Superb points come about when we study the documentation. For instance, we have all observed a Raspberry Pi function as an Ethernet adapter in excess of USB, or a ESP32-S2 presenting as a storage product. Very well, [parkerlreed] has produced his Steam Deck function as a USB printer after looking at the Linux kernel docs on the USB gadget configuration, and all it took was some C code and a BIOS setting modify.
“Wouldn’t it be awesome if our USB tablets exposed a fake printer interface and saved the acquired files as PDF?” With a SteamDeck, you can do just that – thanks to the g_printer kernel module. The C code is quite straightforward, and even allows you configure some elements of the printer system.
Of class, there’s gotta be a cherry on the cake, and [parkerlreed]’s shell script hides an addition that would make your PDF printing knowledge all that extra real looking! Not to spoil it too significantly – you must enjoy the movie of the script in motion, showcasing the two the ease of use and the additional realism.
Jokes apart, the usefulness of this script is undeniable, and entrepreneurs of USB-device-able moveable Linux equipment will discover this script a must-have. It is critically cool when somebody dives into documentation and pulls out a clever resolution to a “wouldn’t it be cool” plan – basically, it is the exact same frame of mind that gave us the venerable RTL-SDR. What’s your favourite ‘dig into docs and determine out a clever feature’ hack?
We thank [Myself] for sharing this with us on the Hackaday Discord!
