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submenu through the Elite 12ppm control panel to either PostScript Only, PCL
Only, or Auto Switch.
3. Use the DOS Copy command to send the print file to the Elite 12ppm. See
“Using the Copy command” later in this section.
Port configuration – DOS
If you want to print from DOS, you must configure a port once in every DOS session. Most
users add a line to their AUTOEXEC.BAT file so that this is done automatically. The port
you configure must be the same as the port that is specified in the DOS application and in
the control panel of your printer.
If you have used another printer to print from DOS, you may find that your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file already includes one of the commands shown in the next sections.
Your PC and the Elite 12ppm are connected through either a parallel or RS-422 serial
interface.
Parallel Port
To set up the parallel port for communication between the Elite 12ppm and the PC, type
the following MS-DOS command before printing:
MODE LPT1:,,P
This command allows the Centronics busy signal to be active for extended periods of time
so that the computer does not abort long print jobs. If you are printing through a parallel
port other than LPT1, substitute that port’s number in the above MODE command.
Serial Port
To set up the RS-422 serial port for communication between the Elite 12ppm and the PC,
type the following MS-DOS command before printing:
MODE COM1:9600,N,8,1
The above MODE command configures the PC serial port for a baud rate of 9600, no
parity, 8 data-bits, 1 stop-bit, and for XON/XOFF flow control. These settings match the
Elite 12ppm’s RS-422 front panel factory default settings. XON/XOFF flow control is
widely used, but check your application’s documentation to see if that handles this proto-
col. It is important that the application support XON/XOFF because standard DOS com-
mands such as PRINT and COPY cannot.
However, we recommend that instead of XON/XOFF flow control, you use DTR flow
control. DTR flow control is preferred because DOS has better support for it, as it matches
the flow control preferred by Windows and thus provides more reliable communication