Adding a reserved printer using a parallel port

Complete these instructions to add a reserved printer.

On AIX, a process cannot be started automatically on a parallel device through inittab. The process that uses the parallel port is started by the D3 user-coldstart macro.

When starting the system, the parallel printer must be online. See the AIX User Guide to locate the parallel port on the back of the system if necessary.

Procedure

Log on to D3. Enter user-ID dm and master dictionary dm .
Select an unused D3 line number on which to start the printer.
In the example below, for a 128 user system, the last line number (127) is used.
Create the parallel printer if it is not already created using smit:
Log in as root, then type Select Devices.
Select Printer/Plotter.
Select Printer/Plotter Devices.
Select Add a Printer/Plotter.
Using the up and down arrow keys, select opp Other parallel printer or any suitable device.
Select parallel from the Printer/Plotter Interface screen.
Select the appropriate parallel port adapter from the Parent Adapter screen.
Enter P in the Port Number field.
Use the arrow keys; change Number of LINES per page to 999.
Use the arrow keys; change Number of COLUMNS per page to 999.
Use the TAB key; change Send all characters to printer UNMODIFIED to yes .
Use the TAB key; change Add CARRIAGE RETURNS to LINE FEEDS tono.
Use the TAB key; changeReturn on ERROR to yes.
Press ENTER to add the printer. The name of the printer AIX created displays. In the example below,lp0 is used.
Insert the statements below in the user-coldstart macro in the master dictionary of the dm account.
```
!exec d3 -127 -t lp0 -pprinter &
startptr 0,0,0,s127
```
Note: If no items have been previously placed in the user-coldstart, it opens as a new item.

In this example, the AIX parallel printer device name is /dev/lp0.

Note: The options to the TCL startptr command, such as the form queue number, printer number, and so on may vary.