Subject: Re: DeskWriter (was Re: printer / modem)
To: None <j-valdes@uchicago.edu>
From: Bill Studenmund <wrstuden@loki.stanford.edu>
List: port-mac68k
Date: 01/10/1997 15:45:59
> 
> Bill Studenmund writes:
> > > 
> > > On Wed, 8 Jan 1997, Aaron Namba wrote:
> > > 
> > > > > - How can I use the printer (connected to the serial modem port). A
> > > > > DeskWriter by HP?
> >
> > The serial drivers are standard, and do quite well
> > with my DeskWriter. 
> 
> I've been using my DeskWriter (original model) connected to the
> printer port w/ gs.  For the most part, it works OK, except it
> occasionally will print garbage characters.  I'm guessing that this
> due to improper handshaking between the Mac (a IIcx) and the
> DeskWriter.  Small files print fine; larger ones have this problem.

Are you using my gs binary? If not, the standard 500 support can send
out garbage to a original model DW (basically the 500 supports an
extra graphics mode that is unrecognized on the DW).

It sounds more like you're getting a random character error once in
every few files. I've seen such a thing (one page in 20 had an error),
but only rarely. I can't think of the error in the driver.

> As a test, I converted the tiger.ps sample file that comes with gs to
> PCL using gs, and send it to the printer using:
> 
>   prompt# ( stty 57600 raw -clocal cs8 -parenb -cstopb -echoctl \
>            crtscts mdmbuf ; cat tiger.pcl ) < /dev/tty01 > /dev/tty01
> 
> but this prints garbage charaters every so often (I get similar
> results when printing through lpr w/ a printcap 'ms' field of
> 'ms=raw,-clocal,cs8,-parenb,-echoctl,crtscts').  To test that the
> problem wasn't with the PCL file, I transfered it over to the MacOS
> side, and sent it to the printer using ZTerm, and it printed w/o a
> single error.

Try stty w/o the mdmbuf. Under 1.2, that puts you into a mode where
DTR is used as the input flow control (RTS on normal serial ports).

How often do you see the error?

Take care,

Bill