[HN Gopher] Reverse-engineered CUPS driver for Phomemo receipt/l...
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Reverse-engineered CUPS driver for Phomemo receipt/label printers
Author : Curiositry
Score : 92 points
Date : 2025-10-28 05:01 UTC (7 days ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| triyambakam wrote:
| 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 wrote:
| 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 wrote:
| I assume part of the appeal is much cheaper label supplies
| than eg Epson?
| bayindirh wrote:
| 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.
| kotaKat wrote:
| I think part of it is that these printers end up offering
| so much more flexibility than your traditional labeler.
| Single-font single-line labels are _boring_ , crummy built
| in excuses for emoji...
| inferiorhuman wrote:
| Meanwhile once I bought a roll of blue painters' tape I
| started labeling freaking everything.
| alwa wrote:
| Painter's tape is where I started, too... then I learned
| that gaffer's tape comes in 1" rolls, and I've never looked
| back.
| SoftTalker wrote:
| This is the way. Tape and a sharpie. No wires, drivers,
| usb, bluetooth, or wifi needed.
| kasabali wrote:
| Is there a driver for the cat printer? :D
| voxadam wrote:
| You can print a cat?!? Please, don't tell my wife.
|
| I love Fry, our wonderful cat, but...
| haunter wrote:
| Yes, there actual multiple ones
|
| https://github.com/NaitLee/Cat-Printer
|
| https://github.com/NaitLee/kitty-printer
|
| https://github.com/rbaron/catprinter
|
| https://github.com/xome4ok/cat-printer
|
| https://github.com/TheNitek/CatGFX
| jamesbelchamber wrote:
| 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..
| bayindirh wrote:
| I have a D110 and D110-H, and they're little, neat printers.
| What's not to like about them?
| Crosseye_Jack wrote:
| > 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)
| jamesbelchamber wrote:
| No CUPS driver :)
| ValdikSS wrote:
| I use Xiqi printer for barcode printing on a self-adhesive
| paper. It's about $11 only, battery powered, light, bluetooth.
| somehnguy wrote:
| Whoa, I had no idea about niim.blue, thanks for posting that.
| These little printers are great - replaced my Dymo completely.
| ValdikSS wrote:
| CUPS driver for Xiqi printers ("FunnyPrint" application)
|
| https://github.com/ValdikSS/printer-driver-funnyprint
| saxenaabhi wrote:
| 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.
| mk_stjames wrote:
| 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.
| wolrah wrote:
| 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.
| messe wrote:
| That's not always an option, and doesn't answer the question.
|
| Some people rent and can't simply run Ethernet everywhere.
| SoftTalker wrote:
| A good reason is that it's easy. Turn it on, connect to wifi,
| done.
| ris wrote:
| Have been tempted to get one of these just for printing out
| tickets/QR codes so I can keep my dumbphone and not fight dried
| up ink cartridges etc.
| cue_the_strings wrote:
| Is there a device you can recommend for printing (sticky) labels
| occasionally? I have a little Brother printer for those narrow
| little labels, one with a rubber keyboard, but would love
| something with sticky labels AND Linux connectivity. Something I
| could script when organizing my workspace, parts, ... to print
| the appropriate label.
| all2 wrote:
| If your printer speaks ZPL, I might have a solution in the near
| future. I'm working on a ZPL server that handles printers (USB
| and network), label templates, CSV uploads (for batch printing
| labels), and the like.
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(page generated 2025-11-04 23:00 UTC)