Parallel port – Tektronix Phaser 340 User Manual

Page 181

Technical Notes

A-10

Phaser 340 Color Printer

Parallel port

The printer has an asynchronous parallel port that lets you interface with
PCs. The parallel port supports uni-directional (default) and bi-directional
communications. When you use the parallel port, be sure to type this
command at the PC (if LPT1 is not available, use LPT2) to disable timeouts:

MODE LPT1:,,P

You can switch to bi-directional communications using either of the
following methods:

■

Download a PostScript utility to the printer. Refer to the
Phaser 340 Drivers and Utilities Printing Reference for more
information.

■

Use your World Wide Web browser. Refer to the PhaserShare Status
Software User Manual for more information.

For bi-directional communications, the parallel port supports two modes:
Compatibility Mode and Nibble Mode. The interpretation of interface
signals depends on the current mode. Compatibility Mode provides
host-to-printer communication in a manner compatible with a
uni-directional interface. Nibble Mode provides printer-to-host
communication and may be combined with Compatibility Mode to provide
bi-directional communication.

Note

For more information, refer to the IEEE P1284 document for
parallel interfaces.

The table shows the parallel port’s connected pins. Other pins are not
connected.

Parallel port signal descriptions

Pin

Signal mode names:
Compatibility/Nibble

Return
pin

Signal
source

Description

Busy/PtrBusy

Printer

C mode: Positive true = not ready

for data

N mode: Data bits 3 then 7, then

busy status

Select/Xflag

Printer

C mode: Positive true = online
N mode: Data bits 1 then 5