NEWPRINT/Multi anyone?

Yes, I've used it as a basic text output card.

Unfortunately there are a lot of potential snags, none of which are the fault of NEWPRINT itself.  You can avoid most of the problems by using a second generation printer interface like Dumpling, Orange Interface, or Grafstar, and by choosing the Centronics interface instead of a 26-pin header.

Try to avoid using NEWPRINT with a Grappler+ if at all possible -- any other Grappler-branded interfaces will work, but Grappler+ poses a huge list of luck-of-the-draw problems.  (The list of Grappler+ blunders is amusing, but maybe off-topic in a discussion of NEWPRINT.)

[BTW: I admit my last comment disagrees with the maker of NEWPRINT, who endorses using it with Grappler+ because he has devised workarounds for some of its issues.  But I still recommend against a Grappler+ due to other risks it poses -- including a firmware bug that erases floppy diskettes, hopelessly-incompatible versions of the card, and an exploding chip if SW1 is used incorrectly]

mreg376 wrote:

Thanks.  Interesting.  The NEWPRINT website says Grappler+ or compaible.  You mean a generic card would be better?

It's not simply a worse-or-better situation.  If you have a Grappler+ that works with NEWPRINT, then it's your best choice.  If you have a Grappler+ that doesn't work then there might be an easy way to make it work, or there might be a hard way to make it work, or it might be hopelessly incompatible incompatible -- depending on the luck of the draw!

I suggest you skim the Grappler vs Grappler+ thread, in which an AppleFritter user struggled through three Grappler+ cards trying to get them to work with his NEWPRINT device.

Most of the issues with Grappler+ are the result of bad design choices at Orange Micro, the maker of the Grappler series.

• Some Grappler+ cards are wired for IDS printers only, and those cards cannot be made fully compatible with NEWPRINT.  Such cards can only be distinguished by tracing the connector pinout, or by identifying a missing component -- the IDS version does not have component R1 nor D1..  The NEWPRINT site doesn't mention this issue, probably because IDS versions of Grappler+ are thankfully uncommon.
• Early Grappler+ cards activated an interrupt if the printer signalled an error when the printer was idle.  (Why did anyone think that was a useful feature??)  Unfortunately they didn't implement it properly, so it could cause IRQ conflicts, erase floppy diskettes, crash software, and corrupted the 80-column screen.  Orange revised the ROM in 1983 to disable that [pointless] feature, but they didn't publicly acknowledge it...perhaps because it might have tipped off a lot angry users who otherwise didn't suspect that their printer card was to blame!  The NEWPRINT site doesn't mention this issue, probably because NEWPRINT doesn't send printer errors to the computer so interrupt problem could only occur if you disconnect NEWPRINT after printing without turning off the computer.
• The first batch of Grappler+ cards had a 100 ohm resistor at location R1, which could cause a short-circuit after printing from BASIC with SW1 turned on, causing the LS373 flip-flop to overheat and eventually explode.  That ruined the Grappler+, but luckily it didn't hurt the computer.  Orange hastily substituted a diode for the resistor, which is why so many Grappler+ cards have a diode at the location labeled "R1" instead of a resistor.  (After 1984, they changed the component label to "D1" to match the component)  The NEWPRINT site doesn't mention this issue, probably because these "exploding Grappler" cards have already exploded by now.
• Because the later batch of Grappler+ cards had a diode instead of a resistor (a kludge) the polarity of one of the data bits is unreliable.  The NEWPRINT site does mention this issue, and includes pictures of affected printouts, and offers a kludgy option to interpolate the unreliable bit, albeit at a slight loss of detail.  [Correction: the picture is here.]
• At some point in its production run, Orange removed a pin from the 26-pin connector to use as a "key" to ensure the correct orientation.  Unfortunately, NEWPRINT originally needed that particular pin as a signal ground, so keyed Grappler series cards didn't work.  The NEWPRINT site does mention this issue, eventually fixed it, and now includes that fix in all NEWPRINT devices.  So it's not a problem any more.

For more Grappler issues and workarounds, click the "A2 Notes" section on the NEWPRINT site.

mreg376 wrote:

Wow.  So much for "+" usually meaning better.  I really appreciate the effort you put into this post.  I have nothing right now, and was looking to get a Grappler+/NEWPRINT combination to check this thing out.  Not sure now if it will worth the possible trouble.  I will check out that other thread.  Thanks!  

Hardware reviewer Aaron Filer concluded that if you like the features of the Grappler+ you should buy a Microtek Dumpling GX instead.  (His 1984 book devotes half a page to complaints about Grappler+'s interrupt bugs.)  This is the card I now use with NEWPRINT.

The Dumpling GX is pin-compatible with NEWPRINT at both the Centronics connector and the 26-pin header, so you can choose whichever hookup option fits your situation.  If you get a Dumpling with its original Centronics cable, then order your NEWPRINT with a Centronics cable for maximum compatibility.  If you get a Dumpling without a cable, then order your NEWPRINT with the 26-pin socket to attach directly to the card.

A minor complication is that some Dumpling GX cards are equipped with a 34-pin header instead of a 26-pin header.  If you get one with the 34-pin connector, it will work with NEWPRINT's 26-pin ribbon cable, but it's more trouble because the connectors aren't the same size -- you need to align pin 1 at one end, leaving pins 27 through 34 unconnected at the other end.

A fringe benefit, Dumpling GX cards are usually cheap because it didn't have as much brand recognition as Grappler.

Here's are some other cards whose pinout appears to be compatible with NEWPRINT's 26-pin connector, but I haven't actually tested them:

• Applied Engineering Parallel Pro
• Applied Engineering Buffer Pro
• California Computer Systems Centronics Interface 7731  (but not 7720)
• Slotware by Microtek, with 20-pin or 26-pin connector (but not with 14-pin connector)
• Wesper Microsystems Wizard BPO and Wizard IPI
• Practical Peripherals Printerface
• Nexo Systems (or PBC Price Busters)  GPC Expander

DSCF4219.JPG

I have one of these cards.  Connected to a Grappler Plus parallel printer card.

It works exactly as advertised, and can even output graphics from programs like The Print Shop.

I also like the fact that it has a power switch on the card itself so it doesn't have to be turned on all the time if you only use it occasionally like I do.

mreg376 wrote:

Am I correct that you an actually print (on paper) the output displayed on the NEWPRINT web interface?  The manual does not directly speak to it.

Not really, no.

The web interface shows a simulation of output printed on your choice  of simulated paper, but it doesn't offer any special features for printing it out onto physical paper.  You can save the output into a file, or copy-paste it into another application -- so you could certainly use some other application to print the saved output.

Printing the output can be a little awkward, even for simple text documents, because NEWPRINT/Multi only has a 64K buffer.  If you print a document longer than 64K, then you would need to incrementally save the contents of its print buffer before it overflows.  For instance, below is a screencap of the NEWPRINT/Multi web interface after printing EDASM assembler output that overflowed the 64K buffer.

• At the top of the screen, NEWPRINT/Multi displays an accurate tally that shows the listing used 67K, which overran the 64K buffer.
• The listing appears to begin at line 328 because it overran the buffer, and lost everything before that.
• The "Copy To Clipboard" button provides an easy way to copy-paste the buffer into another application.  So I would typically copy-paste into Notepad++ and print it from there.

NEWPRINT listing sample 1.png

If you try to print directly from the browser, it will just print on one piece of paper, formatted as a web page with only the top lines of the printout.  It doesn't matter where you scroll the printout, the browser only prints just the top of the printout.

NEWPRINT listing sample 2.png

So if I want to print onto paper, I will copy the output from NEWPRINT/Multi into some other program.  The web interface is designed to simulate the appearance of an old-fashioned paper printout, but it isn't really suitable for printing on paper.