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3066.ZIP
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PRINTFIX.DOC
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1987-10-24
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Computers are getting faster and we have already found several that are
too fast for common printers. They are so fast that the printer is unable
to acknowledge receipt of a character before another is sent. This is
generally not a problem for programs that are relatively slow but for
programs that are written in assembly language for speed, it can cause
incomplete lines, missing characters and unexplained printer errors. A
second problem common with these FAST PCs is often the BIOS internal to
the computer does not compensate for the higher instruction through-put in
the printer time-out loop. This causes "PRINTER NOT READY", "DEVICE NOT
READY" or "PRINTER ERROR" messages to be displayed when printing form
feeds and other long print functions due to BIOS waiting a fraction of the
time normally allowed for such functions. These problems can be corrected
by using the utility program PRINTFIX.COM located on this diskette. By
typing "PRINTFIX" at the DOS prompt the program will calculate the speed
of your computer, compensate the BIOS printer time-out registers and add a
hook into the BIOS printer interrupt causing printer execution at the same
rate as a standard speed PC. The program will be made resident if
compensation is required, using only about 300 bytes of user memory. If
the program is executed additional times it will update timing values to
the current speed of the computer and will not require the use of
additional memory. Like all resident programs, you must reboot your
computer to remove it.
** Released into the public domain by DATUM Systems, David S. Bagby **