Hi,
I just can’t get my printer (Dell 3330dn) to work properly under Linux with the generic drivers. That’s why I went for a hunt to find the PPD files. The Dell webpage even has a section offering downloads for Linux. But when I unpacked the .zip, there was no PPD file, even when it was stated in the description. Am I blind? Or are the files in a format I don’t recognize?
That zip file contains an rpm package that has the PPD files. You’ll need to be on an RPM-based distro to install it as-is, or use a tool to unpack it.
What distro are you running?
I am using PopOS!, so Ubuntu
So you’ll need 2 commands:
rpm2cpioandcpio.For example:
rpm2cpio mypackage.rpm | cpio -idmvFor reference, I found this by searching for “unpack RPM”. That led me to this NixCraft article. Several other links had similar info.
Thank you! I’ve never heard of rpm packages. I will try this out
I’m very out of the loop regarding RPM, but doesn’t 7zip handle all that in one step? Or never did?
I think it can, yes.
Not that I’ve heard of this. This isn’t a compressed package in the same way a zip is, it’s an application package.
An application package is a compressed file with extra conventions. I think rpm packages are usually compressed with xz, but might use a different compression program. If I’m understanding what I’m reading correctly, rpm2cpio does some introspection to determine with extraction program to use. Maybe 7zip does the same thing, or maybe it works if the rpm was compressed with a compatible program.
