This section describes PRINT370 operation features.
During software operation, you can monitor the status of the channel printers, vary the channel online and offline, and reset the printers (see section 8.1 and section 8.2). When you start the software for the first time, you should send a test file to verify that you have set up the software correctly (see section 8.3).
If you encounter problems during software operation, you can view messages on the console (see section 8.4) and capture a command trace (see section 8.5).
You can start the software from the Exit and Save Changes screen of the Installation Description or from the DOS prompt by typing the software startup command. For example, for BARR/RJE, the startup command is barrsnar. See the BARR/RJE Startup chapter of your BARR/RJE manual or your BARR/SPOOL manual for more information about starting the software.
You can monitor the status of the S/390 channel printers from the Status Line, the second line on the Operation screen.
For each channel printer, the Status Line shows the printer address, the number of lines or pages printed, and the printer’s physical status.
This section describes the most common status messages.
When you switch from local (host-attached) printing to remote (PC-attached) printing, these status messages display only on the Barr console. Messages display at the host only if host action is required, such as when a paper jam occurs and the host must backspace and re-send a portion of the file.
No device
No printer can be found at the address entered in the software. Verify that the printer address is correct, the cables are firmly connected, and the printer is online.
If this status displays for a Xerox laser printer that has been idle, check if the printer has entered Power Saver mode. Follow the instructions in your printer manual to reactivate the printer.
If this status displays for an Océ 2200 printer, verify that the printer’s Select Bypass Switch is disabled. You must disable the Select Bypass Switch when you use an Océ 2200 printer with the PRINT370 software.
Tag error
The software detected a Tag error. If the software has been operating correctly, this error usually indicates a hardware failure. If you just installed the software, check that you configured the printer correctly. See section 1.5 for printer configuration requirements. A common cause for this error is a bent or faulty pin on a cable. To isolate the problem, run the PRINT370 loopback test described in section 4.3.
Active
The printer is actively accepting data from the software.
Idle
The software is not sending data to the printer and the printer is not busy processing a previous command. This is the normal state when no jobs are printing. Occasionally, you might also see this state when a job is printing.
Wait
The printer is busy completing a command, and the software is waiting for the device end signal from the printer. During normal printer operations, the printer alternates between the Active, Idle, and Wait states. The software updates this status display once per second. If the Wait state seems to display for longer periods, it might indicate that the printer is taking an unusual amount of time to complete a command.
Not Ready
The printer is online but cannot accept data, usually due to a condition that requires operator intervention. For example, the printer might have a paper jam or be out of paper.
If an error occurs, the status display for the printer alternates between these three message types:
Sense codes returned by the printer
Text interpretation of the error
Address/Lines printed/Status
For example, if a file is sent to printer PR0E after you press the printer’s STOP button, the status display alternates between these messages:
???P10.5SENSE 40000000
Not Ready
PR0E 0 Active
Sense codes are defined by the printer manufacturer. If different messages display, see your printer documentation for more information.
During software operation, you can suspend printing to all S/390 channel-attached printers by setting the channel offline. You also can reset and initialize printers from the software. You access these functions from the Advanced screen.
From the Operation screen, select Advanced.
Select PRINT370. The PRINT370 screen displays.
The left portion of this screen shows the current status of the channel supplied by the Barr PRINT370 software and hardware. By default the channel is online. From this screen, you can use the vary commands to vary the channel online or offline. If the channel is online, you can only select Vary channel off. If the channel is offline, you can only select Vary channel on. Use the arrow keys to select the desired option.
Vary channel on
Enable the channel. Data can flow from the PC to the printer.
Vary channel off
Disable the channel. This selection pauses or interrupts the data flow to all printers in the chain so you can perform printer maintenance without having to exit the Barr software.
You also can reset or initialize printer information in the Barr software. Usually you need to reset the printer information after you turn the printer off and then back on while the software is operating. When you issue a reset printer command, the software resets printer status information and flushes data buffers that have not yet been sent to the printer.
The device names for the printers you attached display on the right side of the screen.
Select the printer you want to reset or initialize.
The Printer Commands menu displays.
You can reset the printer or initialize and reset it.
Avoiding data loss: If you need to reset printer information while the software is sending a file to the printer, you must first put the file on hold from the print spool to avoid losing data. When the software resets the internal PRINT370 state for a printer, it discards all data from the file that is currently printing until the start of the next print file. After the reset, you can use the spool reprint feature to resume printing.
Reset PRxx
Reset the selected printer.
Initialize and Reset PRxx
Reset the internal PRINT370 state for the printer and then send the initialization file you specified on the Printer Options screen.
Last Sense
If you enable the Log Printer Sense Errors option on the Advanced Printer Options screen, the software displays the last sense code returned by the printer.
From the Barr software, print a file to verify that you correctly configured the software to drive the printer. The test file PRINTER.TST is included with the Barr reference files. Use the Barr Send Files command or the print spool to send the test file to the printer. Repeat the test for each printer.
The test file contains both lowercase and uppercase characters. If your printer can print only uppercase characters, the printout of PRINTER.TST will look strange. Alternatively, you can send a simple text file that contains only uppercase characters.
If you have enabled the print spool feature, you can copy the test file to the print spool and print it from the Print Spool screen. Follow these steps to test the printer.
From the Operation screen, select Assign Devices.
Make sure the spool source device is directed to the printer you want to test (for example, SPOOL1PR0E).
Press CONTROL+ALT+P to reach the Print Spool screen.
Make sure that the printer State is Ready, the Class is Z, and the Priority is blank.
Press CONTROL+ALT+D to go to the DOS session.
Use the DOS copy command to copy the file PRINTER.TST to the spool directory (usually C:\SPOOL). Files copied to the print spool from DOS are automatically assigned a Class of Z.
If you are testing more than one channel printer, you need to control which printer will print the file. Be sure the Class is set to Z for only one printer at a time.
If you are not using the print spool feature, follow these steps to test the printer with the Send Files command.
From the Operation screen, select Assign Devices.
Select the source device SEND2.
Select the printer, for example PR0E.
The screen reflects the new assignment.
Press ENTER to return to the Operation screen.
Select Send Files to PR0E.
Type the file name C:\BARR\REF\PRINTER.TST.
If the file prints, you correctly configured the printer. If the file does not print, run the adapter test described in section 4.3.
If a printer error occurs, the software displays an error message on the console portion of the Operation screen. If you have enabled the console log file by setting LOG(FILE) on the Assign Devices screen, messages also are written to the log file.
Most PRINT370 error messages begin with the P370: prefix to help you distinguish them from other messages. If you enable the console log file, you can track printer problems by searching the log file for messages with this prefix.
You might see some of these errors on the console and in the console log file. Which messages you see depend on which adapter you purchased.
These messages are unique to the PRINT370 adapter. They do not display if you purchased the CHANNEL-OUT (BT) adapter.
Selective reset is a channel function that the mainframe performs to reset a channel device. For example, the mainframe might perform a selective reset in response to a device tag error. Usually a selective reset indicates a printer error.
Tag Input/Output (TIO) errors are usually followed by a selective reset. Repeated TIO errors for the same job might indicate a file error that you can correct by receiving another copy of the job from the host to the PC. TIO errors that occur for many jobs might indicate a hardware problem that you can diagnose by running adapter diagnostics.
These messages are unique to the CHANNEL-OUT (BT) adapter. They do not display if you purchased the PRINT370 adapter.
This message might display if a serious channel error occurs that prevents a command from completing. For example, a missing Channel End or an Interface Control Check can cause this message.
If PRINT370 encounters a print record that is too large to fit in the maximum channel command length, it displays this message.
These messages can display if you have either the PRINT370 or CHANNEL-OUT (BT) adapter.
Printer sense codes might display on certain conditions. Sense code messages have this format:
The first message line displays the following information:
PRxx is the printer address (for example, PR0E).
sense error text represents the sense error message text (for example, Load Check). This message also displays on the Status Line at the top of the screen.
CMD is the channel command that produced the error.
LEN is the length of the data record.
The second line displays the complete 24-byte sense code. The last sense code also displays on the Printer Commands menu.
The third line displays the first 64 bytes of the hexadecimal command data.
Data Check and Load Check error messages display in the sense code format. This is an example of a Data Check error message:
Data Check errors occur on IBM 3203, IBM 3211, and compatible printers. They indicate that the printer cannot print a character, usually because the character is not on the print train or band. If your printer can print only uppercase characters, use the FOLD command file to fold lowercase characters to uppercase. For more information, look up the sense code in your printer manual.
This is an example of a Load Check error message:
Load Check errors occur on IBM 3203, IBM 3211, and compatible printers. They indicate that an error occurred with an FCB (CMD:63) or UCS (CMD:FB) file. For more information, look up the sense code in your printer manual.
If the Barr software encounters an S/370 format error in a print file, it displays this message and discards the rest of the file.
If you encounter problems and contact Barr Technical Support, a support analyst might ask you to provide a command trace. Usually you only need to capture a trace if you are directed to do so.
By default, the PRINT370 command trace writes to a file named DUMP. If you also enable the Barr RJE communications line trace or memory dump, all the diagnostics write to the same file.
Command Trace can be configured to automatically begin at program startup. For instructions, see section 4.2 on entering adapter settings.
Follow these steps.
From the Operation screen, select Advanced and then select PRINT370.
Select Command Trace.
Set Enable S/370 Command Trace to Yes.
Leave Trace Data During S/370 Command Trace at the default setting of Yes unless the support analyst asks you to change it.
You can change the trace Filename if you like.
Reproduce the condition that caused the error.
Send the trace file to the support analyst. See the Contact Barr Systems Electronically booklet for instructions.