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LPV11 Line Printer Controller

CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP Q-bus systems provide support for the LPV11 Parallel Line Printer Controller.

The LPV11 emulation is implemented using the CHARON Qbus API (CHAPI). This interface is designed to allow third-parties to custom design emulated Qbus peripherals.

To enable CHAPI modules, request an update to the CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP license. For details on CHAPI read the CHARON-VAX / CHARON-PDP CHAPI user manual, available on demand or from the STROMASYS web site for our registered partners.

Use the following command to load an instance of an LPV11 Parallel Line Printer Controller:

load CHAPI <logical name> dll=LPV11

Example:

load CHAPI LPA0 dll=LPV11

The LPV11 (being a CHAPI component) provides the following configuration parameters, to be specified using the "set" command:

address

Parameter

address

Type

Numeric

Value

Specifies the CSR address.

This address must be a valid QBUS 22-bit address in an I/O space.

The initial value is 017777514, which is the factory setting for an LPV11.

vector

Parameter

vector

Type

Numeric

Value

Specifies the interrupt vector.

The initial value is 0200, which is the factory setting for an LPV11.

parameters

Parameter

parameters

Type

Text String

Value

Specifies the name of the file in which the LPV11 prints the text, the name of a physical printer or a TCPIP port to connect to an external utility, like HOSTPrint, (along with some additional parameters):

Parameters	Description
"\\.\LPT<N>"	Host port to connect to a physical printer
"port"	TCP/IP port to connect to an external application
"application"	An application to run after opening the port. Note: the name of the application including its own parameters must be framed within ‘ characters (apostrophe).
-port	The TCP/IP port the HOSTprint utility will connect to.
-fontsize	The font size to be used for printing.
-font	The font to be used for printing. The font name must be framed with \ (backslash) symbols.

It’s possible to load as many LPV11 devices as you wish and the system running on the emulated VAX/PDP-11 allows this to be done. To load LPV11 devices use the standard QBUS parameters: "address" and "vector" to select the correct place on the QBUS.

The following example demonstrates how to load 2 instances of LPV11, mapped to 2 host system LPT ports:

load chapi lpv1 address = 017777514 vector = 0200

set lpv1 dll = lpv11.dll parameters = "\\.\LPT1"

load chapi lpv2 address = 017764004 vector = 0170

set lpv2 dll = lpv11.dll parameters = "\\.\LPT2"

The printers connected to the host must understand output of the LPV11 driver on the emulated VAX/PDP-11. Use printers that work with the VAX/PDP-11 hardware.

The "configure" utility (VAX), available from the SRM console, is used to find out the correct QBUS addresses and interrupt vectors for multiple LPV11 instances.

It is also possible to redirect output from an LPV11 to an external application, for example, HOSTPrint. This application allows printing to the Windows system printers using the desired font.

In the following example the LPV11 instance, called: lpv1, opens host port 10004 and starts the HOSTPrint application, directing it to connect to the port 10004 and use the font "Courier New", size 12 for printing:

load chapi lpv1 address = 017777514 vector = 0200

set lpv1 dll = lpv11.dll parameters="port = 10004 application='HOSTPrint -port=10004 -fontsize=12 -font=\Courier New\'"

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DUMMY_VCB02 device

This description applies only to MicroVAX 3600, MicroVAX 3900, VAXserver 3900 and VAXserver 3600 server emulations.

The dummy VCB02 device emulates the QBUS registers of a VCB02 graphic controller, (at the secondary VCB02 device address) but does not implement graphic display functionality. Its purpose is to be able to use a workstation version of VMS.

When this device is loaded and VAX/VMS boots with a "D" (workstation) type license, the license is accepted because VMS recognizes that a VCB02 is present.

As the dummy VCB02 is located on the secondary address (0x3fff02), VMS boots using the normal console terminal without graphics capability.

The format is as follows:

load dummy_vcb02/null_vcb02 dummy

Since this dummy device cannot draw graphics, CHARON-VAX will fail the initial hardware diagnostics, but it will still boot correctly.

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