mouser@Portia.Stanford.EDU (Michael Wang) (07/28/88)
Lately there has been some discussion on whether or not it was possible to connect the LaserWriter printer directly to a Macintosh Plus without LocalTalk cables. The answer is a definite YES!!!! I did the test myself with a LaserWriter Plus and a Macintosh SE and it works fine. What I used was a Macintosh Peripheral - 8 Cable, which is a male DB-9 connector on one end and a male DIN-8 connector on the other end. The cable is Part# M0196 and retails for $29.95 ($20 for a generic non-Apple cable). This cable is used to connect an 'old' Macintosh (128K, 512K, 512Ke) to Apple peripherals like the Apple ImageWriter II and the Apple Personal Modem. Connect the DB-9 end on the cable to the female DB-9 connector on the LaserWriter. Connect the DB-8 end on the cable to the printer port on the Macintosh Plus. Make sure that the printer mode switch on the back on the LaserWriter is set to the AppleTalk position (it should be there normally). DON'T switch it to the 9600 baud position or this won't work. All the software settings are the same as if you were using regular LocalTalk cables. There probably is some confusion on cabling because of the way Apple used to use the word 'AppleTalk'. It used to refer to both the AppleTalk Protocol (ATP), and the physical cabling ('AppleTalk' cables). Apple has now renamed their cabling 'LocalTalk' differentiating it from the actual AppleTalk Protocols, since you can send AppleTalk packets across different kinds of cables and wires. These include standard shielded cable (LocalTalk), twisted pair wires (PhoneNet and others), thick and thin Ethernet cables (EtherTalk, Kinetics and others), and even fiber optic cables (DuPont). Of course Apple could clear up this confusion by telling people they can use their LaserWriters, connected to one Macintosh, with only a $30 cable instead of $90 of LocalTalk cables :-( (this procedure isn't documented anywhere in the old LaserWriter and LaserWriter Plus manuals). Hope this help! -Michael Wang (Sorry for the long posting) +---------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+ | Michael Wang | Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 | |---------------+-----------------------------------------------------------| | ARPAnet, CSNET, BITNET, Internet : mouser@portia.stanford.edu | | UUCP: ...decwrl!portia.stanford.edu!mouser | | AppleLink: ST0064 | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
paul@mit-caf.MIT.EDU (Paul Meyer) (07/29/88)
In article <3191@Portia.Stanford.EDU> mouser@portia.stanford.edu (Michael Wang) writes: >Lately there has been some discussion on whether or not it was possible to >connect the LaserWriter printer directly to a Macintosh Plus without >LocalTalk cables. The answer is a definite YES!!!! I did the test myself >with a LaserWriter Plus and a Macintosh SE and it works fine. What I used >was a Macintosh Peripheral - 8 Cable, which is a male DB-9 connector on one >end and a male DIN-8 connector on the other end. The cable is Part# M0196 >and retails for $29.95 ($20 for a generic non-Apple cable). This cable is >used to connect an 'old' Macintosh (128K, 512K, 512Ke) to Apple peripherals >like the Apple ImageWriter II and the Apple Personal Modem. Will this work with the LaserWriter IINT? Does the LW II have a DB-9, or a mini DIN-8? Can I use a MacPlus Imagewriter cable to connect to a LW II? The Mac+ IW II cable has miniDIN-8 at both ends. The microcomputer center here acknowledged that it could be done with the LW classic, but said they didn't recommend it for the LW II. Anybody know any reason why this won't work for a LW II? Paul Meyer Microsystems Technology Lab MIT