Having fixed the LPFORMS, SYSTEM.CMD and SYSJOB.INI, and enable lp20 in simh, I
still couldn’t get it to work until I did the shutdown and startup as below.
Now it prints. Hurrah!
14:18:09 Printer 0 -- Not available right now --
OPR>shutdown printer 0
OPR>
14:18:14 Printer 0 -- Shutdown --
OPR>start printer 0/device:lpt0
OPR>
14:18:27 Printer 0 -- Startup Scheduled --
OPR>
14:18:27 Printer 0 -- Started --
14:18:28 Printer 0 -- VFU error --
Reloading RAM and VFU
14:18:28 Printer 0 -- Loading RAM with 'LP64' --
14:18:28 Printer 0 -- Loading VFU with 'NORMAL' --
14:18:28 <1> Printer 0 -- Align Forms and Put Online --
Type 'RESPOND <number> PROCEED' when ready
OPR>respond 1 proceed
> On 21 Mar 2018, at 12:43, Timothe Litt <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
> On 21-Mar-18 08:24, Jordi Guillaumes Pons wrote:
>>
>> Jordi Guillaumes i Pons
>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
>> HECnet: BITXOW::JGUILLAUMES
>>
>>
>>
>>> On 21 Mar 2018, at 13:19, Timothe Litt <[email protected]
>>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> On 21-Mar-18 07:02, Jordi Guillaumes Pons wrote:
>>>> Some years ago I wrote a note to myself:
>>>>
>>>> - Enable printing:
>>>>
>>>> 1) Create file SYS:LPFORMS:INI with the following content:
>>>>
>>>> NORMAL:ALL/BANNER:01/HEADER:01/LINES:66/WIDTH:132/TRAILER:01
>>>>
>>>> 2) In OPR: SHUTDOWN PRINTER 0
>>>> 3) In OPR: START PRINTER 0/DEVICE:LPT0 <device:LPT0>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I don’t remember what problem I was trying to solve, but right now this
>>>> file exists and printing works. Hope it can help you.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Jordi Guillaumes i Pons
>>>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
>>>> HECnet: BITXOW::JGUILLAUMES
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>> LPFORM.INI tells LPTSPL how to process forms (the paper stock on which a
>>> job is printed).
>>> The default form is "Normal". Form names with the same 4 initial
>>> characters use the same stock; no operator intervention is required to
>>> change among them. (This is used to allow specifying soft parameters, such
>>> as the number of banner pages, per job.) If a job requires different
>>> stock, the operator is notified.
>>
>> IIRC the problem was the print spooler didn’t got started on boot and a
>> command to tell OPR it had the default form mounted was required to start
>> printing. Defining LPFORMS.INI avoided that problem and the print spooler
>> started automatically. Does it make sense to you?
>>
>> Blurred memories also tell me there was some alignement test involved. After
>> telling OPR the printer had the form mounted it asked to confirm the form
>> was correctly aligned.
>>
>> Doh, memory…
>>
>>
>>
> Not exactly. The default form is NORMAL. The printer is started by OPR; as
> long as INITIA runs, it will start OPR, which will take SYSTEM.CMD.
> SYSTEM.CMD is what configures the galactic components.
>
> LPTSPL is started by QUASAR whenever it's needed - that is, a stream is
> started and there's a job in the queue (or has been recently). QUASAR
> maintains the printer state, so LPTSPL doesn't have to stick around when
> idle. It's possible that LPTSPL prompts for a form if LPFORM.INI doesn't
> exist - I believe there's a default LPFORM.INI on the distribution tapes, and
> I don't recall running without one in a VERY long time :-)
>
> Alignment is invoked when the mounted stock changes and /ALIGN is specified
> in LPFORM.INI; it's used to match the VFU to the paper - e.g., when
> printing labels, or pre-printed forms (e.g. invoices, checks, greenbar).
>
> It is likely that that without LPFORM.INI, LPTSPL conservatively asks for
> alignment. As I said, it's a good idea to have one.
>
> However, the OP wasn't getting that far - the printer status shown is "not
> available", indicating that the stream is assigned to a device that doesn't
> exist or is assigned to another job. The most likely cause is failing to
> enable it in SimH.
>
> I'm not inclined to read the code to refresh my memory of what happens
> without LPFORM.INI - having one is a good idea, and I don't think it relates
> to the OP's issue.
>
>
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