bryan@cs.utexas.edu (Bryan Bayerdorffer @ Wit's End) (03/16/91)
Those who bought one of the early 410s should note that the revision 7 (and
possibly earlier, if there are earlier revisions) firmware has a bug that causes
the PostScript `show' operator to produce "undefinedresult" or other strange
errors when attempting to paint characters from a font for which a Metrics array
has been defined, when the Metrics array contains non-integer values. This bug
can interfere, for example, with printing TeX .dvi files using Tom Rokicki's
dvips, when resident PostScript fonts are used by the .dvi file instead of, or
in addition to, TeX's own CM fonts.
A fix is available in the form of a new set of ROMs from QMS Tech support
(205-633-4500), and I presume that these new ROMs are already installed in the
410s now being shipped. Generate a "Test Configuration Page" (push test/cancel
while offline) and check the firmware revision printed on this page before
calling.
There is a workaround for this bug for those using dvips, but I'll let Tom post
the official word on that.