Except (1) I never needed QPCprint with QPC, so (2) I never bought
it, so (3) I don't have it!
Ahh, got it. I somehow was under the impression that nowadays
everyone would need/have QPCPrint.
Definitely a serious omission from your software library.
QPCPrint is the only reliable way I can get my laptop PC to print
anything.
George
I guess you must have a more recent printer which doesn't have the
full control code sets like older printers.
Luckily, my Epson Stylus Colour 880 printer is pretty ancient and has
the full Esc/P2 set, so it works very happily (most of the time!) from
Windows, and all the time from QPC.
To give you an idea of how old the 880 is, a few months back the
"built in obsolescence" warning came up saying it was time to have it
serviced (in Epson-speak, "time for us to quote you such a high price
that you will buy a new printer"). That is, the ink sponges inside
were saturated and at the end of their life according to the count of
sheets printed.
After trying a quick-fix reset from the internet, which didn't work, a
computer shop in Colwyn Bay (suggested by my son) did the same trick
but with different software and it worked. One rescued "obsolescent"
Stylus 880. I was pretty keen to keep it as (a) obviously it worked
direct from a QL or QPC, and (b) I have been able to get compatible
cartridges for it from firms like Choice Stationery and IJTdirect (not
sure if they are the same or related companies) at 99p to £2 depending
on what offer they have at the time. I know many people would say I
shouldn't use compatibles, but it's an ancient printer which has
worked well all its life with compatibles and seems to continue to do
so quite happily, or at least it did until I said that!
Sadly, when the Stylus 880 goes to that great inkjet factory in the
sky (the local recycling depot!), I'll have to invest in both QPCprint
and a new printer unless I strike lucky and get another of these on
eBay or something like that.
Going back to Daniele's tip on using USB printers with QemuLator, I've
just been trying it out and it works well! The printer was recognised
immediately and there is also the facility to set it to 'high quality'
or to '9-pin dot matrix' mode. That prints like an old dot matrix
printer and seems to use less ink (looks like a draft mode printout).
There is a delay before anything happens which had me thinking it had
locked up, but I guess that's just the slow speed of this PC. After a
few seconds, the Windows printer dialogue appeared and printing
commenced on clicking OK.
Hope that helps anyone else who'd like to print to a USB printer from
this emulator.
Dilwyn Jones
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