skahng@gmuvax2.gmu.edu (Soonam Kahng) (09/19/90)
Hello I want to use my PC with LaserWriter Plus which is connected to the AppleTalk. Is it possible to connect directly between the my printer port and the port of printer. Any configration? Maybe I can connect my PC with AppleTalk but it costs more than the price of the cable.(hi) right? I have heard the LaserWriter supports PC but APPLE doen't let people know it because APPLE wants to sell theirs to the customers who buy MAC's. How about your idea? <Soonam> skahng@gmuvax2.gmu.edu skahng@gmuvax.bitnet
fiddler@concertina.Eng.Sun.COM (Steve Hix) (09/20/90)
In article <2330@gmuvax2.gmu.edu>, skahng@gmuvax2.gmu.edu (Soonam Kahng) writes: > > I want to use my PC with LaserWriter Plus which is connected to > the AppleTalk. Is it possible to connect directly between the my > printer port and the port of printer. Any configration? You *could* connect the LW+ to your PC over a serial line. RS232. Whether or not your software would support the printer properly` may be another question altogether. > Maybe I can connect my PC with AppleTalk but it costs more than > the price of the cable.(hi) right? Right. > I have heard the LaserWriter supports PC but APPLE doen't let people > know it because APPLE wants to sell theirs to the customers who buy > MAC's. How about your idea? Sure it will work with PCs. You can even get an AppleTalk (or LocalTalk) board for your PC that'll let you plug in to an AppleTalk net. Software support for the cards or LaserWriters under DOS or OS/2 I don't know about though. -- ------------ The only drawback with morning is that it comes at such an inconvenient time of day. ------------
jimb@silvlis.com (Jim Budler) (09/20/90)
In article <2330@gmuvax2.gmu.edu> skahng@gmuvax2.gmu.edu (Soonam Kahng) writes: >Hello > > I want to use my PC with LaserWriter Plus which is connected to >the AppleTalk. Is it possible to connect directly between the my >printer port and the port of printer. Any configration? >Maybe I can connect my PC with AppleTalk but it costs more than >the price of the cable.(hi) right? >I have heard the LaserWriter supports PC but APPLE doen't let people >know it because APPLE wants to sell theirs to the customers who buy >MAC's. How about your idea? A PC can use the serial port of the LaserWriter just fine. But there is a problem. To do this you must switch off the Appletalk port. You stated your LaserWriter is already connected to the AppleTalk. We actually did this for a period of time. One PC user was wired to the serial port of the LaserWriter, 15 Macs were connected by AppleTalk. The problems encountered during switchover between ports on the LaserWriter were huge. I think you could probably think of a few of them. No one was happy. It's even worse on the LaserWriters that are newer than the LaserWriter Plus. Instead of a nice sturdy switch (even if it had no knob it was sturdy, knobs are available), the newer ones have a DIP switch. It's hard to reach, and I seriously doubt it would survive frequent switching. > ><Soonam> > jim -- Jim Budler jimb@silvlis.com +1.408.991.6115 Silvar-Lisco, Inc. 703 E. Evelyn Ave. Sunnyvale, Ca. 94086
kenney@hsi.UUCP (Brian Kenney) (09/20/90)
In article <142732@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> fiddler@concertina.Eng.Sun.COM (Steve Hix) writes: >You *could* connect the LW+ to your PC over a serial line. RS232. >Whether or not your software would support the printer properly` >may be another question altogether. When I worked at an insurance company, I supported the DOS machines in a department. I found that most programs that were used (Lotus, Excel, Pagemaker, and some more that I thankfully can't remember) supported many different printers, and the Laserwriter was invariably among them. -- Brian Kenney kenney@hsi.com
jimb@silvlis.com (Jim Budler) (09/22/90)
In article <2087@hsi86.hsi.UUCP> kenney@hsi.com (Brian Kenney) writes: >In article <142732@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> fiddler@concertina.Eng.Sun.COM (Steve Hix) writes: > >>You *could* connect the LW+ to your PC over a serial line. RS232. >>Whether or not your software would support the printer properly` >>may be another question altogether. > >When I worked at an insurance company, I supported the DOS machines in >a department. I found that most programs that were used (Lotus, Excel, >Pagemaker, and some more that I thankfully can't remember) supported >many different printers, and the Laserwriter was invariably among >them. I R)eplied to the original article so I'll repeat myself some. The original poster was talking about intruding a serial PC connection to a LaserWriter already on a LocalTalk Mac network. Yes you can connect the PC to the serial port, but every time the PC user wants to print he must disconnect the LocalTalk network to do so. We had such a situation for a year. In addition to the Macs trying to print when the LaserWriter is connected to the PC, there were times when print streams from one or the other got terminated improperly. We often had to power cycle the printer to get it back to a stable condition. The question is not whether the PC can support the LaserWriter, if the PC has PostScript software it can. If it doesn't, and just sends pure ASCII to the LaserWriter it gets printed in a default font. You can even connect it to a PC with software for a daisy wheel printer, and send codes as a preamble, and get text enhancements of a sort. (Something??630 emulation). The only truely viable answer in this situation is a LocalTalk interface for the PC. 'nuff said. jim > > >-- > Brian Kenney kenney@hsi.com -- Jim Budler jimb@silvlis.com +1.408.991.6115 Silvar-Lisco, Inc. 703 E. Evelyn Ave. Sunnyvale, Ca. 94086