APPENDIX L:

VERIFYING CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS

For each combination of printer type, interface and host, there is only ONE set of correct parameters.

For example, a PCL3S printer (HP870, serial) on a COMM processor requires to have "0006" in /etc/printers, "11" in IIF.prm, "11" in IIF.dat, and "0b" in /usr/fox/sp/files/PMcom_lbug.CS.

To get the right parameters you need to:

To verify if the parameters are correct you start with the Brand/Model of the printer and the Logical Name (LPnn) assigned to it. Next, by typing a few Unix commands you gather the printer configuration parameters from the hard drive of the station hosting the printer.

Once you have the parameters, you check them against the VALID values shown in the Master Reference Table. If they are correct, good, you can safely continue checking the status of the printer, the scheduler, etc.

However, if they are NOT correct, you either have to fix them, or follow the Delete/Undelete method. The later could be the best (or only) method to fix a printer installed with the wrong type.


You don't know which station hosts the printer?. Do not worry, you are not the first person in this situation. We can find it just by typing a pair of Unix commands. However, before start typing, let me explain the situations you may face. It is a long explanation but it will help you understand the process of install software, ... and why the commands might not work, just in case.

To install a printer on an I/A system you add it to your system configuration with SysDef and create a Committal diskette. This diskette has system and printer configuration files (like: /etc/printers, IIF.prm, IIF.dat, etc). When you do a Committal software install (Install_AW), those files are copied to the station where you are doing the software install.

If you had been following I/A rules, every time you modified your system configuration you have passed the Committal diskette thru ALL the stations. If you did so then ALL the stations have the SAME System Configuration information. Then, I can assure you typing those Unix commands on ANY station with a Hard Drive, you will get the right information about any printer and its host.

However, if the last time you did an Install Software, you were so in a hurry that you installed the Committal diskette only on ONE station, then you will have a mismatch on the configuration information across stations. In this case you need to find the station that has the latest information.

Either if you are in the worst case, or in a normal situation, you can save some time checking your configuration by using the script "chk_prtr" explained in Appendix Y.

Once you have the parameters from the hard drive:

Then you verify, using Master Reference Table, that those parameters are the correct ones for your printer type, interface, and host.

Let's see one example to clarify these ideas.

Example 1: Printer is an HP DeskJet 895Cxi, and an small black box is between the printer and the I/A system. This printer is called LP05.

You go first to Appendix C, where you learn that an HP895Cxi is a printer type "PCL3x". The x is an S for serial, or P for parallel.

Because all PCL3 printers have only a parallel port, then the small black box is being used to convert it to serial. Then, your printer type should be: "PCL3S".

Now you have to find out who the host is. It could a COMM10, a PW, a 51 stations, or a 70 station.

You have now three alternatives:

1. Go to System Management and start looking at all detailed station displays until you find who hosts LP05.

2. On a vt100 window, type: 

      grep LP05 | /usr/fox/sp/files/IIF.prm
          the 2nd word is the letterbug (LBUG) of the host
          the 3rd word is the OpSys pkg name of the host. 
              OS1CS = COMM10, OSnPCn = PW, OS6??? = 51, OS7xxx = 70

          the 4th word (PnLN) tells you the port where printer is connected.

              Port: 1 = P1LN, 2 = P2LN, 3 = P3LN, 4 = P4LN.

  Finally, replace LBUG,'n' and type: 

      grep LBUG /usr/fox/sp/IIF.prm | grep PnDEV

          the 6th column is Printer Device Type number

3. Run script 'chk_prtr' and look at the report.

Let's assume you got: COMM10 Processor = 3COM01, Port number 2.

Once you know the host you can go to Master Reference Table and look for the required parameters. A PCL3S printer, connected to a COMM10 Processor, requires these parameters:


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