Versatec usage (help)

[Michael Ellis]

    We have a Versatec V80 matrix printer/plotter running on our Vax
    780/Unix 4.0bsd system (is there a law somewhere that I gotta say
    `trademark of Bell Labs'?) and it's the most bitchiest hardware we
    have, I mean constantly hanging, so we have to power cycle the thing
    and kick /usr/lib/vpd -- frequently having to resubmit the `job'.
    With persistence, you can still get anything to run, however.

    Now I don't mean to bad mouth Versatec.  I think I've seen the thing
    work well on some systems.  Does anyone know if the driver `vp.c' has
    severe brain damage (and have fixes for it)?  Does anyone else have
    problems with their Versatec V80?

    I already installed William Sebok's vmpage fix for raw DMA devices,
    and it's likely that fix corrected many failures.  But the thing is
    still bloody cantankerous as hell.  Especially on warm summer days.

    Michael Ellis - Fairchild AI Lab - Palo Alto CA - (415) 493-7250