INFORMATION RELEASE AB 164/4
CONFIGURING NCR SYSTEMS TO SUPPORT AT&T SVR4 AND CHARISMA USING RCP TO PRINT
**REPLACEMENT ISSUE OF BULLETIN AB164/3**
**REMOVE AB164/3 AND REPLACE WITH THIS AB164/4**
1. Throughout this Feco a space in a string is shown by a Ñ . All other spaces are purely cosmetic.
2. As you are aware, there have been problems with printing to
printers connected to terminal servers on the
above configuration. Under load conditions,
prints are either corrupted or lost.
3. The cause of the problem has been identified as a bug within AT&T’s SVR4 streams sub-system.
4. As AT&T seem unable to fix the problem, the answer is to use 'rcp' to control printing rather than lp.
5. The purpose of this release is to explain how to configure
rcp whilst still using the same print commands in
both Charisma and UniVision.
6. Note: By using rcp it is no longer necessary to configure mtsd processes.
This change only applies to systems which have AT&T SVR4 installed.
7. Terminal Server Configuration
Ports onto which printers are to be attached should be set to "printer". This is configured in 'lines, virtual'.
The rest of the setups remain as previously documented.
8. Interface Scripts
A modified interface script must be created for each printer to be connected to a terminal server port:-
#cd Ñ /usr/lib/lp/model <CR>
For UniVision systems
#cp Ñ UVstandard Ñ UVstand.orig <CR>
For Charisma systems
#cp Ñ standard Ñ standard.orig <CR>
For each printer a unique interface script must be created. These will called:-
For UniVision systems
UV standard 1
UV standard 2
For Charisma systems
standard1
standard2
Each interface file has to have the following change made:
#vi Ñ standard or vi Ñ UVstandardx <CR>
where x is the unique file number
Find the line:-
0<$ {file} Ñ eval Ñ $FILTER Ñ 2>&1 Ñ 1>&3
Replace this line with:-
rcp Ñ ${file} Ñ [mts name]:mts _p[port] Ñ 2>&1 Ñ 1>&3
Where [mtsname] is the name of the mts in the etc/hostfile and [port] is the physical port number.
For example Ptr LPO1 is connected onto a terminal server named as mts2 onto port 1
rcp Ñ $ {file} Ñ mts2:mts _p1 Ñ 2>&1 Ñ 1>&3
For example Ptr LPO1 is connected onto a Jetstream server named as js2 onto port 1
rcp Ñ ${file}Ñ js2:p1 Ñ 2>&1 Ñ 1>&3
9. Device Files
Each printer to be connected to a terminal server must have its own file in the /dev directory. This has to be /dev/nullx where x = a number.
As a default there is only 1 /dev/null
To create additional files:-
#cd Ñ /dev <CR>
#lsÑ -l Ñ grep Ñ null <CR>
Make a note of the major and minor numbers, i.e. 2 2
#mknod Ñ nullx Ñ c Ñ [major number] Ñ [minor number] <CR>
where x is the unique file number
use the same major/minor number you recorded above.
Repeat as required.
# chmod Ñ 777 Ñ null*
10. Final Configuration
Using sysadm configure each printer in the usual way. Ensure that UniVision printers have a name prefixed by UV and the printer type is set to UVdumb. (HP laser printers do not work properly with UV dumb).
Once all printers have been set up, then to configure the correct interface script, issue the following command for each printer:
For Charisma systems:
#lpadmin Ñ -p[ptr name] Ñ -i Ñ /usr/lib/lp/model/standardx <CR>
where [ptr name] is the printer label assigned via sysadm and standardx is the interface script name.
For UniVision systems:
As above the interface script name will be UVstandardx and dumb will be UVdumb i.e.:-
#lpadmin Ñ -p[ptr name] Ñ -mUVstandardxx
11. Testing
Use lp Ñ -d Ñ [ptr name] Ñ [file] <CR> to test each printer.