Key Takeaways
- The Raspberry Pi can breathe new life into old printers, offering a solution for outdated hardware with software compatibility issues.
- By creating a network printer with a Raspberry Pi and CUPS, old devices like the Canon MP250 can still be used with modern PCs and smartphones.
- The process is simple and easy, and could be a worthwhile project to some.
We’ve seen how the Raspberry Pi can be used to create some awesome and innovative projects. But SBCs can also be powerful tools that can be used to resurrect old pieces of tech that were left abandoned by their manufacturers. And that just happens to be the case for Canon’s popular MP250 printer, which has long been retired by the brand.
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The latest driver update on the website comes from 2015, and there is no support for Windows 11, which as you can imagine, could be a huge problem for someone that’s still trying to use that printer in 2024. Luckily, it appears that there is a solution to this issue, and nothing that a Raspberry Pi can’t fix.
A new lease on life thanks to a Raspberry Pi
The news was picked up by Hackster and originally came from an ambitious tinkerer, Herman Õunapuu, who was trying to save a family member that was experiencing problems with their printer. Õunapuu shared that despite the device still working properly, he could not get it to work on a Windows PC.
That’s where the project to make this a network printer came alive, which only required a spare PC and an clever piece of software called CUPS. Õunapuu decided to keep things compact by using an old Raspberry Pi B+ running the latest Raspberry Pi OS.
While it did take some time and patience, in the end, the printer was up and running as a network printer through the Raspberry Pi, and was able to print from a Windows PC. Of course, since this printer is a network device, it can also print from other devices as well.
Õunapuu conducted further testing using Android and iOS smartphones without issues. In an age where it’s easy to just throw away old tech and just buy something new, this is a great way to keep things working without a lot of effort or money. If you’ve been looking to revive an old printer, this might be a great solution, so give it a try.
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source: https://www.xda-developers.com/raspberry-pi-unsupported-printer-on-windows/
