Black Box PC118C-R2 manual Operation, Parallel-Port Initialization, PC/LAN Printing

Models: PC118C-R2

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CHAPTER 6: Operation

6. Operation

With the HPIIISi Twinax Card, your printer can automatically switch between print jobs from an attached twinax host and an attached PC or LAN server. The Card uses a timeout between each print job to select the next job without your having to change cables or switches. Make sure your printer is loaded with paper and “READY” is displayed before you try to print.

When you first turn the printer on, the twinax connection is selected. If the twinax host does not send any data during the timeout period, and data is sent from the PC or LAN, the Card automatically switches to the parallel- port connection to print from the PC. The timeout period defaults to 8 seconds; you can set a custom timeout with a host-download command or front-panel selection (see Chapter 5).

The Card constantly monitors both connections for data being sent, waiting the specified timeout period between print jobs before printing the next job from either the twinax host or the PC/LAN. The Card automatically restores formatting parameters for twinax printing each time it prints from the twinax host. We recommend that the printer be reinitialized at the beginning of each PC/LAN print job to reset parameters that may remain from the previous print job.

6.1 Parallel-Port Initialization

If you want to change the printer’s configuration for shared printing (for example, to set it to PostScript® mode), use the parallel-port initialization string (host/PC-download command 56). Consult the printer’s manual for the ASCII hex values that correspond to the desired configuration commands. Then store these commands as an initialization string in the HPIIISi Twinax Card’s memory using host/PC-download command 56.

After host printing is completed and before the print job from the shared (parallel) port is sent to the printer, the Card will send this initialization string to the printer and configure it according to your instructions. However, it is possible that the print job coming through the shared port contains other printer instructions that override the parallel initialization string.

6.2 PC/LAN Printing

To print from your PC or LAN, follow these steps:

1.Make sure that the PC printer cable is attached to the Card and to the PC or LAN server as described in Section 4.3.

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Black Box PC118C-R2 manual Operation, Parallel-Port Initialization, PC/LAN Printing