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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!mcnc!ecsvax!cjl
From: cjl@ecsvax.UUCP (Charles Lord)
Newsgroups: net.micro.pc
Subject: HELP with Compaq PRN port!
Message-ID: <464@ecsvax.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 20-Sep-85 23:56:40 EDT
Article-I.D.: ecsvax.464
Posted: Fri Sep 20 23:56:40 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 22-Sep-85 05:22:52 EDT
Distribution: net
Organization: North Carolina Educational Computing Service
Lines: 41



I have a strange problem with my Deskpro. I can use the parallel
printer (MX-100 hooked to LPT1:) in:
 1. Port mode (DIR>PRN, for example)
 2. BASIC LPRINT statements
 3. Wordstar
 4. Fortran (MS)
 5. Copy statements such as COPY CON PRN etc
      *BUT*
if I type Cntrl-P anything the system says

 Write Error Writing to device PRN
 Abort, Retry, Ignore?

..while PRINTING this message on the PRINTER!!

The only way out of this is a warm boot- Abort does not work.

Unfortunately, our new TCS accounting package (at $600 a module)
uses that same call for all printing, so it bombs every time it tries
to print.

I have tried MS and PC DOS 2.1, 2.11, 3.0, and 3.1 with no difference..

(there is no other parallel card to cause interference)

Could there be a weird problem in the printer cable? Perhaps porting
and ^p use different handshaking, causing this problem.  I made the 
cable from a 25 cond ribbon cable from the Compaq DB-25S to the
Epson 36D connector, tying pin 1 to pin 1, etc.

Any hints, suggestions? TCS says it is a hardware problem and
not their concern.  So much for the "extra support" that
expensive software gives you!

Charles Lord
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