Conference hydra::amiga_v1

771.0. "eliminating white bands in Epson graphics" by SAUTER::SAUTER (John Sauter) Sun Oct 04 1987 18:26

    Today, after much learning, I got my Epson-compatible printer to
    print graphics without white lines.  In the process I learned how
    to deal with an Amiga with only a single floppy.
    
    First, by looking through this conference I learned of a printer
    driver generator in topic 352.  This generator was written by
    Jxrgen Thomsen and is available on the net as
    
    	CGFSV1::DISK$73G:[DREW.AMIGA]PRTGEN_*.SHAR
    
    This is two .SHAR files, one for the text files and the other for
    the binary files.
    
    I copied those files, then needed a way to unpack them.   I could
    have unpacked them by hand, but I found a copy of SHAR on
    
    	COOKIE::DISK$GZ_2:[WECKER.AMIGA]
    
    as described in topic 349.  I had to edit the second .SHAR file
    a little because of a problem with a file specification.  The two
    binary files were encoded with UUENCODE.  I found a copy of
    UUDECODE.EXE on the DREW directory, and I used it (after some
    experiment) to create the two binary files on VAX.
    
    I had previously obtained the VT100 and KERMIT programs, so I used
    them to copy the text and binary files, being careful to type 
    <right Amiga>I for the binary files.  I ran KERMIT on the VAX in
    server mode, and used <right Amiga>G to read each file.
    
    After getting the files onto the Amiga I renamed them to restore
    the cases of the file names, as described in the ReadMe file.
    I found that RENAME does not change a file name if the only difference
    between the names is the case of letters, so I sometimes had to
    do two RENAMEs to get the names right.
    
    I then attempted to run the PrtDrvGen program.  AmigaDOS complained
    that the file was not in the the correct format.  I decided that
    I must have transferred the binary file incorrectly.  I tried again,
    using the KERMIT SEND command together with <left Amiga>R to read
    the files.  That didn't work either.
    
    Looking through the Kermit documentation, I decided that KERMIT
    must be thinking that the file it was sending was a text file.
    There is no KERMIT command to specify the type of a file being sent;
    KERMIT deduces the file type from the RMS attributes.  UUDECODE
    was writing a Stream_LF file, just like its input file.  This was
    clearly the problem.
    
    I was going to have to modify either KERMIT, UUDECODE or the file's
    attributes to get the file to transfer correctly.  The "correct"
    solution would be to modify UUDECODE, so I hunted around for its
    source.  I found the source on the WECKER directory, but the version
    I found there was apparently different than the version I had been running,
    because it contained code to open its output file as RFM=VAR rather
    than Stream_LF.  I therefore copied the .EXE file I found there
    and ran it instead.
    
    I then downloaded the binary files again, this time getting a different
    byte count from KERMIT.  After again renaming the files to restore
    the case of the letters in the file names, and copying the files
    to a floppy, I ran PrtDrvGen.  AmigaDOS liked it!
    
    The first time I ran the program it got into a loop.  I couldn't
    figure out how to stop it, so I had to reboot.  I'm glad I saved
    the files onto a floppy!
    
    After rebooting I ran the program correctly, and it created a driver
    for the NEC CP6.  I edited the parameter file as described in the
    instructions and generated another driver, for the NEC P6.
    
    I tried to copy the P6 driver to my workbench floppy, but there
    wasn't room.  Fortunately I found some files in the Trashcan that
    I was able to delete.  That provided room for the P6 driver, but
    there was still not enough room for the CP6 driver.  No matter,
    I only have a P6.  I was careful to copy both drivers to another
    floppy.
    
    Using Preferences I selected NECP6.  I tried the screen dumper,
    and it worked--no more white bands!  I then tried Deluxe Music
    Construction Set, Deluxe Paint and VisiWrite.  They all worked
    correctly. (I didn't try graphics in VisiWrite, but it doesn't use
    the Preferences driver.)
    
    Thus, I now have a working driver for my NEC P6, and I have learned
    how to unpack .SHAR files, decode UUENCODE files, and send binary
    files from the VAX to the Amiga.  I hope this account of my experience
    will be useful to the other readers of this conference.
        John Sauter

    Congradulations!!!!  You have successfully joined the ranks of the
    amiga hackers...(good detective work on finding all those programs!)
    
    some additional notes....
    
    shar.c can compile, and run on the amiga...so will uudecode, etc.
    
    as has been mentioned before (many times)...kermit likes the var
    type files (510 byte records), and you need to tell it on vax that
    they are binary  (SET FILE TYPE BINARY), along with the proper setting
    on Amy.   Xmodem, and the vax version of ARC, all use stream_lf
    files...Sooo...a simple program CVTARC was born to translate between
    the two.   See DBW area, or mpgs::user3:[baeder.wecker...] for these
    and many more..
    
    On file names, the case isn't significant...AmigaDOS figures it
    out ok.....
    
    On the prtdrvgen...I agree, this is a great tool for allowing anyone
    to build custom drivers!
    
    On the use of one floppy...make sure and checkout the ASDG RRD 
    (recoverrable Ram Disk...aka. VD0: )...it saves contents on re-boots.
    but its shareware, and deserves the $10 bucks asked for!  (I'm
    registered, are YOU!)
    
    again...congrads!
    
    Scott.
    

    Thanks.  As soon as I get my hard disk ("any day now") I intend
    to unwrap C and compile these programs on the Amiga.  I wanted
    to make the file names correspond to the documentation as a curtesy
    to the original author.  PrtDrvGen is also shareware; I mailed my
    check yesterday.  I am resisting spending effort on such things
    as the recoverable RAM disk because I am still expecting a hard
    disk!  When I get some time I'll get ARC, also.
        John Sauter

    On UUENCODE: is there an .ARC copy floating arround that will run
    on the amiga? 
    
    NEC CP6 question: What is you estimated cost per sheet for color
    and B/W?
    
    Thanx... Rich

    RE: .3 Found UUENCODE stuff in Dave Weckers area.. Thanx Dave