SOURCE: BLD FLASH 9709
SOURCE MATERIAL DATED: 10/97
 
               INFOPRINT 4000 V9.1 MICROCODE POD SW COREQ
 
IBM Printing Systems released V9.108 microcode for the IBM InfoPrint
4000-IR1/IR2 and the 3900-DR1/DR2 on 9/19/97. If either of these
printers will be used in Print On Demand (POD) mode taking advantage of
the "saved pages" function, V9.1xx printer microcode has a software
corequisite in the new InfoPrint Manager for AIX V2.1 software program
product (product number 5648-A35).
 
The reason the latest software is required is due to a functional
enhancement implemented both in software and microcode. This function is
called "Proof Mode II" and it provides operational performance
improvements for commercial customers who need to interrupt long
multiple copy print jobs with short "proof" print jobs.
 
With this new function, the printer is able to process and store
("cache") the individual pages in a print job, and then keep these
processed pages in the printer control unit across job boundaries.  So
when a long running job is interrupted, the processed pages of the job
remain in the printer. The shorter "proof" job is then processed, and
after it has completed, the printer can resume processing the
interrupted job without re-downloading its pages (all of this under
control of the print management software in the print server - the
Multiple Printer Controller, or MPC).
 
Prior to running an InfoPrint 4000-IR1/IR2 or 3900-DR1/DR2 with v9.1xx
microcode from a POD server, the IBM account team must ensure the
customer's MPC software has been upgraded to InfoPrint Manager for AIX
V2.1 or above.
 
Please note InfoPrint Manager V2.1 does not require that any attached
InfoPrint 4000-IR1/IR2s or 3900-DR1/DR2s be at v9.1xx microcode. The new
software can support both printers with earlier microcode levels.
However, printers with lower microcode levels obviously cannot take
advantage of the performance improvements of "Proof Mode II", since
these improvements first appear in v9.1xx microcode.