Re: Big Apple Users Group 4.23.2001

[a2mg@aol.comNomail (The Apple II Mail Group)]

>we will either try again to
>install an HP DeskJet 420 inkjet printer on an Apple IIgs running
>AppleWorks 5.1
> There is some question whether the HP DeskJet drivers in > AW5.1 actually
include the 420

This was written in early 1999, so except for the prices, it should still apply
today:

The best AppleWorks printer you can buy today is the Hewlett-Packard DeskJet
400L,
priced at an almost unbelievable $78 from Walmart. Why, the black inkjet
cartridge that comes in the box alone is worth $30! This printer also prints in
color with a separate color cartridge, which we did not test. Add a Grappler
Plus parallel interface card, and a brand-new inkjet printer, fully compatible
with AppleWorks, costs around $120.... including ink. If you can't find the
DeskJet 400L, the HP DeskJet 420 is available from several sources for around
$98. The 420 comes with a color cartridge, which you must replace with a
purchased black-only cartridge. Both printers will be very hard to find. The
DeskJet 600 series also works with AppleWorks, with the 697c model priced at
around $150. Avoid the DeskJet 700 series. In tests, I set up working DeskJet
400 and 500 printers with a Grappler+ interface, and AppleWorks 5.1's built-in
DeskJet driver. Then I used the identical AppleWorks setup on a DeskJet 712C.
The 712 never blinked. It wouldn't work at all.

On the IIe or IIGS, you must add a Grappler+ or other parallel printer card to
use any modern DeskJet. Only the old DeskJet 500 and 550's have a serial
connection in addition to the parallel. For all others, you must buy the
parallel interface. A parallel interface is a card which is inserted in one of
the computer's slots, with a long, flat ribbon connector which attaches to the
printer. Older parallel cards are okay too, but the Grappler+ has more users
who can offer help, and seem to have fewer problems, such as screen echo. You
can buy the Grappler+, or a Grappler+ clone (which we did not test), from
Creative Solutions, ph. (937) 429-5759. Creative Solutions' owner has been an
Apple Technician since 1987, and does repairs as well as supplying hard-to-find
Apple II peripherals and cables.

Follow these steps for setting up the DeskJet printer with a parallel
interface:

1. Assemble the DeskJet. The black ink cartridge snaps into place easily.

2. Set the dip switches on the Grappler+ card to OFF ON ON ON. If your model of
the card does not specify which direction is off, try these suggestions:

 - If the switch is "toward the numbers," it is OFF.
 - If the switch is "toward the +," it is ON.
 - If the switch is "down" or "pushed in" it is ON.
 - If the switch is "away from" the rest of the card, it is OFF.

3. Open the IIGS and locate the slot where you will place the Grappler+
interface - probably slot 1. Uncover the leftmost opening in the back wall of
the IIGS by removing the bolt and the plate and setting it aside.

4. If the end of the ribbon connector won't fit through this opening, gently
remove the ribbon's connection to the card (you could also remove the printer
end connector, but generally the card end is smaller and easier to remove). Run
the ribbon through the opening on the back of the IIGS. Reattach the ribbon to
the card exactly as it was before.

5. Nestle the Grappler+ card into slot 1 the IIGS until it is firmly seated.
The ribbon goes up and away from the card, the only way it can go. Attach the
other end of the Grappler+'s ribbon to the DeskJet.

6. When all connections are secure, turn on both the IIGS and the printer.
Lights should go on, and the DeskJet should click a few times, gurgle, and
"stir the ink cartridge."

7. On the IIGS, go to the control panel. Under Slots, set slot 1 to "Your
Card."

8. Launch AppleWorks 5.1. In AppleWorks, set up the DeskJet printer under
Standard Settings' Add a printer. The HP DeskJet 500 driver can be selected
from the list of printers. You can select Portrait (upright) or Landscape
(sideways). I set up one of each. In fact, I set up two of the portrait
printer, for reasons which I'll explain later.

There is an UltraMacros TimeOut accessory called Install DeskJet that comes
with AppleWorks. It does the job, but it ignores the platen width setting in
the landscape printer, does not set the interface codes, and sets up some other
special codes that you may not want.

I feel it is better to set up the printers yourself, step-by-step. That way,
when you have to go back and change it, you know where you've been. I name my
printers "DJ Portrait" and "DJ Landscape." All of the built-in settings are
correct, and work "as-is," with a few exceptions.

Set the Landscape printer's platen width to 10.5" or 11". Then change the
setting for Interface cards. The correct code for the Grappler+ and DeskJet 400
is

Control-I 0N Control-I H     ...or Control-I zero N Control-I H.

The combination of the Grappler+'s dip switch set to "off" and the Ctrl-I 0N
Ctrl-I H setting allow high ASCII characters like language accents, legal
symbols, and box edges to print.
Most problems with DeskJet printing can be traced to the dip switches on the
Grappler+, or to the printer interface code. For example,

I don't get a printout at all. Nothing happens.

The AppleWorks DeskJet 500 Portrait setup under Standard Settings works like a
charm if you don't change anything except the interface code and possibly the
LF/CR setting. Make sure the IIGS control panel setting for that slot is set to
"Your Card."

I get a printout, but it is all squished on one line.

On the HP DeskJet 400 series, set the question, "Needs line feed after each
Return" to Yes. In older DeskJets, such as the 500 serial printer, this is set
to No. Some people add "Control-I A" to the interface code to add linefeeds. We
don't feel this is necessary since AppleWorks has an "up-front" setting for
this on the printer specifications menu.

I get a printout, but it runs off the right side of the page.

You may have changed the interface code after its initial setup. I have found
in numerous tests that changing, or erasing, an interface code sometimes leaves
residue which is somehow read by the printer. Instead of altering an interface
code, delete the printer entirely, and "Add a printer" again using the DeskJet
500 setup. Set the interface code to Control-I 0N Control-I H. Note: Bud Simrin
suggests reversing the order of the two commands to Control-I H Control-I 0N if
printing doesn't behave correctly.

I get a printout, but there are some extraneous symbols in the upper left
corner. 

Again, set up the printer anew, using our suggestions for dip switches and
interface codes. The dip switches and the interface codes are interdependent,
so you have to look at both. Try changing the order of the interface code
strings, as Bud Simrin suggests.

High ASCII characters, such as language and legal symbols, won't print.

Again: dip switch #1 must be set to OFF, and the interface code must contain
Control-I H. You must use a special code to set the character set to PC-8,
PC-850, Roman8, or Latin 1. The ASCII character set has no high ASCII
characters.

Low ASCII characters, such as smilies, hearts, arrows, and musical notes, won't
print.

To print characters from ASCII 0 to 31 in the PC-8 or PC-850 character set, use
an AppleWorks special code. For example, in the HP PC-850 character set,
character 26 is a right arrow, . To print the arrow, set up a special code for
Control-Z, or character 26.

Some control characters are "transparent." They are used for another purpose in
addition to the keyboard character. Examples are character 7 (bell), 8
(backspace), 9 (tab), 10 (up), 11 (down), 13 (return), 21 (right), and 27
(escape). Entering their control character equivalents in a special code would
cause the action, such as a carriage return or escape, to occur. The DeskJet
has a alternative for these transparent characters:

Esc &p#X [data]

# is the number of times you want the character to print, and [data] is the
character you wish to print. For example, Escape &p1X Escape would print one
left arrow, .

I get super and subscripts, but they are not half-height.

Change the codes for super and subscript so text is printed in half height
characters, 6 point.
			      On		       Off
Superscript	      Esc (s6v1U	  Esc (s12v0U
Subscript		Esc (s6v-1U	   Esc (s12v0U

I added half-height commands to the super and subscript commands, but they
aren't in the right place. They are too high or too low.

A bit more fine tuning of super and subscripts may be in order (commands by
Roger Maltz):

                      On                       Off
Superscript    Esc (s6V  Esc *p-18Y    Esc (s12V  Esc *p+18Y
Subscript      Esc (s6V  Esc *p+6Y     Esc (s12V  Esc *p-6Y

The command Esc *p-18Y tells the printer to change the vertical cursor position
by moving up the page a distance of 18 dots. The Esc *p+18Y moves the cursor
back down a distance of 18 dots. Similarly for subscript, the +6Y moves the
cursor down 6 dots and the -6Y moves it back up. By plugging in different
values for the number of dots to move, you can fine tune how high/low your
super/subscript will print.

I can print with AppleWorks, but not with AppleSoft Basic.

Printing from AppleSoft BASIC works just fine with the DeskJet 400, right out
of the box. This may be a function of the Grappler+ more than of the DeskJet
itself. Make sure the dip switches on the Grappler+ are set to OFF ON ON ON. If
you still have trouble, try turning off the printer and then turning it on
again. AppleSoft BASIC, ProSel, and other programs print from the ASCII
character set. If you have another character set downloaded to your printer,
such as PC-850, from an earlier AppleWorks session, other programs may not
print.

An "echo" of inverse characters flies by on the screen when printing, or one
line of inverse characters appears on the top or the middle line of the screen.

The interface code Control-I 0N should tell the card to stop echoing to the
screen. You may still see a bit of inverse on the screen if the printer is not
turned on before you start printing. This goes away, and printing will start,
when the printer is turned on. Some older parallel cards echo to the screen
more than the Grappler+.

With the parallel printer installed in slot 1, the serial port is free. Can I
assign a serial printer to slot 1 too?

Yes, but you have to switch the control panel from "Your Card" to "Printer"
before printing. The macro Two Printer Magic by Bill Robbins accomplishes this
nicely. I found this macro worked exactly as advertised to switch between the
two printers in slot 1 without going to the control panel. The only trouble was
that when I exited AppleWorks, I forgot which printer was active, and
invariably had the wrong printer activated for use with other programs.

With my DeskJet 500, I kept the draft quality button down to save money on
(very expensive) DeskJet ink. On the 400, there is no such button or dip
switches. How can I print everyday jobs in draft quality, yet still have
letter-quality for final drafts?

One way is to set up two portrait printers - one with the normal interface code
of

Control-I 0N Control-I H   (Letter Quality is default)

and the other with an interface code containing draft quality.

Control-I 0N Escape (s1q Control-I H   (draft quality inserted).

Note that when we used the code "Escape (s1q" in the middle of the draft
quality interface sequence above, we used the lowercase q. Lowercase is used
for the last character when a code occurs in the middle of a larger code
string. If it were a stand-alone, as in an AppleWorks special code, or if it
came at the end of a sequence, the last character would be uppercase, as in
Escape (s1Q. The uppercase character signals the end of the command.

Another way is to set up only one printer, draft or normal letter quality,
whichever you most often use. Then add a special code to each word processor,
data base, or spreadsheet file whenever you wish to print the opposite:

Draft Quality: 	Escape (s1Q
Letter Quality:	Escape (s2Q

With default AppleWorks margins and the U.S. paper length of 11", the DeskJet
printout often prints a full page, then prints only 2-3 lines on the next page,
then goes to a third page. How can I correct this?

Some users try to correct the 60-line DeskJet page by turning "Perforation
skip" on or off to adjust the page length, as recommended in some of the older
DeskJet manuals. However, this never proved entirely satisfactory. I find that
setting the paper length in every AppleWorks document to between 10.4" to 10.7"
works every time. I also set a top margin of 0.5", with side and bottom margins
set according to the type of document I am writing.

When I print out copies of the TEXAS II newsletter, I get underlines where you
have italics.

When I got my first DeskJet, I decided right away that the DeskJet's italics
look much better than underlines. Therefore, I changed AppleWorks' underline
codes to the DeskJet's italics codes. This allows me to use the keyboard
shortcut Control-L to enter Italics. I even changed the screen message to
Italics begin and Italics end using Bev's Free Patcher. I have underline codes
as special codes #1 and 2 in case I still want them. (Note: the AppleWorks text
of TEXAS II newsletter is available only to subscribers of the printed
newsletter.)

I like my DeskJet 697C with AppleWorks, but the printouts don't look as good as
the same printer hooked up to my Windows PC. The only type face that looks good
is CG Times, invoked with the P1 (proportional-1) command.

On the PC, you have a choice of thousands of software fonts. With AppleWorks
and the DeskJet, you are limited to the printer's built-in hardware fonts,
which include

Courier, 5, 10, 16.6, 20 characters per inch, Portrait and Landscape

 Letter Gothic, 6, 12, 24 characters per inch, Portrait only

CG Times, Proportional-1 and Proportional-2, Portrait only

Some DeskJet models have a fourth hardware font, Univers. The three main
hardware fonts are invoked simply by setting AppleWorks' characters per inch in
the normal way, through printer options. If you want fancier fonts on the IIGS,
you can transfer your AppleWorks text to a IIGS program like AppleWorks GS or
GraphicWriter III.

More DeskJet resources from TEXAS II:

- TEXAS II has written and published many macros to aid in the installation of
DeskJet printers and setup of special codes, including low ASCII and switching
underlines with italics.
- Bev's Free Patcher for AppleWorks) 5.1 contains numerous patches of interest
to DeskJet users.
- Two Printer Magic is found on TEXAS II on Disk vol.16, and on The DeskJet
Disk.
- Ultimate DeskJet converts "logical text" like a', n~, (c) and (R) to High
ASCII characters for language, legal, and math symbols a, q, ) and . - on TEXAS
II on Disk vol. 26.
- Printable character charts for PC-850, PC-8, Roman8, and Latin1 were included
on Disk 26.
- TEXAS II on Disk vol.30 will contain complete charts of DeskJet printer codes
(see next page).
- Many other DeskJet activities can be found on Disk 20, and on The DeskJet
Disk.
- Our printouts of the DeskJet character sets HP Roman8, Latin, PC-850, and
PC-8 can be found in the printed manual for Bev's Free Patcher, pages 79-84.
__________________________________________________________________________
_________

TEXAS II an international newsletter for users of AppleWorks(R) 5.1 Contents
Copyright (c) TEXAS II - AppleWorks - An international newsletter for users of
AppleWorks(R) 5.1 (c) 2001 Kingwood Micro Software. -  The information
contained herein is for personal use only.  Any unauthorized access, use,
reproduction, posting, or dissemination is prohibited.



Beverly Cadieux 
TEXAS II an international newsletter for users of AppleWorks(R) 5.1