[Simh] Printer on TOPS-10

Thu Mar 22 08:22:08 EDT 2018

Through some testing, i have confirmed that the resolution of the printing for me was adding the /device:lpt0 switch. Im not sure where to set up the ANF-10 node number as I don’t have networking enabled on my Tops-10 system. I couldn’t see where in MONGEN you enter much about the printers. The only question I can see is Include UNIBUS/LP20 printers (NO,YES,PROMPT): y

> On 21 Mar 2018, at 14:33, Timothe Litt <litt at ieee.org> wrote:
> 
> You should not need the /Device.  There may be an issue if you haven't assigned a non-zero ANF-10 node number to the machine - I vaguely remember a bug with that.  You can change the START PRINTER command in SYSTEM.CMD if necessary.  But it's better to assign a node number.
> Note that the LP64 RAM is upper-case only.  (It will fold lowercase to uppercase.)  If you expect (upper and) lower case output, use LP96.RAM.  LPTSPL will make the right choice if you MONGEN the printer correctly, as will any application that asks for the printer type (or uses the LL pseudo-device).
> 
> On 21-Mar-18 10:24, Quentin North wrote:
>> 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 <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 <litt at ieee.org <mailto:litt at ieee.org>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On 21-Mar-18 08:24, Jordi Guillaumes Pons wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Jordi Guillaumes i Pons
>>>> jg at jordi.guillaumes.name <mailto:jg at jordi.guillaumes.name>
>>>> HECnet: BITXOW::JGUILLAUMES
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>> On 21 Mar 2018, at 13:19, Timothe Litt <litt at ieee.org <mailto:litt at ieee.org>> 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
>>>>>> jg at jordi.guillaumes.name <mailto:jg at jordi.guillaumes.name>
>>>>>> 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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