Re: A very basic printing question re XY3

["Robert Holmgren" holmgren@xxxxxxxx]

** Reply to message from Harry Binswanger  on
Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:41:32 -0500


> Something like MODE LPT1=LPT3

Aargh. You can't use MODE to do that! MODE manages serial
devices. LPT is a parallel interface.

This is not exactly a "very basic question". Or maybe you meant
that the manner in which you pose it is very basic, since you
haven't given any info, like the operating system or the printer
and it's capabilities or how the printer is connected to the
Desktop (Network, parallel, serial, USB, wireless) and the
driver it is using or the Xy3 PRNfile.

Is LPT1 disabled? Is printer connected to it? Why not use it?
Go to Computer Management - Device Manager - Ports, right-click
and enable LPT1. If Networked, NET USE LPT1:
\\PRINTERNAME\PORTNAME. LPT1 is the first physical port on your
Desktop, whereas LPT3 is a logical port (on any modern box,
since parallel interface is deprecated) and if your relative is
printing to LPT3 then it is very unlikely that this printer is
actually connected to the parallel interface -- rather LPT3 is
redirecting somewhere else -- but again, pure speculation
because no info supplied. So if there is no physical printer
attached to LPT1, and *if* this is Windows, then you want to
*disable* LPT1 so that it too can be treated as a logical port
(like LPT3) and then (only then) it may be redirected to this
printer -- in other words, the reason LPT3 works on this machine
is that it is a logical port, due to X Y and Z (=all the
information you didn't supply), e.g. it's a USB or wireless
printer or something and LPT3 is one alias for the real port of
this printer.

Have you considered that the LPT1 port might simply be disabled
in the BIOS?

What do you want to do? You can print now, right? IIRC,
internally, Xy3 didn't understand more than LPT1 and maybe LPT2
-- of course you can print to ANY raw system device, such as
LPT3 (as you're doing now), but Xy3 isn't going to participate
much in that process, it doesn't even know what LPT3 is. So I
dont think you're going to have lots of luck _within XyWrite_
configuring for LPT3 -- the workaround, when you find it, will
be simple, but the finding won't! Better start Googling.

That, anyway, is my distant recollection of how it worked. Now,
how about a very basic CP/M question -- anyone? Atari?
Commodore 64?

-----------------------------
Robert Holmgren
holmgren@xxxxxxxx
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