Why does Altos UNIX V "lprint" print so S L O O O W?

[Ti Kan]

In article <1143 at twg.bc.ca> bill at twg.bc.ca (Bill Irwin) writes:
>[Followups to comp.unix.sysv386]
>
>Well, another exciting challenge has come my way.  I am
>configuring an Okidata 391 aux printer off the serial printer
>port of a Wyse 160 terminal connected to an Altos 1000 running
>Altos UNIX V.
[...]
>Altos has added an extension/enhancement to the lp spooling
>system called "lprint", which is supposed to use the TERM setting
>to look up the entry in /etc/termcap and find the start/stop
>transparent printing codes to send to the terminal in order to
>print the file.  This is all working (after turning on onlcr in

Well, I think you are getting something confused here.  Printing on a
printer connected to the AUX port of a terminal is known at Altos as
"transparent printing", and it is supported under Altos System V
version 5.3[bde] on the Altos System 1000.  But it is _not_ used via a
command called "lprint".  In fact, I looked around my 1000 and found no
such command.  The way such a printer is configured is via the
"pconfig" utility, and the printer is given a name just as any other
printers.  Jobs can be sent to this printer via normal "lp" or "lpr"
commands.  Pconfig sets up the lp spooling system for the printer, but
makes the output device a fifo rather than a device node.  A special
transparent printing daemon process, xpd, is also set up to monitor the
fifo, and make special ioctl() calls to the tty driver to send control
codes to the terminal to switch to the AUX port when characters enter
the fifo.

>Is there some way of getting the system to burst data to the
>printer faster?  The terminal is running at 38,400 bps and the
>printer port is set at 9,600.  With DigiBoard ports there are
>printer parameters that you can set that affect the speed and
>buffer size that the port driver will work within while printing
>to a local printer.  I have no idea where to start looking on
>this Altos system.

When all is properly configured and functioning, transparent printing
on the Altos 1000 should be quite speedy.  Maybe you got the "lprint"
command from somewhere else and it is what's causing your problems?
Also, be sure that the terminfo entry for the Wyse 160 terminal is
correct.  Altos now supports a new terminal (Altos 6160) that is 100%
Wyse 160 compatible.  If you want the up-to-date terminfo entry
for this terminal please e-mail me directly and I can send you a
copy of it.

-Ti
-- 
Ti Kan | vorsprung durch technik!                                       \\\
Internet: ti at altos.com                                                   \\\
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