CLAUSS1@applelink.apple.com (Clauss, Chris) (10/03/90)
Ok guys... riddle me this...
If I put all my Macintoshes directly onto Ethernet (EtherTalk NB Cards) and
put ONLY LaserWriters onto LocalTalk (or PhoneNet) and then I tie the EtherTalk
and LocalTalk networks together with a Shiva FastPath, will my Macs be able to
print to the LaserWriters?
======= ======= ======= =======
= Mac = = Mac = = Mac = = Mac =
======= ======= ======= =======
| | | | =========
Ethernet --> ========================================== = Shiva =
= Fast- =
LocalTalk -> ------------------------------------------ = Path =
| | | | =========
======= ======= ======= =======
= LW = = LW = = LW = = LW =
======= ======= ======= =======
Sure you say! Of course it will work! Well I have a customer who tried
this and it did not work! When he phoned Shiva tech support they said that
this is a "known problem".
They said that the Macintoshes send periodic packets to routers and that
LaserWriters do not send these packets. If it does not receive traffic from a
LocalTalk segment after a certain amount of time, a FastPath will no longer
route traffic to that network. The LocalTalk segment would soon disappear!
The Shiva tech support folks reportedly said that we would need to put at least
one Macintosh onto the LocalTalk for this scheme to work. 128k Macs are cheap
these days but this seems unreasonable.
Is this stuff for real? Have any of you run into this problem before? Is
this also a problem for Cayman Boxes, EtherGates, MaxWays, MultiGates, etc, as
well or is this just a FastPath bug?
Thanx,
Christian Clauss
Systems Engineer
Apple Computer, Inc.
18 Tobey Village Office Park
Pittsford, NY 14534
(716) 381-7772
AppleLink: Clauss1
Internet: Clauss1@AppleLink.Apple.Com
sproule@purt1.Princeton.EDU (William J. Jr. Sproule) (10/03/90)
In article <5868559@AppleLink.Apple.COM>, CLAUSS1@applelink.apple.com (Clauss, Chris) writes: (stuff deleted) |> |> They said that the Macintoshes send periodic packets to routers and that |> LaserWriters do not send these packets. If it does not receive traffic from a |> LocalTalk segment after a certain amount of time, a FastPath will no longer |> route traffic to that network. The LocalTalk segment would soon disappear! |> The Shiva tech support folks reportedly said that we would need to put at least |> one Macintosh onto the LocalTalk for this scheme to work. 128k Macs are cheap |> these days but this seems unreasonable. |> |> Is this stuff for real? Have any of you run into this problem before? Is |> this also a problem for Cayman Boxes, EtherGates, MaxWays, MultiGates, etc, as |> well or is this just a FastPath bug? |> | (stuff deleted) I have seen this problem also. We just spent several days trying to figure out what was wrong. Originally we thought we had a bad run of twisted pair, or termination problems. Then we notice the problem with just a very short run of phonenet. And the fact that the LocalTalk light on the FastPath was not flashing was also interesting. Shiva's suggestion of putting a Mac on the network is absurd. Does this mean in every cluster of EtherTalked macs with a LW, I need to budget a Macintosh to just 'hang out' on the network? (So the price of networking a LaserWriter is $1600 (univ price of fastpath) + $1000 for a Mac Plus? ) -- Bill Sproule - Networking Princeton University UUCP: ...princeton!sproule 87 Prospect Ave. INTERNET: sproule@Princeton.EDU Princeton, NJ 08544 BITNET: SPROULE@PUCC VOICE: 609-258-6089 FAX: 609-258-3943
brad@advantg (10/03/90)
In article <5868559@AppleLink.Apple.COM> CLAUSS1@applelink.apple.com (Clauss, Chris) writes: > They said that the Macintoshes send periodic packets to routers and that >LaserWriters do not send these packets. If it does not receive traffic from a >LocalTalk segment after a certain amount of time, a FastPath will no longer >route traffic to that network. The LocalTalk segment would soon disappear! >The Shiva tech support folks reportedly said that we would need to put at least >one Macintosh onto the LocalTalk for this scheme to work. Why not try using a product like EtherPrint from Dayna. This product puts the LaserWriter on the ethernet segment. We use it in house, and it works great. You would no longer have a need for the LocalTalk zone in your network. One problem I can see is you need one EtherPrint for each LaserWriter, and I do not know how much they cost. Brad Kollmyer advantg!brad@wimsey.bc.ca
phil@Shiva.COM (Phil Budne) (10/05/90)
In article <5868559@AppleLink.Apple.COM> CLAUSS1@applelink.apple.com (Clauss, Chris) writes: > If I put all my Macintoshes directly onto Ethernet (EtherTalk NB Cards) and >put ONLY LaserWriters onto LocalTalk (or PhoneNet) and then I tie the EtherTalk >and LocalTalk networks together with a Shiva FastPath, will my Macs be able to >print to the LaserWriters? > Sure you say! Of course it will work! Well I have a customer who tried >this and it did not work! When he phoned Shiva tech support they said that >this is a "known problem". This is indeed a "known problem" with LaserWriter II NT's. The bug is in the LAP driver, located in the PROM and therefore difficult to rev. This problem is my top priority. ........o Philip Budne : o---+----o Shiva Corporation : o | 1 Cambridge Center Internet: phil@Shiva.COM : Shiva | Cambridge, Ma 02142 : . | Tel (617) 252-6300 formerly budd@{bu-it.bu.edu,MIT-AI} : o---o Fax (617) 252-6852
naftoli@alsys1.aecom.yu.edu (Robert N. Berlinger) (10/08/90)
In article <5868559@AppleLink.Apple.COM> CLAUSS1@applelink.apple.com (Clauss, Chris) writes: > If I put all my Macintoshes directly onto Ethernet (EtherTalk NB Cards) and >put ONLY LaserWriters onto LocalTalk (or PhoneNet) and then I tie the EtherTalk >and LocalTalk networks together with a Shiva FastPath, will my Macs be able to >print to the LaserWriters? >...phoned Shiva tech support they said that this is a "known problem". > > Is this stuff for real? Have any of you run into this problem before? Is >this also a problem for Cayman Boxes, EtherGates, MaxWays, MultiGates, etc, as >well or is this just a FastPath bug? I have been agonizing over this behavior for months and wasn't able to track it down even with Novell's help. I even posted here. Now I guess Shiva figured it out. The problem only occurs with the FastPaths that I have -- not the GatorBoxen. I'm surprised the Shiva folks don't seem to consider this a bug, but instead recommended you put a Mac on the LocalTalk side? Do yourself a favor, if it's just printing that you need, buy yourself a few Dayna EtherPrint boxes. They work fine with both Phase I and Phase II EtherTalk, are *much* simpler to configure (although they don't have as much flexibility), and might be cheaper depending on how many printers you have etc.
naftoli@alsys1.aecom.yu.edu (Robert N. Berlinger) (10/22/90)
In article <2711FEFA.9028@orion.oac.uci.edu> mposton@uci.edu (Michael Poston) writes: >In article <1990Oct4.213900.25338@Shiva.COM> phil@Shiva.COM (Phil Budne) >writes: >> This is indeed a "known problem" with LaserWriter II NT's. The bug is >> in the LAP driver, located in the PROM and therefore difficult to rev. >Is this a problem only with the Shiva Fastpath, and not the old Kinetics >Fastpaths? >...it's been working perfectly for more than a year. >Numbers are about 35-40 Macs, 1 Laserwriter NTX, 5 Laserwriter NTs. It has happened to me with older Kinetics FastPaths. With my experience of this problem, having any type printer other than LaserWriter II NTs connected to the LocalTalk segement would mask the problem. It only occured when there were only LW IINTs. Your NTX probably saved you. -- Robert N. Berlinger |Domain: naftoli@aecom.yu.edu Manager of Networking and Systems |UUCP: ...uunet!alsys1!naftoli Research Information Technology |CompuServe: 76067.1114@compuserve.com Albert Einstein College of Medicine |AppleLink: D3913@applelink.apple.com