gkb@necntc.UUCP (Greg Busby) (10/10/86)
I have a question concerning the use of an Imagewriter I as a general purpose printer. I recently bought a PC compatible (second computer, first was a Mac). I would like to be able to use the Imagewriter as a printer for the (non)IBM, since I don't want to spend the bucks on another printer. Any and all information on what signals the PC sends out and what the Imagewriter expects will be greatly appreciated. By the way, I am also doing some research in external sources myself. Either followups or resonses or email are great, and I will post a solution once I have the printing going. Thanks in advance GKB
oster@lapis.berkeley.edu (David Phillip Oster) (10/11/86)
The imagewriter accepts the same control commands as the C. Itoh printer that it was originally sold as. It is a stock RS-232 DTR device, doing DTR handshaking using pin 20, in its Mac configuration, although it can be jumpered to uses ^S, ^Q handshaking. Appple has even published a tech-note giving the pinouts for connecting it to an IBM PC, and the information is repeated in the manual that comes with the ImageWriter. The IBM expects to see handshaking on pins 5,6,and 8, so jumper them together in the IBM side of the cable.
tim@j.cc.purdue.edu (Timothy Lange) (10/13/86)
In general, you will find printers that use a serial interface, Imagewriters, LaserWriters, Diablos, Spinwriters, and HP LaserJets, all use Xon/Xoff for flow control. Some of these printers, Imagewriter, Laserwriter, and HP LaserJet can be modified (easy as flipping a dip switch on some), to use DTR (DSR??, pin 20 I think), for flow control the same as the IBM PC. Some PC's can be configured to use Xon/Xoff for flow control, like the Zenith PC's. So beware, if you have a serial interface between units and they cannot keep up with the line speed, make sure they use the same process for flow control. -- Timothy Lange Purdue University Computing Center West Lafayette, IN 317-494-1787 extension 260 tim@j.cc.purdue.edu
joel@gould9.UUCP (Joel West) (10/14/86)
Of course, dip switch 2-3 decides whether the IW uses X-on/X-off
(default) or DTR for flow control.
--
Joel West MCI Mail: 282-8879
Western Software Technology, POB 2733, Vista, CA 92083
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