Member Avatar for gargantua

I'm having difficulty connecting my G3 400/Pismo (firewire) powerbook and Laserwriter 4/600 PS -- the port in the back that I thought was a serial printer port is actually something for projection and s-video. When I go to select the LW in the "Desktop Printer" utility, it does not appear as an option.

I have read that I might need an Asante Talk Bridge because the powerbook, while it has firewire, does not have a port for AppleTalk printers -- is this right? Where can I get one and will I need LocalTalk adapters?

Help??!! I love my LW 4/600 PS.

G :o

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Dani AI

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Quick note for (and thanks to for the diagnosis): the LaserWriter 4/600 PS exposes only a LocalTalk port, so it won’t show up to a PowerBook that has no LocalTalk interface unless you bridge it. The Pismo does not include the older LocalTalk/serial port (the round AV-looking connector you noticed is S‑Video), so you’re correct that a direct serial hookup isn’t possible. (support.apple.com)

If you pursue a hardware bridge, Asanté’s “AsantéTalk” converters actually do exactly that—they present LocalTalk printers on an Ethernet/AppleTalk network. In practice you’ll need a LocalTalk transceiver or a PhoneNET adapter at the LaserWriter end (PhoneNET uses standard RJ‑11 phone cable), proper termination on the LocalTalk chain, and the correct power-up order (LocalTalk devices first, then the bridge, then the computer). Asanté’s docs also recommend using a crossover cable when connecting the bridge directly to a single Mac. (manualmachine.com)

On the Pismo enable AppleTalk on the Built‑in Ethernet interface (System Preferences → Network → select Ethernet → AppleTalk tab → “Make AppleTalk Active”), then add the printer from Printer Setup / Print & Fax using AppleTalk/EtherTalk. If the printer is not discovered, re-check the LocalTalk cabling and terminators, confirm the bridge LEDs, and power devices in the sequence above. The bridge’s quick‑start guide is helpful for these details. (flylib.com)

If you run into flaky behavior, many vintage‑Mac users prefer the Farallon EtherMac iPrint LT as an alternative to older Asanté boxes, and some opt to put a small older Mac or a Netatalk gateway between the network and the LaserWriter. Also be aware that Apple removed AppleTalk from Mac OS X starting with 10.6 (Snow Leopard), so this AppleTalk bridging approach only works while your Mac is running a version that still supports AppleTalk (or you run an AppleTalk-capable VM/gateway). (tidbits.com)

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Member Avatar for kc0arf

Hello,

I am sorry for being gone so long.

Your problem is that you have two different technology levels at your location: the Prismo laptop is newer (USB/Firewire) and the LW is older (LocalTalk).

AppleTalk is a software protocol suite; LocalTalk is the "hardware" that was Apple's networking back in the day.

The Apple Laserwriter 4/600 has a single port on it -- LocalTalk. In order to get it to work with your laptop, you have a couple options, of which I am only familiar with the last one:

** Purchase a USB --> LocalTalk adapter. They exist. I do not know if they will do what you want though. Not tested.

** Purcase the Asante Bridge. This will convert ethernet signals to Localtalk. A print server. These did work fine, but I have no personal experience with it.

** Find an old Mac on eBay, or with from a friend, that has both Ethernet and LocalTalk Ports on it. An old PowerMac 7100 would have these ports, or a 7200, or the Powerbook 500 series. You may need to find the Ethernet Dongle, but those things should be around for low cost. You can then tell that mac-in-the-middle to be a printserver for the printer. This solution also becomes handy if you have older SCSI hardware, like a scanner, or external hard drives like the ZIP drives or SyQuest EZ-Drives around. Be aware that this older Mac may need some tender loving care, and that you will need to have software from the day around, such as System 7 or 8 in order to drive it.

If it was me, I would be looking at a laptop-in-the-middle, so that I also had access to SCSI materials. Using VNC, you can even use the B/W Powerbook 520 and remote control it to a color monitor / modern computer, and it would work nice.

CHristian

Member Avatar for gargantua

Thanks. I plan to purchase the Asante Bridge. Originally, I used the LW with a beige G3 (had both ethernet and localtalk). I have since upgraded to the G5 iMac with a different type of printer but still want to use the LW because it has excellent print quality -- better than most that are priced for the standard consumer. So, I thought connecting to the Pismo would be a good idea -- thanks, again.

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