Printing problem

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For a very long time I have been using a DOS pcb program which used to
work great with my hp Deskjet which worked off the parallel port.

When that printer dies I got a new one that works off the USB. No
matter what I tried I could not get access to the printer, even after
using some of the DOS-USB drivers.

The program does save the output to a *.PRN file. I wish to know is
there is a way of sending this file to the printer via the USB port.

any help will be appreciated.

TIA

 

Is the computer or printer broken? Then post in sci.electronics.repair

Otherwise, this has no relevance to electronics, and belongs in a
computer newsgroup; there are a ton of them.

Michael

 

Subject: Printing problem

I've got an old '486 lurking in a corner just to run some old DOS software with
an old printer, as do a lot of people.

Sometimes the best thing to do is to keep the old system around. That might
mean repairing the printer for you.

Good luck
Chris

 

FWIW: The Driver Disk supplied with the new printer should have some nice
accessories with it regarding full functional abilities of you new purchase.
Otherwise you may need to contact the manufacturer regarding backward
compabilities..

 

Hi,

With the .PRN extension, it sounds like you may be using an old OrCad
DOS program such as PCB-II. I assume that your printer doesn't support
one of the plotter languages such as HPGL, PCL-n, etc., or you wouldn't
have asked, so try plotting (instead of printing) to a file. That should
create a listing in ASCII format (you may have to edit it) which being
generic won't have any OS-specific hang-ups. From there look for a
utility that will output that to your printer under your particular OS
through the USB port. I don't actually know of one but I have great
faith in the web when it comes to finding that kind of thing.

If you can find one, dig out an old laser printer as they usually
handle this kind of thing fine. Had you been in the UK, I could have
given you one.

Cheers - Joe

 

I'm not clear on the above: Do you mean the DOS-USB drivers
don't work from the command line, or just that they don't work with
the program.

If the DOS drivers work at all, you should be able to save your PRN
file and then from the command prompt use
COPY FILENAME.PRN PRN
or maybe use LPT instead of PRN. This assumes that the PRN
format is the same as that emulated by the driver. Presumably,
your layout program has a choice of printers from which you
originally selected the DeskJet. If that doesn't work with the
driver, try selecting LaserJet. I don't know about the DeskJet,
but with the DOS layout program that I use (ECAD) the LaserJet
drivers all use HPGL. I haven't specifically tried to print to a USB
printer, but it works with different laser printers.

Hope this helps!



Bob Masta
dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom

D A Q A R T A
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com

 

Ardent whispered:

If the printer can be placed on a network, you could 'map' the USB port to a
local parallel port.

Else, I think this would work with Windows XP:

COPY /B FILE.PRN > USB001:

[]s
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