Hi Marlon, > I have a desktop computer with a motherboard that has a built-in parallel > port. When I boot into FreeDOS and run an old Clipper program, the program > can print just fine, without editing any system files. It just works. > > I have another desktop computer in which the parallel port is an expansion, > not built-in with the motherboard. Upon printing using Clipper program, I > get: > Error: Term/0 > Quit / Retry > Something like that. It cannot print. > > I wonder if this is the answer: > http://help.fdos.org/en/hhstndrd/base/printer.htm > If it is, please help. I don't quite get it.
You do not normally need this extra tool for printer spooling. You can try MODE LPT1 RETRY=P (for infinite) or RETRY=N (none), but I think this is also not what you want. You can compare the MODE LPT1 /STATUS output between your two computers. It also is possible that your expansion board is configured as LPT2 or LPT3 instead of LPT1, but you can probably edit that with jumpers or using the BIOS / CMOS setup. Also, I think that the latter might be the answer to your problem. If you cannot tell Clipper or DOS which printer port settings should be used for the expansion, go to the BIOS setup and configure it there :-) Regards, Eric PS: You can indeed try using newer FreeDOS kernel, MODE or other tools, but printer port access is rather low level so it should not depend much on help from DOS. It is more about configuration. > When running the Clipper program in Windows 7 via command prompt, I can > print. However, I had to go to Control panel, View devices and printers, > right-click the printer (epson LX310) , Printer properties, Ports tab, > Enable bidirectional support and enable printer pooling, checked LPT1, > LPT2, and LPT3. That made it possible for me to print in Clipper program. http://www.epson.com.ph/epson_philippines/printers_and_all_in_ones/dot_matrix/product.page?product_name=Epson_LX-310 http://www.epson.com.ph/resource/philippines/product_brochures/dot_matrix/LX-310.pdf The printer uses ESC/P and supports IBM PPDS, so it is DOS style :-) You can also connect it through USB and serial port, but of course that depends on BIOS or at least DOS providing USB printer support. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
