[comp.protocols.nfs] PC-NFS & HP Laserjet

hhg1@GTE.COM (Hallett German) (10/09/89)

Is there a way to have an HP Laserjet as a shared printer among a series
of PCs connected to a VAX with Wollongong's NFS (Each PC has PC-NFS
3.01). In other words usinfg the net print command to send output
to a Laserjet from any PC with PC-NFS active?

If yes, is it possible to download fonts as well.

I need an answer as soon as reasonable (which will be greatly
appreciated) to help users decide which system is best for them.

Hal German
GTE Labs
40 Sylvan Rd
Waltham Ma 02254
617-466-2290
NESUG BBS 508-263-1499 7:30 am-6:30pm M&Tu

geoff@hinode.East.Sun.COM (Geoff Arnold @ Sun BOS - R.H. coast near the top) (10/10/89)

In article <7612@bunny.GTE.COM> hhg1@GTE.COM (Hallett German) writes:
>Is there a way to have an HP Laserjet as a shared printer among a series
>of PCs connected to a VAX with Wollongong's NFS (Each PC has PC-NFS
>3.01). In other words usinfg the net print command to send output
>to a Laserjet from any PC with PC-NFS active?

We've done it with a Sun server, without any problems. Note that under
PC-NFS 3.0.1 you may need to use the "Raw" option to
avoid the new filtering code. I don't know about Wollongong's server
side. Does anmyone from TWG read this group?

>If yes, is it possible to download fonts as well.

I believe so, but I'd trust end-user experience over a vendor's
assertion any day!

Geoff Arnold,                              Internet: geoff@East.Sun.COM
PCDS Group, Sun Microsystems Inc.
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"Who's next?" "Me, doctor?" "No, ME doctor, YOU patient." (Graham Chapman, RIP)

perl@pbseps.UUCP (Richard Perlman) (10/12/89)

In article <900@east.East.Sun.COM> geoff@East.Sun.COM (Geoff Arnold @ Sun BOS - R.H. coast near the top) writes:
>In article <7612@bunny.GTE.COM> hhg1@GTE.COM (Hallett German) writes:
>>Is there a way to have an HP Laserjet as a shared printer...
>>...from any PC with PC-NFS active?
 
>We've done it with a Sun server, without any problems...
 
>>If yes, is it possible to download fonts as well.
 
>I believe so, but I'd trust end-user experience over a vendor's
>assertion any day!

We use LaserJets and PostScript printers as shared printers for our
PC-NFS users.  For the LaserJet to use downloadable fonts you must set
the tty port on you print server (i.e. your UNIX/NFS box) to pass 8
bits, this generaly means raw mode & hardware handshaking, but some
systems, SYS V I think, will let you use "stty pass8").  With the
PostScript printers our "lp" interface script determines if the
incomming file is already PostScript or plain text.  PostScript gets
sent straight along while text goes through a filter to convert it to
PostScript first.

Other than the pain imposed by DOS of having to signal end-of-print
(PC_NFS gives three options: HOT-KEY, Time-Out or Quit-the-Program) it
works well.  We print from WordStar, Lotus, Word Perfect, Symphony and
other application programs without problems.  (Well, that's not
completely true: we use the HOT-KET (Alt-P) to signal end-of-print, and
most software we use seems to buffer the keyboard, so we usualy have to
"threaten" to "escape to DOS" to get the application to let go of the
keypress.)

-- 
Richard Perlman * perl@pbseps.pacbell.com || {ames,sun,att}!pacbell!pbseps!perl
180 New Montgomery St. rm 602,   San Francisco, CA  94105  |*|  1(415) 545-0233

ian@boron.siesoft.co.uk (Ian Chapman) (10/13/89)

In article <7612@bunny.GTE.COM> hhg1@GTE.COM (Hallett German) writes:
>Is there a way to have an HP Laserjet as a shared printer among a series
>of PCs connected to a VAX with Wollongong's NFS (Each PC has PC-NFS
>3.01). In other words usinfg the net print command to send output
>to a Laserjet from any PC with PC-NFS active?
>
>If yes, is it possible to download fonts as well.
>
We used PC-NFS for exactly this purpose in the past with no problems. We were
using a Sun 3/50 running SunOS 4.0 and Siemens MX machines as servers. The
font downloading also worked fine. Assuming the Wollongong server behaves the
same as the Unix servers you should be fine.

Siemens DFS also works in exactly the same way.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ian Chapman                           Telephone +44 734 443042 (Direct line) 
Team Leader                                     +44 734 691994 (Switchboard) 
Siemens plc                             
Systems Development Group             Fax       +44 734 698847 
Woodley House                         Telex      846053 SIESOF G  
65-73 Crockhamwell Road  
Woodley, Reading                      E-Mail    ian@siesoft.co.uk  
Berkshire RG5 3JP                               ian@siesoft.uucp
Great Britain                                ...!uunet!mcvax!ukc!siesoft!ian  
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prc@erbe.se (Robert Claeson) (10/13/89)

In article <652@pbseps.UUCP> perl@pbseps.PacBell.COM (Richard Perlman) writes:

>We use LaserJets and PostScript printers as shared printers for our
>PC-NFS users.  For the LaserJet to use downloadable fonts you must set
>the tty port on you print server (i.e. your UNIX/NFS box) to pass 8
>bits, this generaly means raw mode & hardware handshaking, but some
>systems, SYS V I think, will let you use "stty pass8").

4.3BSD uses "stty pass8". System V has a more fine-grained tty driver so that
output/input character handling is decoupled from the interface details
(such as #data bits, parity, stop bits, speed etc). Therefore, a System V
machine will always transmit 8 bits without resorting to "raw" mode if the
interface is set to 8 data bits (w or w/o parity). Furthermore, software
handshake will work just fine, since flow control is a separate parameter
in the tty driver and isn't coupled to some special "mode".

-- 
          Robert Claeson      E-mail: rclaeson@erbe.se
	  ERBE DATA AB