Macintosh IIfx and LocalTalk printers

Which model LaserWriter? Are you saying it doesn't support a direct serial connection?

LocalTalk is a multi-drop, shared access twisted-pair network media based on RS-422. Each host must have its own LocalTalk interface to connect to this media. The interface consists of an impedance matching network and switchable termination for the media to maintain signal integrity.

Farallon PhoneNet is a cheaper alternative that maintains compatibility with all LocalTalk software drivers and applications. It also requires an interface from each host to the media, which is ordinary RJ-11 telephone cable. Both the cables and interfaces were considerably cheaper than Apple's LocalTalk products. One difference in using PhoneNet is that termination is not automatically switched in by the interface. Instead, users must install RJ-11 plugs with terminating resistors at each end of the PhoneNet segment.

Because these are computer networks, you cannot connect them directly into a printer. There always needs to be an interface so that the network can function whether or not individual hosts are present or absent.

LaserWriters also have serial (and sometimes even parallel) ports for direct connection to a single computer, not a network. In the Chooser, you must turn AppleTalk off to connect directly to a printer. The serial connector on a LaserWriter IINT is a DB-25 plug instead of the MiniDIN-8 for LocalTalk.

Unless there's a specific technology you want to play with, serial is going to be simplest and easiest. Localtalk is fun, though, especially if you have a few other devices you can put on the network.

retro_bill: what city are you in?

retro_bill wrote:

 

Thanks Tom!

How do I get it to work serial? Does the IIfx have a serial port?

The IIfx has two Mini-8 style serial ports

softwarejanitor wrote:

The IIfx has two Mini-8 style serial ports

I believe all the Laserwriters have the same, so you'd want a Mini-DIN-8 male to male cable. But I'd wait for everything to show up, just to make sure it's all what you're expecting.

All Macintosh desktop models from the original 128K until the Beige G3 have two serial ports, called the Modem and Printer ports. When a LocalTalk interface is used, it is connected to the Printer port. The port operates at a higher speed (230.4 Kbps) when used with LocalTalk compared to connecting to a serial device. This is part of the reason that the LaserWriter printers were intended to be used on a LocalTalk network (at least when used with Macs): print jobs were issued quicker, the user could go back to their application and continue working while printing was taking place, and multiple machines could all issue jobs to the same printer. Since a LaserWriter was expensive at around $5000 it made a lot of sense to share them with the whole office or even the whole company. When printing over a "plain" serial connection, the speed was limited to 56 Kbps, the user would typically have to wait until the job was finished (because the print dialog would stay on the screen), and the printer was not shared. Later on there were ways to share serial printers, but those were not available in the 1980s.

As I recall a gentleman named Bill Lancaster did quite a bit of work on getting the program AppleWriter for the Apple ][ (and presumably the ][GS) to be able to print to the Laserwriter ][

retro_bill wrote:

Thanks, I hope I can find that program for the GS

 

Is there a  way to use the laserwriter to print from my IIc?

 

If I recall correctly, Lancaster's work getting AppleWriter to print to the Laserwriter, worked for all Apple ][s, with the necessary Serial Card installed, which of course is already in the //c model.

 

His correct name is Don Lancaster and here are some links:

Lancaster produced his self-published books by re-purposing the game port of an Apple II to transfer PostScript code directly to a laser printer, rather than using a Macintosh running PageMaker. This enabled continuous book production using an inexpensive Apple II, rather than tying up an expensive Macintosh until the print run was complete.

Don Lancaster, Apple Writers Cookbook

Don Lancaster's, Enhancing Your Apple II: v. 2

Don Lancaster: Postscript Secrets

Don Lancaster's Guru Lair's Resources

History of Apple Writer software

PS: It is getting hard for me to remember which Mac IIFx and Laserwriter thread is which...

What software do you plan to run on your IIfx and print on your Laserwriter?

Which database?

I originally purchased a FatMac 512K for my parents' retail shipping business when the first "internal" Hyperdrives became available with 20MB installed.

My mother would manually type out thousands of mailing labels twice a year to send out her catalog.  

I used the program Overvue and told my Mother that she would only have to type in her mailing list one more time into the Mac and then only have to add new addressees and update changes.

She would print out to pre-formed blank mailing labels on an Imagewriter II printer and off to the races!

Overvue later was updated to Panarama and I have acquired both to play with on my Mac SE/30.

I found a backup of my Mother's Overvue mailing labels files and they import into Panarama nicely!

These of course were "flat" databases and not relational.

I recommend you accquire the following to add much utility to the fast running System 6 (including the version numbers I am using on my SE/30):

Update to System 6.08

Maxima v2.03

After Dark 2.0v

Apple File Exchange 1.14

LaserWritter 8

MacTCP

MultiFinder

Network v3.02

Optima v2.0

Stepping Out II v1987 (this is more for my SE/30 to allow the internal 9" screen to be a window on a larger virtual 640x480 screen or even larger)

SuperClock v4.04

TrueType 1.0

and use System Picker v1.1a3 to choose between System 6 and whichever flavor of System 7 you install.

I find that running in 24 bit mode gives me more compatibility to run much needed 32-bit dirty apps such as MultiFinder and also Maxima and Optima will allow me to access up to 24 MB RAM plus an additional RAM Disk in 24 bit mode.  

Yes, in 32 bit mode I can access my full 68 MB, but without MultiFinder in System 6, there is no point in having access to so much RAM.

As I mentioned before, when I need it, I reboot to 7.5.3 from the Floppy EMU.

retro_bill wrote:

I am looking at double Helix and maybe Dbase or foxbase

OK: then you are going full relational!

I am not sure all of those are available to 68030 Macs.

On my Apple //c with Z-RAM card, I used DB Master natively, or DBase on the Z-80 CP/M operating system.