Re: XYwrite for Windows

[jr_fox@xxxxxxxxxx]

Alexander Hellemans wrote:

> > > Unfortunately the printer files don't work
> > > and I cannot print from xywrite. Does anyone know where I can find a
> > > printer file (it just has to print ASCII, I submit all my articles via
> > > e-mail).
>
> Jordan replied:
>
> > Wouldn't MAIL.PRN or STRIP.PRN do the job here ?
> >
> Yes, I tried strip.prn and another generic printer file, but without any
> result.
> In fact, none of my DOS applications can print, even the DOS command PRINT
> doesn't do anything. Do I need a special printer driver? (I have a Canon
> BJC-2100 printer, and Windows 98.)

Alex,

I must confess I don't really know how it goes in Windows. Whether the
"DOSbox" inside Win is just an emulation (but I thought Win up through W98 had
a DOS-7 core . . . ?), and not quite real DOS. It may be that you still need
the appropriate W98 OS-level printer driver for your printer, installed into
Win, in order to print anything.

It may be different in OS/2, the environment I am most familiar with. There,
the DOSbox is an emulation, though a rather faithful and compatible one, whose
behavior can be extensively fine-tuned through a large number of default
settings, at the app./session level. For example, I can print a plain text
file from my file manager app., and it's very generic -- no printer driver
even required, just choose what port it goes to. Xy4DOS runs in a DOS
session, and uses its own printer-specific .PRN file, not a system one. A DOS
command line session could also send a file straight to a given port for
printing. In such a case, I guess the printer would resort to its most basic
default, probably Courier-10, of course with no formatting. I suspect Win
does not function this way.

> I also cannot access serial ports from DOS.

If you can boot real DOS and are not able to access your serial ports, then it
is very likely that you have a hardware problem of some sort. You may have to
boot from Diskette to come up in a real DOS environment . . . though if you
have FAT-32 partitions -- which most W98 users do, by default -- you would
need to use a W98 "Emergency Recovery boot Disk", or else you would not be
able to see what is on those partitions. (This is something you really need
to have anyway. I don't recall the W98 menu selections that take you to the
"Create Windows Emergency Disk" procedure, but you can probably find it via
the W98 HELP system. It will prompt you to insert a blank, formatted 1.44
floppy, then it's just a click-the-button deal. The diskette it makes will be
specific to the system hardware you have, and not transferrable to other
systems.)

I think there are also some type of System Diagnostics built into W98, but
again, I couldn't tell you how to get there. Something like the MSD utility
was to Win 3.1. There should be some place you can get to that displays
System Resources in detail. IRQs in use -- all of that. It should give you
some idea if the serial ports are accounted for. What does it report ?

Can you use the serial ports from a W98 app. or applet ? (Evidently Yes, or
we would not be hearing from you at all.) There is a built-in terminal
program for your modem, Hyper Access Lite, which would be there unless you
chose not to install it during the W98 installation. That can be a good means
for testing the serial port operation.

This is what occurs to me off the cuff.


Jordan