steve@violet.berkeley.edu (Steve Goldfield) (07/10/90)
I posted the following query to comp.sys.mac.misc. Someone suggested I repost to these groups, too. Please send any response to steve.berkeley.edu since I don't read these groups. Statement of the Problem: An outside contractor is setting up a serial network in our dean's office. The network connects Macs and PCs and allows them to share hard lines to the dean's office VAX and an Apple LaserWriter. The network needs to be serial for reasons I won't go into. So, we need to send LaserWriter output through the serial port. Unfortunately, the standard LaserWriter driver has no output options and directs output through the AppleTalk connection, which is the printer port. So we are looking for nonstandard, customized LaserWriter drivers which permit redirecting output to the Macintosh serial port. We are hoping that we are not the first to tackle such a problem. We would appreciate any information which would point us to such a driver. Again, please send it to steve@violet.berkeley.edu. Thanks, Steve Goldfield College of Engineering University of California at Berkeley
teexmmo@ioe.lon.ac.uk (Matthew Moore) (07/12/90)
Steve Goldfield wants to print to a Laserwriter on the serial port. So do we! Here is what my boss thinks:- Printing from Apple to Laserwriter via serial line rather than Appletalk. This is most desirable as it would allow a low cost solution to the problem of sharing a postscript printer (Apple Laserwriter) between PC's and Macs. Apple UK say there is no need for a Laserwriter driver that talks to the serial port rather than Appletalk and will only suggest Localtalk cards for PCs. The frustration is "it can be done". When starting to print from any Apple application package, holding down clover F will cause a Postscript disk file to be generated. This file can then be sent down the serial line using a cinit public domain utility (Serialprint - used for connecting non Apple printers), and if the laserwriter is connected and dip switched to the serial port, low and behold you can print Postscript from the Apple to the Laserwriter via the serial connection. Two problems. One this is incredibly clumsy. Secondly Serialprint doesnt just send the file to the serial port, it was written to be helpful and attempts to paginate the stuff it is sending, so the method only works for a small file. Nevertheless it can be used to demonstrate emprically that this method could work - if Apple or some other kind soul would provide a driver!!! Robert Clark (My boss)
kenw@noah.arc.ab.ca (Ken Wallewein) (07/13/90)
Check out an applications called "Janus". It pipes PostScript coming in a Mac's serial port through to a network PS printer. It's either PD or shareware. /kenw
Ravinder.Chandhok@CS.CMU.EDU (Rob Chandhok) (07/14/90)
Apple, via APDA, seems to have an asynch serial driver for the laserwriter for $20.00. Part number is M7061, page 122 of the Current APDA catalog. APDA is 1-800-282-3372. Anyone know if this is good stuff or not? Rob
swanger@ducvax.auburn.edu (David Swanger) (07/14/90)
In article <1990Jul11.172720.3266@ioe.lon.ac.uk>, teexmmo@ioe.lon.ac.uk (Matthew Moore) writes... >Steve Goldfield wants to print to a Laserwriter on the serial port. > >So do we! Here is what my boss thinks:- > > APDA used to have a Serial Lasewriter driver for $10.00. Give them a call. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- David Swanger | "JCL, the Big Lie." Auburn University | | SWANGER@DUCVAX.AUBURN.EDU <-- INTERNET | SWANGER@AUDUCVAX <-- BITNET | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ray_Davison@CC.SFU.CA (07/14/90)
I, too, had a need for a Serial LaserWriter Driver. In my case it was
to connect a Mac+ to a NeXT to use the NeXT printer from the Mac
without resorting to the expense of Ethernet for a single connection.
I solved the problem by modifying the laserwriter driver to make it
do what I wanted. I have since learned that there is a serial version
of a laserwriter driver available from APDA or some such. I have also
heard that it may not be very good, and my mods serve my purpose.
Because I made the changes for a very specific purpose, my mods may not
work for you. Also, because there were a number of people I knew who also
had a Mac and a NeXT, I wrote an article for a local NeXT newsletter. The
newsletter is in WriteNow so you will need a NeXT to look at it, but if
you have one, you can get a copy via anonymous FTP from cs.ubc.ca
(128.189.97.5) in the file next/NeXTVieW/Issue01.tar.Z and look for the
article called "The NeXT as a Print Server for a Macintosh". For those
who cannot get a copy of this article, I have reproduced below the part
of the article on modifying the driver.
Modifying the Mac to print over a serial cable
We need a LaserWriter printer driver, since we want to produce PostScript
for the NeXT. The trick then is to start with this driver and modify it so
that it will send its output over the serial port to the NeXT. The following
instructions will require the use of a program called ResEdit, or some other
resource editor. Although the changes are fairly easy, failure to follow
the instructions carefully will render the driver inoperative. It is a good
idea to make a copy of the LaserWriter driver before beginning.
The first thing you need to change will cause the driver to act as though
you have pressed the command-f key and the driver will send its output to
a file (this will be fixed later to send the output to a serial port)
rather than to an AppleTalk connected LaserWriter. The change is in a
resource called PDEF number 125. There are five changes to make, and the
location (address) of these changes is different depending on whether you
are using version 5.2 or version 6.0 of the driver. Table 1 shows the
location to change in each of the version, the current value at that
location, and the value to change it to.
+----------------------------------+
& Location & & &
&-----------------& From & To &
& V5.2 & V6.0 & & &
&--------+--------+--------+-------+
& B96 & C78 & 57C0 & 51C0 &
& B9A & C7C & 56C0 & 50C0 &
& BA2 & C84 & 57C0 & 50C0 & *
& BAA & C8C & 57C1 & 51C1 & *
& BB8 & C9A & 57C1 & 50C1 &
+--------+--------+--------+-------+
Table 1
The next change is to jump over the code that creates the file, and a few
other things to do with writing the output to a file. Since you are going
to send the output to a serial port you don't need this code. Table 2
contains the information to be changed, again in PDEF 125.
+----------------------------------------+
& Location & & &
&-----------------& From & To &
& V5.2 & V6.0 & & &
&--------+--------+--------------+-------+
& D96 & E9E & 554F (V5.2) & 6038 &
& & & 558F (V6.0) & &
& & & & &
& 142C & 1860 & 660C & 600C &
+--------+--------+--------------+-------+
Table 2
Now you have just two more changes to make. The first will get the driver
to write its output to a serial port. The resource STR number -8191
contains the name of the file that the driver will write its output to.
It is currently "PostScript". Change this string to ".BOut". This will
cause the output to be sent to the printer port. If you would rather use
the modem port, change the string to ".AOut".
The final change is a cosmetic one. The resource STR number -8159 contains
a message that is displayed while sending the output to the file (now the
serial port). It currently contains the message "Creating PostScript File".
This can be changed to something like "Sending print file to NeXT".
Once this is done, you can quit ResEdit (saving the changes before you do)
and place the new driver file in the System Folder. You might want to change
the name of the driver file to something like "NeXT Printer" so that it
will not be confused with an unmodified printer driver.
One important point in using the new driver. It is important that AppleTalk
be inactive if you are using the printer port. However, when you select the
driver from Chooser (which you must do before you can use it), a message
will come up on the screen claiming that the printer requires AppleTalk.
This is not true, but when you click on OK, chooser will set the AppleTalk
active button. Before you quit Chooser you must click on the Inactive
button for AppleTalk. Another message will come up asking you to make sure
that the AppleTalk network is disconnected. You can then click on Continue
and quit Chooser. The Macintosh side of things is now finished.
That is the end of the piece of the article. If this sounds like it may
work for you, by all means use it. One other note. If you want to make
the driver send the LaserPrep file (like you get when you hold down
command-k) then change the two locations marked with * in table 1 to
"51C0" and "50C1" rather than "50C0" and "51C1".
Hope this helps.
Ray_Davison@cc.sfu.ca