`: `socket`, `lpd` or `ipp`. |
| `PRINTER_NAME` | `HL4150CDN` | CUPS queue name. Also used as the name advertised via AirPrint/DNS-SD. |
| `PRINTER_DESCRIPTION` | *(empty)* | CUPS printer description (`lpadmin -D`), shown in the CUPS web UI. |
| `PPD_FILE` | `/usr/share/cups/model/brhl4150cdn.ppd` | PPD used for the queue. |
| `PPD_FILE` | `/usr/share/cups/model/BR4150_2.PPD` | PPD used for the queue. |
No queue is created when neither `PRINTER_IP` nor `PRINTER_URI` is set.
### Choosing the connection
The HL-4150CDN is a network printer. Set `PRINTER_IP` and let the entrypoint
build the URI:
The HL-4150CDN accepts PostScript directly, so the default is raw AppSocket.
Set `PRINTER_IP` and let the entrypoint build the URI:
| `PRINTER_PROTOCOL` | Resulting URI |
| --- | --- |
| `lpd` (default) | `lpd://<ip>/binary_p1` — LPR/LPD, the URI Brother documents |
| `socket` | `socket://<ip>:9100` — raw AppSocket/JetDirect |
| `socket` (default) | `socket://<ip>:9100` — raw AppSocket/JetDirect |
| `lpd` | `lpd://<ip>/binary_p1` — LPR/LPD |
| `ipp` | `ipp://<ip>/ipp/print` |
For example, a printer at `192.168.1.50` using LPD:
For example, a printer at `192.168.100.7`:
```sh
-e PRINTER_IP=192.168.1.50
-e PRINTER_IP=192.168.100.7
```
Or specify the URI explicitly for full control:
```sh
-e PRINTER_URI=lpd://192.168.1.50/binary_p1
-e PRINTER_URI=socket://192.168.100.7:9100
```
### Advertised name
@@ -101,6 +121,39 @@ set `PRINTER_DESCRIPTION` (this does not change the advertised name):
-e PRINTER_NAME=HL4150CDN -e PRINTER_DESCRIPTION="Brother HL-4150CDN (Office)"
```
## Printing options
The BR-Script3 PPD exposes the HL-4150CDN's hardware options. Common ones:
| Option | PPD keyword | Values |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Paper source | `InputSlot` | `AutoSelect`, `Tray1`, `Tray2`, `MPTray` |
| Two-sided printing | `Duplex` | `None`, `DuplexNoTumble` (long edge), `DuplexTumble` (short edge) |
| Colour / mono | `BRPrintQuality` | `Auto`, `Color`, `Black` |
| Colour mode | `BRColorMode` | `Normal`, `Vivid`, `None` |
| Media type | `BRMediaType` | `Plain`, `Thin`, `Thick`, `Recycled`, `Glossy`, `Label`, envelopes, … |
| Print quality | `CAPT` | `Fine` (600×600), `SuperFine` (2400 dpi class) |
| Toner save | `TonerSaveMode` | `True`, `False` |
| Secure print | `BRJobHold` | `None`, `Private` (+ `BRJobPIN`) |
They can be selected per job, e.g.:
```sh
podman exec printserver lp -d HL4150CDN \
-o Duplex=DuplexNoTumble -o BRPrintQuality=Color -o InputSlot=Tray1 report.pdf
```
## Client support
| Platform | Path | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| macOS | AirPrint / IPP Everywhere | Discovered via mDNS; no driver needed |
| iOS / iPadOS | AirPrint | Discovered via mDNS; no driver needed |
| Linux | IPP / IPP Everywhere | Native or with the shared PPD |
| Windows | IPP or raw 9100 | Install Brother's **BR-Script3** Windows driver, pointed at the printer or the shared queue |
Windows uses a client-side Brother driver; the server does not share via SMB.
## Verify
Browse the CUPS web interface:
@@ -113,9 +166,10 @@ open http://localhost:631/admin # administration
From the host, or inside the container:
```sh
podman exec printserver lpstat -t # queues and status
podman exec printserver lpstat -v HL4150CDN # device URI
podman exec printserver avahi-browse -rt _ipp._tcp # mDNS advertisement
podman exec printserver lpstat -t # queues and status
podman exec printserver lpstat -v HL4150CDN # device URI
podman exec printserver lpoptions -p HL4150CDN -l # available options
podman exec printserver avahi-browse -rt _ipp._tcp # mDNS advertisement
```
A print job can be submitted with:
@@ -128,10 +182,6 @@ On macOS/iOS the shared queue should appear in the printer list via AirPrint.
## Notes and limitations
- **Run on an x86_64 host.** The Brother driver binaries are 32-bit i386 ELF
executables. They run natively on an x86_64 kernel, but on arm64 hosts the
image can be built and the drivers installed while the filter cannot execute
without i386 emulation (for example qemu-user / binfmt).
- **Host networking is required** for Avahi to send and receive mDNS traffic.
`-p 631:631` alone is enough for direct IPP access but not for AirPrint
discovery.
@@ -142,9 +192,8 @@ On macOS/iOS the shared queue should appear in the printer list via AirPrint.
```sh
-v printserver-cups:/etc/cups
```
- The Brother filter is a PostScript-based CUPS filter. AirPrint clients that
rely on driverless (URF) printing may not be able to use the queue; macOS
clients that can use the shared CUPS queue's PPD will work.
- The Brother driver packages are 32-bit (i386); the image enables Debian's
i386 multiarch to provide `libc6:i386` and the `ld-linux.so.2` loader they
need.
- Colour handling is done by the printer's own PostScript RIP. Output may differ
slightly from Brother's host-side (rasterising) driver.
- The queue advertises AirPrint capabilities (`image/urf`, `image/pwg-raster`,
`sides-supported`, `color-supported`). macOS and iOS printing is converted by
cups-filters; verify end to end on your network.