Table of Contents
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):
|
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:
|
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:
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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, VAX/VMS requires type "D" licenses (Workstation). 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:
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As this dummy device cannot draw graphics, Charon-VAX can fail the initial hardware diagnostics but will boot correctly.