dean@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Dean Okamura) (03/31/88)
Is there a simple way to un-do the WordPerfect set-up that remains even
when the power is recycled on a LaserWriter?
We have a LaserWriter that cannot print output from the Mac which was
previously hooked up to a PC running WordPerfect.
As far as I can tell, the "offending command" is:
25 9600 7 setsccbatch
Note: I copied the 7 from the WordPerfect PostScript. The LaserWriter
documentation states that the parity values range from 0 to 3. The
WordPerfect comments claim that this results in no parity.
--
Dean Okamura
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, M/S 301-260A, 4800 Oak Grove Drive,
Pasadena, CA 91109, USA (818) 354-1490
Please send returned mail to dean@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV.
There seems to be mail problems with jpl-devvax.dsnow@watdcsu.waterloo.edu (Doug Snow) (04/02/88)
In article <1714@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV> dean@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Dean Okamura) writes: >Is there a simple way to un-do the WordPerfect set-up that remains even >when the power is recycled on a LaserWriter? >We have a LaserWriter that cannot print output from the Mac which was >previously hooked up to a PC running WordPerfect. > >As far as I can tell, the "offending command" is: > > 25 9600 7 setsccbatch > >Note: I copied the 7 from the WordPerfect PostScript. The LaserWriter >documentation states that the parity values range from 0 to 3. The >WordPerfect comments claim that this results in no parity. How are you printing from the Mac, via appletalk? If so, where is the switch pointing? The 7 in the above statusdict routine just changes the 25 pin channel to do NoParity, DTR flow control. A 3 means NoParity, Xon/Xoff flow control. You could back the whole thing to the original state of even-Xon/Xoff by executing the following.. servdict begin 0 exitserver statusdict begin 25 9600 2 setsccbatch end But I'll bet dollars to donuts it has no effect on data streams presented by appletalk to the 9 pin appletalk connector. Something else is wrong. We have a slew of lasers with both WP and Apple Users switching among the two modes.. the machines have all been set to Noparity (8 bits of data is important). Send mail if you still have trouble. Doug Snow, ACO, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario. dsnow@{watdcsu||watpix}.UWaterloo.EDU ...!watmath!watdcsu!dsnow dougsnow@watdcs.NETNORTH dsnow@wataco.BITNET doug@artspas.watstar.waterloo.EDU
sid@brambo.UUCP (Sid Van den Heede) (04/07/88)
In article <4592@watdcsu.waterloo.edu> dsnow@watdcsu.waterloo.edu (Doug Snow) writes: >In article <1714@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV> dean@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Dean Okamura) writes: >>Is there a simple way to un-do the WordPerfect set-up that remains even >>when the power is recycled on a LaserWriter? >>We have a LaserWriter that cannot print output from the Mac which was >>previously hooked up to a PC running WordPerfect. >> >>As far as I can tell, the "offending command" is: >> >> 25 9600 7 setsccbatch >> >>Note: I copied the 7 from the WordPerfect PostScript. The LaserWriter >>documentation states that the parity values range from 0 to 3. The >>WordPerfect comments claim that this results in no parity. The LaserWriter documentation states that the parity values range from 0 thru 3 because they do. The values 4 thru 7 are not supported in the LaserWriter. More recent devices do have that support. The values 4 thru 7 specify the same *parity* settings as 0 thru 3 (specifically, ignored, odd, even, and none in that order) but they also select DTR flow control, whereas 0 thru 3 select XOFF flow control. >How are you printing from the Mac, via appletalk? If so, where is the >switch pointing? > >The 7 in the above statusdict routine just changes the 25 pin channel >to do NoParity, DTR flow control. A 3 means NoParity, Xon/Xoff >flow control. You could back the whole thing to the original state >of even-Xon/Xoff by executing the following.. > >servdict begin 0 exitserver >statusdict begin >25 9600 2 setsccbatch >end Close...But it's "serverdict", not "servdict". >But I'll bet dollars to donuts it has no effect on data streams presented >by appletalk to the 9 pin appletalk connector. Something else is wrong. >We have a slew of lasers with both WP and Apple Users switching among the >two modes.. the machines have all been set to Noparity (8 bits of data >is important). You win! The first parameter to setsccbatch specifies which port (the *25* pin port vs the *9* pin port). The parameters presented to setsccbatch affect the 25-pin and 9-pin ports when the communications switch is set to batch (1 on a QMS PS800 or PS810, 9600 on a LaserWriter). It does not affect it when the switch is set for AppleTalk (3 on QMS PS800 or PS810, AppleTalk on a LaserWriter). Note that the 9-pin connector is not specifically an AppleTalk port. It is an RS422 port which can be used for AppleTalk when the communications switch is set accordingly. It can also be used as a normal serial port in place of the 25-pin connector. So how do your WP and Apple users switch between the two modes? Sounds like they have to go to the printer of their choice and change the switch. Or do you have your WP machines (you didn't say whether they are PCs) on AppleTalk, in which case setsccbatch is irrelevant for you. >Send mail if you still have trouble. Please post...We can all learn by reading these messages. That's why this news system, and this group, are here! Personally, I'd like to know more about your setup for two reasons: 1) I don't understand why you're having a problem switching between batch mode and AppleTalk mode; 2) I am about to setup a QMS PS800 in a similar environment. Finally, *why* is WordPerfect fiddling with the serial port communication parameters :-) ? That is not something that such a program should be doing. It's the person who is connecting the devices together who must set appropriate parameters, and only that person. Once that person has gone to the trouble of getting it working, it should be left bloody well alone by software. -- Sid Van den Heede Voice: 416-792-1137 sid@brambo.UUCP FAX: 416-792-1536 ...!uunet!mnetor!utgpu!telly!brambo!sid Bramalea Software, Suite 406, 44 Peel Centre Dr, Brampton, Ontario L6T 4B5
liam@cs.qmc.ac.uk (William Roberts) (04/07/88)
Expires: Sender: Followup-To: Distribution: Keywords: In article <1714@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV> dean@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Dean Okamura) writes: >We have a LaserWriter that cannot print output from the Mac which was >previously hooked up to a PC running WordPerfect. > >As far as I can tell, the "offending command" is: > > 25 9600 7 setsccbatch > >... The LaserWriter documentation states that the parity values >range from 0 to 3. In revisions 2.0 and above of the PostScript interpreter, the parity value (shown as 7 above) is extended so that adding 4 to the usual 0-3 value selects hardware flow control (using DTR). If the 4 is not added, then only software flow control will be used (XON/XOFF). To set this right, you need to execute the usual serverdict begin 0 exitserver statusdict begin 25 9600 3 setsccbatch end or whatever parity value you prefer. If you are using AppleTalk to connect the Mac to the LaserWriter then this setting is irrelevant and your problem is much more likely to be having both cables connected at once: sorry, but it just won't work! Incidentally, the information about the parity setting comes from Update for the Apple LaserWriter and LaserWriter Plus Revision 2 from Adobe Systems. Apple UK (and Apple Belgium) had never heard of it, so you had probably better contact Adobe directly if you want a copy. -- William Roberts ARPA: liam@cs.qmc.ac.uk (gw: cs.ucl.edu) Queen Mary College UUCP: liam@qmc-cs.UUCP LONDON, UK Tel: 01-980 4811 ext 3933
dsnow@watdcsu.waterloo.edu (Doug Snow) (04/11/88)
In article <385@brambo.UUCP> sid@brambo.UUCP (Sid Van den Heede) writes: > >Close...But it's "serverdict", not "servdict". > The missing "er" was a typing mistake >>We have a slew of lasers with both WP and Apple Users switching among the I should have said, PC users (8,none and 1) on the 25 pin channel and Mac users on Appletalk (who, incidently, must walk over to the printer and flip the switch). >You win! The first parameter to setsccbatch specifies which port (the >So how do your WP and Apple users switch between the two modes? Sounds >like they have to go to the printer of their choice and change the switch. You win! >Or do you have your WP machines (you didn't say whether they are PCs) on >AppleTalk, in which case setsccbatch is irrelevant for you. Appletalk Boards for PCs are too expensive and Appletalk is too slow. > 1) I don't understand why you're having a problem switching > between batch mode and AppleTalk mode; I'm not, it was the original poster who was having trouble with appletalk after having downloaded WP's file. >Finally, *why* is WordPerfect fiddling with the serial port communication >parameters :-) ? That is not something that such a program should be doing. >It's the person who is connecting the devices together who must set >appropriate parameters, and only that person. Once that person has gone to >the trouble of getting it working, it should be left bloody well alone by >software. I agree completely. The original "laserwriter" support by WP was/is horrible. The original LASERWRT.PS didn't work at all and PSCRIPT.PS is not much better (We check our deliveries ever hour for version 5). The program called INITLWRT.PS ( or something like that) purported to set the LaserWriter to do DTR flow control, without checking the Postscript/Machine version. (Critical, as you pointed out). In fact, the first version of this file used a 3 as the parameter to setsccbatch, and, as we've established, this defines XON/XOFF flow control. Why they did it, as I'm sure you know, is that WP (like DOS) does not support XON/XOFF flow control. It actually does EIA flow control on pin 5, but that is a whole other conversation. The file was supposed to be downloaded once (since it modified persistent parameters) and is not part of the emulation program. However I've seen people pour this across to the printer everytime they power up their machine. Not good. I agree with your complaint about software messing with communication settings. Programs and machines should come with obvious(?) and specific descriptions of their own anomalies with respect to communications. I spend way too much time getting various programs on similar machines to gracefully talk to a single printer. We have not yet solved the problem of MAC and PC users coexisting on the same printer. A fast solution here would be a Chooser for the MAC that prints out the serial port (I'm sure there is such a beast). I've yet to try getting PSCRIPT.PS, MS-Words Laserprep file and Apples LASERPREP file to all go resident with an exitserver (notice I got the "er" that time?) but this should work. It wouldn't be that horrible in most situations if they had to be prepended to all jobs (although LASERPREP for the mac is >30k!). I am more than willing to discuss these problems and the various solutions and setups we have on the net. I was merely offering the original poster a private conversation. Doug Doug Snow, ACO, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario. dsnow@{watdcsu|watpix}.UWaterloo.EDU ...!watmath!watdcsu!dsnow dougsnow@watdcs.NETNORTH dsnow@wataco.BITNET doug@artspas.watstar.waterloo.EDU
dean@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Dean Okamura) (04/11/88)
I want to thank those who responded to my original posting. I did get one response through e-mail: >From adobe!madison!byron@decwrl.dec.com Fri Apr 1 10:03:09 1988 >Message-Id: <8804011717.AA10611@madison.LOCAL> >To: dean@jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov >Subject: setsccbatch operator >Date: Fri, 01 Apr 88 09:17:24 PST > >I don't know anyting about WordPerfect, but the "7" you are passing >the setsccbatch operator sets the printer into no parity and DTR flow >control. Most UNIX boxes use XON/XOFF, and most PC's use DTR. The >two are not compatible. > >It is usually better not to do the setsccbatch operator at all, since >presumably the printer is set up to correctly talk to the host. However, >if WordPerfect produces PostScript that has includes binary (non-ASCII, >non-portable) characters, they have to do the no-parity/DTR flow control >to get the binary data into the printer. In which case you are stuck. >There will be no way to get the binary data down the serial line from a >host that is talking XON/XOFF. > >Hope this helps... > >Mike Byron usenet: {sun|decwrl}!adobe!byron >Adobe Systems Incorporated arpa: adobe!byron@decwrl.dec.com >1585 Charleston Road, PO Box 7900 >Mountain View, CA 94309-7900 > Does WordPerfect send "binary characters" (i.e., a PostScript prolog followed by a WordPerfect document file) to the LaserWriter? Please post because I will not receive e-mail after April 15. -- Dean Okamura Telos Consulting Services, 1370 N. Brea, #150, Fullerton, CA 92635. [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ Note: This isn't a long signature. The news posting program