[Coco] Coco and Modern Printers

[Frank Swygert]

Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2012 11:52:39 -0500
From: John Orwen<jorwen at neb.rr.com>

Has anyone ever manufactured or has anyone ever contemplated making and
selling a multipak cartride with an internal rom and an external usb
port on it to interface to modern printers.  One that would contain the
generic driver code to connect to any usb printer. That would convert
the commands Print#-2 and LLIST for correct generic usb font and line
only graphics from any coco and to any usb printer.  I would think that
everyone with a modern computer connected to a usb printer would want
something like this for their still active coco.  Maybe I am the only
one in the Universe.  Any comments would be accepted.

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Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2012 12:58:22 -0500
From: camillus Blockx<camillus.b.58 at gmail.com>


I was more thinking of using the pc for that, link to pcs with serial and divert with dosprint tool to any printer that is on pc. Even network
printers.

drawback is that you need the host always on.

Paralell would work too but needs code on the pc side.

I look into it more specific after I moved to my new place at end this month.
----------------------

Camillus has the right idea! The problem is that most inexpensive ink-jet and laser printers no longer have any "brains" built in (there are a few exceptions, but not the under $100 variety... unless someone found one recently...). The print driver handles all the plotting work. This works well with modern PCs because they have so much processing power. In the old days everything was off-loaded from the main CPU because it was limited, especially in 8 bits. The printers cost more, but could be hooked up to anything with an appropriate interface.

If you're using Drivewire as a server anyway, it wouldn't be hard to send print files to the PC and let it be the brains for the cheap printer. Hmmm.... Drivewire may have a print function in the server, seems someone was talking about that anyway...

A micro controller or small single board computer should be able to handle driving a printer. A $35 Raspberry Pi should be able to do this! Mount it in a small box, make a serial cable (no serial port on Raspberry Pi? Think again!! -- http://lavalink.com/2012/03/raspberry-pi-serial-interfacing/) to go between it and the CoCo, and mod a small Linux distro to boot and take inout from the serial port and output to the USB printer driver. This will take some software, and you'll need to limit the printer driver to some low end HP driver that will work with just about any cheap HP inkjet, but it could be made to work as a simple plug and play device, with a specific range/list of printers anyway. HP uses a universla driver on many of their simple printers, so it may not be that hard to do. Don't think the controllers like an Arduino are capable of driving a USB printer, or rather running any software printer driver. That would be a major tasking, writing such a driver that would work!

Other SBCs cost more, like this $60 ARM: www.armdesigner.com/EM2440-III.html. Programming the R-Pi is probably the most cost effective way to go, if someone can do it. Just think, this could conceivably work with any retro computer with a serial port!

Frank Swygert
Editor - American Motors Cars Magazine
www.amc-mag.com