🚀 go-pugleaf

A parallel port or even direct ethernet connection is not all the  
answer to your woes.

We bought a QMS colorscript thermal printer.  So I connected it to the  
IBM RS6000's parallel port.  Printed a file that had embedded a several  
megabyte bitmap.

Twenty minutes later it printed.

So much for fast parallel.  IBM must have a bug in their printer  
driver.

So I moved to a next and hooked it up at 9600 baud.  Same file.
40 minutes.

Got out the manual and upped the comm link to 19,200 baud.  Same file:
20 minutes.

Got a patched version of lpd that would handle 38,400 baud.  Futzed  
about getting the printer to talk at this pace.

Same file. 19 minutes.

Turns out that the printer only has a motorola 68000 in it.  At speeds  
above 19200 baud the rasterizer can't keep up with the data stream. So  
it says, 'Enough! Let me think' and a few seconds later opens up for  
another chunk.

Moral:  If you are going to be handling large files, be sure you test  
the printer with those files.  Too many colour printers are crippled  
with slow cpu's.