On 9 Nov 2003 at 10:00, HERB CHADNOW wrote:

> Since I see DOS being discussed, maybe you can help me with a problem.
> I use qbasic (I think a DOS program) and find that when my program comes to
> the command LPRINT it locks and nothing is printed.
> I am using windows XP and an HP psc 950 printer. I don't know which is the
> culprit. Can anyone help me with this. It would be appreciated.
> Herb Chadnow

  Traditionally, dot-matrix printers have offered two modes of operation:

1.  Character mode
  The computer sends ASCII chararacter codes down the cable.  Circuitry in
the printer maps each code to a chunk of ROM memory which specifies the full
dot pattern for that character.

2.  Graphics mode
  The computer sends arbitrary dot patterns down the cable, and they just
get passed directly to the print head.

  With the passing of DOS and support for fonts in Windows, >90% of dot-
matrix printers still in use spend >90% of their time in graphics mode.
There's a clear temptation for manufacturers to drop the extra circuitry
needed to support character mode.

  Unfortunately, LPRINT talks directly to the low-level routines that
address the printer port, bypassing the Windows printer driver layer....

  Your best bet may be to print to a file, and use something like Notepad to
send the file to the printer for hard copy.  It's *possible* that printing
to the device named "LPT1:", as if it were a file (I think that means using
PRINT# instead of LPRINT) *might* go through the "port capture" portion of
the Windows drivers and thus solve the problem.

David Gillett

             Do you want to signoff PCSOFT or just change to
                    Digest mode - visit our web site:
                   http://freepctech.com/pcsoft.shtml