[Simh] Printer on TOPS-10

Thu Mar 22 08:44:45 EDT 2018

Setting up the ANF-10 node number is under networking.  It changes
device naming (e.g. if your host's node number is 16, LPT0 becomes
LPT160).  Virtually all customers had some sort of network, so bugs
(such as this one) crept in.  We tried to keep non-network
configurations working, but bugs did come up.  (Probably because no
in-house system was without a network...)

IIRC, in HWCFG under the LP20, there should be a question like "LPT0
lowercase [YES,NO,PROMPT]:"

On 22-Mar-18 08:22, Quentin North wrote:
> 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
>> <mailto: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
>>> 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
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> 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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>>>> http://mailman.trailing-edge.com/mailman/listinfo/simh
>>>
>>
>

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