Dover printer

[larsbrinkhoff]

SYS3; TS DOVER
SYSEN1; DOVER 137
INFO; DOVER 22
HUMOR; DOVER POEM

See also #242 for DVS, Dover device. And #1438, spooler.

[larsbrinkhoff]

Made by Xerox. Connected to an Alto running a program called Spruce.

Accepts XGP scan files.

[larsbrinkhoff]

From HUMOR; DOVER POEM:

Dover, oh Dover, arisen from dead.
Dover, oh Dover, awoken from bed.
Dover, oh Dover, welcome back to the Lab.
Dover, oh Dover, we've missed your clean hand...

And now your toner's toney,
And your paper near pure white,
The smudges on your soul are gone
And your output's clean as light..

We've labored with your father,
The venerable XGP,
But his slow artistic hand,
Lacks your clean velocity.

Theses and papers
And code in a queue
Dover, oh Dover,
We've been waiting for you.

Disk blocks aplenty
Await your laser drawn lines,
Your intricate fonts,
Your pictures and signs.

Your amputative absence
Has made the Ten dumb,
Without you, Dover,
We're system untounged-

DRAW Plots and TEXage
Have been biding their time,
With LISP code and programs,
And this crufty rhyme.

Dover, oh Dover,
We welcome you back,
Though still you may jam,
You're on the right track.

[larsbrinkhoff]

People reminiscing about the Dover and XGP:
http://philip.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0006XJ

[larsbrinkhoff]

More Dover and XGP info. Like to Spruce source code.
http://xeroxalto.computerhistory.org/xerox_alto_file_system_archive.html

[larsbrinkhoff]

The Dover helped create the GNU project:

In 1980, Stallman and some other hackers at the AI Lab were refused the software's source code for the Xerox 9700 laser printer (code-named "Dover"), the industry's first. Stallman had modified the software on an older printer (the XGP, Xerographic Printer), so it electronically messaged a user when the person's job was printed, and would message all logged-in users when a printer was jammed. Not being able to add this feature to the Dover printer was a major inconvenience, as the printer was on a different floor from most of the users. This one experience convinced Stallman of people's need to be free to modify the software they use.

From Wikipedia.

[larsbrinkhoff]

@livingcomputermuseum's ContrAlto will run Spruce. It emulates the Dover hardware interface and generates PDFs.

[larsbrinkhoff]

The Dover was a prototype for Xerox’s first commercial laser printer, the 9700, which printed 120 pages per minute on standard paper.

http://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/input-output/14/351

[larsbrinkhoff]

JNC wrote to me about the Unibus Ethernet interface used to access the Alto:

LCS had (at least) one too - all part of the big Xerox donation. I'm not sure how many we had, but it was definitely small single digits.

There are two software implementations: the AI IO-11, and in MINITS.

There's a MOS driver (in MACRO-11) too, used in i) the C-Gateway, and ii) a crude predecessor whose name I forget

They both agree that the hardware registers begin at 164200. Is this the PCL-11?

No. It's a whole separate piece of hardware; a hex UNIBUS board. The bus address looks odd; the source for the LCS box gives it as 0175400 (0775400 in UNIBUS terms).

[livingcomputermuseum]

We have a few Xerox Experimental Ethernet UNIBUS boards in use at the LCM (one is in the front-end machine to the 1095 running WAITS). I have documentation and schematics for the board, it’s not particularly complicated. By default it’s jumpered at 160020 but it can be moved anywhere within the I/O page. I can share the documentation if you want a copy. - Josh From: Lars Brinkhoff <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, December 5, 2018 10:41 AM To: PDP-10/its <[email protected]> Cc: Josh Dersch <[email protected]>; Mention <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [PDP-10/its] Dover printer (#628) JNC wrote to me about the Unibus Ethernet interface used to access the Alto: LCS had (at least) one too - all part of the big Xerox donation. I'm not sure how many we had, but it was definitely small single digits. There are two software implementations: the AI IO-11, and in MINITS. There's a MOS driver (in MACRO-11) too, used in i) the C-Gateway, and ii) a crude predecessor whose name I forget They both agree that the hardware registers begin at 164200. Is this the PCL-11? No. It's a whole separate piece of hardware; a hex UNIBUS board. The bus address looks odd; the source for the LCS box gives it as 0175400 (0775400 in UNIBUS terms). — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub<#628 (comment)>, or mute the thread<https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ATnJh_NHLrHDGZ-QpHuFCLttOMQ0OcGDks5u2BMkgaJpZM4Rsavb>.

[larsbrinkhoff]

Thanks @livingcomputermuseum! I would like a copy.

[larsbrinkhoff]

Xerox Dover in MIT AI Lab. https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102803906

[larsbrinkhoff]

@jdersch released a new version of his Alto emulator: https://github.com/jdersch/Contralto2 It includes a ready-to-go disk image with a Spruce server. Maybe this could be used to enable Dover printing for ITS. (Of course, there's the minor issue of getting a PUP network going between the CHAOS-11 and the Alto.)