[Andrew Mawson[_2_]]

An original OKI Microline 80 has fallen into my hands, and apart from a
faulty mains switch (fixed) seems to be in working order.

This is a 7 pin impact printer with a Centronics Parallel input port. Does
anyone remember if they were character by character printers or line by
line? I'd like to prove it working and was going to wire up a simple 7 bit
wide switch bank (with strobe) so I can toggle ascii characters into it one
by one but before I do, it would be nice to know what it expects.

Needless to say no Windows 7 drivers out there that I can find and I don't
have a unix machine to hook it up to.

(I wish Microsoft had never dreamt up hardware abstraction layers ! Time was
when I could send characters directly to a port address from a diddy program
! )

Andrew

[Rod Speed]

Andrew Mawson wrote

An original OKI Microline 80 has fallen into my hands,

Bet the hurt, they arent exactly light.

and apart from a faulty mains switch (fixed) seems to be in working order.

This is a 7 pin impact printer with a Centronics Parallel input port. Does
anyone remember if they were character by character printers

Yes.

or line by line?

Nope.

I'd like to prove it working and was going to wire up a simple 7 bit wide
switch bank (with strobe) so I can toggle ascii characters into it one by
one

Lot easier to get a parallel port or even a USB/centronics converter.

but before I do, it would be nice to know what it expects.

Character by character.

Needless to say no Windows 7 drivers out there that I can find

Anything that can drive a parallel port will work fine.

and I don't have a unix machine to hook it up to.

(I wish Microsoft had never dreamt up hardware abstraction layers ! Time
was when I could send characters directly to a port address from a diddy
program ! )

You still can with Win7 if you want to.

[[email protected]]

On Sunday, 30 April 2017 23:12:44 UTC+1, Rod Speed wrote:
Andrew Mawson wrote

An original OKI Microline 80 has fallen into my hands,

Bet the hurt, they arent exactly light.

and apart from a faulty mains switch (fixed) seems to be in working order.

This is a 7 pin impact printer with a Centronics Parallel input port. Does
anyone remember if they were character by character printers

Yes.

or line by line?

Nope.

I'd like to prove it working and was going to wire up a simple 7 bit wide
switch bank (with strobe) so I can toggle ascii characters into it one by
one

Lot easier to get a parallel port or even a USB/centronics converter.

but before I do, it would be nice to know what it expects.

Character by character.

Needless to say no Windows 7 drivers out there that I can find

Anything that can drive a parallel port will work fine.

and I don't have a unix machine to hook it up to.

(I wish Microsoft had never dreamt up hardware abstraction layers ! Time
was when I could send characters directly to a port address from a diddy
program ! )

You still can with Win7 if you want to.

Memory on this is patchy... but yes, charcter by character, with either escape codes or something else for non-printing control codes. Trying to remember, the dip switches in those set the parallel code used. In the 7 pin era machines only had one font. 9 pinners could typically print double wide or double high characters too. Vague memory & a quick google looks like yours in a 1980s 9 pin. Are you sure it's a 7?


NT

[Rod Speed]

wrote in message
...
On Sunday, 30 April 2017 23:12:44 UTC+1, Rod Speed wrote:
Andrew Mawson wrote

An original OKI Microline 80 has fallen into my hands,

Bet the hurt, they arent exactly light.

and apart from a faulty mains switch (fixed) seems to be in working
order.

This is a 7 pin impact printer with a Centronics Parallel input port.
Does
anyone remember if they were character by character printers

Yes.

or line by line?

Nope.

I'd like to prove it working and was going to wire up a simple 7 bit
wide
switch bank (with strobe) so I can toggle ascii characters into it one
by
one

Lot easier to get a parallel port or even a USB/centronics converter.

but before I do, it would be nice to know what it expects.

Character by character.

Needless to say no Windows 7 drivers out there that I can find

Anything that can drive a parallel port will work fine.

and I don't have a unix machine to hook it up to.

(I wish Microsoft had never dreamt up hardware abstraction layers !
Time
was when I could send characters directly to a port address from a
diddy
program ! )

You still can with Win7 if you want to.

Memory on this is patchy... but yes, charcter by character,

Yeah, other than that came later.

with either escape codes or something
else for non-printing control codes.

Some like CR LF etc were just reserved ascii chars.

Trying to remember, the dip switches
in those set the parallel code used.

Nope. The manuals are still online.

In the 7 pin era machines only had one font.

Yes.

9 pinners could typically print double
wide or double high characters too.

Yes, that that stuff was done with escape chars.

They also had a dot mode that could be used for pictures etc.

Vague memory & a quick google looks like
yours in a 1980s 9 pin. Are you sure it's a 7?

Doesnt matter on that question of seeing if it still prints.

Going to be interesting to see if its got any stuck pins.
That was the most common failure mode.

[John Rumm]

On 30/04/2017 21:38, Andrew Mawson wrote:
An original OKI Microline 80 has fallen into my hands, and apart from a
faulty mains switch (fixed) seems to be in working order.

This is a 7 pin impact printer with a Centronics Parallel input port.
Does anyone remember if they were character by character printers or
line by line?

It will normally print a line at a time - not all DM printers could stop
and restart the head on one line. However if you sent it CR+LF (or
possibly just a CR depending on how the dip switches are set) it will
end the line and flush anything in its buffer on to the paper.

I'd like to prove it working and was going to wire up a
simple 7 bit wide switch bank (with strobe) so I can toggle ascii
characters into it one by one but before I do, it would be nice to know
what it expects.

Not got a a parallel port on your machine?

Needless to say no Windows 7 drivers out there that I can find and I
don't have a unix machine to hook it up to.

Open a command prompt and copy / echo etc something to LPT1: and that
will give you raw bytes to the port with little in the way of drivers in
the way.

e.g.

echo Hello World LPT1:

or

copy my-file.txt lpt1:

(I wish Microsoft had never dreamt up hardware abstraction layers ! Time
was when I could send characters directly to a port address from a diddy
program ! )

If you really want to bash the bits yourself you will need a device
driver that permits low level IO from a user mode application like:

http://www.highrez.co.uk/downloads/inpout32/default.htm

The go poing at IO locations 0x0378 for the data register[1] of LPT1:
and 0x37A for the control reg (bit 0 is strobe)


[1] default address of first port for most systems unless they have a
port on a MDA/Hercules card, in which case that is normally assigned to
LPT1: at based address 0x3BC



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

[Andy Burns[_13_]]

Andrew Mawson wrote:

This is a 7 pin impact printer with a Centronics Parallel input port.

If you don't want to byte-bang it, there are/were USB-centronics
dongles available, if they're no longer available I probably have a few
stashed away.

Needless to say no Windows 7 drivers out there that I can find

The "Generic/Text Only" driver still seems to exist in Win10

[The Natural Philosopher[_2_]]

On 01/05/17 02:51, John Rumm wrote:
On 30/04/2017 21:38, Andrew Mawson wrote:
An original OKI Microline 80 has fallen into my hands, and apart from a
faulty mains switch (fixed) seems to be in working order.

This is a 7 pin impact printer with a Centronics Parallel input port.
Does anyone remember if they were character by character printers or
line by line?

It will normally print a line at a time - not all DM printers could stop
and restart the head on one line. However if you sent it CR+LF (or
possibly just a CR depending on how the dip switches are set) it will
end the line and flush anything in its buffer on to the paper.

I'd like to prove it working and was going to wire up a
simple 7 bit wide switch bank (with strobe) so I can toggle ascii
characters into it one by one but before I do, it would be nice to know
what it expects.

Not got a a parallel port on your machine?

Ive got somewhere a box with two parallel ports and an ethernet connection.

There are IIRC IIRC USB to parallel converters as well.

You can pick up a parallel serial IO card for peanuts as we well if
needs be. The centronics cable will cost more!



Needless to say no Windows 7 drivers out there that I can find and I
don't have a unix machine to hook it up to.

Open a command prompt and copy / echo etc something to LPT1: and that
will give you raw bytes to the port with little in the way of drivers in
the way.

e.g.

echo Hello World LPT1:

or

copy my-file.txt lpt1:

(I wish Microsoft had never dreamt up hardware abstraction layers ! Time
was when I could send characters directly to a port address from a diddy
program ! )

If you really want to bash the bits yourself you will need a device
driver that permits low level IO from a user mode application like:

http://www.highrez.co.uk/downloads/inpout32/default.htm

The go poing at IO locations 0x0378 for the data register[1] of LPT1:
and 0x37A for the control reg (bit 0 is strobe)


[1] default address of first port for most systems unless they have a
port on a MDA/Hercules card, in which case that is normally assigned to
LPT1: at based address 0x3BC





--
The New Left are the people they warned you about.

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo , Andrew Mawson andrew@pleas
e_remove_me.mawson.org.uk escribió:

An original OKI Microline 80 has fallen into my hands, and apart from a
faulty mains switch (fixed) seems to be in working order.

This is a 7 pin impact printer with a Centronics Parallel input port. Does
anyone remember if they were character by character printers

Character by character

or line by
line? I'd like to prove it working and was going to wire up a simple 7 bit
wide switch bank (with strobe) so I can toggle ascii characters into it one
by one but before I do, it would be nice to know what it expects.

why not just use a PC parallel port?

Needless to say no Windows 7 drivers out there that I can find

Win7 here offers "Oki Microline Generic 9 pin Dot Matrix Printer".
That'll work.

You'll probably find the Epson FX-80 or RX=80 driver will also work.

Time was
when I could send characters directly to a port address from a diddy program

You still can. LPT1 is on port 0x378 and has been for 36 years.

http://www.luberth.com/cstep/parallel.htm

--
(\_/)
(='.'=) "Between two evils, I always pick
(")_(") the one I never tried before." - Mae West

[Brian Gaff]

You should have kept hold of an old Sinclair Spectrum plus 3. they have a
port and just need a cable with the ole amstrad edge connector on one end
and the printer plug on the other.

I'm sure many old machines from that era could drive it. Probably used the
old Epson control codes etc.



Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Andrew Mawson" wrote in message
news
An original OKI Microline 80 has fallen into my hands, and apart from a
faulty mains switch (fixed) seems to be in working order.

This is a 7 pin impact printer with a Centronics Parallel input port. Does
anyone remember if they were character by character printers or line by
line? I'd like to prove it working and was going to wire up a simple 7 bit
wide switch bank (with strobe) so I can toggle ascii characters into it
one by one but before I do, it would be nice to know what it expects.

Needless to say no Windows 7 drivers out there that I can find and I don't
have a unix machine to hook it up to.

(I wish Microsoft had never dreamt up hardware abstraction layers ! Time
was when I could send characters directly to a port address from a diddy
program ! )

Andrew

[mick[_5_]]

On Sun, 30 Apr 2017 21:38:36 +0100, Andrew Mawson wrote:

An original OKI Microline 80 has fallen into my hands, and apart from a
faulty mains switch (fixed) seems to be in working order.

This is a 7 pin impact printer with a Centronics Parallel input port.
Does anyone remember if they were character by character printers or
line by line? I'd like to prove it working and was going to wire up a
simple 7 bit wide switch bank (with strobe) so I can toggle ascii
characters into it one by one but before I do, it would be nice to know
what it expects.

Needless to say no Windows 7 drivers out there that I can find and I
don't have a unix machine to hook it up to.

(I wish Microsoft had never dreamt up hardware abstraction layers ! Time
was when I could send characters directly to a port address from a diddy
program ! )

Andrew

wow..... I've still got one of those, c/w the roll stand to take
teletype rolls. No idea if it still works. I think I last used it with a
Tandy model 1.

It's a 7-bit printer. Only characters - no dot graphics mode. No
descenders on lower case characters. The normal interface is a normal
Centronics parallel, although they were available with a RS-232 serial
port at one time. IIRC you send a string of characters terminated by CRLF.
The line is then printed. It''s many years since I ran it though - I
could be wrong. Control codes are just the standard Epson ones.

Ideally you want a PC parallel port to drive it. You can, however, get
Serial to Centronics, USB to Centronics and Ethernet print servers for
Centronics.

[Andrew Mawson[_2_]]

"Rod Speed" wrote in message ...



wrote in message
...
On Sunday, 30 April 2017 23:12:44 UTC+1, Rod Speed wrote:
Andrew Mawson wrote

An original OKI Microline 80 has fallen into my hands,

Bet the hurt, they arent exactly light.

and apart from a faulty mains switch (fixed) seems to be in working
order.

This is a 7 pin impact printer with a Centronics Parallel input port.
Does
anyone remember if they were character by character printers

Yes.

or line by line?

Nope.

I'd like to prove it working and was going to wire up a simple 7 bit
wide
switch bank (with strobe) so I can toggle ascii characters into it
one by
one

Lot easier to get a parallel port or even a USB/centronics converter.

but before I do, it would be nice to know what it expects.

Character by character.

Needless to say no Windows 7 drivers out there that I can find

Anything that can drive a parallel port will work fine.

and I don't have a unix machine to hook it up to.

(I wish Microsoft had never dreamt up hardware abstraction layers !
Time
was when I could send characters directly to a port address from a
diddy
program ! )

Nope. The manuals are still online.

Rod, I've not managed to find the manual on line - do you have a URL ?

Andrew

[Andrew Mawson[_2_]]

"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...

On 30/04/2017 21:38, Andrew Mawson wrote:
An original OKI Microline 80 has fallen into my hands, and apart from a
faulty mains switch (fixed) seems to be in working order.

This is a 7 pin impact printer with a Centronics Parallel input port.
Does anyone remember if they were character by character printers or
line by line?

It will normally print a line at a time - not all DM printers could stop
and restart the head on one line. However if you sent it CR+LF (or possibly
just a CR depending on how the dip switches are set) it will end the line
and flush anything in its buffer on to the paper.

I'd like to prove it working and was going to wire up a
simple 7 bit wide switch bank (with strobe) so I can toggle ascii
characters into it one by one but before I do, it would be nice to know
what it expects.

Not got a a parallel port on your machine?

Needless to say no Windows 7 drivers out there that I can find and I
don't have a unix machine to hook it up to.

Open a command prompt and copy / echo etc something to LPT1: and that will
give you raw bytes to the port with little in the way of drivers in the
way.

e.g.

echo Hello World LPT1:

or

copy my-file.txt lpt1:


Thanks John, it's frightening how you (I) forget these things - yes that's
proved that it's working

Andrew

[Andrew Mawson[_2_]]

"mick" wrote in message
eb.com...

On Sun, 30 Apr 2017 21:38:36 +0100, Andrew Mawson wrote:

An original OKI Microline 80 has fallen into my hands, and apart from a
faulty mains switch (fixed) seems to be in working order.

This is a 7 pin impact printer with a Centronics Parallel input port.
Does anyone remember if they were character by character printers or
line by line? I'd like to prove it working and was going to wire up a
simple 7 bit wide switch bank (with strobe) so I can toggle ascii
characters into it one by one but before I do, it would be nice to know
what it expects.

Needless to say no Windows 7 drivers out there that I can find and I
don't have a unix machine to hook it up to.

(I wish Microsoft had never dreamt up hardware abstraction layers ! Time
was when I could send characters directly to a port address from a diddy
program ! )

Andrew

wow..... I've still got one of those, c/w the roll stand to take
teletype rolls. No idea if it still works. I think I last used it with a
Tandy model 1.

It's a 7-bit printer. Only characters - no dot graphics mode. No
descenders on lower case characters. The normal interface is a normal
Centronics parallel, although they were available with a RS-232 serial
port at one time. IIRC you send a string of characters terminated by CRLF.
The line is then printed. It''s many years since I ran it though - I
could be wrong. Control codes are just the standard Epson ones.

Ideally you want a PC parallel port to drive it. You can, however, get
Serial to Centronics, USB to Centronics and Ethernet print servers for
Centronics.


Welcome to the OKI Microline 80 club !

Yes I've managed to output to it via a command prompt so at least I now know
that it's working

Andrew

[Rod Speed]

"Andrew Mawson" wrote in message
news
"Rod Speed" wrote in message ...



wrote in message
...
On Sunday, 30 April 2017 23:12:44 UTC+1, Rod Speed wrote:
Andrew Mawson wrote

An original OKI Microline 80 has fallen into my hands,

Bet the hurt, they arent exactly light.

and apart from a faulty mains switch (fixed) seems to be in working
order.

This is a 7 pin impact printer with a Centronics Parallel input port.
Does
anyone remember if they were character by character printers

Yes.

or line by line?

Nope.

I'd like to prove it working and was going to wire up a simple 7 bit
wide
switch bank (with strobe) so I can toggle ascii characters into it
one by
one

Lot easier to get a parallel port or even a USB/centronics converter.

but before I do, it would be nice to know what it expects.

Character by character.

Needless to say no Windows 7 drivers out there that I can find

Anything that can drive a parallel port will work fine.

and I don't have a unix machine to hook it up to.

(I wish Microsoft had never dreamt up hardware abstraction layers !
Time
was when I could send characters directly to a port address from a
diddy
program ! )

Nope. The manuals are still online.

Rod, I've not managed to find the manual on line - do you have a URL ?

https://www.manualslib.com/products/Oki-80-7055717.html

http://my.okidata.com/mandown.nsf/bd12927d352ce6cf852569af0042842e/004a6ca232fa235d852569590039ffb7/$FILE/SIDMref.pdf

While the second one is not strictly speaking the manual for the
original OKI Microline 80, that detail being discussed didnt change.

[Andrew Mawson[_2_]]

"Rod Speed" wrote in message ...



"Andrew Mawson" wrote in message
news
"Rod Speed" wrote in message ...



wrote in message
...
On Sunday, 30 April 2017 23:12:44 UTC+1, Rod Speed wrote:
Andrew Mawson wrote

An original OKI Microline 80 has fallen into my hands,

Bet the hurt, they arent exactly light.

and apart from a faulty mains switch (fixed) seems to be in working
order.

This is a 7 pin impact printer with a Centronics Parallel input
port. Does
anyone remember if they were character by character printers

Yes.

or line by line?

Nope.

I'd like to prove it working and was going to wire up a simple 7 bit
wide
switch bank (with strobe) so I can toggle ascii characters into it
one by
one

Lot easier to get a parallel port or even a USB/centronics converter.

but before I do, it would be nice to know what it expects.

Character by character.

Needless to say no Windows 7 drivers out there that I can find

Anything that can drive a parallel port will work fine.

and I don't have a unix machine to hook it up to.

(I wish Microsoft had never dreamt up hardware abstraction layers !
Time
was when I could send characters directly to a port address from a
diddy
program ! )

Nope. The manuals are still online.

Rod, I've not managed to find the manual on line - do you have a URL ?

https://www.manualslib.com/products/Oki-80-7055717.html

http://my.okidata.com/mandown.nsf/bd12927d352ce6cf852569af0042842e/004a6ca232fa235d852569590039ffb7/$FILE/SIDMref.pdf



Many thanks Rod, much appreciated.

Amusingly, when I got this printer it wasn't working as the neutral pole of
the two pole mains switch was open circuit. It's a little rocker switch with
rather unusual extended ear mounting. I just wired out the faulty pole, but
yesterday went rummaging through my box of old switches, and found no less
than three of them, two still in the original CPC wrappings ! I now remember
that I cleared out a workshop in Fleet Street at least 20 years ago that
used presumably to support them, and the switches got files in the 'may come
in handy' category !

Andrew