Configuring a Device for a Printer

Use this procedure to configure a RealPort device for a printer. See your operating system documentation for more information on configuring a serial device for a printer and configuring an lp device.

The Digi device and RealPort should be properly installed, configured and functioning before proceeding.

If you are using a printer attached to a terminal on a RealPort, use the corresponding RealPort transparent print device. For example, if your terminal is on /dev/term/a01s then the attached printer would be on /dev/pra01s.

Procedure

1. Connect a proper cable between the port and printer. 
2. Insert either of following commands at the end of the file /etc/rc2.d/S99printer:

   cat < /dev/term/a01s > /dev/null &

   or

   sleep 999999 < /dev/term/a01s &

   These commands force the specified port to stay open, thus preserving any "non-sticky" options. This example uses the port /dev/term/a01s. Substitute your port name in the command.

   The file S99printer is just an example. This file may need to be created. An "S99" file with a different name may be used instead.

3. Insert any other necessary ditty commands at the end of the file /etc/rc2.d/S99printer. The command ditty can be used to change the settings of a port. For additional information on ditty, see Setting TTY Options.

   As an example, the following command will set the port a01s to a speed of 38400, disable software flow control, enable forced carrier, and enable hardware flow control on the port:

   ditty 38400 forcedcd -ixon -ixany -ixoff ctspace a01s

   Note: The Data Carrier Detect (DCD) signal needs to be active (high) on the port for the port to function properly for a printer. The ditty forcedcd option can be used to accomplish this when the DCD signal is not made active through cabling.

4. If you are configuring a transparent print device, add ditty commands to set the transparent print parameters. See Transparent Printer Configuration for more information.
5. For the ditty command to take effect immediately, enter the command manually at a system root prompt, or reboot the system.
6. Configure the device as a printer by running either sysadm for standard System V Release 4 systems or scoadmin printer for SCO UnixWare.
7. The printer should be ready for use. To print a file, use the command

   lp -d PRINTER_NAME FILE_TO_PRINT

   where PRINTER_NAME is replaced with the name given to the printer in sysadm or scoadmin, and FILE_TO_PRINT is replaced with the name of the file to print.