Print Problem with Deskwriter...

["W. Crowshaw" <wcrowshaw@yahoo.com>]

I'm trying to get my HP 600 Deskwriter printer working with my PowerPC 7500.
I've followed the instructions on the FAQ-O-Matic, but I haven't got
it to work.  I had to modify the instruction somewhat because they
are out-of-date and because i am using Debian with kernel 2.2.18pre21.

Here's what I have done so far
1) created in /etc/printcap the following entry
lp|deskwriter:\
	:sd=/var/spool/lpd/deskwriter:\
	:mx#0:\
	:sh:\
	:sf:\
	:lp=/dev/printerport:\
	:lf=/var/log/lpd-errs:\
	:if=/usr/local/bin/deskwriter-filter:
2) created the deskwriter-filter as a shell script invoking enscript and
gs.
#!/bin/sh
#/usr/local/bin/deskwriter-filter

/usr/bin/enscript -M Letterdj --pass-through --lineprinter -o - |\
/usr/bin/gs -q -dNOPAUse -sDEVICE=deskjetc -sOutputFile=- -
ext0
 
3) Prepared the device:
ln -s /dev/ttyS1 /dev/printerport
chmod 660 /dev/ttyS1
chgrp bin /dev/ttyS1

4) Prepared the spool directory and the error log file
mkdir /var/spool/lpd/deskwriter
chgrp lp /var/spool/lpd/deskwriter
touch /var/log/lpd-errs

5) Instead of putting this in /etc/rc.d/rc.locali (as instructed), I put
this line at the bottom of /etc/inittab

lp:23:boot:stty 57600 raw -echo crtscts < /dev/printerport

Finished...

Now to test as root user, I try this:
/usr/local/bin/deskwriter-filter < file.txt
But nothing is printed out.  The printer clicks as acts as though it does,
but it flashes with an error, and once the error button is cleared, it
prints out one measly line of random characters.

I have also tried this line, with somewhat more success:
cat file.txt > /dev/ttyS1
After the error and clearing it with the error button, it prints out only
a half of a sheet of paper, the remainder disappearing into the void.
Besides, without the enscript-ghostscript filter, it probably can only
print ascii characters, and not postcript.

So, I'm open to any ideas about what I should do next.  I have checked
all the archives, read similar situations, but never read a solution.
Are there any Deskwriter 600 success stories out there?

-- 
wcrowshaw