My goal is to integrate a USB POS thermal printer with a small demo Android app that I will using from an Android tablet.
I have two POS printers:
Epson TM-T88III
POS-5870
I also have a Sanei N10 tablet that I am connecting to the POS printer via a USB OTG dongle cable.
I downloaded the USB Host Diagnostic (from Google Play Store) to see if it would recognize the POS printers that I connected to the tablet. It recognized both printers, however the EPSON TM-T88III was recognized on the Android OS level while the POS-5870 was recognized only on the kernel level.
I also tried using the USB Printer Driver 2.1 DevEd app (from the Google Play store), however I couldn't set the any of the printers as the default printer to use.
I also tried using the POS Printer Driver (ESC) app (from the Google Play store), however, it couldn't connect with the printers.
I was wondering if there is any way I can get the POS printers connected to my Android tablet and perform a test print? In addition, is there any SDKs/source code that I can use to detect and perform a test print?
My 2 cents. I did an app that can print from Android(Bluetooth) to a Zebra printer. Bases on our search, it depends more on your printer provider. We couldn't find a "library" that can print to any printer.
That's whay we went for Zebra printers, since they support Android. I'm not sure if Epson does provide Android libraries to use with their printers.
i think the problem with epson api is that it only supports ARMv5TE architecture, I am not sure which tablet you are using, but if the tablet's processor is not ARMv5TE based then I dont think the printers will work, I havent looked at any of the zebra printers, or star for that matter but i assume their apis also must have some limitations in terms of what architecture they support.
on that note Epson should release api for ARMv7 and ARMv8 all variants now as thats those are the latest chips and will be most widely used in the coming months.
As far I know, Epson have specific documentation about SDK API for mobile, you can find it in here EPSON SDK API. They provide useful information about specific device requirement and support printer.
Related
My simple query is that how different are the zebra devices from normal android devices?
Also if we develop android apps for normal android devices will it work on zebra devices?or vice versa?
Also what are the android versions supported on Zebra devices?
we need to have simple app with GPS trailing/tracking and data entry on zebra devices?
Can any one suggest how to start with development?
Thanks,
Zebra offers two variants of android running on their devices, GMS or non-GMS (Google Mobility Services). In either case you will have access to all the standard Android APIs but on GMS devices you also have access to the full range of Google Play Services. You can develop an application that runs on both Zebra and non-Zebra devices, the only complication is the scanning SDK (EMDK) will need to be specified in your gradle file in rather than as an add-in (http://techdocs.zebra.com/emdk-for-android/6-4/guide/programming_practices/#emdkasadependencyinbuildgradle). The version(s) of Android supported on Zebra devices vary depending on the device type, most of the devices right now are running Lollipop or Marshmallow. Not all devices support GPS (since some are targeted for indoor use-cases like warehouses) so make sure your device supports that.
The best place to start development would be the Zebra docs page which gives an overview of your development options: http://techdocs.zebra.com/help/
For transparency, I work for Zebra
I am developing an application for Point of Sales. In that I want to take print from android mobile to any printer type(only receipt printer / kitchen printer) without using any SDK for particular printer.
Is this possible, or is it possible only by calling cloud Services?
We print to thermal printers via bluetooth. We use the Star printer from Star Micronics. Our users print to these from their tablets when out in the field. It was a bit tricky getting them to work. You're a bit limited in what you can print from an Android device, and it took quite a bit of searching to find something that worked.
I am trying to use a Hengstler X-56 USB Printer (http://www.extendo-printer.de/en/products/x-56-series/) in Android. I am using Android x86 right now and was planning on trying to use their linux drivers and possibly including the drivers in the init.rc startup. Does anyone have a good/possible solution to printing to a USB thermal printer either through a device node or via C/Java?
I have a usb device that I have been using in windows OS. I am to connect that device to an Android Tablet. Can you suggest some API for developing my programs to communicate over the USB device using Android Operating system.
Thank you so much for your interest
I think you can only do this on a rooted phone, and it is a complicated and "unsafe" process.
You can check this other post in stackoverflow forums where other references are mentioned. Some people have managed to do this but with rooted phone and some tricks, and also some projects are mentioned that were considering USB connection as a future goal, even though such development might not have been yet achieved. The link is: Android apps, communicating with a device plugged in the USB port
I have a really short question: Is it possible to communicate/use USB devices on Android OS? I assume it might be tablet device.
Lest say i want to connect some sort of USB card scanner to android tablet. Will it work? Do i need to write drivers by myself?
Thanks.
First, you need a USB host port on your tablet. Except for On-the-Go (which is a special design that can be either host or device), it is not possible to connect two USB devices together. The incompatibility is electrical, no amount of software changes can make it work.
Yes, some phones can work as hosts, like the DROID. Do a Google search for connecting a USB keyboard to an android phone, such as here: http://www.tombom.co.uk/blog/?p=124
Yes, it will work, and you do not need to write drivers for the Android side. However, the device must support the open accessory protocol and must be able to supply power to the Android device. A development kit is available.
However: "Accessory mode is ultimately dependent on the device's hardware and not all devices support accessory mode."