[ale] Dot matrix printer/start of page problems.

[Boris Borisov]

Wow! My last matrix printer setup was more than 10+ years ago for point of
sale app.


On Fri, Aug 30, 2013 at 10:56 AM, Beddingfield, Allen <allen at ua.edu> wrote:

> One of my clients for my consulting business has an umm…VERY legacy setup.
>  They have an old server that went out of warranty 8 years ago, running SCO
> Unix, and an old RM/COBOL-85 application.  They were mid-migration to a new
> Windows-based product, when the vendor for that product went out of
> business, so we are stuck with it for a while longer (another whole topic
> of discussion).
>
> Anyway, here is my issue:  They have three Okidata Microline 320 dot
> matrix printers with Axis print servers attached.  Each is assigned to a
> queue on the Unix box, and each does a special purpose.  One does forms on
> special paper stock, one prints checks, and one prints reports on plain
> paper.
> The one that prints checks recently had a mechanical failure, so I
> temporarily swapped the report printer with it so that they could print
> their monthly check run.  That is where things got weird.
> Apparently their procedure for years when printing checks has been to load
> the checks in the printer, crank the knob to line up the print head with
> the spot on the check where the first line (check number) should print,
> power cycle the printer, and print.  On the old printer, this left the
> print head lined up with that spot on the check, and it began printing at
> that spot.  When I put the other printer there, and they follow the same
> procedure, the printer repositions the paper back to the top of the sheet
> of paper before printing, putting the check number and everything else out
> of alignment.
> The person who used to support them is no longer around, and all they know
> is that "the last guy changed something on the printer to make it work that
> way".
> I've looked up the manual for the ML 320 printer, and it sounds like this
> may have something to do with a "page tear off" setting, or a "start of
> page" setting.  It has been 15+ years since I messed with a dot matrix
> printer, and then it was pretty much just to print normal paper through.
> Does anyone have any ideas of what to try with this?!
> They owe me a significant sum of money for a few months of work, so I have
> a lot of motivation to get their check printer working again!
>
> Allen B.
>
> --
> Allen Beddingfield
> Systems Engineer
> The University of Alabama
>
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