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Rescuing old printers with an in-browser Linux VM bridged to WebUSB over USB/IP

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Re: Rescuing old printers with an in-browser Linux VM bridged to WebUSB over USB/IP

#41

Post by simoncion »

Oh neat. v86 is mentioned in the FOSDEM 2025 slides [0] for another wasm port of QEMU. Interesting that what appears to be v86's inability to run x86 executables didn't fuck you.

I wonder why the decision wasn't made to use the network sharing features of SANE and CUPS, instead of requiring one to use Chrome due to the WebUSB dependency. Seems to me that you'd have a way more general solution if you could usefully deploy your VM both in any major web browser and as a standalone program.

[0] https://archive.fosdem.org/2025/events/attachments/fosdem-20...>

Re: Rescuing old printers with an in-browser Linux VM bridged to WebUSB over USB/IP

#42

Post by gmac »

simoncion wrote: post #41

Oh neat. v86 is mentioned in the FOSDEM 2025 slides [0] for another wasm port of QEMU. Interesting that what appears to be v86's inability to run x86 executables didn't fuck you. I wonder why the decision wasn't made to use the network sharing features of SANE and CUPS, instead of requiring one to use Chrome due to the WebUSB dependency. Seems to me that you'd have a way more general solution if you could usefully de…

Can you elaborate on how using the network sharing features of CUPS would let you achieve the same thing (printing to old USB printers) in any major web browser?

Re: Rescuing old printers with an in-browser Linux VM bridged to WebUSB over USB/IP

#43

Post by Narishma »

hexmiles wrote: post #40

I know that it is a heavyweight solution, but it could be useful for some situations with old driver/devices/applications. I have some old hardware that is compatible only with pre-WinNT OS, and I could do something similar to provide a simple solution for the end user.

Would such old hardware even be able to run a modern browser needed for this?

Re: Rescuing old printers with an in-browser Linux VM bridged to WebUSB over USB/IP

#45

Post by ale42 »

gmac wrote: post #38
ale42 wrote: post #37

I'm using an ancient Canon Selphy photo printer... on Windows 11 without any issues. Using the Windows 7 64-bit driver, worked basically out-of-the-box. It's definitely not officially supported, but to date it works totally fine.

Huh, interesting. Is the driver built in to Windows, downloaded from Canon, or acquired some other way? TBH the web app story on Windows isn’t ideal anyway because you have to install Zadig before it will work.

I think I downloaded it from Canon 5-6 years ago. It should still be around I guess, but I can share it if needed.

EDIT: you can find it here for example: https://asia.canon/en/support/0100304802

Re: Rescuing old printers with an in-browser Linux VM bridged to WebUSB over USB/IP

#46

Post by zamadatix »

Gabrys1 wrote: post #30

> I must apologise that I haven’t so far open-sourced any part of this that I don’t have to. Mainly that’s because I think this would be an awesomely sticky web property for a printer consumables firm to integrate with their sales site. And I’d much prefer it if they paid me to white-label it for them, rather than just forking a repo and getting it all for free. They might be interested if they cared at all about the…

The hardest part would probably be convincing someone to pay to white label something for which most of the key design choices and implementation came from one unfamiliar dev prompting an £18 Claude Code subscription.

Re: Rescuing old printers with an in-browser Linux VM bridged to WebUSB over USB/IP

#47

Post by simoncion »

gmac wrote: post #42
simoncion wrote: post #41

Oh neat. v86 is mentioned in the FOSDEM 2025 slides [0] for another wasm port of QEMU. Interesting that what appears to be v86's inability to run x86 executables didn't fuck you. I wonder why the decision wasn't made to use the network sharing features of SANE and CUPS, instead of requiring one to use Chrome due to the WebUSB dependency. Seems to me that you'd have a way more general solution if you could usefully de…

Can you elaborate on how using the network sharing features of CUPS would let you achieve the same thing (printing to old USB printers) in any major web browser?

Given your commercial aspirations, I'm happy to consult on your project as a paid contractor.

Re: Rescuing old printers with an in-browser Linux VM bridged to WebUSB over USB/IP

#48

Post by hexmiles »

Narishma wrote: post #43
hexmiles wrote: post #40

I know that it is a heavyweight solution, but it could be useful for some situations with old driver/devices/applications. I have some old hardware that is compatible only with pre-WinNT OS, and I could do something similar to provide a simple solution for the end user.

Would such old hardware even be able to run a modern browser needed for this?

Sorry, I wasn't clear. By old hardware, I meant peripherals connected to the computer via serial or USB. We are at a level of performance where running an entire VM as a driver is kind of feasible, if wasteful.

Re: Rescuing old printers with an in-browser Linux VM bridged to WebUSB over USB/IP

#49

Post by gmac »

simoncion wrote: post #47
gmac wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate on how using the network sharing features of CUPS would let you achieve the same thing (printing to old USB printers) in any major web browser?

Given your commercial aspirations, I'm happy to consult on your project as a paid contractor.

Fair enough! I just don’t think I fully understand what you’re suggesting.

Re: Rescuing old printers with an in-browser Linux VM bridged to WebUSB over USB/IP

#50

Post by CodeWriter23 »

Narishma wrote: post #43
hexmiles wrote: post #40

I know that it is a heavyweight solution, but it could be useful for some situations with old driver/devices/applications. I have some old hardware that is compatible only with pre-WinNT OS, and I could do something similar to provide a simple solution for the end user.

Would such old hardware even be able to run a modern browser needed for this?

You run old operating system in browser as a gateway.
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