howard@amdahl.amdahl.com (The Toolmaster) (05/11/87)
HELP! In the profound words of that bunch from MacMemory, "...when you have a
problem you want a solution." I have a problem, maybe the net can help.
I need to know what packaged solutions exist for getting a lot of different
things to print on a Laserwriter. We have guys with Macs, guys with Zenith
PC clones, and guys on the mainframe that would all like to print to a common
Laserwriter.
The simplest and fastest solution would appear to be run a Phonenet and slot
an Appletalk board into the Zeniths. I know exactly what this buys the Macs,
and maybe I'm asking the wrong group, but what will this actually buy the
Zeniths. I guess we're talking TOPS Print as the Zenith based software
but I am unsure exactly what that buys the user. Anyone know?
Anyway, how do I connect the mainframe. Fastpath/Ethernet is out for now,
I have full-duplex and 3270 coax-type lines to work with. I thought maybe
I could setup a Zenith with a coax board and an Appletalk board and let a
mainframe based spooler (lp) use the box as a passthrough to the ATalk net.
Would something like that work?
Anyway, suppose we kill the phonenet; does anyone make a version of the
Laserwriter driver that sends its data out the printer port as regular
async data at say 19.2K baud. This would be EXTREMELY useful anyway.
In this configuration, I could have the Macs & Zeniths spooling output
up to the host, postscript for the Macs and whatever for the Zeniths.
( By the way, you might wonder why I continually call the clones "Zeniths".
I believe the term PC means personal computer and I was using it to refer
to Apple IIs before IBM was even in the game. )
What I would like to avoid is the Mac users having to hold down Command-F
or whatever to generate a postscript file and then upload it in order to
get some printout. Any ideas and product pointers would be greatly appreciated.
--
"Plan for the future because that's where you Howard C. Simonson
are going to spend the rest of your life." {hplabs,ihnp4,nsc}!amdahl!howard
- Mark Twain -
[ The disclaimer for this message may be found in my next article ]briand@tekig4.UUCP (05/12/87)
>( By the way, you might wonder why I continually call the clones "Zeniths". > I believe the term PC means personal computer and I was using it to refer > to Apple IIs before IBM was even in the game. ) I'm with you. Once IBM came out with "PC," I assumed it meant "Piece of Crap." But I've changed my tune now that they've introduced the PC II - I think the letters now mean "Patently Copied!" No, don't flame me, it's only a little net humor. Hit 'n' if you're offended. -- -Brian Diehm (SDA - Standard Disclaimers Apply) Tektronix, Inc. briand@tekig4.TEK.COM or {decvax,cae780,uw-beaver}!tektronix!tekig4!briand
merchant@dartvax.UUCP (Peter Merchant) (05/13/87)
In article <6534@amdahl.amdahl.com>, howard@amdahl.amdahl.com (The Toolmaster) writes: > I need to know what packaged solutions exist for getting a lot of different > things to print on a Laserwriter. We have guys with Macs, guys with Zenith > PC clones, and guys on the mainframe that would all like to print to a common > Laserwriter. > > The simplest and fastest solution would appear to be run a Phonenet and slot > an Appletalk board into the Zeniths. I know exactly what this buys the Macs, > and maybe I'm asking the wrong group, but what will this actually buy the > Zeniths. I guess we're talking TOPS Print as the Zenith based software > but I am unsure exactly what that buys the user. Anyone know? > -- > "Plan for the future because that's where you Howard C. Simonson > are going to spend the rest of your life." {hplabs,ihnp4,nsc}!amdahl!howard > - Mark Twain - TOPSPrint gives the Zeniths a painless way to print on the LaserWriter. What it does is turn MSDOS's LPT1: (or LPT2:) into a connection to the LaserWriter. It seems to spool it to the disk first (so your Zenith users might want to have a hard disk) and when it decides you're done it ships it off to the LaserWriter. It allows you emulate a Diablo 630 or a Epson FX-80 (although I have found software that the emulation does not work with!) or you can send Postscript. The new version of TOPSPrint is supposed to work with Windows and GEM. Now, I tried the card in the Zenith 248 and it didn't work. However, I had about 5 minutes to try it before the Zenith people wanted their computer back, so I didn't get much of a chance to try adjusting the various jumpers and other ick. I hope to be getting a Zenith 248 to try it more. -- "Way above it all. Peter Merchant (merchant@dartvax.UUCP) Standing on higher ground."