Retro-Printer Software Updates

[RWAP]

v3.33a Release

- Fixed issue with CUPS interface on the 64 bit version
- Minor change to the Epson emulation - it was creating extra directories in /home/pi/data/pdf
- Updated the operating system to the latest version
- 32 Bit version of the software now incorporates GHostPDL v10.05 in line with the 64 Bit version

[RWAP]

v3.34 Beta Release

I have now added the v3.34 Beta Release (64 Bit version only) to the shared folder

- Removed fix in v3.33 re end of graphics being followed by a line feed. Found the issue was within GhostPCL - awaiting fix
- More custom changes for specific customers
- Corrected error with toggling between Centronics and Serial capture
- Corrected Exchange_strings code - we lost the last character if it was not a line feed
- Added check for Carriage Return at start of code - example where mixed in with form feeds before PCL data causing a blank page to be printed at start
- Added code to remove a Postscript Macro of 1234 checkvm macro (used to ascertain amount of memory available - which did not work under Linux)
- Fixed some minor issues with merge_pages
- Improved writing to CSV files.
- Corrected issue where data could be lost if new file printed whilst Retro-Printer is processing existing data
- Improved capture routine to improve speed of capture of the Centronics data.

[RWAP]

v3.35 Release

- Speed improvements which should hopefully be noticeable!
- Added timeout of -2 (provides unlimited timeout until an end of job text is found). use_eoj must be Yes
- Further improvements to End of Job string matching
- Added /root/config/offline_switch setting of USB - this enables the offline switch to take the unit offline and force an unmount of the USB memory stick if it is being used. When the unit is put back on line, the memory stick is mounted again.
- All streaming options (plain-stream, strip-escp2-stream, plain-jobs and strip-escp2-jobs) default to no printing and do not create PDF. These can be overwritten by the settings of /root/config/output_printer and /root/config/output_PDF
- Added the ability to use Form Feed to detect end of print job to all emulators
- Improvements to speed for the create_PDF function
- Added /root/config/background_emulator - set to YES if you want to allow the conversion routine to run in the background - it may impact the timing of the capture routine, dependent on how quickly your equipment is sending data to the printer.
- Prevented the capture being stuck in a loop in some circumstances

[RWAP]

v3.35a Release

Minor update to correct issues with printing in bold.

[RWAP]

v3.36 Release

We are pleased to announce the release of the v3.36 Retro-Printer software. This release includes:

- Some minor improvements to the speed of reading the incoming data
- Tested successfully on Raspberry Pi 5
- Some improvements for where convert_PC850 is set alongside Strip-ESCP2-codes and improvements to the convert_PC850 to handle some more common characters
- Added a check for EOF in the serial data stream as this can latch on (tested with serial port aggregator for more than one input device).
- Improved handling of /root/config/end_of_job where several possible endings
- Added ability to open a file instead of a serial port for serial data (allows a FIFO accumulator to pull feed from several serial devices).
- Changes to ESC . 1 graphics commands (Epson emulation) to support non-standard parameters, as passed in Windows 3.11 driver
- Improvements to IBM emulation - ESC [ g command in particular did not work correctly.
- Improvements to CSV generation where parsing captured data to create the filename

If anyone needs assistance with updating to the latest version, just let us know.

[RWAP]

v3.37 Release

This has quite a few changes - please note that Handshaking values may need to be updated if you upgrade to this version. 2 or 6 provide much more accurate timing.

- Updated Raspberry Pi OS to "Trixie"
- Changed the network device settings to work with updated Windows security settings - username is now retroprinter1 password is rootroot
- Added optional ability to write captured data to the console window
- Added support for Epson+Graftrax in the Emulation mode - supports the Epson Graftrax 80 ROM - supports Apple II+ and TRS-80 plus more.
- Updated GhostPCL to v10.07.0
- Started Emulation for Diablo 630 Printer
- Improved handling of file position for when unit is restarted where streaming incoming data - it prevents the same data being parsed again
- Added wsdd package so the retro-printer shows in the network list on Win10/11 machines
- Added support for /root/config/timeout of -2 (always wait until end of job text or other end of job indication is received)
- Added support for /root/config/ff_end_of_job for ALL emulations (except HP, PS and QT-2100). This also now supports "Always" which will ignore the timeout setting and just assume the end of a print job is signified by a Form Feed (USE WITH CAUTION).
- Rewritten the handling of EXCHANGE_CODES, IGNORE_CODES, PJL Wrappers and other byte processing to speed up the process and help with multiple matches when processing the same file - tested with over 100 EXCHANGE strings.
- Altered support for saving to USB memory sticks, so that if the USB stick is not inserted, then the software writes everything to a temporary folder - everything is then moved over to the USB memory stick on insertion.
- Added optional code for Options using the module with Visual Field Analysers, so that the data is parsed to automatically add the name of the patient and which eye has been tested to the filename.
- Improved handling of ESC i raster printing in Epson convertor.
- Added new Offline_switch setting of EXCHANGE_STRINGS to allow you to swap between /root/config/exchange_strings1 and /root/config/exchange_strings2 if you have some complex reports to use.
- Added support for ZX Spectrum 48 and ZX Spectrum+128 Tokens in the printer output