Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcsun!hp4nl!hpuamsa!frank
From: frank@hpuamsa.UUCP (Frank Slootweg CRC)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp
Subject: Re: non HP printers with 360 workstation
Message-ID: <7810023@hpuamsa.UUCP>
Date: 8 Dec 89 09:46:25 GMT
References: <38288@lanl.gov>
Organization: HP NL
Lines: 57

Barry,

  Since the printer does *something* ("just puts out garbage"), I would
not worry about the cable for the moment.
  *If* the printer does *nothing* then the Response Center should be
able to give you a description of the pin layout of the 300 RS232 port.
They indeed can not give you the number of "the cable" because there is
no such thing a "The RS232 cable for connecting a 300 to a non-HP
printer", different manufacturers use different pin layouts on their
printers (and they all think *they* do it right :-)). 

  The most likely problem is the ("stty") settings of the RS-232 port.

  For *terminals* this is all automagigally handled by "init",
"/etc/inittab", "getty", "/etc/gettydefs", etc.

  For *non-terminal* RS232 devices this has to be done in another way.
  The *simplest* way (for non-HP (supported) printers) is described
under "A Note on Adding RS232 Printers" in "Setting Up Printers and the
LP Spooler" in Chapter 4 of the SysAdm manual (page 4-166 for 6.5
edition).

  The arguments ("9600 ... tab3") are printer, etc. dependent! At first
only worry about the right baud rate and leave the other arguments as
given in the example (then if you get *readable* but not correctly
formatted output you look into the other arguments).

  At first you can just type these commands (i.e. do *not* put them in
"/etc/rc"). Watch out for the "&" at the end of the "nohup sleep ..."
command, it must be there.
  If you need other arguments then repeat only the "stty" command. When
you found the right arguments you can add both lines to "/etc/rc".

  Do *not* use the spooler for your *initial* tests! Just use
"cat file >/dev/PRINTER" (where "file" is a *text* file) after giving
the "nohup sleep ..." and "stty ..." commands.

  When the "cat" gives a perfect output *then* make your own LP model
script by combining the body of the "dumb" script with the "stty"
"trick" as used for example in the "laserjet" script and install it with
f.e. "lpadmin" (see "How Models Work" in the same manual/chapter and
"lpadmin" for details).

  Good luck and please let me know if your problem is solved.

>Considering the support (or lack of support) I've been getting from HP, my
>next workstation is probably going to be a Sun.

  I hope my response will give us another chance. Please see also my
other responses in this forum and address these problems to the Response
Center *not* to your Sales Rep. While indeed HP can/does not *support*
non-HP printers, a little help from the Response Center can point the
customer to the right documentation, gotchas, things to check, etc. This
should be enough to *help* you. If you want *us* to *solve* your problem
then indeed consultancy is the only possibility.

Frank Slootweg, Dutch Customer Response Center.