The LaserWriter family has three types of "timeouts" that cancel an existing job on expiration:
- Job timeout: duration time of the job.
- Feed timeout: time allowed to manually feed the paper.
- Wait timeout: time the printer waits for additional input on the current job.
The following table contains the default values of these timeouts; a PostScript program can be used to change the defaults for a current job, if necessary (see below).
| LaserWriter | Job Timeout | Manual Feed Timeout | Wait Timeout |
| LaserWriter | 0 (never) | 60 seconds | 30 seconds |
| LaserWriter Plus | 0 (never) | 60 seconds | 30 seconds |
LaserWriter Plus (Rev. 47
ROMs) | 0 (never) | 60 seconds | 40 seconds |
| LaserWriter IINT/IINTX | 0 (never) | 60 seconds | 40 seconds |
| LaserWriter IIf/IIg | 0 (never) | 60 seconds | 300 seconds |
| LaserWriter Pro 600/630 | 0 (never) | 60 seconds | 300 seconds |
| LaserWriter Pro 810 | 0 (never) | 60 seconds | 40 seconds |
| Personal LaserWriter NT | 0 (never) | 60 seconds | 300 seconds |
| Personal LaserWriter NTR | 0 (never) | 60 seconds | 300 seconds |
| Personal LaserWriter 320 | 0 (never) | 60 seconds | 300 seconds |
| LaserWriter Select 360 | 0 (never) | 60 seconds | 300 seconds |
| LaserWriter Pro 16/600PS | 0 (never) | 60 seconds | 300 seconds |
Note:
Appendix D of "PostScript Language: Reference Manual", available from Addison-Wesley (ISBN# 0-201-10174-2), contains additional information on timeouts and default adjustments.
Changing the timeout is done with the "setdefaulttimeouts" PostScript operator. This operator establishes the default values, job, manual feed, and wait for the three timeouts.
At the beginning of each job, these values are used to initialize the job, manual feed, and wait timeouts. Each parameter must be a non-negative integer denoting the length of a timeout in seconds. The value of 0 indicates that the corresponding timeout should never occur. A PostScript program, like the one that follows, can be sent to the printer to change timeout values.
Caution:
--------
If you choose to use the PostScript code provided in this article, you assume all risks involved in making these changes. PostScript code, if not entered correctly, can place the LaserWriter into a condition requiring service.
%==============================================
% Begin PostScript Code
%
serverdict begin 0 exitserver
statusdict begin
# # # setdefaulttimeouts
end
%
% end PostScript Code
%==============================================
where # # # should be replaced by the job, manual-feed, and wait-timeout values in seconds. For example, if you want to change the manual-feed timeout of the LaserWriter IIg to 120 seconds and keep the other values at their default setting, the PostScript program should look like this:
%==============================================
% Begin PostScript Code
%
serverdict begin 0 exitserver
statusdict begin
0 120 300 setdefaulttimeouts
end
%
% end PostScript Code
%==============================================
The PostScript program then can be downloaded to the printer using the LaserWriter Utility 7.1 (or later).