[Coco] Coco and Modern Printers

[Christopher Hawks]

Frank Swygert said the following on 09/14/2012 06:38 PM:
> Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2012 11:52:39 -0500
> From: John Orwen<jorwen at neb.rr.com>
>
> Has anyone ever manufactured or has anyone ever contemplated making and
> selling a multipak cartride with an internal rom and an external usb
> port on it to interface to modern printers.  One that would contain the
> generic driver code to connect to any usb printer. That would convert
> the commands Print#-2 and LLIST for correct generic usb font and line
> only graphics from any coco and to any usb printer.  I would think that
> everyone with a modern computer connected to a usb printer would want
> something like this for their still active coco.  Maybe I am the only
> one in the Universe.  Any comments would be accepted.
>
> ----------------------------
>
> Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2012 12:58:22 -0500
> From: camillus Blockx<camillus.b.58 at gmail.com>
>
>
> I was more thinking of using the pc for that, link to pcs with serial and
> divert with dosprint tool to any printer that is on pc. Even network
> printers.
>
> drawback is that you need the host always on.
>
> Paralell would work too but needs code on the pc side.
>
> I look into it more specific after I moved to my new place at end this month.
> ----------------------
>
> Camillus has the right idea! The problem is that most inexpensive ink-jet and
> laser printers no longer have any "brains" built in (there are a few
> exceptions, but not the under $100 variety... unless someone found one
> recently...). The print driver handles all the plotting work. This works well
> with modern PCs because they have so much processing power. In the old days
> everything was off-loaded from the main CPU because it was limited, especially
> in 8 bits. The printers cost more, but could be hooked up to anything with an
> appropriate interface.
>
> If you're using Drivewire as a server anyway, it wouldn't be hard to send print
> files to the PC and let it be the brains for the cheap printer. Hmmm....
> Drivewire may have a print function in the server, seems someone was talking
> about that anyway...
>
> A micro controller or small single board computer should be able to handle
> driving a printer. A $35 Raspberry Pi should be able to do this! Mount it in a
> small box, make a serial cable (no serial port on Raspberry Pi? Think again!!
> -- http://lavalink.com/2012/03/raspberry-pi-serial-interfacing/) to go between
> it and the CoCo, and mod a small Linux distro to boot and take inout from the
> serial port and output to the USB printer driver. This will take some software,
> and you'll need to limit the printer driver to some low end HP driver that will
> work with just about any cheap HP inkjet, but it could be made to work as a
> simple plug and play device, with a specific range/list of printers anyway. HP
> uses a universla driver on many of their simple printers, so it may not be that
> hard to do. Don't think the controllers like an Arduino are capable of driving
> a USB printer, or rather running any software printer driver. That would be a
> major tasking, writing such a driver that would w
> ork!

Frank:

	The Raspberry Pi should run the Linux version of Drivewire 3 with no problem. 
It has printer support. (Might be possible to run Drivewire 4, depends on RPi's 
Java capabilities.)

	A credit card sized Drivewire Server!!

	That's one of the first things mine is going to do (if it ever gets here!).

-- 
Christopher R. Hawks
HAWKSoft
------------------------
In most countries selling harmful things like drugs is punishable.
Then howcome people can sell Microsoft software and go unpunished?
	-- Hasse Skrifvars, hasku at rost.abo.fi,