jak9213@helios.TAMU.EDU (John Kane) (04/08/90)
In article <46700132@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu> mms00786@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu writes: > >Hello. > >I had a little problem which I thought I'd refer to the net experts. I have >the unenviable task of getting a Mac, an IBM AT, and a LaserWriter II NT to >work together. That is, I want to share the printer between the two computers. >I know that the printer has a 25 pin serial port, but anyone who thinks he/she >can make it work is full of it - the procedure is probabilistic, and only >works with a probability less than unity. Also, I don't think the little >dip switch at the back of the printer that toggles between appletalk port >and serial ports is made to handle constant switching. > >Can someone please tell me how I might do this? I am not in a position to >spend any money on networking hardware for either machine. I heard that >there was a program for the mac which simply read the serial port and >dumped stuff to the printer port. With this, I could hook up my PC's >serial to the Mac's, and thus use the printer without having to fiddle with >either the dip switches or the serial port from h*ll. > >Does such a program exist? Or, is there another way to do what I want? > >Thank you! > >Milan >mms00786@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu >. OK, There is another solution, other than using your mac as a print spooler for the PC. It is more expensive, but ... You can get the AppleTalk PC card from Apple (there are others out there, but I don't know if the following software works with any but Apple's). This card puts a db9 on your PC that you then connect to an appletalk (or phonenet) box. Now your PC has appletalk. The board comes with some software, but it really sucks, so ... Then get Apple's AppleShare PC software. This gives you the ability to log onto an AppleShare server. It also gives you some neat printing options. It allows you to fool your PC into thinking several things. You can tell it, for instance, that you have an Epson LQ-2500 on LPT1:, and an Apple LaserWriter on LPT2:. In reality, you have nothing connected but the AppleTalk PC card. (This is how I have set it up here at home) So, with programs that don't understand PostScript, I have an Epson printer on LPT1:. For those that do understand PS, I tell them to use LPT2:. Very slick. Also, if you use a new shareware program, SingleShare, you then have a simple file sharing scheme. Publish some folders from you mac, then mount them on your PC. Works ok. Like I said, this is not the cheapest route, but it works very well, and painlessly. In an office environment, painless is the key. BTW. I do not work for Apple, or own any of its stock. -- John Arthur Kane, Systems Analyst, Microcomputer Support and Training Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843 (409) 845-9999 jak9213@helios.tamu.edu profs: x043jk@tamvm1.tamu.edu