help with xenix printer

Scot E. Wilcoxon sewilco at mecc.UUCP
Tue Jul 1 05:41:46 AEST 1986


In article <1100019 at iuvax.UUCP> access at iuvax.UUCP writes:
>  Does anyone have a printer interface for a Decwriter III to be
>used as a serial line printer on an AT running Xenix.  The Xenix is
>...
>baud rate to 1200 but I only get garbage.  Any ideas as to what I 
>...

I'll post this for the benefit of other XENIXers..

My XENIX 3.0 lpr doesn't know anything about serial printers either.
To use one, you have to link the desired device to /dev/slp.  When
the system comes up and /etc/rc finds a /dev/slp, a shell script in
/etc/lpopen will be executed with "</dev/slp".  This shell script must do
an "stty [options] </dev/slp" and then go to sleep forever.

When no process has a serial port open, the baud rate and all options
revert to defaults which probably don't work with your printer.  So you
have to leave a process live on it.

Smarter print spoolers can be told what baud rate a serial port needs, and
will take care of such details. (Ask around, a net neighbor might have a
public domain spooler)

Mandatory XENIX joke: The slp process uses up process and file table
entries, and on my system those can't be expanded.  (Oh, I tried to
buy a Link Kit but SCO doesn't have them for my system.)
-- 

Scot E. Wilcoxon  Minn. Ed. Comp. Corp.             quest!mecc!sewilco
45 03 N / 93 08 W   (612)481-3507         {ihnp4,philabs}!mecc!sewilco
NASA:"Earth uninhabitable in 500 years." Welcome to tropical Minnesota.



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