[comp.sys.sgi] Advice for printer interface

fsfacca@LERC08.LERC.NASA.GOV (Tony Facca) (07/07/89)

printer interface problems.. the worst!  

Just a couple of ideas that may or may not help..

1) Have you set the port in the /etc/inittab file?  You didn't mention if
   you had, but thats one thing which is important.  This is a way to set the
   speed of the line as well.  For the Apple LaserWriter, the entry looks like
   this:

   d3:x:respawn:/etc/getty ttyd3 dx_9600 none LDISC1

2) In addition, do you have an /etc/rc.local file?  In it, you can do something
   to keep the line from hanging up between prints, and avoid the need to reset
   it each time. 

   nohup sleep 10000000 < /dev/ttyd3 &       # hold line open for a long time   
   sleep 3				     # wait a few seconds
   stty 9600 ixon -parity < /dev/ttyd3       # send the configuration stuff
    
   These lines combined with the /etc/inittab stuff seem to do the trick.

   3) Another suggestion, try sending information directly to the printer w-
   out using the spooler.  If this works, and the spooler screws up, you
   can narrow the problem.

   echo "hello" > /dev/ttyd3
   echo "^L"    > /dev/ttyd3

Good luck (you'll need it)!


--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tony Facca                     |     phone: 216-433-8318
NASA Lewis Research Center     |    
Cleveland, Ohio  44135         |     email: fsfacca@lerc08.lerc.nasa.gov 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------