How to setup a terminal for the plotter
How to setup a terminal for the plotter
Models: 5700/57000 series
The P/N for the 57000 User's Guide is M0014-870 (the 57000 User's Guide
may be used for both 5700 and 57000 plotters).
A. WHAT IS A DUMB TERMINAL?
In order to use Terminal Operations it is necessary to hook up a
dumb terminal to the plotter port which is marked TERMINAL. There
are a number of commonly used dumb terminals which we can suggest.
These would include the Wyse 30, Ampex 210, LSI (ADM11), and the
Espirit (ESP6110). CalComp does not offer assistance to customers
in configuring their terminals - only with the general guidelines
contained within this problem note.
1. A dumb terminal is essentially a monitor and keyboard with
just enough additional hardware to send and receive (and
display) ASCII (text) data. The computer can be turned into a
(dumb) terminal by using most any current communications
software program. Commonly available programs suggested by
CalComp are; (for PC s, DOS or Windows) ProCOMM, PC-Anywhere,
and the Windows Terminal program. For the Mac, CalComp
suggests ZTERM (a shareware program), White Knight or
Microphone.
B. WHAT ARE TERMINAL OPERATIONS?
Terminal Operations are required in order to configure and control
the 5700/57000 series plotters. Terminal Operations enable the
operator to configure ports, scale, rotate, and mirror plots,
configure pens and colors (mono patterns), create custom users (by
user number), and monitor the plotter's hard disk for all current
incoming jobs (All jobs stored on the plotter's disk are lost when
the plotter is turned off).
C. HOW TO CONNECT THE TERMINAL:
1. On the back of the plotter are 3 ports, the one marked 8503 is
dedicated to Terminal Operations. It is a standard RS-232
serial 25-pin port (female, DB25). This is the ONLY port on
the plotter which may be used with for Terminal Operations.
2. Some communications (dumb) terminals have two RS-232 serial
ports. One is usually marked MODEM and the other AUXILIARY.
The port marked MODEM is usually the one to be used.
3. Most terminals and PC s are setup as DTE (Data Terminal
Equipment) devices. The 5700/57000 series plotters terminal
ports are usually configured as DCE devices (Data
Communications Equipment). The cable to use when the terminal
or PC is DTE is a DB25 (25-pin) MODEM-type RS-232 serial cable
(straight-through, using at least wires 2 through 8 & 20,
CalComp P/N 11772-0250).
CalComp does not provide assistance on another manufacturer's
product. If there is any question or confusion about your
particular terminal's cable or setup requirements, please
consult your terminal manufacturer's documentation and other
help resources.
D. HOW TO CONFIGURE THE TERMINAL:
The following guidelines show you how your dumb terminal (or
software communications program running in terminal mode) is to be
configured in order to match what the plotter typically expects.
1. THE TERMINAL EMULATION: The terminal must be setup to emulate
a VT terminal type (VT means Vax Terminal). VT emulations are
among the most common and virtually every dumb terminal model
and communications software supports them. Here are a some of
the commonly listed VT models; VT-100, VT-102, VT-220, or VT-
52, etc. (Any VT model listed as being supported should work).
2. THE TERMINAL PORT PARAMETERS: The baud rate and character
framing which the terminal should be set to is 9600 baud, 8,
none, and 1. The handshake can be either HARDWARE or XON/XOFF.
The transfer must be FULL DUPLEX. Please refer to your
owner s manuals for additional details on exactly how to
configure your particular terminal system for these
parameters.
3. TERMINAL CONFIGURATION SUMMARY:
Terminal Type = VT-100 (or any other VT model listed)
Baud Rate = 9600
Character Framing = 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, No Parity
Handshake = Hardware or XON/XOFF
Duplex = Full
NOTE: The terminal port parameters given in notes D2 and D3 above
are correct in MOST cases, however, the 5700/57000 series plotters
were custom-configurable at the time of the original installation.
At that time, the terminal baud could have been set to 19200 and/or
the character framing set to 7, E, and 1. Although this is
unlikely, there may have been a few cases where this has occurred.
E. HOW TO GET THE PLOTTER AND TERMINAL TO TALK TO EACH OTHER:
Once the terminal matches the configuration summarized above (Note
#D), it should be able to talk to the plotter. The most common
problems at this point are (1) not getting a clean initial signal
transfer, (2) incorrect baud rate, and (3) incorrect character
framing. Here are some guidelines which usually resolve these
problems:
1. GET A CLEAN INITIAL SIGNAL TRANSFER FROM COMPUTER TO PLOTTER:
a. Turn the plotter off.
b. Once you are certain you have the correct cable and the
terminal (or terminal program) is configured as
described above in Note #D, you should REBOOT the
terminal (or, if you are using a communications program
running in terminal mode, quit the program and REBOOT
the computer system. A warm reboot is OK.).
c. After rebooting your terminal (or computer and
communications software), check the cable connection and
terminal configuration once again to be sure it is
correct.
d. Now turn the plotter on. At this time you should
immediately see (on your terminal or computer screen)
readable English words and a logical sequence of
characters which indicate the plotter is going through
its normal bootup diagnostics and system check,
eventually ending with the message; PRISM READY (or
something similar).
2. IF THERE IS NO RESPONSE OR THERE ARE GARBAGE CHARACTERS
DISPLAYED ON THE TERMINAL SCREEN:
a. NO RESPONSE (NOTHING IS DISPLAYED ON THE TERMINAL OR
COMPUTER SCREEN):
If you see nothing on the terminal or computer screen,
yet after about 2 minutes the plotter's online light is
steady (indicating the plotter is ready), repeat steps
a-d above, under Note F1. (IT IS SOMETIMES NECESSARY TO
REPEAT THESE STEPS SEVERAL TIMES before everything comes
into proper sync.)
If there is still no success, test your cable or try
another one that is known to work with the CalComp
plotter. BE CERTAIN THE CABLE IS THE CORRECT TYPE AND IT
IS NOT DEFECTIVE. Do not assume it works. The only sure
way to know if you have a good cable is to test it.
Basically, there are two ways to test a cable. One way
is to check the wire connection from one end (pin
connecter) to the other. Each pin must be checked this
way (use a common electrical Ohmmeter or Continuity
Checker). If you are uncertain how your cable should be
wired, please refer to Note #C, above, of this
guideline.
The other way is to use a second cable that is currently
working and meets all of the required cable
specifications. If this cable does not work, you
probably have either a defective terminal or plotter.
FAILURE on the plotter for this problem is VERY LOW. Try
either another dumb terminal or a PC running a
communications software program in terminal mode BEFORE
calling CalComp for further assistance.
b. UNREADABLE (GARBAGE) CHARACTERS ARE DISPLAYED ON THE
TERMINAL OR COMPUTER SCREEN:
If there are characters but they do not form any
readable messages, there is a baud mismatch. To fix
this, either change your terminal baud rate from 9600 to
19200. There is no way to pre-determine what the
plotter's terminal baud rate is. However, the factory
default setting for the plotter Terminal port is 9600
baud (prior to the first customer-site installation).
F. THE TERMINAL DOES NOT WORK CORRECTLY - A SUMMARY OF POSSIBLE
PROBLEMS AND THEIR CAUSES: The most common reasons for terminal
communication failure are listed below, in the order of probability
(with the letter 'a' being the most common cause).
There are two basic symptoms for terminal communications problems.
They are given as follows as symptom #1 and symptom #2. The first
and most common is:
1. SYMPTOM #1: No response - the screen is blank, no
messages are being received by the terminal
from the plotter.
a. Incorrect terminal configuration
b. Poor initial signal link between terminal/computer and
plotter
c. Incorrect or defective cable
d. Incorrect COM port number assigned on the terminal or
computer
e. Defective terminal or computer serial interface
f. Computer COM port interrupt interference (computers only)
g. Defective terminal (hardware)
h. Defective plotter hardware or operator system (Requires
onsite repair)
2. SYMPTOM #2: A string of unreadable (garbage) characters
is displayed on the terminal (or computer)
screen.
a. The dumb terminal (or computer) baud rate does not match
that of the plotter's Terminal port.
H. HOW TO GET THE TERMINAL OPERATIONS PROMPT:
The plotter will be ready for Terminal Operations after completing
it's start-up initialization sequence. The last message it sends to
the terminal indicates that initialization is complete (PRISM
READY, or something similar). At this time hold the Ctrl key and
press P (Ctrl-P). The plotter should them respond back with the
terminal operations command prompt, which is a dollar sign ($).
I. HOW TO VERIFY AND CHANGE THE PLOTTER'S PORT CONFIGURATION:
1. At the Terminal Operations command prompt ($), enter the
following command; DISPLAY COM
The terminal should now display the plotter's current port
configuration (as listed in Note I-3, below.
2. To change the port configuration enter COM at the terminal
prompt. You will now be able to change each of the port
parameters given below, in Note I-3.
3. The plotter's port settings are called COM parameters (in
Terminal Operations) and are summarized as follows:
COM
PARAMETER EXPLANATION EXAMPLE
--------------------------------------------------------
MODE sets the plotter for a DIR
specific data protocol
DIR, XONXOFF, (DIR, XONXOFF,
and ACKNAK are serial
protocols. CENT is for
centronics parallel)
SYNC sets Sync Code value and $16,$16
the number of Syncs 6,
(2 sync codes shown, with a
value of hexadecimal 16)
EOB sets the End-of-Byte code $0D
CSUM sets Checksum to either ON Y
or OFF (Y = ON)
FRAME sets plotter's character 7,1,E
framing (required for
serial port only)
CLOCK should always be set to ASYNC
ASYNC for IBM PC's &
Compatibles
When using Terminal Operations to configure the plotter's
port, the Sync code and EOB values are to be entered as
hexadecimal numbers. The plotte's operating system
differentiates decimal numbers from hexadecimal by marking
them with a preceding character; the dollar sign ($). For
example; the Sync Code value of 16 would be entered as $16.
The Sync Code value of 2 would be entered as $2. The 0D
(for EOB) would be entered as $0D (using a terminal, see
chapter 6 of the 57000 User's Guide).
b. To verify the plotter Stepsize, enter the command
STEPSIZE (at the terminal prompt). The plotter should
then ECHO back the current stepsize setting. To change
the Stepsize, enter as follows (at the terminal prompt);
STEPSIZE = 400 (or 2032, for example).
c. To find out what revision your plotter's controller is,
enter REV at the terminal prompt. The plotter should
then ECHO back (to the terminal) the firmware revision
for your plotter (example, 908K, rev 3.11).
Please refer all other general questions concerning Terminal
Operations to the 57000 User's Guide, chapter 6. If you do not have
a copy of the User's Guide you may order it. The order part number
for the 57000 series plotters is M0014-870 (This User's Guide may
be used for both 5700 and 57000 series plotters).