SVR4: postio filter and /dev/lp---Does it work?

[Robert Withrow]

In article <1991Apr19.210815.8136 at rwwa.COM> I wrote:
|On my system ``postio'' seems to hang causing ``printer fault'' mail
|saying something about ``printer setup''..???  I've read the printed
|FM, and get no help there.

Has *anyone* gotten *any* postscript printer to work with SVR4?

I doubt it as this seems to be a fertile area for bugs on Intel SVR4
V2.  In fiddling with this I found the following rather obvious bug:

In the documentation for lp(7) it states that the /dev/lpx port
operates as documented in termio(7).  This is a FIB, however, since no
one got around to telling the autopush(1) utility to push the terminal
line discipline module onto this device.  If you want the lp(7) driver
to operate as documented you want to add a line like this to your
/etc/ap/chan.ap file:

# major minor   lastminor       modules
    7     -1       0            ldterm ttcompat

Changing that doesn't make postio work though...It complains about
getting an error ``reading stdout''.  Reading from /dev/lp????
Ho.ho.ho.ho.

So, I moved the printer over to a serial port and tried again.  With a
break-out box inline, I can see the printer and postio talking, but
they don't seem to be saying much.  I printed a 500 byte postscript
file and they have been talking like that for *HOURS*.  I thought the
CompuTune man said that ``computers don't like to engage in
smalltalk!'' 

So, if anyone has gotten a postscript printer to work on their SVR4
system, please tell me what magic you used......Please.....

Also, if anyone knows what postio does that is so important, I'd like
to hear about it.





-- 
---
 Robert Withrow, R.W. Withrow Associates, Swampscott MA 01907 USA
 Tel: +1 617 598 4480, Fax: +1 617 598 4430, Net: witr at rwwa.COM