Dymo LabelWriter 550 on Slackware Linux

Tom Canich
2024-11-02

Introduction

The Dymo LabelWrite 5xx series label printers use an RFID reader to report installed media and remaining media. I understand this includes some DRM components which requires Dymo supplied software and restricts media to Dymo products. In the past the software was not available for Linux, however Dymo now provides a CUPS PPD and filter program.

A pre-compiled version is available from a zip archive located in the LW5xx Linux 1.4.3 directory. Source is provided in the LW5xx_Linux directory. This document describes the process to install the driver from source on Slackware current as of 2024-11-02.

Process

  1. Clone the Dymo Drivers repository from https://github.com/dymosoftware/Drivers.

  2. In the LW5xx_Linux directory, patch the file src/lm/LabelManagerLanguageMonitorV2.cpp to include the time header.

diff --git a/LW5xx_Linux/src/lm/LabelManagerLanguageMonitorV2.cpp b/LW5xx_Linux/src/lm/LabelManagerLanguageMonitorV2.cpp
index 4ad5b99..b48b30d 100644
--- a/LW5xx_Linux/src/lm/LabelManagerLanguageMonitorV2.cpp
+++ b/LW5xx_Linux/src/lm/LabelManagerLanguageMonitorV2.cpp
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #include "LabelManagerLanguageMonitorV2.h"
 
 #include <unistd.h>
+#include <ctime>
 
 namespace DymoPrinterDriver
 {
  1. As distributed, the autoconf setup references aclocal-1.15. Current has aclocal-1.17. Reconfigure autoconf to use /usr/bin/aclocal:
ACLOCAL_PATH=/usr/bin/aclocal autoreconf -if
  1. Run configure, make, make install
./configure
make
sudo make install DESTDIR=/tmp/cups-dymo-labelwriter5xx
  1. Package the installation for distribution to other computers.
cd /tmp/cups-dymo-labelwriter5xx
makepkg -l n -c y /tmp/cups-dymo-labelwriter5xx-dev-x86_64-1_CN.txz
  1. Install the package on computer(s) where the Label Writer will be used. Once installed, connect the device to a USB port, power it on. Use the CUPS administration tools to add a new printer selecting the detected Dymo LabelWriter device. Choose the correct model from the presented list, set default options, and enjoy!

References

  1. dymosoftware/Drivers https://github.com/dymosoftware/Drivers

  2. Linux Mint Forums - Getting a DYMO Labelwriter 550 to work post by dvmpiper https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?p=2492545&sid=7fce66ae3803f83efbdd1f4224000954#p2492545

2024 Tom Canich tom@canich.net