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Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!bsu-cs!mithomas
From: mithomas@bsu-cs.UUCP (Michael Thomas Niehaus)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple,comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: IBM->Imagewriter II?
Message-ID: <5902@bsu-cs.UUCP>
Date: 24 Feb 89 23:43:43 GMT
References: <7788@ihlpf.ATT.COM> <15011@cup.portal.com>
Distribution: usa
Organization: CS Dept, Ball St U, Muncie, Indiana
Lines: 33

In article <15011@cup.portal.com>, Snake@cup.portal.com (Dan g Sobel) writes:
> You shouldn't have much problem getting the IBM (or Clone) to accept the
> immagewriter, you will need a Cable to adapt the funny Apple Din to a standard
> serial port, and you'll need to set all the programs in the IBM to look for
> LPT (the line printer) on a COM (serial) port.  The major problem is, that you
> will probably not find any software drivers to use your printer, you are probab
> better off just buying a cheap Epson Clone for the IBM.

Word Perfect 4.2 and 5.0 support the ImageWriter printer, as do many other
major IBM software packages.  Other packages, such as Lotus 1-2-3, dBase III+,
etc. aren't all that picky about what's hooked up to them either.  (If you
want to get picky, I don't think that Lotus offers an ImageWriter driver for
the PrintGraph application.)

Buying the cable is, as you said, not a problem.  These are available from
many mail order warehouses.  Setting MS-DOS to use a COM port as LPT1 is
no problem either.  This command line (don't quote the syntax) would do the
trick:

mode lpt1=com1:9600,8,n,1

Which sets LPT1 as being the physical COM1 port, running at 9600 baud,
8 data bits, no parity, one stop bit.  Then you just configure the DIP
switches in the ImageWriter to match, or better yet, you change the baud/
parity/data bits/stop bits to match the default settings that are used by
the Apple II series and the Mac.  Then any program that is capable of
printing to LPT1 (most everything) can print to the ImageWriter.

Michael Niehaus
Apple Student Rep
Ball State University
UUCP: ..!{pur-ee,iuvax}!bsu-cs!mithomas
AppleLink: ST0374