Follow these steps to install a serial printer on an SCO OpenServer 5.x system:
1. If the printer is not already connected to the Unix system, shut down your computer system and connect your printer to the desired serial port of the Unix computer system.
Connect the RS-232 cable from a serial port on your computer to the port on your printer. Serial printers must be capable of supporting XON/XOFF or hardware flow control; they must also be configured to use the correct handshaking protocol.
After the printer is connected to the system, turn on the printer and then boot-up your computer.
2. Log in as the root user.
3. Next, enter the following command, substituting the correct port number for nn (for example, la for /dev/tty1a):
disable /dev/ttynn
This disables logins on the port you have connected to your printer and allows the port to be used for serial communication.
4. Verify that your connection to the printer is working properly by sending data directly to the device.
For serial printers, enter the following command:
date > /dev/ttynn
If the system is working properly, the date information should appear on the printer.
If the device /dev/ttynn does not exist, it may be necessary to run
mkdev serial
or install other serial port communications software before proceeding.
5. If the test at the beginning of Step 4 works, you are ready to configure the printer. Start the SCO Administration utility by typing scoadmin at the command line.
6. In scoadmin, select Printers, then Printer Manager.
7. At the Printer Manager screen, select Printer | Add Local. Your screen will look like the following diagram:
(diagram omitted)
8. Fill in the form by supplying the necessary printer properties. Sample data for a serial printer named "Accounting" might look like this:
Name: Accounting Description: Epson line printer in Accounting Model: standard Device: /dev/tty1a (COM1)
9. After entering this data, select "OK". Depending on your needs and default setup, this may be all you need to do to configure a serial printer on an SCO OpenServer 5 system.
10. At this point the printer queue has been fully configured. Next, test the configuration by printing a sample file to the printer with the lp command:
lp -dAccounting /etc/passwd
You should also look at the printer with the lpstat command to make sure that it is configured properly. The following two lpstat commands will provide the information you need:
$ lpstat -t scheduler is running system default destination: Accounting device for Accounting: /dev/tty1a Accounting accepting requests since Wed Apr 15 21:01:36 1998 printer Accounting is idle. enabled since Sat Apr 18 15:40:06 1998. available.
$ lpstat -pAccounting -l
printer Accounting is idle. enabled since Sun Apr 19 13:07:38 1998. available.
Form mounted:
Content types: simple
Printer type: unknown
Description:
Connection: direct
Interface: /usr/spool/lp/model/dumb
On fault: mail to root once
After fault: continue
Users allowed:
(all)
Forms allowed:
(none)
Banner not required
Number of banners printed: 0
Character sets:
(none)
Default pitch:
Default page size:
Default port settings: 9600 cs8 -parenb