🚀 go-pugleaf

[I am writing this on behalf of someone with a machine up in the outer
redwood boondocks.]

After upgrading from 2.x (exact release unknown - somebody else's machine, and
he ran the upgrade without noting the old release) to 3.0, the NeXT laser
printer no longer functions.

Powering the printer down and up with /usr/etc/nppower works, so there
doesn't appear to be a physical problem.

PrintManager stubbornly refuses to allow a NeXT printer to be added - the
printer names list has an entry for "NeXT 400 dpi Level II Printer", but
it is grayed out, and none of other little menu items let me select the
Printer port.

I did "nidump printcap .", and found two entries: one for "Local Printer",
and one for "Local_Printer".

I couldn't get rid of "Local Printer" with niload, so I got into NetInfoManager
and deleted both printer entries, in hopes that PrintManager would let me
start fresh, or would automatically build an entry for the NeXT printer.

No such luck.

I built a printcap entry by hand from the residue of the original nidump,
and niload'ed it.  It doesn't work, and an attempt to do Modify in PrintManager
complains that it can't understand the printer description.

Has anyone else seen loss of the NeXT printer after 3.0 upgrade?

If you have a known good printcap entry which I can niload, or a set of
specific items to verify through NetInfoManager, and a list of any other
files which need to be in place (any copies or links under /usr/lib/NextPrinter
or wherever) to make the NeXT printer work under 3.0, or any other applicable
rituals, I would very much appreciate hearing.

Shame on NeXT for not providing any comprehensive documentation explaining
the increasingly intricate printer world in 3.0.  If something breaks, it
seems impossible to diagnose and impossible to fix.

Brad Yearwood    brad@optilink.com    {uunet, pyramid}!optilink!brad
Petaluma, CA