Star Micronics 8 Series - The INTERFACE parameter; Controlling the Printer

andscrollthrougha lowermenulevel.Andyoualsopress ENTER when
youwanttosaveaparticularmenuitcmasthevalueforacurrentparameter
setting.
Thethreelastmenuheadingsletyouloadoneversionoftheparametersinto
anotherversion.Two move the currentparametervaluesinto either the
initialor power-upparameters.Thefinalmenuoptiongoestheotherway,
lettingyouloadthefactoryparametersettingsas yourcurrentsettings.
CONTROLLING THE PRINTER
In thissectionyou’llmeettwo separatecontrolsoverhowthe StarLaser-
Printer8 itselfworks.The INTERFACEparametercontrolscommunica-
tionsbetweentheprinterandyourcomputer.AndtheCOMMANDparame-
terdetermines,amongotherthings,whichsetofcommandstheprinterwill
use. Youcan set theseINTERFACEandCOMMANDparameterson the
frontpanel.
The INTERFACE parameter
The INTERFACEparameter,the most basicof the Star LaserPrinter8’s
configurationsettings,defineshowyourcomputerconnectsto theprinter.
You can set the INTERFACEto either Serial or Parallel (in IBM or
Ccntronicsmode).Inmostsingle-computerenvironmentsyou’lloptforthe
fasterParallelinterface;inamulti-usernetworkyoumaybe betteroffwith
Serial. ~
The particular printer interface settingsdon’tmatter asmuch asmaking sure
theymatchthoseon yourcomputer.If youuseanMS-DOScomputer,you
can set yourcomputer’sparameterswiththe MODEcommand.See your
MS-DOSmanual.
MostMS-DOSandAT-compatiblecomputerssupportup to threeparallel
andtwo serialports,whichcomeon expansionboardsyouplugintoyour
computer.Whenyouinstallsuchboardsyoumustsetswitchesto indicate
thenumberandaddressesoftheseports.Ifyouspecifythewrongaddresses,
youwon’tbe ableto print.
Serial interface: rate
IfyouaskfortheSerialinterfaceyou’llhavetotellyourprintermoreabout
howthedatawillbecomingin—in particularitsrateandunitsizeandthe
meaningsof anyspecialbits.
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