PRINT SELECTION FOR APAR - II06022 92/07/14 APAR= II06022 SER= DD DOC PRINTING TIPS AND INFORMATION FOR OS/2 1.3 AND OS/2 2.0 ( OS2INFOAPAR OS2PRINT OS/2 2.0 R200 562107701 562107901 PRINT ) STAT= INTRAN FESN5NFO000-000 CTID= II0000 ISEV= 4 SB92/05/15 RC CL PD SEV= 4 PE= TYPE= I RCOMP= INFOPCLIB PC LIB INFO ITE RREL= R001 FCOMP= PFREL= F TREL= T ACTION= SEC/INT= DUP/ USPTF= PDPTF= DUPS 0 DW92/05/15 RT SC FT RE PT UP LP PV AP EN FL LC92/06/19 RU92/05/15 CUST INST LVL/SU= FAILING MODULE= FAILING LVL/SU= SYSROUTE OF: RET APAR= PS= COMP OPER ENV= SYSRES= SYSIN= SYSOUT= CPU= RE-IPL= OPTYPE= SPECIAL ACTIVITY= REGRESSION= PRE-SCREEN NO.= RSCP= RS000 ERROR DESCRIPTION: . ************************************************************* GENERAL OS/2 PRINTING TIPS ************************************************************* . DON'T TRY INSTALLING OS/2 2.0 PAINTJET DRIVER ON A 1.3 SYSTEM .. The OS/2 2.0 PaintJet driver does not work on a 1.3 system. This driver (any any other driver) requiring the mirrors.dll will not work with 1.3. The mirrors.dll is a 32 bit dll. ---------------------------------------------------------------- DMA PARALLEL PORT ARBITRATION LEVEL .. When using OS/2 2.0, the DMA parallel prot arbitration level should not be disabled. It should be set to SHARED 7. When using OS/2 1.3 with CSD 5054 or greater applied, the DMA parallel port arbitration level should not be disabled. Any level prior to this, should have the arbitration level disabled on those systems with a DMA parallel port (PS/2 models 56, 57, 80-A21, 80-A31, 90, and 95). ---------------------------------------------------------------- PARALLEL PORT PRINTING PROBLEMS .. If nothing prints on an AT (ISA) bus system, the parallel port may be configured incorrectly. This is especially true if the parallel port worked correctly under DOS. Up to 3 parallel ports can be installed on most systems as long as the port address and hardware interrupt levels are set properly. The proper combinations under OS/2 are address 3BC and IRQ7, 378 and IRQ7, and 278 and IRQ5. If these combinations are not used, printer error messages or very slow printing will occur. .. AT bus systems are incapable of sharing hardware interrupt levels. This means each adapter in your system must have a different hardware interrupt level assigned. Special code handles the conflict as described in the paragraph above. Many sound cards (Soundblaster) use the same hardware interrupt level as the first parallel port and the conflict must be resolved if you intend to print. Using IRQ10 with Soundblaster is recommended since it does not conflict with the parallel ports (IRQ7, IRQ5). IRQ2 cannot be used since it drives the slave 8259 Programmable Interrupt Controller. .. Problems have been found when using certain parallel port printer cables that do not meet the parallel port specifica- tions. Cables that are longer than six feet in length are suspect. Cables that do not contain all 25 wires will not work under OS/2. The six foot cable length problem is more evident on higher speed processor systems. .. Some older parallel port adapters fail to generate hardware interrupts. These adapters usually work correctly under DOS since DOS does not use hardware interrupts to print. OS/2, due to its multitasking capability, must use interrupts to transfer data out the parallel port. If your adapter fails to generate interrupts, it must be replaced in order to print under OS/2. If your buffer light illuminates on your printer or if your printer prints the first character and then an error message is displayed after approximately 45 seconds, you may be experiencing an interrupt problem. ------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT PRINTERS ARE SUPPORTED? .. See the file called PRDESC.LST on the first print driver diskette with the OS/2 2.0 package. It contains a compre- hensive list of all the printer models supported. ------------------------------------------------------------- PRINTER DRIVERS NO LONGER SHIPPED WITH OS/2 2.0 .. OS2TOOLS contains a package called OS2PDRVR. This package contains OS/2 printer drivers that were shipped with OS/2 1.3, but are no longer shipped with OS/2 2.0. It includes IBM3852, IBM5152, IBM5182, IBM52011, and IBM5216. The package states that in the future it will contain BETA and CSD versions also. The printer drivers can also be accessed in Compuserve (Library 17). ------------------------------------------------------------- REDIRECTING PRINTER PORT .. To print to a communications port, you must redirect the output: . 1. Display the pop-up menu for the appropriate printer object. 2. Select the arrow to the right of OPEN; then select SETTINGS. 3. Select OUTPUT. 4. Display the pop-up menu for the port you want to set up. 5. Select the arrow to the right of REDIRECTION. 6. Select the port you need. For example, you might select COM1 to send your output through a communications port. or . 1. Select OS/2 SYSTEM; then select Command Prompts. 2. Select OS/2 Window or OS/2 Full Screen. . SPOOL /D:LPT1 /O:COM1 PRINT MYFILE.TXT /D:LPT1 . Note: You can redirect output to a COM port; however, you cannot redirect output from a COM port to a LPT port. The redirection option is only available when two or more printer objects are defined. ------------------------------------------------------------ IMPORTANT DOCUMENT ON OS2TOOLS CALLED OS2TNT ( OS/2 TIPS AND TECHNIQUES. THIS IS A LIVING DOCUMENT AND ALONG WITH OTHER INFORMATION, CONTAINS GOOD PRINTING TIPS. IT IS UPDATED AS NECESSARY. THE FOLLOWING IS FROM OS2TNT..... .. General Information ------------------- When installing auxiliary parallel port expansion cards, you need to ensure that LPT1 is configured to interrupt level 7 (IRQ7). Not doing so will cause printing under OS/2 to function erratically. Be aware that when using many other common adapters such as the SoundBlaster card, they may come from the factory configured on IRQ7. Also, many manufacturers recommend you configure their cards on IRQ7. Non-microchannel machines cannot share interrupts and each card must be on a separate IRQ to avoid conflicts. See the reference for your adapter cards to configure the IRQs. Additionally, LPT2 cards should be configured on IRQ5. -------------------------------------------------------------- .. QUESTIONS, COMMON PROBLEMS AND ANSWERS .. PROBLEM: Automatic emulation switching does not work RESOLUTION: None AES does not currently work under OS/2 2.0. Lexmark is working on this to be released soon. .. QUESTION: How does AES for OS/2 interact with 2.0 GA? ANSWER: The basic function of AES is to provide a convenient method for emulation mode switching on the IBM LaserPrinter products. By correlating LPT ports with emulation modes on the printer, a user can send their job to the correct port and set the mode switch properly, and thus not have to touch the printer to change emulation modes. During AES install, the option is given to the user if they want to install extra LPT ports (as the LPTX.SYS Device Driver). This driver is the same identical driver that is used by the Lexmark External Network Adapter, IBM 4033. It essentially allows for character monitors to be installed on LPT ports > 3. Then the character monitor does what it needs to, and re-directs that data to the physical port where the printer is connected. Or in the case of the IBM 4033, the data is re-directed (by the character monitor) to the Token Ring or Ethernet PS/2 card .. PROBLEM: Printing problems with parallel ports - nothing prints. RESOLUTION: Ensure that LPT1 is configured to use IRQ7 and LPT2 is configured as IRQ5. Check the printer cable to ensure that the cable runs all 25 lines, not all cables wire the necessary lines. If the problem persists and you are convinced it is not an interrupt problem, cable problem or just the wrong driver, the problem may be with your I/O card. Some older I/O cards do not work in OS/2. .. TIPS AND TECHNIQUES ------------------- If you send a print job to a printer that is powered off, you may experience a corrupted job when responding to the RETRY dialog after powering on the printer. You should cancel the job and resubmit it after turning on the printer. . ------------------------------------------------------------- BETA VERSION OF IBM4072 EXECJET DRIVER FROM LEXMARK . Customers who need an IBM4072 ExecJet driver can now get a beta version from Lexmark by calling Lexmark support at 1-606- 232-3000 or by logging on to the Lexmark Bulletin board at 1-606-232-5653. IBM users can obtain the driver by entering the following command at a VM prompt: EXEC TOOLS SENDTO LEXCJN1 LEXTOOLS DRIVERS GET OS24072 PACKAGE -------------------------------------------------------------- PARALLEL CARDS KNOWN NOT TO WORK: Boca Research: After Calling Boca Researches tecnical support line, they admitted that the parallel ports in the following cards will NOT work correctly for os/2. These cards will however be upgraded this summer (exact date unclear). IDE Controller cards I/O AT41 and I/O AT45cards. SIIG: SIIG multi-purpose serial/parallel/game card. -customer could not print with this card. Only printed when he replaced card. DIAMOND: - DIAMOND I/O DIO-100 Revision A 1985. Card did not work. Customer got printing to work only when the card was replaced. ---------------------------------------------------------- SOME OEM PARALLEL PORT CARDS THAT WORK CORRECTLY UNDER OS/2 .. These are cards that a) the manufacturer confirms that they work under interrupt driven printing for os/2 2.0. or b) Where the succesfull replacement for a card that did not work under os/2 2.0. BOCA RESEARCH: IO AT 44 - confirmed by manufacturer and customer IO AT 24- confirmed by manufacturer EVEREX: EVEREX Multi I/o card (model???) - confirmed by customer ---------------------------------------------------------- LOCAL FIX: