LaserWriter IINT: Problems Printing from WordPerfect



I have an IBM Model 60 server and two Model 70/386 workstations tied
together with IBM Token-Ring hardware and cables. Server and workstations
run IBM LAN Program 1.03 and LAN support program. WordPerfect 5.1 LAN
version runs on the server. The workstations have devices attached to the
serial ports. The server is connected to the LaserWriter IINT through a
serial cable. The spooler runs on an IBM-LAN program. Our LaserWriter IINT
is in standard LaserWriter mode, not Diablo mode.

Printing from WordPerfect (through the parallel port) works unevenly. After
printing a while, it quits. I noticed that when I send a simple one-page
document to the LaserWriter IINT, the green "working" light blinks for a
couple of minutes and then goes out.

WordPerfect support told me to print a file called "ehandler.ps" (provided
by WordPerfect) to the printer (from DOS). He said this would print error
messages when a PostScript job did not work satisfactorily.

I sent the ehandler.ps file to the printer, and the job printed fine.
Afterwards, a sheet printed that said "Error: timeout" and indicated that
the command that had failed was "timeout." Although I can print one-page
jobs okay, longer jobs don't print properly; they only generate an error
sheet.

What do I need to set or change?

We have three things for you to try:

1) Temporarily disable the spooler to see if there is a problem with the
communication between it and the printer.

2) Verify the correctness of the cable. Here are the correct pinouts for
both a DB-9 and DB-25 cable to the LaserWriter II.

IBM PC/AT LaserWriter
DB-9 DB-25
--------- -----------
(RXD) 2 -------------- 2 (TXD)
(TXD) 3 -------------- 3 (RXD)
(DTR) 4 -------------- 6 (DSR)
(SG) 5 -------------- 7 (SG)
(DSR) 6 -------------- 20 (DTR)


IBM RS-232 Serial (DTE) LaserWriter / LaserWriter Plus (DTE)
(DB-25 Female Connector) (DB-25 Male Connector)


2 --------------------------------- 3
3 --------------------------------- 2
5 --------------------------------- 4
6 --------------------------------- 20
7 --------------------------------- 7

3) Verify that the LaserWriter's DIP switches are correctly set. They
should be: 1 up and 2 down (9600 bps and PostScript).


Published Date: Feb 18, 2012