Re: replacement inkjet printer for Apple 2

[e p chandler <epc8@juno.com>]

On Nov 23, 2:47 am, A2Aviator <a2avia...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Epson still offers the C88+ - which the specifications list as having
> parallel and USB.
>
> The question begs, is it centronics or the other higher density
> connector. But it does support ESCP/2 protocol, which is downward
> compatible with ESC and that means the Harmony, Independence and Epson-
> APL drivers will work with it. I've used various Epson models over the
> years on A2's without any issues. You may not get color from any
> standard print drivers, but you can get color from Printshop, and from
> AppleWorks using ESC codes to turn it on the same way as the
> ImageWriter II/LQ.
>
> ...which is also another option for you, find an ImageWriter II, blast
> out the head with denatured alcohol and then put a bit if silicone
> spray in where the wires are passing through the front. WD-40 is
> *bad*. Those C-iToh ribbons are still pretty common.
>
> Okidata, Epson and C-iToh are basically it ribbon wise.

See other message. Thanks for the idea to try the C88+. I happen to
use one on my Vista system (as USB). Again, I'm amazed that it prints
at all under Apple DOS and MS-DOS using the parallel port. There are
other printers that will not print from Apple DOS or MS-DOS at all.
They require a WIndows driver. IIRC I tried printing to an old Lexmark
inkjet from "DOS" and got garbage.

At least the EPSON has a character mode! Perhaps a different printer
card would work? My Apple 2e has a clone of the old Apple Parallel
card. I don't have a more modern parallel card on hand, like a
Grappler. It could be that the handshaking is different.

The old Apple Parallel card used very primitive handshaking. One line
changed the addressing on the cards ROM to go from an endless loop to
transmiting data.
So some of the other signal lines could be missing,

---- e