sco-list: help, flow control OS5 w/ Oki ptrs

sco-list: help, flow control OS5 w/ Oki ptrs

Post by Steve Faba » Thu, 07 Aug 1997 04:00:00





> >I would really appreciate any information on this one:  We are running Open
> >Server 5.04b.  We have a dumb digiboard (using the generic serial driver
> >from SCO) and an okidata 320 printer (non turbo). our problem is that, no
> >matter what we do, after about 7 pages of non-stop plain text  print, we
> >start losing characters. we are using the capital letter port (tty2A), with
> >a sleep process with stty forcing rtsflow/ctsflow.  We have talked with
> >Digi and Okidata.I can provide pinout of cable if needed.  If we use a
> >non-modem port (tty2a) we get exactly the same reponse.  in all cases,
> >looking at the breakout box lights, we can see the printer send a stop back
> >to unix, but it looks like its being ignored.

> I can't speak about Digi, but most COM boards look at either pin 4 or pin 5
> for their hardware flow control.  The pertinent signal on the printer is
> probably pin 20.  This is for DCE boards (those that require cross-over
> when connecting to modems).  Specialix boards use pin-5 while the ancient
> Arnet boards looked at pin-4.  You ought to be able to test this with the
> breakout box and a terminal by sending a constant stream of characters to
> the terminal an manually jumping voltage to pins 4 and 5 to see which gets
> it to stop.

> You might just want to go to xon/xoff flow control to the printer since the
> speeds aren't all that high, and the Okidatas have pretty large buffers.

> Bill

Good suggestions. I always use hardware flow control with printers so
that when a printer is "off" and a job is sent, the job is held until
the printer is powered up.

1) Set the Digi port to CTSFLOW using ditty CTSPACE < /dev/ttyaxx in
   /etc/rc2.d/8/userdef Use the ttyaxx and not ttyAxx (Port tty2A is
   NOT a Digi port, it is the dumb COM2 port.)

2) Connect pin 20 of the Okidata 320 to the Digi CTS pin (4 or 5 you
   will have to experiment)

3) Configure the Okidata to Busy/Ready on DTR (pin 20) and set it
   for "ready on select."

                                      Steve Fabac
                                       S.M. Fabac & Associates
                                        816/765-1670

 
 
 

sco-list: help, flow control OS5 w/ Oki ptrs

Post by Robin Cordova/Open Systems Consulting and Training I » Fri, 08 Aug 1997 04:00:00



: >I would really appreciate any information on this one:  We are running Open
: >Server 5.04b.  We have a dumb digiboard (using the generic serial driver
: >from SCO) and an okidata 320 printer (non turbo). our problem is that, no
:
: You might just want to go to xon/xoff flow control to the printer since the
: speeds aren't all that high, and the Okidatas have pretty large buffers.

Go to Xon/Xoff ... setup in the Oki 320 will require that Ready/Busy be
changed to Xon/Xoff, Terminal Ready (as I recall ... but it may be called
something else) should be changed from SSD- to DTR, also change the next
to last item under Serial Interface from Valid to Invalid ... I forget
what the parameter is called.  The cable should probably swap pins 2 and
3, use 7 straight through and provide pin 20 as well.  The *normal* Oki
Ready/Busy uses pin 11 for hardware flow control in addition to those
associated with CTS/RTS, changing the printer's setup from SSD- to DTR
will change that. Let your interface file's stty command handle the baud
rate.  Unless you are printing direct to the port (avoiding the spooler
and therefore the interface file), you should not need a sleep command
holding the port at any given stty setting.

Barring a problem at the hardware level with the serial interface in your
printer or on the Digi, you should find this solution solid.  I am using
this in dozens of locations with great success (on Digi's, Computone's,
COM ports etcetera).

--
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6851 So. Holly Circle
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sco-list: help, flow control OS5 w/ Oki ptrs

Post by Danny Aldh » Wed, 13 Aug 1997 04:00:00




: : You might just want to go to xon/xoff flow control to the printer since the
: : speeds aren't all that high, and the Okidatas have pretty large buffers.

: Go to Xon/Xoff ... setup in the Oki 320 will require that Ready/Busy be
: changed to Xon/Xoff, Terminal Ready (as I recall ... but it may be called
: something else) should be changed from SSD- to DTR, also change the next
: to last item under Serial Interface from Valid to Invalid ... I forget
: what the parameter is called.  The cable should probably swap pins 2 and
: 3, use 7 straight through and provide pin 20 as well.

I prefer Hardware flow control over Xon/Xoff . I have seen too many
problems where a printer has sent an Xoff, but the Xon got lost in
space, with the result a hung printer and a hardware call. I have
also seen irate customers that forgot to turn on a printer before
sending a big/important job to the printer.  The result is a lost
print job. Use hardware flow control if you can.  

--
Danny Aldham            SCO Ace , MCSE , JAPH , DAD
I don't need to hide my e-mail address, I broke my sendmail.

 
 
 

1. sco-list: help, flow control OS5 w/ Oki


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[snipped]
Good suggestions. I always use hardware flow control with printers so
that when a printer is "off" and a job is sent, the job is held until
the printer is powered up.

1) Set the Digi port to CTSFLOW using ditty CTSPACE < /dev/ttyaxx in
   /etc/rc2.d/8/userdef Use the ttyaxx and not ttyAxx (Port tty2A is
   NOT a Digi port, it is the dumb COM2 port.)
[snipped]

I beg to differ on the Digi port tty's,
this is probably just as Cindy wrote "a dumb digiboard" and
as such is either a 4 port or 8 port card. i.e tty1a-tty1d or for
modem control tty1A-tty1D (tty1a-tty1h etc for modem control) or
it is mapped to tty2x.

eric

********************************************************************************
- Beam me up Scotty - there's no intelligent life down here.-

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