Hi there. I know that what I'm asking might sound a bit wierd and odd but this is what I'd like to ask from you all. I need to have a low-level controll over my USB ink-printer. There are 2 motors inside, one for the head and other for the paperfeed. I need a Win32 based (.dll/ driver hack?) low-level code example on how to controll those motors as +- tick (servomotrs I suppose). I' willing to pay actual money I some one could show me how/produce a working solution that I need. Thank you.
Sorry I can't be more help but what you need might not be Win32 based. You might need to rewrite the firmware inside the printer itself as low-level motor control functions might not be available to the PC. This could require microprocessor programming e.g. of Renesas chips.
Well, I'm stuck with Win32 platform. I was also starting to think that this might not be possible at all without some very low-level driver hacking / hw modifications.. Above solution is not possbile. The reason is to have cheap ink-jet printer, strip the motors from it and controll them with win32 application as I saw fit. make 'em operate e lego-crane e.g. ))
Agreed. Seriously though, I don't think you'll be able to do this without modifying the firmware on the printer. Or, at the least, going with your plan of modifying drivers. If you can ditch Win32 you MAY be able to find an open source driver for your printer and hack it up to do what you want.
well... hacking drivers could be with linux world.. Lego mindstrom would be great or something similar.. thanx all of you for the trbouble.
You will definitely not be able to do this. Printer are made to accept command sets such as ESC/POS. These commands are exclusively for printing and I haven't seen any for controlling motors. However, if you still want this, I can design/code and provide you a circuit board with a microcontroller where you'll have to plug the wires of the two motors to my circuit with the USB cable direct to my board. Please register at expertcore.org so we can discuss if you like it. (You need to tell me the models of the motors. If I can't find them here, you'll have to send them to me) With this method, you'll only be able to control the motors 100% in both directions, number of turns, etc... However with this, printing functions will not work hereafter until you plug cables back as they were before. If you still want other functions to work and you have a free USB port, I can change the design for this.