Newsgroups: comp.periphs.printers
Path: utzoo!telly!evan
From: evan@telly.on.ca (Evan Leibovitch)
Subject: Re: HP LJ IIID + Postscript cartridge question
Message-ID: <276D86E2.4F0@telly.on.ca>
Organization: Somewhere just far enough out of Toronto
References: <1990Dec12.042423.14498@acd4.acd.com> <1990Dec12.233436.26533@chinet.chi.il.us> <1990Dec15.012323.16510@wsrcc.com>
Date: Tue, 18 Dec 90 03:02:57 GMT

In article <1990Dec15.012323.16510@wsrcc.com> wolfgang@wsrcc.com (Wolfgang S. Rupprecht) writes:

[ About the ability of Laserjet Postscript carts to switch back and
forth between Postscript and the HP codes ]

>For the record - the Genuine Adobe cartridges can switch - but that
>cartridge will only work on HP-LJ-II's.  

The Pacific Page cartridges can switch, and they're available for IIs,
IIIs, IIPs, IIIDs, and the rest.

>This doesn't mean you really want to use this feature though.
>Switching is very ssssslllloooooowwwww as it requires the printer to
>go through the whole boot-up proceedure for the mode it is entering.
>It seems no faster than turning the printer off, pulling the
>cartridge, and turning the printer on again.  It does save a bit of
>wear and tear in the printer's power supply and the cartridge
>connector though, so it is handy.

Ditto for the PacificPage. It allows the switch through a software code,
and I wrote a Pacific Page printer model for the UNIX lp spooler which
allows one to switch from one set of codes to the other using a "-o"
option to 'lp'. But it's not done too often, because of the
above-mentioned slowness. I literally had to build 'sleep' commands into
the model, because anything sent to the printer while it changes modes
is lost.

My other bother about PacificPage is its inability to switch bins on the
IID/IIID or IIP. They say it's because HP wouldn't give them the
technical information necessary to implement a bin switch mechanism.
Has this been recitified?

-- 
Evan Leibovitch, Sound Software, located in beautiful Brampton, Ontario
     evan@telly.on.ca / uunet!attcan!telly!evan / (416) 452-0504
       Ididntdoit, nobodysawmedoit, youcantproveathing. - Bart
