Notes on the Smith-Corona D-200 Dot Matrix Printer

 In my spare time, haha, I'm into retrocomputing. So that my old machines have a printer they can talk to (and to remind myself why laser print is such an improvement over dot matrix) I bought a Smith Corona D-200 Dot Matrix printer on Ebay. Cost: about $50 shipped.

Notes:

Manual

The manual is here: Archive.com

It's not a great manual. There's no troubleshooting. There's no spec for the printer cartridge. Not even a model number. 

Ribbons

Ribbons for the thing seem to be specific to this model and unobtanium. My ribbon is in decent condition given its age, and will probably work well enough with some WD40 or mineral oil. Old trick from long ago. If you find a source for NOS or compatible ribbons, do please reply to this message.

Self Test Weirdness

Self test won't work without paper loaded. If the online led is flashing, it means you're detecting an out of paper event. Unless the dip switches are set to ignore it, this will stop the printer from self-testing.

Self test does not override IBM mode's linefeed settings. If your printer is in IBM mode (SW2 switch 1 on) the meanings of all the SW1 switches are different, and SW1 switch 2 (I think) can block your printer from linefeeding during selftest.

I turned off IBM mode, and my printer now linefeeds like a champ. 

Interfacing this with my XT clone (Micro8088 home built) has been fun. Ultimately I had two unrelated problems: 

1. My XT clone won't boot with this specific printer card connected to the D-200 when the D-200 is on. The video system seems to not initialize, and the system hangs. Solution: will not fix. Turning the printer on after boot seems to workr fine.

2. My dip switches were set badly. Most especially, the flow control system MUST be set for ready/busy (that's all IEE1284 Centronix parallel understands, and bits MUST (I think) be set to eight. This printer's built in intelligence is low enough that settings which are only appropriate for serial connections still effect it in parallel port mode.

I've distilled the DIP switch settings in the manual down to one spreadsheet page. You can find them in the Downloads section of my website (http://www.jamesrstrickland.com) 

So…let’s talk about vision. About a month ago, I had a detached retina in my right eye, and the subsequent surgery to repair it. The problem is: it has drastically changed the vision in that eye so that my glasses don’t work with it. It makes it hard to read. This is bad for a writer.

So after a month of not-very-patiently waiting for things to stabilize, I was told yesterday by my eye surgeon that my vision in that eye probably is not stable enough to get a prescription yet. This was not good news. “See you in 4-6 weeks,” he said.

‪James R. Strickland (he/him)‬ ‪@jamesrstrickland.com‬

· 25s

There was no way I was going that long without being able to read or work. It’s bad for sanity. So I ordered this: www.amazon.com/dp/B077HRKX9...

Amazon.com: UCanSee 104 Trial Lens Set Metal Rim Aluminum Case Free Trial Frame : Health & Household

Buy UCanSee 104 Trial Lens Set Metal Rim Aluminum Case Free Trial Frame: Cases - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

‪James R. Strickland (he/him)‬ ‪@jamesrstrickland.com‬

· 25s

Modern opticians do this kind of testing with a machine that you haul up to your face like binoculars bolted to the ground at scenic overlooks. But before that, they used kits like this, with a temporary glasses frame and interchangeable, stackable lenses.

‪James R. Strickland (he/him)‬ ‪@jamesrstrickland.com‬

· 25s

With some tweaking, and working from my most recent glasses prescription, I was able to work up settings that allow me to read well. Not as well as before—my right eye will never be the instrument it was—but well enough. Thus, the picture above. I was never one who worried about looking funny. :P

‪James R. Strickland (he/him)‬ ‪@jamesrstrickland.com‬

· 25s

The optics in this set aren’t brilliant, but they don’t need to be. The frame is ridiculously small. But it’s good enough. At this point, for the next 4-6 weeks, that’ll do.