Re: Printing XyWrite

["John H. Kessel" kessel.1@xxxxxxxx]

Jack:


        First of
all, a belated welcome. (Because of some surgery, I did

        not see
your question when it was first posted.) I'm glad to see

        another
person without great computer expertise. I fall into that

        category
myself.


        I should
add that while much of the discussion is arcane to me, those

        with
vastly greater expertise have treated my questions gently and

        pointed me
in the right direction.


        You do not
say what Operating System you are using, but I faced the

        the same
situation myself in trying to get Xy 4.018 to print from

        Windows XP
Pro to HP Laserjet 1300. The solution I found was

        specific
to these three elements, but since you are using an

        HP
Laserjet, it might work for you.


          Within XyWrite
itself, POST-HP4.PRN should be
loaded. 
        


        Two 
or  three  HP techies worked with me on this problem. The

        successful
solution was based on two  things: substitution of a parallel

          cable between the
computer and printer for the existing USB cable,

          and  use of a
specific HP printer driver. Neither element alone

          would permit
printing. Together they worked fine.


        In order
to use the parallel cable, I had to get an adapter to connect the

        cable to
my computer. The adapter part number is C650A. The parallel cable

        was easy
to find. The adapter was hard to find. HP Parts Store had it, as did


        Small Dog
Electronics in Vermont. To install the driver, I was instructed

        to
uninstall the HP printer software, and then to check to make sure
there

        were no
remaining elements.Then I was told to do a custom reinstallation

        using only
a single HP driver (in my case lj485en.exe). With this single

        driver and
a parallel cable installed, XyWrite files printed immediately,
whether

        the
command was ty, print, or the Windows CNTRL-P.


        Comments
by others indicated that this is not the only, and perhaps not the

        best, way
to print XyWrite. But it does work.


        Good
luck.


        
        
        
        
        
        
John               





At 11:04 AM 8/27/2006, you wrote:

I'm new to this forum, so kindly
bear with me if this subject has already been addressed.  And don't
assume great computer expertise on my part.


Need some computer help, please.  It's a problem with a new printer,
HP Laserjet 1020.


For 23 years I've been using a DOS-based word processing program,
XtWrite.  Currently in use is XyWrite III Plus, Version 3.57. 
For printing, I've enjoyed an NEC Silentwriter 2, Model 90. 
Connected to Printer Port LPT 1, you could talk to it in Postscript or,
with an internal switch, talk to it in Laserjet IIP.  Set for
Postscript or HP Laser, it nicely printed documents created with
XyWrite. Trouble is, the NEC became obsolete.  The very high-priced
printer cartridge is simply no longer reliably available.  (I was
warned years ago that this would be the case: no more cartridges once
those on the shelf were used up.  Remanufactured cartridges had
proved unsatisfactory.)


The HP Laserjet 1020 looked as though it would be a suitable
replacement.  And, indeed, it will print email, Excel, Word, Family
Tree, The New York Times' crossword, etc.  But it won't print
XyWrite!  Note that the computer and printer are connected by USB
cable (in contrast to the former LPT1).  But when I tell XyWrite to
print a file that is on the screen, XyWrite says "printer
error" and declines further cooperation.


Interestingly, when I try to shut down XyWrite, after a failed attempt at
printing, it announces: "Printer still active.  Do you really
want to quit?"


Oh, yes, from the printer set-up menus I can send a test page to the
printer.  So they are communicating - but not properly.


I have gone through hours of experimentation to no avail.  I feel
there must be something obvious that I'm overlooking in my computer
naivety.  A driver, maybe?


Yes, I'll gladly enlist a professional geek.  But I have the feeling
that there is a simple, but not conventional, solution that may be known
to others in  our very talented and dedicated community of XyWrite
users..


Thanks.


        Jack
Bruner 

John H. Kessel

Ohio State University

kessel.1@xxxxxxxx