Trying to salvage LaserWriter

Adam said:

>[Our LaserWriter Select 360 works fine with the AsanteTalk LocalTalk
>to Ethernet converter, though it gets confused when the power goes
>out and must be brought up in the right order, which is: Unplug
>Ethernet. Unplug power. Plug in power. Plug in Ethernet. Power up
>printer. Restart jobs on the print server. -Adam]

That's what Asante says, but it's too complicated. I find that all I
need do is power off the Asante box (that is, unplug it -- it has no
switch) and power it back up. That saves printer warm-up time. I
never disconnect the Ethernet cables.


[That doesn't always work for me, but if it does for your unit, great. -Adam]


Art Evans

garton said:

>I have the same 'problem' with a LaserWriter Select 300. Until this
>discussion about the LaserWriter 360, I was going to dispose of the '300
> ... would e.g. the Asanté Talk
>Ethernet to LocalTalk connector be any good?

An Ethernet to LocalTalk connector should work fine, as your LWS300 had a
LocalTalk interface. But see below...

>Problem may be lack of OS X
>compatible drivers for my printer.

That is exactly the problem. Your LWS300 was not a Postscript printer,
it was a QuickDraw printer. There is no OS X driver for your printer, it
is an orphan.

The LaserWriter Select 360 mentioned in the earlier discussion is a
Postscript printer and there are OS X drivers for it.

>[Our LaserWriter Select 360 works fine with the AsanteTalk LocalTalk to
>Ethernet converter, though it gets confused when the power goes out and
>must be brought up in the right order, which is: Unplug Ethernet. Unplug
>power. Plug in power. Plug in Ethernet. Power up printer. Restart jobs on
>the print server. -Adam]

Which is why I usually recommend the Farallon iPrint Adapter LT instead
of the AsanteTalk adapter. The iPrint doesn't have the same problem of
getting lost occasionally.

Actually, at this point I don't usually recommend that folks purchase an
Ethernet to LocalTalk adapter to keep their old Apple laser printer
working (unless they can get the adapter for free or next to nothing). A
LWS300, for instance, is at this point about 14 years old. Ethernet to
LocalTalk adapters go for about $80, if you can find them. You can get a
brand new Brother laser printer, for instance, for about $125, that is
faster than an old LaserWriter, has better resolution, and which has a
smaller footprint. I'm not sure that it is worth investing the money in
a printer that old. (Though it does seems as if Apple's old LW's are
willing to last forever.)



Randy B. Singer

Co-Author of:
The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th and 6th editions)

OS X Routine Maintenance
http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html

Is all of this applicable to an old NEC Silentwriter 640 laser printer as well? I have a G4 now and thought that I needed to toss the NEC.
Jackie

>
>
> I never got the KeySpan serial adapter to work; would e.g. the
> Asanté Talk Ethernet to LocalTalk connector be any good? Problem
> may be lack of OS X compatible drivers for my printer.
>
>
>
> [Our LaserWriter Select 360 works fine with the AsanteTalk
> LocalTalk to Ethernet converter, though it gets confused when the
> power goes out and must be brought up in the right order, which is:
> Unplug Ethernet. Unplug power. Plug in power. Plug in Ethernet.
> Power up printer. Restart jobs on the print server. -Adam]
>
>

I've had both personal laser writer 320 and 360 connected and working
fine using the Keyspan serial adapter right through to the current
system (10.4.x) with the crossover cable connected to a netgear
router. It took some fiddling with the system preferences to get it
working the first time around (to ensure that Apple Talk was on? I
can't remember) -- which was probably Jaguar or earlier -- but no
problem after that. Subsequent systems easily recognized it without
an effort on my part.

(BTW, I no longer use the printers and would be happy to give them
and the adapter if anyone is interested.)

I have a LaserWriter 16/600 connected via Ethernet. Is there a utililty equivalent to the LaserWriter Utility that will run under MacOS X (and not Classic)?

J. said:

>Is all of this applicable to an old NEC Silentwriter 640 laser printer as
>well? I have a G4 now and thought that I needed to toss the NEC.


You should be able to get it to work just fine with a modern Mac running
OS X, if you are willing to invest the money for an Ethernet to LocalTalk
adapter.

Fortunately your NEC SW640 has both true Adobe Postscript and "AppleTalk":

<http://printers.necsam.com/main.cfm?thePage=http://printers.necsam.com/pub
lic/printers/swriter/sw640/640spec.htm&sp=383&section_id=301>

Though NEC offers no drivers for OS X for your printer, you should be
able to use the generic Postscript driver included with OS X or
GimpPrint, along with the Ethernet to LocalTalk adapter, to have it work
perfectly.

I recommend that you monitor eBay for a good deal on a Farallon iPrint
Adapter LT. Here is one:
<http://cgi.ebay.com/Farallon-EtherMac-iPrint-Ethernet-Adapter-NO-RESERVE_W
0QQitemZ140075242116QQihZ004QQcategoryZ44926QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZVi
ewItem>

You will also need a PhoneNet adapter (or a clone) to go with that.:
You can get a generic PhoneNet connector for $10.00 here:
http://www.welovemacs.com/apl1400u.html

But once again, I'm not sure that it is worth investing this much money
in a printer that is quite old at this point, especially when you can get
a brand new printer that performs better for not much more money.



Randy B. Singer

Co-Author of:
The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th and 6th editions)

OS X Routine Maintenance
http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html

On 18 Jan 2007, at 06:09, Jonathan Schultz wrote:
> I have a LaserWriter 16/600 connected via Ethernet. Is there a
> utililty equivalent to the LaserWriter Utility that will run under
> MacOS X (and not Classic)?

If you have the printer setup with an IP address (and a password I
think) then you can telnet into it from the terminal. If I remember
(I haven't used the Laserwriter Utility for a couple of years at
least) telnetting into it doesn't give the exact same functionality
but it does allow you to do some things?

Regards,

Patrick,

On 1/18/07 6:31 AM, "Patrick Keene" <pmhkpmhk.co.uk> wrote:

>
> If you have the printer setup with an IP address (and a password I
> think) then you can telnet into it from the terminal.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT TIP!!!

I've been keeping Classic around like an albatross around my neck ever since
I migrated to OS X for the sole purpose of running that printer utility!

From the looks of the Telnet interface, you can only set whether banner
pages print, adjust TCP/IP network parameters (all I ever need) and print a
configuration page.

Since all I ever did through the configuration utility was change network
parameters, that's just fine with me!

--
Nik :: gerberiNik.net
Make a developer cry! Vote for the top Mac software ever!
<http://www.squidoo.com/topmacsoftware/>

Jonathan Schultz said:

>I have a LaserWriter 16/600 connected via Ethernet. Is there a utililty
>equivalent to the LaserWriter Utility that will run under MacOS X (and not
>Classic)?


There is a UNIX application on your Macintosh called "The Common UNIX
Printing System" (CUPS) that is installed with OS X. It allows you to
set a number of parameters for your printer. You can access it via your
Web browser at:

http://127.0.0.1:631/

or if that doesn't work try:

http://localhost:631/

Click on the Administration or Printers tab near the top of the page.

See:
http://www.cups.org/documentation.php/overview.html



Randy B. Singer

Co-Author of:
The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th and 6th editions)

OS X Routine Maintenance
http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html

My sturdy Laserwriter Select has started to print light on the right hand side of every page - I've removed and shaken the cartridge, put in a new cartridge - no change! I feel that there is a little wire somewhere that needs gentle cleaning (toothbrush?) but can't see it by simply dropping the front of the machine.

Am I right that if I find it, it will allow me to cure the problem? And if so, where might it be?

At 2007-01-19 09:40 -0800 Randy B. Singer wrote:

>There is a UNIX application on your Macintosh called "The Common UNIX
>Printing System" (CUPS)

>Click on the Administration or Printers tab near the top of the page

Randy - thanks, that looks useful - but then I need a User ID and
password. I'd have expected it to be my admin user account name &
password, but it doesn't like that. (It also doesn't like both fields
empty!)

Seems odd that it doesn't beahve in the same way that almost
everything else "sensitive" like installers does, and just accept the
admin account details. Maybe there's some explanation in the
documentation you mentioned - I'll check when next online.

regards

Rowland
--
| Wilma & Rowland Carson http://home.clara.net/rowil/
| <rowilclara.net> ... that's Rowland with a 'w' ...

For information you might find doing a search of the forums at fixyourownprinter.com useful.
http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/forums

I used their special kit of parts (Apple Pro 600/630 Exit Jam Repair Kit $53.60 inc shipping to the UK) to rebuild my Laserwriter Pro 630 which had started to have paper jams - apparently a common problem. The kit comes with an instructional CD-ROM video on how to install the new parts. Kind of daunting to do because you have to dismantle half the machine but if you take it a step at a time then it's not to bad.

I've had the printer since new and other than the above problem it's taken years of abuse and continual heavy use. Despite current laser printers being faster and a lot cheaper I don't think you could replace it with a similar bullet proof device which had 4 paper feeds for cost of the rebuild!

BTW, has anybody got any advice on getting the envelope feed to work under 10.4.8? It appears that it is broken (deliberately obsoleted?) under this version of the OS.

Other than being a happy customer I have no relationship with the fixyourownprinter.com guys.

On 1/21/07, Michael COrgan wrote:
>My sturdy Laserwriter Select has started to print light on the right hand side of every page - I've removed and shaken the cartridge, put in a new cartridge - no change! I feel that there is a little wire somewhere that needs gentle cleaning (toothbrush?) but can't see it by simply dropping the front of the machine.
>
>Am I right that if I find it, it will allow me to cure the problem? And if so, where might it be?

This is a question I would love to have anwered as well. My LaserWriter Pro is doing the same thing (left side, in my case) and I would love to know if there is a solution ... having already done all the things you did and cleaned everything I could think of.

Louise

I'd also like to thank Randy for that very useful 'TidBIT' on CUPS.
'Something was amiss with my Canon S800 and I could not locate the
problem until I followed this suggestion and looked into CUPS and
found an unprinted page residing in the system. Cleared this page and
now the printer is fully functional again.

Rowland, the User ID and password that I used was in fact my admin
name and password. I gained full access. Maybe you could make another
attempt.

Regards

Noel


On 23/01/2007, at 7:41 AM, Rowland Carson wrote:

> At 2007-01-19 09:40 -0800 Randy B. Singer wrote:
>
>> There is a UNIX application on your Macintosh called "The Common UNIX
>> Printing System" (CUPS)
>
>> Click on the Administration or Printers tab near the top of the page
>
> Randy - thanks, that looks useful - but then I need a User ID and
> password. I'd have expected it to be my admin user account name &
> password, but it doesn't like that. (It also doesn't like both fields
> empty!)
>
> Seems odd that it doesn't beahve in the same way that almost
> everything else "sensitive" like installers does, and just accept the
> admin account details. Maybe there's some explanation in the
> documentation you mentioned - I'll check when next online.
>
> regards
>
> Rowland
> --
> | Wilma & Rowland Carson http://home.clara.net/rowil/
> | <rowilclara.net> ... that's Rowland with a 'w' ...
>
>
> --
> If you want to unsubscribe or change your address, use this link:
>
> http://emperor.tidbits.com/webx?unsub.3c3f6899!u=308939d9

Michael COrgan said:

>My sturdy Laserwriter Select has started to print light on the right hand
>side of every page


The problem is dirty mirrors in the scanner assembly.

Here is a $20 kit to fix the problem yourself:

http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/kits/Apple/K63





Randy B. Singer

Co-Author of:
The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th and 6th editions)

OS X Routine Maintenance
http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html

On Jan 24, 2007, at 3:03 AM, mustbeme wrote:

> Rowland, the User ID and password that I used was in fact my admin
> name and password. I gained full access. Maybe you could make another
> attempt.

I, too, really appreciated that tidBIT about accessing the CUPS system.

I would suggest you try using *just* your 'short' admin account
username. That, and make sure that the account info you're using is
definitely from an admin account!

Good luck,
John

At 2007-01-23 23:46 -0800 Noel Lovejoy wrote:

>Rowland, the User ID and password that I used was in fact my admin
>name and password. I gained full access. Maybe you could make another
>attempt.

Noel - thanks for the advice. Just make sure, I logged out and logged
in again. I normally work as the admin account, and at present don't
even have another account set up on the machine (not best practice, I
know). I checked the spelling of the account name in the accounts
section of system preferences, and copied it to the clipboard. I
opened the URL:

http://127.0.0.1:631/

in Safari, and clicked on the admin choice (1st in the list). This
brought out a panel saying

'To view this page, you need to log in to area "CUPS" on 127.0.0.1:631.'

I pasted in the account name and entered my admin password
(frequently used for screen-saver dismissal, installers etc and not
likely to be mis-typed). I clicked on the Log In button and the panel
re-appeared saying:

'The name or password entered for area "CUPS" on 127.0.0.1:631 was
incorrect. Please try again.'

I repeated it again a few times to be sure there was no finger
trouble with the password, to no avail.

The other items in the list don't require a password to open the
relevant sub-page.

I can view the list of printers and print test pages, but everything
else on that page seems to need the password.

I've looked at the documentation pages without finding anything to
help; the browser interface is mentioned but its working is not
described. I'm open to any suggestions for getting into the admin
functions!

Incidentally, I'm largely happy with the performance of my present
printers, but I do have a couple of old Personal LaserWriters (NT &
NTR) that a friend with my old LC475 could use. Unfortunately they
have both taken to printing only one sheet of any document, followed
by a blank sheet. As I've sold my Asante ethernet-localtalk bridge I
may never find out what's wrong with them ...

regards

Rowland
--
| Wilma & Rowland Carson http://home.clara.net/rowil/
| <rowilclara.net> ... that's Rowland with a 'w' ...

On 1/24/07 8:21 PM, "Rowland Carson" wrote:
> Noel - thanks for the advice. Just make sure, I logged out and logged
> in again. I normally work as the admin account, and at present don't
> even have another account set up on the machine (not best practice, I
> know). I checked the spelling of the account name in the accounts
> section of system preferences, and copied it to the clipboard. I
> opened the URL:
>
> http://127.0.0.1:631/
>
> in Safari, and clicked on the admin choice (1st in the list). This
> brought out a panel saying
>
> 'To view this page, you need to log in to area "CUPS" on 127.0.0.1:631.'
>
> I pasted in the account name and entered my admin password
> (frequently used for screen-saver dismissal, installers etc and not
> likely to be mis-typed). I clicked on the Log In button and the panel
> re-appeared saying:
>
> 'The name or password entered for area "CUPS" on 127.0.0.1:631 was
> incorrect. Please try again.'

Are you using the short username or the long one? CUPS expects the short
username.

If you're using the short name, another possible explanation is that there's
a longstanding conflict between CUPS and OS X that started with OS X 10.3;
one uses ShadowHash password authentication, the other doesn't. If this is
the cause of your issue, above, more info can be found here:

<http://www.cups.org/articles.php?L191>

At 20:21 -0800 24/01/2007, Rowland Carson wrote:
> I opened the URL:
>
>http://127.0.0.1:631/
>
>in Safari [and had problems]

Try another browser. I tried with Opera and had no problem using my
user account info to access the printer setup.

Cheers,

Miraz
--
MacTips.Info: http://mactips.info

Latest book: WordPress 2 : Visual QuickStart Guide
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321450191

At 2007-01-25 10:20 -0800 Dan Frakes wrote:

>another possible explanation is that there's
>a longstanding conflict between CUPS and OS X that started with OS X 10.3

Dan - that's the answer. The article you referred me to provides 2
ways to get around the problem; I took what seemed to be the easy
route by commenting-out a few lines in the CUPS config file, using
TextWrangler's open hidden capability. After a restart, this allowed
me to use the CUPS admin functions without having to enter a password.

Apparently the problem only existed is running 10.3 - it has gone
away again in 10.4.

regards

Rowland
--
| Wilma & Rowland Carson http://home.clara.net/rowil/
| <rowilclara.net> ... that's Rowland with a 'w' ...