Apple II Printers

 

Csa2 FAQs-on-Ground file: CSA2PRINTER.TXT rev010

 

 

The Csa2 (comp.sys.apple2) usenet newsgroup Frequently Asked

Questions files are compiled by the Ground Apple II site,

1997, 1998.

 

ftp://ground.ecn.uiowa.edu/2/apple2/Faqs

http://ground.ecn.uiowa.edu/2/apple2/Faqs

 

 

for on-line perusing via Netscape, etc. ...

 

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ftp://apple.cabi.net/pub/applegs/FAQs.and.INFO/A2.Csa2.FAQs/

 

 

The Csa2 FAQs may be freely distributed.

 

Note: To correctly view tables and diagrams on a super-res display,

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____________________________

 

 

 

001- What is pin-out for a GS to ImageWriter I cable?

002- What are the DIP switch settings for IW-II and IW-LQ printers?

003- How do I do the ImageWriter-LQ alignment test?

004- Can I use a 'straight-through' cable to connect my IW-II?

005- My ImageWriter II doesn't print! What's wrong?

006- How can I keep paper from jamming in my Imagewriter II?

007- The bottoms of letters don't get printed. How can I fix this?

008- What is the 'trick' for restoring a printer ribbon?

009- How do I connect a "Centronics interface" printer to my Apple?

010- Where can I get a Grappler+ cable? What is the pin-out?

011- What are the DIP switches on my Grappler+ for?

012- What printers will the Harmonie drivers work with on my GS?

013- What's the best GS interface for connecting a parallel printer?

014- How can I use my Epson Color Stylus 800 with my IIgs?

015- Why aren't fonts found after being moved to a new GS volume?

 

 

 

 

From: David Empson

 

001- Can anyone tell me what the pin to pin throughput is on the

GS to ImageWriter I cable?

 

Looking at the IIgs serial connector, the pins are numbered as follows:

 

8 7 6

 

5 4 3

 

2 1

 

The signals on each pin are:

 

1 Handshake Out (DTR)

2 Handshake In (DSR)

3 Transmit Data minus

4 Signal Ground

5 Receive Data minus

6 Transmit Data plus

7 General purpose input (DCD)

8 Receive Data plus

 

Shield is frame ground.

 

The ImageWriter I or DeskJet 500 has a female DB-25 connector, arranged

in the standard order for DTE (Data Terminal Equipment):

 

1 Frame Ground

2 Transmit Data

3 Receive Data

4 Request to Send (output from printer, probably not used)

5 Clear to Send (input to printer, probably not used)

6 Data Set Ready (input to printer)

7 Signal Ground

8 Carrier Detect (input to printer, probably not used)

20 Data Terminal Ready (output from printer)

 

 

The pinout of the cable is:

 

IIgs (Mini-Din-8 male) Printer (DB-25 male)

1 (HShk Out) 6 (DSR)

2 (HShk In) 20 (DTR)

3 (TxD-) 3 (RxD)

4 (Gnd) 7 (Gnd)

5 (RxD-) 2 (TxD)

6 (TxD+) no connection

7 (DCD) no connection

8 (RxD+) must be conected to signal ground (IIgs pin 4, printer pin 7)

 

If you have a shielded cable, also connect the cable shield to the

Mini-Din-8 plug's shielding, and to pin 1 and the shield of the DB-25.

 

____________________________

 

 

 

From: Rubywand

 

002- I bought an ImageWriter II and an ImageWriter LQ. What are

the DIP switch settings for these printers?

 

While a number of settings are the same; there are some differences

between IW-II and IW-II LQ in DIP switch settings as well as which DIP

switches are present.

 

ImageWriter II & II LQ DIP Switch Settings

 

In Imagewriter manuals, "SW-1" refers to DIP switch module 1. Each

such module has several individually numbered switches. For example SW-1

#5 refers to switch #5 on the SW-1 module. When a switch is UP it is

open. When a switch is Down it is closed.

 

The settings for SW-1 #1-#8 have to do with printout format. On

SW-1 all of the switches are normally open (UP) except #6 which is

closed (DOWN). These settings work for printouts under Appleworks and

several other programs which take care of page breaks. For tasks like

listing a program, doing a hex dump in the monitor, etc. you may want

SW-1 #5 to be DOWN. (This enables automatic skipping over perforations

between pages).

 

 

Character Set

SW-1 #1 #2 #3

 

American U U U default

Italian D U U

Danish U D U

British D D U

German U U D

Swedish D U D

French U D D

Spanish D D D

 

 

Form Length

SW-1 #4

 

11 inches U default

12 inches D

 

 

Auto Perforation Skip

SW-1 #5

 

No U default

Yes D

 

 

Character Pitch

SW-1 #6 #7

 

10 cpi U U

12 cpi D U default

17 cpi U D

160 dpi D D (proportional)

 

 

Line Feed with Carriage Return

SW-1 #8

 

No U CR only

Yes D CR plus LF

 

The settings for SW-2 #1-#6 are concerned with hardware

interfacing. #1 and #2 set the baud rate the printer will expect:

 

#1 #2

UP UP- 300 (on IW-II) 19200 (on IW-II LQ) 'LQ default

DOWN UP- 1200

UP DOWN- 2400

DOWN DOWN- 9600 IW-II default

You should set the switches to match the speed of your printer

interface.

 

 

SW-2 #3 is usually set UP to enable DTR hardware handshaking. If your

interface wants to use XON/XOFF handshaking, set #3 DOWN.

 

If you have the 32K Memory Option, LocalTalk card, etc. installed, SW-2

#4 should be set DOWN. Otherwise, it should be set UP (the usual

setting).

 

IW-II: SW-2 #5-#6 on the IW-II are factory-set to optimize hammer firing

and should be left alone by the use (On my IW-II #5 is DOWN and #6 is

UP.)

 

'LQ: SW-2 #5-#7 on the IW-II LQ are used to set the number of cut sheet

feeder bins attached to the printer. (The standard default setting for

SW-2 #5-#7 is UP UP UP.)

 

 

'LQ: SW-3 #1-#5 (only on the 'LQ) are factory-set to optimize printer

operation and should be left alone by the user.

 

'LQ: SW-3 #6-#8 (only on the 'LQ) control vertical allignment of dots

in bidirectional printing mode.

 

----------------------------

 

 

003- How do I do the ImageWriter II LQ alignment test?

 

The 'LQ Alignment Test

 

With printer OFF, press Select, Line Feed, Form Feed. Hold them

pressed, turn ON printer, and release buttons after printer head starts

to move.

 

The printout shows four possible switch settings with six lines of

vertical bar printouts for each setting.

 

Settings are indicated like this: 1 0 0 (which means DOWN UP

UP). An asterisk by a setting means it is the current setting.

 

Set the switches to the setting which best lines up the vertical

bars in the printout.

 

---------------------------

 

 

004- Will a 'straight-through' cable work for connecting an

ImageWriter II to my GS?

 

No. In the ImageWriter cable, Pins 1 & 2, 3 & 5, and 6 & 8 are

supposed to be swapped from one end of the cable to the other.

 

----------------------------

 

 

005- My ImageWriter II doesn't print! The head moves, and I can hear

the pins striking the paper, but I get nothing. What's wrong?

 

Check ribbon positioning. If the ribbon is properly positioned,

then, you may need to adjust the the print head - to - roller distance

(sometimes called the "paper width" adjustment). There is a small lever

near the lower right side of the roller. Click-position it in a notch or

two.

 

----------------------------

 

 

006- How can I keep paper from jamming in my Imagewriter II?

 

A surprising number of Imagewriter users go for years putting up

with paper jams during long printouts. A nearly 100% cure is to just pop

up the top rollers so that they do not press the paper against the

roller.

 

 

----------------------------

 

 

007- I notice that the bottoms of letters on my ImageWriter II's

printout are not showing up. How can I fix this?

 

A likely explanation is that the printhead needs to be moved in

(toward the big roller) a notch. This is a standard "Paper Thickness"

adjustment on many printers. On IW, you do it with a lever to the right

of the roller.

 

Another possibility is that the printhead needs cleaning. Be

careful what you use to clean a printhead because some solvents can

dissolve the mask which lines up the pins. Light oils and gasoline seem

to be especially bad. A fine bristle toothbrush plus some standard

detergent in warm water or a household cleaner (like Fantastik, etc.)

should remove most dust and gunk. Whatever you use, avoid soaking the

printhead in anything very long-- i.e. get it reasonably clean and then

blow/blot dry.

 

Changing settings on the DIP with the factory settings which "users

should leave alone" _may_ have some effect on firing of the bottom pins.

I don't know. Probably, you would want to try everything else first.

 

----------------------------

 

 

008- What is the 'trick' for restoring a printer ribbon?

 

For cartridge ribbons, such as the one in ImageWriter II, it is

easy to 'restore' a ribbon to dark printing with a few spritzes of

WD-40. Using a pocket knife, pry off the lid of the cartridge, and, as

evenly as possible, lightly spritz the bunched-up ribbon. Restore the

lid and roll the tape back and forth a few inches. Let the cartridge sit

for several days in a plastic bag.

 

The idea is that the WD-40 spreads unused ink into the ribbon's

print area; so, it will not work for restoring multi-Color ribbons.

Since you are adding no ink, this trick is good for only one or two

'restorations'.

 

 

----------------------------

 

 

009- Can anyone tell me how to connect a printer with a "Centronics

interface" to my Apple II?

 

The Centronics interface is the standard parallel interface for

many printers. To connect such a printer to an Apple II, you need a

printer interface card and cable. Since the cards were a popular item in

the early 80's and were produced by several different companies you

should be able to get a good one without too much trouble.

 

The cards turn up fairly often at swap meets, should be easy to

find on comp.sys.apple2.marketplace, and are still sold by regular A2

vendors. MC Price Breakers (360-837-3042 Mon-Fri 9:30am-5:30pm Pacific

Time) offers a "Full Text & Graphic Interface" w/cable for Centronics

type parallel printers for $29.95.

 

____________________________

 

 

 

From: Mitchell Spector

 

010- I bought a Grappler+ printer interface card at a swap meet.

Where can I get a cable? What is the pin-out for the cable?

 

The cable you need is the very common "Centronics cable". It is

sold by several Apple II vendors. The pin-out is shown below:

 

 

Grappler+ Pin Assignments

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

STB 1

D0 3

D1 5

D2 7

D3 9

D4 11

D5 13

D6 15

D7 17

ACK 19

BUSY 21

P.E. 23

SLCT 25

N/C -

GND all others

 

----------------------------

 

 

011- What are the DIP switches on my Grappler+ for?

 

The DIP switches are used to configure your card for a series of

different printers out there. I'll list those settings:

 

 

DIP switch settings:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DIP SWITCH POSITIONS 1 2 3 4

Epson Series and Star Gemini OFF ON ON ON

NEC 8023/C, Itoh 8510/DMP 85 OFF ON ON OFF

Centronics 739-1 OFF ON OFF ON

Anadex Printers OFF ON OFF OFF

Okidata 82A, 83A, 92, 93, 84 OFF OFF ON ON

Okidata 84 w/o Step II Graphics OFF OFF OFF ON

Apple Dot Matrix OFF OFF ON OFF

IDS Printers (Any position)

 

Notes: DIP switch ON = "+" side or set to right.

Switch 1 controls MSB, the 8th bit. Setting switch 1 to 'ON'

makes MSB _not_ transmitted...

 

_________________________

 

 

 

From: Scott G

012- What printers will the Harmonie drivers work with on my GS?

 

The 4550 automatically senses Epson LQ code and turns on emulation.

It is like if the DIP switch were set to automatic in older BJC models.

 

----------------------------

 

 

From: Jim Stafford

 

My Canon BJ 600 works fine with the above driver. The only thing

the driver doesn't do is color!!! Make sure you have the epson dip

switch set on your printer(see the manual).

 

 

----------------------------

 

 

From: Joe Kohn

 

I know for a fact that Harmonie supports HP LaserJets, DeskJets,

and DeskWriters.

 

Tony Diaz (of Alltech Electronics) brought home an Epson Stylus 600

and connected it to the IIGS. Of all things, the first thing he tried

was Print Shop GS, and he said it printed out beautifully, in full

living color. The margins were all correct, and everything else about it

was right...using the PSGS Epson LQ driver.

 

He was also able to output text at 360 x 360 from EgoEd, using

Harmonie's Epson LQ4000 driver; and, he could dump text to the printer

with a PR#1 from the Applesoft prompt. So, apparently these Epson Stylus

printers do have internal fonts and can be used from ProDOS-8.

 

Tony was able to print out a graphic from Platinum Paint at 360

dpi; but, only in grayscale. In Fact, so far, everyone reports that they

can print in full glorious color from Print Shop GS, but that, when

printing from GS/OS via Harmonie's EpsonLQ drivers, the printout is

limited to grayscale.

 

 

____________________________

 

 

 

From: Supertimer

 

013- I have recently acquired an Apple IIGS and I want to use my

Panasonic PanaPrinter parallel dot matrix printer with it.

What is the best parallel card to use with my IIGS?

 

The best parallel card is no parallel card. The IIGS is has serial

ports and the best way to use parallel printers is with a serial to

parallel converter.

 

Global Computer Supplies, http://www.globalcomputer.com/ , has a

bi-directional model (TAC6180) that is excellent. It supports serial

rates of 300-57600 bps, so using a fast serial driver on the GS can get

you printing at 57600 bps. I doubt most printers go faster than this.

 

____________________________

 

 

 

From: Ronald Clark

 

014- How can I use my Epson Color Stylus 800 with my IIgs?

 

I have an Epson 800 and it works with PrintShopGS and Proterm 3.1

with a Grappler+ card.

 

----------------------------

 

 

From: Supertimer

 

You can also use the Epson 800 on the GS serial printer port. You

need an ImageWriter II serial cable and the Epson LQ4000 driver from the

Harmonie package of printer drivers. Send email to joko@crl.com to

order.

 

____________________________

 

 

 

From: Owen Aaland

 

015- I have a problem with getting fonts recognized. I copied the

entire contents of one PRODOS Volume (named "AA") to another

hard drive with a different volume name for use on another GS.

When I launch AWGS or any other GS word processor on the second

GS, I am told to "insert disk AA" when a font is requested. Is

this a Pointless problem? A Typeset problem? Should I reinstall

the fonts or what?

 

Reinstalling them should make them work but an easier thing to try

first is to go into the FONTS folder inside the SYSTEM folder and trash

the 2 files called TrueType.List and Font.Lists. When you restart your

computer it will search through your Fonts folder and rebuild these

lists. This is the procedure to use if you install fonts by dragging to

the folder instead of using an installer.

 

----------------------------

 

 

From: Joe Kohn

 

If you are using Pointless, the problem is not a bug; it's a

feature ;-)

When you open the Pointless Control Panel and click on a font name,

you'll notice that pathname information (where the font is stored) is

displayed. So, you could always open the Pointless Control Open, click

on a font, click the Remove button, and then click the Add button in

order to let Pointless know where on your other system the fonts are

located.