OkiML6300 1.0 -- 17.8.2026
WHAT IT IS
A dedicated AmigaOS printer driver for the OKI Microline 6300 (ML6300FB-SC),
the 24-pin flatbed dot-matrix printer, driving its Epson-LQ emulation.
AmigaOS already prints to this machine through its generic Epson drivers, but
the generic path cannot reach the printer's own features. This driver can:
Text all eleven letter-quality typefaces the ML6300 actually has,
verified on paper, plus the OKI-only 15 and 20 CPI pitches and
double-height printing, which the standard Amiga printer command
set has no code for at all.
Graphics 24-pin bit-image dumps up to 360 x 360 dpi -- the highest
densities print each band twice with a half-dot paper feed
between the passes.
Text and graphics were both verified byte for byte against captures of the
data on the wire, and then on paper on the printer itself.
Select OKI_ML6300 in Prefs/Printer like any other driver and print as usual.
The package also includes the "OKIPrinter" preferences editor for SYS:Prefs.
It sets the OKI-only text defaults the standard Printer preferences cannot
express -- typeface, 15/20 CPI pitch and the text styles -- for plain PRT:
output, shows the resolution the printer really uses for the PrinterGfx
density, and prints test pages. An application's own commands always override
these defaults, so programs stay in control of their own output.
WHAT YOU NEED
The printer, on the parallel or serial port, switched to its EPSON LQ
emulation (its factory default).
The ML6300 also has a USB socket, and the driver does not care which
interface carries its output -- but AmigaOS has no USB support of its own, so
that route needs a USB stack (on 68k, Poseidon and its printer class, which
presents the printer as a device such as usbparallel.device). Parallel is the
straightforward connection and the one the driver was developed on.
The driver is an ordinary printer.device driver written to render-interface
level 35 and calls only Kickstart 1.x functions, so by design it loads on
Kickstart 1.3 (V34) and later; in practice it has been tested on AmigaOS 3.x,
and 2.04 (V37) or newer is the safe choice. It needs no AGA, no extra RAM and
no special hardware.
The supplied Installer script needs AmigaOS 2.04, because the Installer
program itself does. On 1.3 use the Install1.3 icon instead: a plain Shell
script that copies the driver into DEVS:Printers and nothing else. The
preferences editor is not installed there and is not needed. The rest --
printer setup, the driver's own ESC sequences and the density table -- is in
Docs/English/ReadMe-1.3 and Docs/Deutsch/LiesMich-1.3, as plain text, since
the AmigaGuide manual needs 2.x.
The preferences editor is a ReAction program and needs AmigaOS 3.0 plus the
ReAction classes V44+ (as supplied with AmigaOS 3.2, 3.5 and 3.9, or with
ClassAct on 3.0/3.1). Its pop-up help bubbles want window.class V47 (3.2).
The editor is optional -- the driver prints without it.
Other OKI 24-pin Microline models with a co-resident Epson-LQ emulation may
work once switched to it; the flatbed ML390FB is the closest relative.
Reports welcome.
WHAT IS IN THE ARCHIVE
Install Installer script for AmigaOS 2.x/3.x
Install1.3 Shell install for Kickstart 1.3 -- driver only
Files/ the driver and the preferences editor
Docs/ the AmigaGuide manual and a plain-text 1.3 quick
reference, each in English and German
Icons/ the icons, in a classic 4-colour and a GlowIcon set
Catalogs/ the German message catalog for the editor
LICENSE the licence, in full
One build of each program is supplied; there are no processor-specific
versions to choose between.
INSTALLATION
Double-click the Install icon. The installer copies the driver into
DEVS:Printers and installs the editor into SYS:Prefs -- or, if you decline
that, into an OkiPrefs drawer it creates in a drawer of your choosing. It also
asks which icon set you want and which manual languages to install, and offers
the German catalog.
Then open Prefs/Printer, choose OKI_ML6300 as the printer type, set the port
and paper, and Save.
CREDITS
The colour GlowIcons -- the "OKIPrinter" program icon and its drawer icon --
were drawn by Martin "Mason" Merz and are included with his kind permission.
They carry the classic 4-colour images in the same files, so they look right
on older systems too.
HISTORY
1.0 First public release.
Kickstart 1.3 owners now have their own way in: an "Install1.3"
script that only copies the driver, and a plain-text manual beside
the AmigaGuide one. The Installer program and AmigaGuide both need
AmigaOS 2.x -- the driver itself never did.
The editor's 4-colour icon was redrawn in the standard preferences
style, with the printer itself in the picture.
0.14 The German version of the editor is now built together with the rest
of the package, so its wording can no longer lag behind the program.
0.13 Colour GlowIcons by Martin "Mason" Merz, an About window, the manual
in German, and the package prepared for Aminet.
0.12 Help split into one page per group of settings, so the Help key
lands on the page for the control you are actually using.
0.11 Online help throughout the editor: the Help key, help from the menu,
and help on individual controls.
0.10 Editor buttons sized so the longer German labels fit.
0.9 Printing starts noticeably sooner. The editor was renamed to
"OKIPrinter".
0.8 The package became a proper LhA archive, and the manual was
rewritten.
0.7 More explanation of what the density setting really does, a reworked
installer, and a pass over the German wording.
0.6 The editor shows the resolution the printer actually uses at the
chosen density -- which the standard preferences never tell you --
and notices when those preferences change while it is open. First
German translation.
0.3 A preferences editor for SYS:Prefs, so the OKI-only text defaults --
typeface, the 15/20 CPI pitches and the styles -- could be set
without typing escape codes into anything.
0.2 Initial release: the driver itself. Letter-quality text in all
eleven typefaces the printer really has, 24-pin graphics up to
360 x 360 dpi, and the OKI-only 15 and 20 characters per inch and
double height.
LICENCE
Copyright (C) 2026 Marcus Gerards. All rights reserved.
This covers the driver, the preferences editor and their documentation,
catalogs, icons and other supplied files.
You may download, install and use the Software free of charge for your own
private and personal purposes.
It may NOT be sold or otherwise distributed commercially, in whole or in
part. It may NOT be bundled or combined with any other software, hardware,
magazine, cover disk, collection or product. It may NOT otherwise be
published, redistributed or mirrored, in any form, whether modified or
unmodified. Each of these requires the author's prior written permission --
please ask first:
Marcus Gerards
marcus.gerards@googlemail.com
The GlowIcons remain the work of Martin "Mason" Merz.
The Software is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, express or
implied, including but not limited to the warranties of merchantability,
fitness for a particular purpose and noninfringement. In no event shall the
author be liable for any claim, damages or other liability arising from, out
of or in connection with the Software or its use.
All rights not expressly granted above are reserved by the author. The full
text is in the manual, under "License".
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