? about Printer/SPARC 5/Solaris 2.4

Marie Hutchens

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Jan 22, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/22/97

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I am fairly new to UNIX and I am having a problem getting a local
printer working.

I have a SPARCstation 5 running Solaris 2.4, and I am trying to get an
HP LaserJet III working locally. The connection between them is from
the port on the SPARC 5 labelled 'serial a' to the port on the
HP labelled 'parallel'. The printer has been configured to use the
parallel port, and I've used the Printer Manager under the
Administration Tool to configure the printer (/dev/term/a).
Seemed simple enough...

However, when I use either the Print Tool or the lp command, the file
goes into the queue for that printer called prta (both Print Tool and
lpstat agree it's there), and a short time later the file disappears
from the queue, only *nothing ever happens at the printer*. The
printer self-tests correctly, no errors are reported by Solaris to the
superuser during or after the supposed printing, and the info about
the file being printed gets added to /var/lp/logs/requests. Any ideas
will be greatly appreciated!

Marie Hutchens
Marie.H...@comm.hq.af.mil

Christoph Litauer

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Jan 22, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/22/97

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In article <32e56c36.369517099@news>,

The bad news: You cannot connect a serial interface with a parallel interface.
The good news: The SS5 already has a built in parallel interface.
The bda news: You need a proprietary SUN cable.
The parallel port is located directly above the Network interface, where
your AUI adapter cable (if you use AUI) is located.

Get these special cables from Sun connect your printer with it. Will
work fine.

Regards
Christoph
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Christoph Litauer lit...@informatik.uni-koblenz.de
Universitaet Koblenz, Rechenzentrum, Fon: +49 261 9119-641
Rheinau 1, D-56075 Koblenz, Germany Fax: +49 261 9119-497

Achim Gratz

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Jan 22, 1997, 3:00:00 AM1/22/97

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st...@us.net (Marie Hutchens) writes:

> I have a SPARCstation 5 running Solaris 2.4, and I am trying to get an
> HP LaserJet III working locally. The connection between them is from
> the port on the SPARC 5 labelled 'serial a' to the port on the
> HP labelled 'parallel'. The printer has been configured to use the
> parallel port, and I've used the Printer Manager under the
> Administration Tool to configure the printer (/dev/term/a).
> Seemed simple enough...

Did you ever wonder about the apparent discrepancy between 'serial'
and 'parallel'? Please disconnect the printer from this port
immediately. Unfortunately the serial ports on a SS5 match the LPT
port on a PC physically, but they're not in any way related. The
parallel port on the SS5 is located above the ethernet AUI port,
symbolized by // (please refer to the installation manual if you're
not sure). You need a special cable from Sun or third party vendors
to connect your printer to this port. If I'm not mistaken, the HP
LJIII has a serial port, that you could connect to with a standard PC
cable plus a gender changer, but parallel connection for this printer
seems better to me.

Achim Gratz.

--+<[ It's the small pleasures that make life so miserable. ]>+--
WWW: http://www.inf.tu-dresden.de/~ag7/{english/}
E-Mail: gr...@ite.inf.tu-dresden.de
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