rogerj@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Roger Jagoda) (11/13/89)
Like most campuses, Cornell has to TRY and recover costs as much as possible. As most people have already mentioned here, printing on the NeXTs is somewhat troublesome. I'll add that it's also expensive, even using recharged toner cartridges (no one tell NeXT...:-) ). So, I wonder, has anyone tried, or does anyone know, of connecting ordinary dot matrix printers to the cube and what cables would be necessary? PS emulation would be nice but not essential. We have had good success using an Apple LW on the cube and can attach a charging mechanism to those printers, but the same apparatus won't work on the NeXT lasers. If anyone has succeded here please post the results. I think there's enough interest to warrant it. Thanks in advance. Roger Jagoda NeXT Coordinator Cornell University (FQOJ@CORNELLA.CIT.CORNELL.EDU) (607) 255-8960
eps@toaster.SFSU.EDU (Eric P. Scott) (11/14/89)
In article <9282@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> rogerj@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (Roger Jagoda) writes: > I wonder, has anyone tried, or does anyone know, of >connecting ordinary dot matrix printers to the cube and >what cables would be necessary? PS emulation would be nice >but not essential. It's pretty easy to connect a serial printer to the cube; all you need is a serial cable with the right plugs on each end, and a null modem if it doesn't work without one. This is the setup I'm trying now for printing text: DS180: \ :rs:sh:lp=/dev/ttya:ty=Datasouth DS-180:sd=/usr/spool/lpd: \ :lo=/usr/spool/lpd/local:tr=\f:br=9600:rw:fc#0177754:fs#0000023: \ :xc#0004040:xs#0040000:mx#0:px=990:py=892:if=/usr/lib/lpf: Since I'm doing NL->CRLF translation here, I suspect I'll have to fiddle with it a bit (e.g. moving the 040 bit from xc to xs) if I need to send certain kinds of binary data. I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to create an "ImageWriter II-quality" PostScript printer by creating a lpr filter that uses the window server to produce appropriate resolution off-screen bitmaps, and sends the generated raster to the matrix printer. [ Roger: read /NextLibrary/Documentation/NeXT/SysAdmin/ApB_Lpd.wn; I hope you're wrong about being in the majority ... in any case, we don't bother accounting for printer usage because we are not even PERMITTED to charge for it. Besides, the cost for impact printers is insignificant compared to the cost of trying to account for the cost, and that cost would have to be passed on. We have enough bureaucratic nonsense around here already. ] -=EPS=-
eps@toaster.SFSU.EDU (Eric P. Scott) (11/14/89)
Some minor problems with the setup given in the referenced article: 1) Apparently any (unprivileged) user can run PrintManager, click Configure, try to set the access to Public, and PrintManager will merrily trash much of the printcap information. 2) Clicking Test (or trying to print from any application) will send a whole bunch of raw PostScript to the printer. This may surprise a few people. What are the "re" and "mf" flags in /etc/printcap (I see they're not actually in the netinfo database in 1.0, but they were in 0.9)? They're not described on printcap's man page. -=EPS=-
jpd00964@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (11/14/89)
/* ---------- "Dot matrix printers on the cube?" ---------- */ >So, I wonder, has anyone tried, or does anyone know, of >connecting ordinary dot matrix printers to the cube and >what cables would be necessary? PS emulation would be nice >but not essential. We have had good success using an Apple >LW on the cube and can attach a charging mechanism to those >printers, but the same apparatus won't work on the NeXT lasers. /* End of text from uxa.cso.uiuc.edu:comp.sys.next */ Actually, it is very very easy, if you just want a line printer. (that means text only ngraphics, no formatting). First, you need to insert an entry into /etc/printcap. I got mine from the System release 0.8. NeXT removed it in 0.9 for unknown reasons. The original llp|local line printer:\ :lp=/dev/lp:sd=/usr/spool/llp:\ :lf=/bootdisk/Administration/Private/logfiles/lpd-errs: This file needs minor modifications I believe, but if you got the laser writer to work, it should be relatively easy to use this info. Michael Rutman SoftMed