alp@druhi.ATT.COM (PriceA) (06/01/87)
I am looking for a printer driver to use with an Atari 800XL, the Atariwriter cartridge, and a Panasonic KX-P1091 printer. Does anyone have one or know where I can get one? Art Price AT&T Information Systems 11900 N. Pecos Street Denver, CO 80234 (303) 538-4663
jhs@MITRE-BEDFORD.ARPA.UUCP (06/07/87)
Art Price writes: > I am looking for a printer driver to use with an Atari 800XL, the > Atariwriter cartridge, and a Panasonic KX-P1091 printer. > Does anyone have one or know where I can get one? Art, I think what you need is a printer "interface" (a hardware device), not a "driver" (a word used to describe the short piece of machine-language code used to send characters to the interface). In the Atari 8-bitters, the printer driver software is built right into the operating system, which resides in the Read-Only Memory (ROM) at the top of the 64K address space. If you buy or build a standard printer interface, you won't need any special driver software to run it. On the other hand, if you want to build a custom "el cheapo" interface (see below), you can easily substitute your own custom printer driver software, because of the very enlightened design of the Atari 8-bit O/S. The Panasonic KX-P109X line of printers use a standard Centronics parallel interface. The best commercial solution to your needs is probably the "P:R:Connection" interface by ICD. It sells for around $55 at a good discount mail-order outfit and provides not only the printer port you need but also two RS-232 serial ports, which will let you run a modem and a serial printer, home security controller, or other serial device when you get ready to do that in the future. The Atari 850 interface is another good way to go. It costs $109 at most mail order places, and gives you one Centronics type parallel port and not two but four serial ports. It is the most "standard" interface and the one you are least likely to run into program incompatibility problems with. The P:R:Connection will probably serve your needs very well, however, unless you envision running more than two serial devices at some point. You will also need a cable, which you should be able to find at your friendly local IBM-PC type computer store, for maybe $15 to $25. If you REALLY want a cheap interface and you are willing to build one up, the very cheapest way to go is to interface the printer through your computer's two "Joystick Ports". You need both because each provides only 4 bits of output. The external circuitry required is extremely simple, because the joystick ports are already driven by a "Parallel Interface Adapter" (PIA) chip inside the Atari. I think that articles on how to do this have showed up in ANTIC and ANALOG magazines in recent years. The parts and circuit board and cabinet to make a neat job of this will probably cost you $20 to $30. You will also need to write a driver program which you will have to load whenever you want to run the printer. (It can be loaded automatically as an AUTORUN.SYS file if you wish when you boot up.) This approach will tie up your joystick ports and force you to remove the joystick(s) and plug in the printer, or else provide a switch and some additional sockets on the interface. All in all, it probably isn't worth it unless you are eager for the hardware/software education you will get in doing such a project. I'd say go with the P:R:Connection unless you really think you may need 4 serial ports. Some recommended mail order sources are: Computer Mail Order, (800) 233-8950 (reputable, good prices) Electronic One, (614) 864-9994 ( " " " ) CSC Inc. (609) 448-8889 (small but very helpful) UniTech (800) 343-0472 (should have cable for $10-$15) (good prices on disks, too) Lyco Comp. Mktg. (800) 233-8760 (excellent reputation) I am not affiliated with any of these companies. Good luck! You've chosen a very fine little printer, by the way. -John Sangster jhs@mitre-bedford.arpa
akw@osupyr.UUCP (Andrew Weaver) (06/08/87)
In article <8706070221.AA15935@mitre-bedford.ARPA> jhs@MITRE-BEDFORD.ARPA writes: >Art Price writes: > >> I am looking for a printer driver to use with an Atari 800XL, the > >Art, I think what you need is a printer "interface" (a hardware device), >not a "driver" (a word used to describe the short piece of machine-language >code used to send characters to the interface). > >In the Atari 8-bitters, the printer driver software is built right into >the operating system, which resides in the Read-Only Memory (ROM) at the top >of the 64K address space. If you buy or build a standard printer interface, Yes and no. You will need a hardware interface for the Panasonic-to-Atari8bit connection, but you will need a software driver for Atariwriter. Yes, there is a generic printer DEVICE in the ROMs of the 8bits, but the printer driver for AtariWriter supports different typestyles (bold, underline, double-strike, pica, elite, etc) and other printer control codes that are supported by Atari Writer. I would suggest, Art, that you contact Atari or Antic. Antic used to publish the different PD AtariWriter printer interfaces a while back; I haven't read Antic in awhile so I wouldn't know. --- Andy Weaver ihnp4|cbosgd -\ College of Business Computing Services |-- osupyr|akw The Ohio State University pyramid -/ 1775 College Rd. Cols, OH 43210 (614) 292-1741 ___---___---___---___---___---___---___---___---___---___---___---___---___