hendrik@zeusa.UUCP (Hendrik Vermooten) (09/12/90)
Hi, all. My ARNET multi-port card can do this by creating a "pseudo-tty" that you can spool to. You set this up by giving it ESC codes to switch printer to print-thru mode, and to switch it back to normal mode. You can even tell it what max percentage of the bandwidth it may use for the printer, so you can control the amount of interference with your terminal session. My question is this: is there a way this can be done if you have a port card that does not have this feature? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hendrik Vermooten, ZEUS software Tel [27 12] 64-5507, FAX [27 12] 64-8382 Bang: ..!uunet!ddsw1!olsa99!zeusa!hendrik or hendrik@zeusa.UUCP --------------------------------------------------------------------------
cpcahil@virtech.uucp (Conor P. Cahill) (09/17/90)
In article <855@zeusa.UUCP> hendrik@zeusa.UUCP (Hendrik Vermooten) writes: >My question is this: is there a way this can be done if you have a port >card that does not have this feature? No. You cannot share the bandwidth because there is no way to guarantee how much of your printer data can go without being interrupted by some data to go to the terminal. The reason that the card can do this is that it has control of all data going to the tty and knows what data is supposed to go to the printer and what data is supposed to go to the terminal. What you could do is have the program that is running on the tty stop sending output, send the "output to lp" sequence, dump the data that you want to print, send the "reset redirection (turn printer off)" sequence, and finally restart the normal program output. -- Conor P. Cahill (703)430-9247 Virtual Technologies, Inc., uunet!virtech!cpcahil 46030 Manekin Plaza, Suite 160 Sterling, VA 22170
dold@mitisft.Convergent.COM (Clarence Dold) (09/17/90)
in article <855@zeusa.UUCP>, hendrik@zeusa.UUCP (Hendrik Vermooten) says: > My ARNET multi-port card can do this by creating a "pseudo-tty" that you The ARNET intelligent cards interleave data headed to printer and screen, and properly handle incoming keystrokes. Without the ARNET intelligence, it is still possible to print to the serial port on any VT100 compatible terminal, but the terminal is useless for the duration of the print job. If you don't also "lock" the keyboard, you could have keystrokes echoed to your printout as well. I don't lock the keyboard, since some terminals recognize the code and others don't. The print control is recognized by most terminals, as well as Kermit and Procomm. # mc5i - echo "\033[5i\c" - print without displaying to screen # mc4 - echo "\033[4\c" - turn off local print -- --- Clarence A Dold - dold@tsmiti.Convergent.COM (408) 435-5293 ...pyramid!ctnews!tsmiti!dold FAX (408) 435-3105 P.O.Box 6685, San Jose, CA 95150-6685 MS#10-007
bob@astph.UUCP (Bob Ford) (09/19/90)
In article <1607@mitisft.Convergent.COM>, dold@mitisft.Convergent.COM (Clarence Dold) writes: > in article <855@zeusa.UUCP>, hendrik@zeusa.UUCP (Hendrik Vermooten) says: > > > My ARNET multi-port card can do this by creating a "pseudo-tty" that you > > The ARNET intelligent cards interleave data headed to printer and screen, and > properly handle incoming keystrokes. > Without the ARNET intelligence, it is still possible to print to the serial > port on any VT100 compatible terminal, but the terminal is useless for the > duration of the print job. If you don't also "lock" the keyboard, you could > have keystrokes echoed to your printout as well. We also have several Arnet Smartport 8's. The board's intelligence is highly debatable, however! When we try to do transparent printing under Korn shell, or using vi, the terminal locks up until the print job is over - opaque printing! Arnet claims this is a feature, not a bug. Does anyone out there in Netland know how to make transparent printing work with this board while using vi or ksh? Also...... we have tried to get SLIP to work with the Smartport 8. No way! The board locks up, and doesn't work at any speed. BTW, we are running TCP/IP under ISC's 2.2 UNIX. SLIP runs fine at 38400 baud between two Comtrol Ultra 16 boards. Arnet's Tech Support Department has been totally unhelpful in solving the problem. They have made the following claims: 1. There is a bug in SLIP (But why does SLIP work with the Comtrol boards?) 2. ISC isn't supporting SLIP, and won't help them to get it to work on their board (But, ISC has explicitly told us that SLIP *is* supported, and that they *will* work with Arnet to help them resolve the problem!) Needless to say, we are trying to get a full refund for our Dumbports, so we can buy more Comtrol boards. Arnet's "Rock Solid Warranty" states that, "If a product still fails after a reasonable number of attempts to remedy the defect or malfunction, you may elect for a full refund of your purchase price." We are finding out that it is difficult to get Arnet to follow through on this claim. In summary, don't be fooled by Arnet's slick marketing - their "incredible" support is incredibly poor! -- Bob Ford (814) 234-8592x6 astph!bob@psuvax1 psuvax1!astph!bob Philadelphia Phillies