www.virtualacorn.co.uk/forum

OK, so we know that the RISC OS printer driver is generating output, So, for some reason, the printer is rejecting the output - or it's not getting sent. So:
Are you using the correct printer definition file for the printer?

I think I am using the correct one - Epson Stylus Color 740 from your disc image. I could try different ones but from previous experience most Epson PDFs of this family give similar results (on a classic RPC)?

Ok - so the driver is Epson Stylus Color 740
What's the printer?

sorry, I am using the same printer as PD File name I mentioned, Epson Stylus Color 740. The printer has both USB and Parallel but of course the P. should be inactive in this case.
(On a RPC probably half the Epson inkjet PD Files would work for this printer, I guess. But your PDF is new to me; to this end I tried the Stylus Color 440 PD File and again got perhaps the hourglass for a larger print, on the Mac a VRPC Job Completed status but no paper output. It's consistent..!

Thanks for the reply - but now I am confused:
What PD file? (I don't see a mention of any PD files)
What "Epson inkjet PD files"?

When I typed PD file I was referring to Printer Definition Files (in your PDFs folder) as opposed to Adobe's Portable Document Format.
My printer is closely related to previous versions of Stylus printers and will normally work with many PDFs in your Stylus folder. That's all I'm saying. I think before your disc I was successfully using a 440 PDF in the real RPC machine. You provided one with the 'exact name' of my printer.
Apologies for confusion.

An article delaing with setting up a "raw" printer driver is now availabale at:
http://www.virtualacorn.co.uk/support/a ... /index.htm
Hopefully this will help.

The article was of help Thanks kind Sirs, but I'll segment my response since I may have residual problems:
Apple Apple > About this Mac > More Info > Printers> URI gives me
usb://EPSON/Stylus%20COLOR%20740?location=3d100000
As indeed does: System profiler and select Hardware and then Printers.
So I used this string.
http://localhost:631/printers indeed showed /dev/null as per the article
EPSON_Stylus_COLOR_740
Description: EPSON Stylus COLOR 740
Location: <MY> Computer
Printer Driver: EPSON SC 740 (1)
Printer State: idle, accepting jobs, not published.
Device URI: file:///dev/null
So I 'added a printer'.

In CUPS (I didn't know I had such a thing) slight deviation from the recipe - I had to use Admin tab > Add printer, then as per instructions. However with Epson powered up I had no USB as such but something like EPSON STYLUS COLOR USB popup enumeration and with the printer Off no USB choice at all.
So I winged it and did give the requisite URI somehow (I think I chose 'Zeroconf registered printer...' and anyhow managed to add

VRPrinter (Default Printer)
Description: Epson Stylus Color 740
Location: MacMini
Printer Driver: Local Raw Printer
Printer State: idle, accepting jobs, published.
Device URI: usb://EPSON/Stylus%20COLOR%20740?location=3d100000
After 'reboot' of the VRPC was able to find and hook up HostFS::VRPrinter
After saving this stuff started printing from VRPC
So the upshot is maybe a slight tweak of the recipe if you want to use it in a manual but otherwise so far so good.

However (and apologies for so much posting)
A README text file works fine and instantly to the Epson (Yellow/Buff on Iconbar, some sort of normally reliable EPSON driver)
But a oneliner in Ovation Pro or tiny Draw file causes horrid control character chaos at printer?
Have I got something wrong, please help.

From your description it sounds like the printer is printing in text only mode (rather then graphics mode) - hence the garbage as it's actually
printing the ASCII codes for each byte of the drawfile, rathern than the file itself.
Just to check, you are printing from the applicaction concerned and not dragging stuff to the printer icon on the iconbar, aren't you?

Aaron
well my recollection is I printed via !OvationPro and possibly !Paint menus to the same effect, non-text files were in each case 'garbled'. I believe the text file I did drag and the raw output was comprehensible. Non-raw text jobs caused 'chaos' (not in the mathematical sense...)
I say I recollect since I now have VRPrinter disabled from the CUPS. It seems the preexisting /dev/null one is needed as default from the Mac side. Printing from Mac fails with a hopping yellow triangle printer icon something about 'cannot connect/try resetting printer'. After defaulting back to the /dev/null instantiation and reboot I can print again from Mac. No yellow triangle.
Hence VRPrinter (leaving aside the Raw problem) is not quite a solution longer term? What do you think?

I am sorry, but I really am finding this confusing. If printing from the Mac fails then VRPC (which is a Mac OS application) won't be able to print either.
The tech support page showing how to install a raw printer is designed to assist users who have a problem. The technique described certainly works for some users.
However you will still need a RISC OS Printer Definiton File for your printer. What's the exact make/model of the printer and the exact RISC OS Printer Definition File you are using?

Aaron,
No, the point is the remedy for the Acorn problem (adding the "second" printer in CUPS and deactivating the out of the box /dev/null one (referring to the detailed instructions from your colleague Roy) allowed me to get some (possibly raw) printer activity from VRPC but, I assert, later was discovered to have disabled the MAC side. This is perhaps unsurprising insofar as the out of the box CUPS entity, though still present, is inactive in favour of the one added by the specialist instructions. If the Mac side is left disabled as I assert, the CUPS adjustment has to be reversed.
I am asserting that whilst Roy's remedy moves the problem forward (printer comes in to life from VRPC side) as an unwanted by-product it 'breaks' the Mac side. Has he been able to subsequently use the Mac side with the original (I term it /dev/null) driver deactivated and VRPrinter (as he named it in the article) active from CUPS?
sample from his text for context:
This article covers printing problems with VirtualAcorn running under Mac OS X. This article assumes that you have correctly configured a RISC OS printer driver for your printer and that RISC OS generates the print job without any errors. If further assumes that the print job arrives in the Mac OS X print queue, but then vanishes without being printed. [Chris: my experience exactly]
<cut>
<cut>
The next screen asks for the make and offers a drop list. Select the very top one which is 'Raw'.. Do not select the actual printer.. The next screen asks for Model, but should already have 'Raw Queue (en)' inserted. Don't change this and just accept it (by selecting it) and continue.
The Admin screen should show that this printer has successfully been added. If you now select the printer tab, you should find this new printer in the list, with the Device URI: usb://... you filled in. Now Click 'Set As Default'.
<end of quote>
I think my Acorn printer driver is probably OK.

Can you please point me to the section in the article that says to disable/removed/delete other printer drivers as I can't seem to see it?
I have to say that I am of the opinion that you are not reading the article carefully enough and are not following the instructions. The symptoms you have described are as though you have installed a Text printer rather than a Raw printer.