JPH08278867A - Information processor and method for starting and controlling information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To realize an optimum initialization processing by recognizing the state of a printing mechanism part by a data processing part when a main power source is started. CONSTITUTION: When a main power source is started, the state information on a detected printer unit 51 is held in a printer status register 50B. The state information on the printer unit 51 when the held main power source is started is notified to a CPU 21 by a printer block 50.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus such as a portable personal computer having an information processing section and a printing section including printing control, and a startup control method for the information processing apparatus. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a system in which an information processing device (host unit) and a printing device (printer unit) are connected by a parallel interface, print data and status information are exchanged via an interface cable. I was doing.

Further, even in a portable personal computer in which a host unit and a printer unit are integrated, print data and status information are similarly transferred via an interface directly connected to an internal bus.

[0004]

However, in a personal computer having a built-in printer using an ink jet type printer head, in the case of a system in which the power switch of the main body and the starting switch of the printer are independent, when the main body power is turned on. When the printer start switch is off, the parallel interface port is inactive at that time, and there is no way for the host to know if the printer head is out of ink or the head itself is not installed. It was

Even if the printer start switch is turned on when the power of the main body is turned on, in order for the host side to know the active state of the printer, it is read unless information is exchanged at the command level via the parallel interface. Therefore, it is impossible to grasp the printer status unless the print command is actually generated.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and an object of the first to fifth inventions of the present invention is to provide an initial stage of a data processing unit at the time of turning on the main power supply. The print control unit checks the state of the printing mechanism unit in parallel with the execution of the conversion, and notifies the data processing unit of the state information, so that the data processing unit recognizes the state of the printing mechanism unit when the main power is turned on. An information processing apparatus and a startup control method for the information processing apparatus that can realize an optimum initialization process are provided.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus comprising a print control means for controlling a printing mechanism section and an information processing means for performing predetermined information processing. Means for supplying main power to the printing means and the printing control means, a detection means for detecting the state of the printing mechanism section when the main power source is started up, and status information of the printing mechanism section detected by the detection means. And a notifying unit for notifying the information processing unit of the status information of the printing mechanism unit when the main power supply is held, which is held by the holding unit.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided switching means for switching the initialization processing by the information processing means in accordance with the status information of the printing mechanism section notified by the notification means.

A third aspect of the present invention is different from the switching mechanism for switching the initialization process by the information processing unit according to the status information of the printing mechanism unit notified by the notifying unit, and the printing mechanism unit. Setting means for setting an active state, and the switching means follows the state information of the printing mechanism section notified by the notifying means regardless of the active state of the printing mechanism section set by the setting means. The initialization processing by the information processing means is switchable.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the print control means is obtained by executing a unique initialization process in parallel with the initialization process of the information processing means when the main power source is turned on. The status information of the printing mechanism section is held by the holding means.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a print control means for controlling the print mechanism section, an information processing means for performing predetermined information processing, and a power supply for supplying main power to the information processing means and the print control means. In a startup control method for an information processing apparatus having means, a detection step of detecting the state of the printing mechanism section at the time of startup of the main power supply, and the detected state information of the printing mechanism section in a storage medium. It has a holding step of holding and a notifying step of notifying the information processing means of the held state information of the printing mechanism unit at the time of starting the main power source.

[0012]

According to the first aspect of the invention, when the main power source is turned on, the state information of the printing mechanism section detected by the detection unit is held in the holding unit, and the held printing is performed when the main power source is turned on. The notification unit notifies the information processing unit of the state information of the mechanism unit, and enables the information processing unit to recognize the state of the printing mechanism unit when the main power is turned on.

In the second aspect of the invention, the switching means switches the initialization processing by the information processing means in accordance with the status information of the printing mechanism portion notified by the notification means, and the state of the printing mechanism portion recognized by the information processing means is set. Accordingly, the optimum initialization process for the print control unit can be executed.

In the third aspect of the present invention, the switching means may perform the information processing according to the status information of the printing mechanism section notified by the notifying means, regardless of the activity state of the printing mechanism section set by the setting means. It is possible to switch the initialization processing by the means and start the effective initialization processing for the print control means at the time of turning on the main power supply in accordance with the state of the printing mechanism section recognized by the information processing means.

In the fourth invention, the print control means is
When the main power source is turned on, the holding unit holds the status information of the printing mechanism unit obtained by executing the original initialization process in parallel with the initialization process of the information processing unit, and the initialization process by the information processing unit is performed. The state information of the printing mechanism unit can be acquired during the conversion process.

In the fifth invention, when the main power source is turned on, the state of the printing mechanism unit is detected, the detected state information of the printing mechanism unit is held in a storage medium, and the held state is held. When the main power is turned on, the information processing unit is notified of the state information of the printing mechanism unit, and when the main power is turned on, the information processing unit can recognize the state of the printing mechanism unit.

[0017]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the outer appearance of an information processing apparatus showing a first embodiment of the present invention, showing a portable personal computer (hereinafter abbreviated as personal computer) in which a host unit and a printer unit are integrated. Corresponding to the case.

The personal computer 1 comprises an apparatus main body 101, a keyboard 102, a display section 103, and a printer unit 2.

The upper cover 104 is rotatably attached to the apparatus main body 101 via hinges 104a provided at both ends of its rear edge. As a result, when the apparatus is used, the upper cover 104 can function as a cover that is opened to a position where the display unit 103 can be easily seen by the rotation thereof and that is closed when the apparatus is not used.

The display unit 103 is an example of the device.
As the display element, a liquid crystal display element (LCD) is used because the display section can be made thin. The printer unit 2 has an opening that can be opened and closed by the operator, and the recording head can be replaced.

The recording paper 3 is inserted from a paper feed port 101a provided in the lower part of the keyboard 102, and the apparatus main body 101
The paper is conveyed in a conveyance path that penetrates the inside and is ejected from a paper ejection port at the rear of the apparatus.

The keyboard 102 is rotatably attached via hinges 104a provided on both sides of the apparatus main body 101. At the bottom of the keyboard 102, the recording paper 3
Since the conveyance path is provided, various operations using the keyboard 102, the display unit 103, and the printer operation switch 105 can be performed even when the recording paper 3 is set.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram for explaining the control configuration of the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1. The host computer unit (hereinafter abbreviated as host unit) in this embodiment is a PC / A.
It is composed of a system equivalent to the T exchange.

In the figure, reference numeral 21 is a central processing unit (CPU) which controls the main control by the host unit, and the BIOS-ROM 22 instructs the basic control.

Reference numeral 23 is a numerical processor (FPU),
It is connected to the CPU-bus 24 and expands arithmetic instructions such as floating point arithmetic and logarithmic arithmetic.

Floppy disk drive (FDD) 2
5 or a hard disk drive (HDD) 26 via a floppy disk controller (FDC) 27 or a hard disk controller (HDC) 28 to read an application program or a data file and execute the program using a system memory (SYSTEM RAM). .

At this time, the screen is displayed by the video controller (Video C) 29 and the display memory (VRAM) 3.
Characters, graphics, etc. are displayed on the liquid crystal display (LCD) 31 by 0 and key input from the keyboard (KB) 32 is performed by the keyboard controller (KBC) 3
It is taken in via 3.

34 is a real time clock (RTC)
Is a timer that indicates the current time. A DMA controller (DMAC) 35 is provided between the memory and the memory and the memory-I.
Data is transferred between I / O without intervention of the CPU 21. 36 is an interrupt controller (IRQC),
An interrupt from each I / O is accepted, and processing is performed according to the priority order assigned to each I / O.

37 is a system timer (TIMER),
It has a free running timer of several channels and manages various times. In addition, as port blocks connected to external connectors, RS-232C specification serial port (SIO) 38, Centronics specification parallel port (PIO) 39, ISA specification expansion port (EI)
O) 43, SI / F connector 40 and PI, respectively
It is connected to the / F connector 41 and the EI / F connector 42.

In addition, L which informs the user of the operation status
There is also an LED / SW PORT 44 to which an ED output port and an operation switch input port are connected.

Reference numeral 45 is a switch (MAIN-SW) for starting up the internal power supply of the main body. When the MAIN-SW 45 is turned on, the DC input from the adapter 48 or the battery 49 becomes the internal operating power supply (VCC / VPP) of the personal computer. It has a function of activating the DC / DC power supply 46 for conversion.

The printer in this embodiment is directly connected to the host by the ISA-bus 47, and the operating power supply V _CC of the printer section is the main body power supply section D.
It is supplied from the C / DC power supply 46. A printer block 50 controls the printer unit 51 and can communicate with the CPU 21 via the ISA-bus 47. Incidentally, 50B is a printer status register. A RAM 52 has a memory map described later. In some cases, a modem port (not shown) or a video port for capturing image information may be provided.

FIG. 3 shows the RAM 5 of the host unit shown in FIG.
It is a figure which shows arrangement | positioning of 2 memory maps.

As shown in this figure, the RAM 52 has a standard area of 640K from 000000H to 0BFFFFH.
B, there are 15 MB of 100000H to FDFFFFH as an extension area, and the RAM 52 is memory-mapped so as to be arranged in these areas. The head portion 000000H to 0003FFH of the standard area of the RAM 52 has an area for storing an interrupt vector, and the entry address of each processing for the interrupt is stored in this area.

Video RAM area and video BIOS
The area is arranged inside the video controller, a video BIOS area stores a program for video control, and a video RAM area stores video display data.

The extended ROM area is 0C8000H to 0DF
It is located in the area up to FFFH and is used by the expansion port. BIOS ROM area is 0F0000H to 0F
BI located in FFFFH and processing various I / O
Holds the OS program.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an I / O address map of the host unit shown in FIG.

The I / O address shown here is used for exchanging data (READ / WRI) via the I / O address register of each device set by hardware.
TE) is performed between the host and each device.

The parallel port is a register for sending print data and commands from the host to an external printer connected to the printer interface PI / F. The parallel I / F register (PIO / PIO /
I / O) to any one of the parallel ports 1 to 3 set in the I / O area on the host side, the CPU-b
It is possible to send print data and commands to the printer unit connected to the us 24.

That is, a system in which print commands and data are transmitted when the external printer is connected to the PI / F connector 41 by transferring print commands and data via the PIO / IO register 50B of the printer section. And can be treated in the same way.

The setup registers (SET / IO) of 100H to 107H are used for port setting of the printer unit, and are used to set the parallel I / F ports (PIO / IO) to the parallel ports 1 to 3 and the printer status port. The I / O address of (PST / IO) is set. Printer status port (PST / I
O) is a register for exchanging status information and emulation setting information between the printer unit and the host unit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the parallel port shown in FIG.

As shown in this figure, the parallel port is
The data port ((a) in FIG. 5), the status port ((b) in FIG. 5), and the control port ((c) in FIG. 5) are composed of 3 bytes, and 8 bytes are provided between the host unit and the printer unit.
Data transfer is performed by a data handshake in bit units.

The data port is a port for writing 8-bit data to be transferred, and can be read and written from the host side. The status port is a port for knowing the operating status of the printer, and can only be read from the host side. The control port is a control signal on the host side when transferring data, and is a port that can be read and written by the host side.

Explaining each bit of the status port shown in FIG. 5B, when the -BUSY bit is "0", Data indicating that data cannot be received on the printer side (busy state) is shown. Busy Bit, and when the -ACK bit becomes "0", Acknowledge indicating that the data reception process on the printer side is completed.
dGE Bit, PE bit is Paper Empty Bit indicating that there is no paper when it is "1", and SLCT bit is Select Bit that outputs "1" when the printer is selected,
-Printer ErrorCon indicating that there is a printer error when the ERR bit becomes "0"
It is a position Bit.

Explaining each bit of the control port shown in FIG. 5C, when the IRQEN bit is "1", the IRQ Enable Bi for generating the IRQ (interrupt signal) synchronized with the -ACK signal is generated.
If the SLCTIN bit is "1" at the time of printer initializing, the DC1 / DC3 code is invalidated.
Elect In Bit, and initializes the printer when the -INIT bit is set to "0".
It's an align Printer Bit, ATFD
If the XT bit is "1" at printer initial, it is C
Automa to automatically start a new line when entering an R code
tic Feed XT Bit, and STB bit is a strobe for reading data to the printer side.
It is a Bit, and the transfer data is fetched when it changes from “1” to “0”.

FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing the data transfer timing of the parallel port conforming to the Centronics specifications shown in FIG.

As shown in this figure, the control flow of data transfer on the host side is such that after confirming that the -BUSY bit is not "0", the transfer data is written in DATA,
The STB bit is changed from "1" to "0" so that the transfer data is taken in by the printer.

The function of the -BUSY bit becomes active when the STB bit becomes "1", and returns to "1" when the printer side has taken in the data. At that time, one pulse is generated in the -ACK bit. To do. By repeating this control flow, data and commands for printing are transferred from the host to the printer one after another.

FIG. 7 shows the printer block 5 shown in FIG.
It is a figure which shows the structure of the setup register (SET / IO) of 0.

In FIG. 7A, the setup register 2 of 102H has a PST / IO enable bit, a PIO / IO enable bit, and a PIO / IO
The address select bits enable access from the host unit only when each enable bit is "1", and the address select bits are used to set PIO / IO to any of the parallel ports 1 to 3. Is a bit.

In FIGS. 7B and 7C, 103H
And 104H are registers for setting the I / O address of the port PST / IO. A continuous register of 8 bytes from the set address is a bidirectional register for exchanging status information and emulation setting information between the host section and the printer section. It is a register that can be used as.

FIG. 8 shows the printer block 5 shown in FIG.
It is a block diagram which shows the structure of 0.

In the figure, reference numeral 81 is a microprocessor (CPU-P) that performs the main control of the printer unit, and is a port (PST / I) in the printer control unit 82.
O) 82A, exchanges status information and emulation setting information between the host unit and printer unit, and captures print commands and data from the host unit via port (PIO / IO) 82B to obtain the desired printer. The process of is executed.

Reference numeral 83 is a read-only memory (ROM-P) which stores a printer control program corresponding to the print control means executed by the CPU-P 81, print font data, and other data.

Reference numeral 84 is a timer (T for controlling the motor of the printer unit and the temperature control heater of the ink head).
IMER-P). Reference numeral 85A denotes an independent real-time clock (RTC-P) in the printer unit, which is operated by a dedicated battery even when the main power supply of the entire system is turned off. 85B is the RTC-P8
5C built-in S-RAM, RTC-P85A
Similar to the above, the contents are retained by the dedicated battery even when the main power supply is off.

Reference numeral 86 is a drive circuit for the printer unit (PR
T-DRIVER), a CM drive circuit for driving the carriage motor, and an F for driving the feed motor.
An M drive circuit, a head driver circuit for driving the recording head, a heater driver for driving the heater, and the like.

87 is a printer operation switch panel (PR
T-PANEL) LED 87B for notifying the user of the operating status of the printer, a switch PRTON-SW for switching the start of the printer unit, a switch ONLINE-S.
W, and switch FEED-SW for paper feed operation
Etc. is composed of a switch group 87A.

The printer start switch is a switch that is effective only in the printer section. When the power switch of the main body is turned on, the power of the entire system is turned on, but the printer start switch at that time is in the "off state". For example, the printer unit shifts to the standby state even when power is supplied, and if the printer start switch is in the "ON state", the printer unit performs the initial operation according to the procedure shown in FIG. 14 described later.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the configuration of the printer status port (PST / IO) shown in FIG. 8, which is accessed by both the host unit and the printer unit.

As shown in this figure, the port PST / IO
The PS status register 91 of the 82A is a register indicating the operating state of the printer unit and the emulation handshake state, and the data written in the PS status register (-PTACS) 91 by the CPU-P81 of the printer unit is set to PST / in the host unit. The contents can be confirmed by reading the PS status register (-STACS) 91 of the IO82A.

Further, the EM control register and the EM condition register 93 are registers written by the CPU 21 of the host unit. The setting change of the emulation mode is written in the EM emulation register (-EMUCS) 92 and the EM condition register (-CNDCS). By writing the setting information for each emulation mode to 93, the printer unit can confirm the setting change contents by reading the EM control register (-PEMUCS) and the EM condition register (-PCNDCS) 93. The changed state is notified to the host unit by bits 0 and 1 of the PS status register 91.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing bit assignment of the PS status register shown in FIG.

As shown in this figure, bits 0 and 1 are EM
Control register and EM condition register 9
3 is a bit indicating the state of setting change. When changing the setting, first confirm that bit 0 is "0" and then write it. Then, when the setting change on the printer side is completed, bit 0 It returns from "1" to "0", at which time the EM-ACK of bit 1 changes from "0" to "1".

Bit 7 is a bit indicating the printer's activity state, which is "1" when the printer start switch is on, indicating the state in which print data can be received, and "0" when it is off. , Printing data reception is prohibited.

Bit 6 is a bit indicating a printer error state, and "1" indicates a non-printable state.

Bits 5 and 4 are bits indicating the state of the printer head, and bit 5 indicates that each bit is set when ink runs out and ink is likely to run out, and bit 4 is set when no head is mounted. Change to "1".

By reading these bit information, it is possible to directly read the operating status of the printer section in the host section even when the main body power is turned on.

Correspondence between the present embodiment and each means of the first to fourth inventions and their functions will be described with reference to FIG.

The first aspect of the present invention is a print control means (printer block 50) for controlling the printing mechanism section (printer unit 51) and an information processing means for performing predetermined information processing (in this embodiment, stored in the BIOS-ROM 22). In the information processing apparatus having the CPU 21) for executing the controlled printer, the power supply means (DC / DC power supply 46) for supplying the main power supply to the information processing means and the print control means, and the main power supply when starting up, Detecting means for detecting the state of the printing mechanism section (by the controller of the printer block 50)
And a holding unit (PIO / IO register 50) for holding the status information of the printing mechanism unit detected by the detecting unit.
B) and notifying means (by the controller of the printer block 50) for notifying the information processing means of the state information of the printing mechanism section when the main power source is held and held by the holding means are provided. Printer unit 5 detected when the main power supply is started up by pressing
1 status information (ink remaining status, printer unit 51
Holding means (printer status register 50B in FIG. 2 (details are shown in FIG. 10).
Of the printer unit 51 at the time of turning on the main power, and the printer block 50 notifies the CPU 21 of the held state information of the printer unit 51 at the time of turning on the main power so that the state of the printing mechanism unit is turned on when the main power is turned on. Allows information processing means to recognize.

A second invention is a switching means (CPU 21) for switching the initialization processing by the information processing means according to the status information of the printing mechanism section notified by the notification means.
According to the status information of the printer unit 51 notified by the printer block 50, the switching means switches the initialization processing by the information processing means,
21 performs an optimum initialization process for the printer block 50 according to the state of the printer unit 51 recognized by the printer 21 (for example, a process of setting the printer unit 51 to a printable state or putting the printer block 50 into a power saving mode state). Make it executable.

A third invention is a switching means (CPU 21) for switching the initialization processing by the information processing means according to the status information of the printing mechanism section notified by the notification means.
)) And setting means (printer start switch (not shown)) for switching and setting different active states for the printing mechanism section, regardless of the active state of the printer unit 51 set by the printer start switch. First, the CPU 21 switches the initialization processing according to the status information of the printer unit 51 notified by the printer block 50, and activates the effective initialization processing for the print control means according to the status of the printer unit 51 recognized by the CPU 21 by turning on the main power source. It is possible to start when raising.

In the fourth invention, the printer block 50 is
When the main power source is turned on, the holding unit (register 50B) stores the state information of the printing mechanism unit obtained by executing the original initialization process in parallel with the initialization process of the information processing unit.
The state information of the printing mechanism unit can be acquired during the initialization processing by the CPU 21.

Hereinafter, each process after turning on the power of the main body will be described.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing an example of the data processing procedure after power-on on the host side of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention. Note that (1) to (9) indicate each step.

First, in step (1), POST processing is performed. The POST processing is "power on self-tes
Abbreviation of "t", which is a process of executing a test and initialization of each hardware, will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

Next, in step (2), the boot program for starting the system program is loaded. The boot program is the track 0 / sector 0 of the FD (floppy disk) or HD (hard disk).
The data arranged in is used.

Subsequently, in step (3), the loaded boot program is executed, and in step (4), the OS load program is loaded into the FD (floppy disk) or HD.
Load from (hard disk) and in step (5)
Execute the OS load program. The OS load program is a program for loading the OS into the memory. First, in step (6), the I / O driver is loaded. The I / O driver is a program for controlling I / O, and the OS exchanges data with various I / Os by the I / O driver. In step (7), I / O is tested and initialized, and in step (8), the OS is loaded in the memory.

With the processing up to this point, the OS is prepared for execution, and the process proceeds to step (9) to execute the OS.

The OS of this embodiment processes the input from the keyboard 32 and outputs various messages to the LCD display 31 to exchange with the operator. The OS performs necessary processing for the operator's various command inputs. Do.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing an example of the detailed procedure of the POST processing routine shown in FIG.
Note that (1) to (16) indicate each step.

In step (1), the CPU 21 and the FPU 2 are
Then, the ROM 22 is tested in step (2).

Next, in step (3), the power supply / battery is checked, in step (4) the video controller is tested and initialized, and in step (5),
Test and initialize the interrupt controller.

In step (6), the timer 37 is tested, in step (7), the DMA controller 35 is tested, in step (8), the keyboard controller 33 is tested, and in step (9), Test and initialize serial and parallel ports.

Next, at step (10), it is judged whether or not it is a soft reset. If it is judged that it is a soft reset, the RAM test and initialization at step (11) are skipped.

Then, in step (12), the FD test is performed, and in step (13), the HD test is performed.
In step (14), the real time clock is tested. Then, in step (15), a printer test routine is performed, which will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Finally, in step (16), the LED is tested.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing an example of detailed procedure of the printer test routine shown in FIG. Note that (1) to (6) indicate each step.

First, the PST / IO base address is set (1), then the PST / IO enable bit is set (2), and the I / O address is arbitrarily assigned.

As for PIO / IO, the parallel ports 1 to 3 are set (3), the PIO / IO enable bit is set (4), and arbitrarily assigned to the I / O address.

Next, since the PS status register of the PST / IO 82A can be read (5) and the operating status of the printer can be directly checked, the ink remaining amount is below the specified value or the head is not mounted. If so, the printer error status is output (6), and the process ends.

As a result, it is possible to inform the operator of the content of the error at this stage (in step (6)).

As a method of transmitting this, it is possible to issue a message to the display or blink the LED.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing an example of the data processing procedure after power-on of the printer side of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention. Note that (1) to (8) indicate each step.

First, in step (1), interrupts are masked, and in step (2), device I / O is initialized. When the hardware is reset at the branch of step (3), the operation proceeds to step (4) to check the operation of the device such as ROM-P and RAM-P and the printer unit by the printer initials. If there is an error, PST / IO
Notify the host side via (5).

That is, since the printer side is also performing the initial process while the host side is performing the process after the power is turned on, when the ink remaining amount is below the specified value or the head is not mounted. Also, the error information can be notified to the host side here.

In step (6), the setting value and setting condition of the emulation mode are confirmed and the processing is performed. In step (7), the state of the printer start switch is read, and if it is on, the process is terminated, and if it is off, the system on the printer side is set to the standby (8) to bring it into the power saving mode.

This standby state means the printer CPU
In this mode, the power consumption during standby is reduced by delaying the clock of 1), delaying the refresh cycle of RAM-P, or turning off the drive power of the printer driver. When the printer start switch is switched from off to on, the same process as when the power is turned on is performed, but the reset condition is checked in step (3) and the process proceeds to step (8).

That is, since the initial processing on the printer side is performed even when the printer start switch is off, the error status output in step (5) is
This can be confirmed by reading the data in step (5) of FIG. 13 on the host side.

Correspondence between this embodiment and each step of the fifth invention and its action will be described below with reference to FIGS.

A fifth aspect of the present invention includes a print control means (printer block 50) for controlling the print mechanism section (printer unit 51), an information processing means (for the CPU 21 shown in FIG. 2) for performing predetermined information processing, and In a start-up control method for an information processing apparatus having a power supply unit (DC / DC power supply 46) for supplying main power to the information processing unit and the print control unit, the state of the printing mechanism unit is changed when the main power is turned on. Detection step for detecting (step (15) shown in FIG. 12)
In detail, step (4) of FIG. 14) and a holding step (pre-processing (not shown) of step (5) of FIG. 14) for holding the detected state information of the printing mechanism unit in a storage medium. ) And a notification step (step (5) in FIG. 14) of notifying the information processing means of the held state information of the printing mechanism section at the time of starting the main power source, and pressing the switch 45. The information processing unit can recognize the state of the printing mechanism unit when the main power supply is started based on the above.

According to the above embodiment, in the portable personal computer having the built-in printer, the register 50B for directly exchanging information between the host and the printer is provided so that the printer operates even when the main body is powered on. It is possible to directly know the status information, and it is possible to recognize the error status without waiting until the start of printing.

In the above embodiment, the case where the system power is turned on regardless of whether the printer start switch is on or off and the printer unit itself is initialized to detect an error such as ink shortage has been described. However, as another embodiment, the S-RA of the printer block 50 is used.
The initialization operation of the printer unit 51 may be omitted according to the information of M85A to detect the error.

That is, the state before the system power supply is turned off last time is stored in the real-time clock 85A backed up by the dedicated battery S-RAM 85B.
The error contents and status information of the printer can be detected without re-checking by holding them in.
This makes it possible to detect the printer status earlier when the system power is turned on.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing an example of another data processing procedure after power-on of the printer side of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention. It should be noted that (1) to (8) show respective steps, and the same steps as those in FIG. 14 are denoted by the same step numbers. Therefore, steps different from those in FIG. 14 will be described.

The major difference from the processing procedure shown in FIG. 14 is that the status information of the printer when the main body power is turned off is held in the S-RAM 85B backed up by the printer in the reset condition check in step (3). By doing so, it is not necessary to carry out the ink exhaustion or the head presence / absence each time by the operation confirmation of the printer unit 51 by the printer initial in step (4).

That is, in the printer initial of step (4), when the value in the S-RAM 85B is not normal (S-
RAM Error), and when the power is turned on thereafter (S-RAM Good), the process of step (4) is skipped and the error information of step (5) is output by directly using the state information of S-RAM85B. Will be done. Here, the S-RAM Error is the S-RAM 85B.
When the sum value of the data written in is incorrect, when the dedicated battery is connected for the first time or S-RAM85
It is limited to the case where the data was not correctly written to B.

The operation of writing the printer status information data into the S-RAM 85B is performed before the CPU-P 81 on the printer side enters the shutdown state, such as when the main body power is turned off or when the printer enters the standby mode. Done.

[0108]

As described above, the first aspect of the present invention
According to the invention, when the main power source is turned on, the state information of the printing mechanism unit detected by the detection unit is held in the holding unit, and the held state of the printing mechanism unit at the time of turning on the main power source. Since the notification unit notifies the information processing unit of the information, the information processing unit can recognize the state of the printing mechanism unit when the main power is turned on.

According to the second invention, the switching unit switches the initialization process by the information processing unit according to the status information of the printing mechanism unit notified by the notification unit. It is possible to execute an optimum initialization process for the print control unit according to the state.

According to the third aspect of the invention, regardless of the activity state of the printing mechanism section set by the setting means, the switching means uses the information according to the state information of the printing mechanism section notified by the notifying means. Since the initialization processing by the processing means is switched, the effective initialization processing for the print control means can be started at the time of turning on the main power supply according to the state of the printing mechanism section recognized by the information processing means.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the print control means obtains the printing mechanism section by executing its own initialization processing in parallel with the initialization processing of the information processing means when the main power source is turned on. The state information of the printing mechanism unit can be acquired during the initialization processing by the information processing unit because the state information of the above is held in the holding unit.

According to the fifth invention, when the main power source is turned on, the state of the printing mechanism unit is detected, the detected state information of the printing mechanism unit is held in the storage medium, and the held state is held. Since the information processing unit is notified of the state information of the printing mechanism unit when the main power source is turned on, the information processing unit can recognize the state of the printing mechanism unit when the main power source is turned on.

Therefore, when the main power supply is turned on, the data processing section can recognize the state of the printing mechanism section and realize the optimum initialization processing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an appearance of an information processing apparatus showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a control configuration of the information processing apparatus illustrated in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an arrangement of a memory map of a RAM of the host unit shown in FIG.

4 is a diagram showing an I / O address map of the host unit shown in FIG.

5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a parallel port shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing a data transfer timing of a parallel port based on the Centronics specification shown in FIG.

7 is a diagram showing a configuration of a setup register of the printer block shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printer block shown in FIG.

9 is a printer status port (PS
It is a figure which shows the structure of (T / IO).

10 is a diagram showing bit assignment of the PS status register shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a data processing procedure after power-on on the host side of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

12 is a flowchart showing an example of detailed procedures of a POST processing routine shown in FIG.

13 is a flowchart showing an example of detailed procedures of the printer test routine shown in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an example of a data processing procedure after power-on on the printer side of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of another data processing procedure after power-on on the printer side of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 21 CPU 22 BIOS-ROM 50 Printer block 50B Printer status register 51 Printer unit

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A print control unit for controlling a print mechanism unit,
In an information processing apparatus having information processing means for performing predetermined information processing, a power supply means for supplying a main power supply to the information processing means and the print control means, and a state of the printing mechanism section when the main power supply is turned on. Detecting means for detecting, holding means for holding the status information of the printing mechanism section detected by the detecting means, and status information of the printing mechanism section held by the holding means when the main power is turned on. An information processing apparatus, comprising: a notification unit for notifying the information processing unit. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a switching unit that switches initialization processing by the information processing unit according to the status information of the printing mechanism unit notified by the notification unit. 3. A switching unit for switching the initialization process by the information processing unit according to the status information of the printing mechanism unit notified by the notifying unit, and a setting unit for setting a different activity state for the printing mechanism unit. Irrespective of the activity state of the printing mechanism unit set by the setting unit, the switching unit performs initialization processing by the information processing unit according to the state information of the printing mechanism unit notified by the notifying unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is configured to be switchable. 4. The print control means, when the main power source is turned on, executes the original initialization processing in parallel with the initialization processing of the information processing means, and obtains the status information of the printing mechanism section. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is held by a holding unit. 5. A print control unit for controlling the print mechanism unit,
A startup control method for an information processing apparatus, comprising: an information processing means for performing a predetermined information processing; and a power supply means for supplying a main power supply to the information processing means and the print control means. A detection step of detecting the state of the mechanism section, a holding step of holding the detected state information of the print mechanism section in a storage medium, and a held state information of the print mechanism section at the time of starting the main power supply. And a notification step of notifying the information processing means of the above.