AST Turbolaser/PS help
3 messages in this thread
I got an AST Research Inc. Turbolaser/PS printer in trade today.
Needless to say, it did not come with a user's manual. On power up it
prints a test page, so it seems to be working, and I have seen it work with
an Amiga, but trying to print to it with PageStream 2.1's PostScript driver
just hangs.
Is there anyone out there with any expierience with one of these
beasties who could give me some pointers on using it, or perhaps a way to
contact AST Research to get a manual?
Any help will be _very_ much appreciated!
-Homer
Homer:
I have an AST Turbolaser/PS too. Great printer. It uses the Ricoh laser
engine, and tends to give nicer blacks than most other engines. These
printers aren't supported by AST anymore, and the engine isn't made by
Ricoh anymore either 🙁 There is a small switch on the back that switches
between PS (Postscript) mode, and HP emulation mode. Several of the early
PS models (which catagory mine falls into) don't have the HP emulation
board installed, and on some of them if the switch is set to HP the printer
will just hang. Another thing to check is the 5 position switch on the
back, that selects between Serial – 1200bps, Serial -9600bps, Parallel,
Appletalk, Test. With PageStream you'll need to use the Postscript driver,
and make sure that you're hooked up to either the serial port, or parallel
port, and that the software is set right too. If you're using the
serial-9600bps mode, and it doesn't seem to work, it could be that
somebody's reset the baud rate (bps) to something other than 9600 (the one
marked 9600 is really software settable via PS commands), and you'll have
to switch to either parallel, or serial-1200 (sloooow). I forget what the
commands are to reset the baud rate, but you could probably ask Perry from
ASDG, as they supply that info with their dual serial board. If you have
anymore questions please feel free to ask me.
-Mike Schiller
In sunny Fort Lauderdale
Mike:
I had figured out (guessed really) the two switches on the back – the only
adjustments I have been able to find. I have been trying to use it in the
parallel mode, but plan to get a serial cable long enough to reach it today
to see if that makes a difference. [When I got it, it was set up for
serial.]
I will play around with it some more today, and learn a bit more about
PostScript aned get back to you when I have some more specific questions.
It is reassuring to know that I have a reesource when I "run into a wall".
Thanks again.
-Homer