srh@docwrk.UUCP (Steven R. Houser) (05/09/89)
I'm having trouble getting a Hewlett-Packard DeskJet to work from my 7300's parallel port. It works fine from the tty000 serial port, using the HPLaserjet driver (the DeskJet emulates the LaserJet). But when I try to print through the parallel port (again with the LaserJet driver), I get a "!!" message saying the printer isn't connected. I know the printer is connected properly, because when I test the parallel port from the UNIX 3.51 diagnostics floppy, a test page prints out on the DeskJet with no problem. Has anyone run into this kind of problem with the parallel port? Any DeskJet or LaserJet users out there? I'd greatly appreciate any suggestions. Steve Houser The Document Workshop uunet!osu-cis!n8emr!uncle!oink!docwrk!srh
wtm@neoucom.UUCP (Bill Mayhew) (05/10/89)
At this very instant, I am typing on a Unix PC that has a deskjet attached to the parallel port. If you are having problems, two things come to mind: 1. Make sure that the parallel cable in use has all 36 leads connected end-to-end. You can get by with less than 36, but aside from the extra ground leads, I forget the specific signals you can omit. Better safe than sorry. It wouldn't be a bad idea to verify the cable integrity with an ohm-meter anyway. Make sure that the calbe is firmly can correctly seated on the Unix PC end in particular; it is easy to get the connector pushed only part way on. 2. Log in as install and re-do the printer installation. It might not be a bad idea to get rid of the original serial definition of HPLaserJet. The print programs shouldn't barf on having two printers of the same class name, but you never know... Don't try to do the printer installation by hand unless you are very careful. It is easy to subtly goof something up. Several of the printer control programs expect the user id invoking them to be lp. Yuck. Aside from that I can't think of anything other than a hardware bug. I get very trouble-free operation from my deskjet, including the bitmap screen dumps. Bill wtm@impulse.UUCP
srh@docwrk.UUCP (Steven R. Houser) (05/15/89)
At Bill Mayhew's suggestion, I checked out the wires in the Centronics cable, and sure enough, one of the wires wasn't connected to the pin. I replaced the cable, and now the DeskJet is operating just fine as a parallel printer. By the way, I highly recommend the DeskJet. Its output is nearly identical to LaserJet printing, and the price (at least at my local discount computer store) is about 1/3 the price of a LaserJet. The ink cartridges are a lot less expensive than LaserJet toner cartridges, too. Thanks to Bill for helping me solve this problem. Steve Houser The Document Workshop ...uunet!osu-cis!n8emr!uncle!oink!docwrk!srh