Subject: [netatalk-admins] Personal LaserWriter II at Linux Box

From: Matthias Koerner <[email-masked]>
Date: Don, 31 Jul 97 10:58:47 -0000

I have got an Linux Box running netatalk 1.3. The box is connected to an NecP7 24 needle printer, the printer is served to all connected Macs with netatlk and to the windows machines with samba, this works fine.
But I have got an old Personal LaserWriter II, and I want to serve this printer also to the Macs and to the Win Machines.
Actually the LaserWriter is connected via LocalTalk to the Macs, so the Mac Users have to switch in the ControlField  "Network" from EtherTalk to LocalTalk. Second the Windows Users can't use the LasewrWriter. 
Unfortunally the documentation for the LaserWriter is lost. I only see a MiniDB 8 (like the serial ports at the mac) and an SubD 25 (like the scsi interface at the macs) at the back of the LaserWriter.
Questions:
Is it possible to make the LaserWriter talking with the Linux Box via serial interface? What have I to do therefor?

Matthias Koerner
DGB Jugendbuero Mitte
Walltorstraße 17
35390 Giessen

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From: Andrew Solmssen <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 1997 02:56:58 -0700 (PDT)

You can get program off Apple's web site called LaserWriter Bridge that
will allow one mac to stay connected to the ethernet and localtalk at teh
same time.  The printer will be visible on the ethernet.  then set it up
in printcap  using pap/psf.  then it will be visible to PC's via samba as
well.

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From: Sak Wathanasin <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 1997 11:33:08 +0100

In reply to Matthias Koerner's message of the 31/07/97 at 10:58 +0000,

> Is it possible to make the LaserWriter talking with the Linux Box via serial
>interface?
> What have I to do therefor?

It is rumoured that there is a Linux driver for the old Apple/Farallon
LocalTalk ISA-card if you can find one...

However, the simplest thing to do is to buy a LocalTalk-EtherTalk bridge.
Various people make these (Dayna and Sonic Systems come to mind, but there are
others). The cheapest one supports 2 LT devices and costs under UKP 150, and
much less second-hand (from sites that have converted from LT to all ethernet).
You can often find one of these sitting around in the sys admin's desk-drawer
on, say, Univ's that have lots of Macs. That's how I got my Dayna EtherPrint -
a local site that had converted their Mac LAN to etherTalk had one in a store
room covered in dust, so I did a swap for 2 X 10-BT "friendlyNet" adaptors (:-).

If money is an issue, and you are prepared to leave one of the Macs running all
the time, you can run LaserWriter Bridge (free from ftp.apple.com) on one of
the Macs and use that Mac as the bridge.

In both cases, your LocalTalk and EtherTalk nets are combined into a single net
and all devices can be accessed from either the ET or LT side*. Thus, you will
be able to print to the LW II from Linux using "pap" (NB not papd) or through
lp/lpr with appr printcap entries. We have an LW 4/600 that we use this way.

* NB. Apple's LW Bridge has been deliberately crippled so that the only LT
device that you can have is a single LW printer. You can, however, buy Apple's
LocalTalk Bridge which is a general purpose bridge for US$50 if you have other
LT devices that you want to connect (PowerBooks, Newtons etc).

Sak Wathanasin
Network Analysis Limited
178 Wainbody Ave South, Coventry CV3 6BX, UK

Internet: [email-masked]
Phone: (+44) 1203 419996                    Fax: (+44) 1203 690690

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 1997 19:55:57 -0500

[email-masked] said:
> I have got an Linux Box running netatalk 1.3. The box is connected to
> an NecP7 24 needle printer, the printer is served to all connected
> Macs with netatlk and to the windows machines with samba, this works
> fine. But I have got an old Personal LaserWriter II, and I want to
> serve this printer also to the Macs and to the Win Machines. Actually
> the LaserWriter is connected via LocalTalk to the Macs, so the Mac
> Users have to switch in the ControlField  "Network" from EtherTalk to
> LocalTalk. Second the Windows Users can't use the LasewrWriter.
> Unfortunally the documentation for the LaserWriter is lost. I only see
> a MiniDB 8 (like the serial ports at the mac) and an SubD 25 (like the
> scsi interface at the macs) at the back of the LaserWriter. Questions:
> Is it possible to make the LaserWriter talking with the Linux Box via
> serial interface? What have I to do therefor? 

As others have already suggested, LaserWriter Bridge from Apple's ftp site. 
You won't find it by that name there, you want this awful URL: 
http://swupdates.info.apple.com/cgi-bin/pointer.pl?Apple.Support.Area/Apple.
Software.Updates/Worldwide/Macintosh/Networking-Communications/Network.Softw
are.Installer/ZM-NSI_1.5.1.sea.hqx

The above is probably preferable as you've mentioned at least some of the 
Macs have LocalTalk and ethernet.

Another solution is to connect the LaserWriter via serial port. The 8 pin 
mini-din is capable of running plain serial but its rarely advertised. One 
thing I recal from elsewhere, the LaserWriter II requires the sender to 
stop RIGHT NOW when the hardware handshake says to. Crumby PC serial ports 
such as 16550's can't stop that which is already in the FIFO. You have to 
either drop the data rate or disable the 16550 FIFO.

Rather than purchase an ethernet to localtalk adapter, upgrade the 
LaserWriter II (its not really a Personal LaserWriter II is it?) to a IIf 
or IIg with a faster digital engine plus ethernet. 
http://www.shrevesystems.com/ is a good place to start. Just checked and 
didn't see any printer MB's but they list them in their printed 
advertisments.
--
David Kelly N4HHE, [email-masked]
=====================================================================
The human mind ordinarily operates at only ten percent of its
capacity -- the rest is overhead for the operating system.

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From: Sak Wathanasin <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 1 Aug 1997 10:24:01 +0100

> Unfortunally the documentation for the LaserWriter is lost. I only see a
>MiniDB
> 8 (like the serial ports at the mac) and an SubD 25 (like the scsi interface
>at
> the macs) at the back of the LaserWriter.

Come to think of it, both the DIN-8 and D-25 ports are serial ports and so the
printer can be connected to the Linux box's serial port as a serial (PS)
printer. Then by running papd, the printer can be made visible to the Macs
(just like the other printer that you have). Depending on the model of LW,
there is either a switch (probably a DIP switch somewhere) or it will
auto-sense.

The default comms settings should be 9600, no parity, 8-bits, 1 stop bit. Try
using tip/cu/whatever to talk to the printer. If you type control-T, the
printer should respond with a status. You can also put the printer into
interactive mode by typing

executive

(carefully since it doesn't echo). Then you can send any Postscript command to
the printer. Eg, the following:

statusdict begin 25 sccbatch pstack end

should print the comms settings of the 25-pin port (9600, 0 according to the
manual)

Once you get this far, the rest should be straight forward (my /etc/printcap
came with sample entries for the LW).

You can change the comms setti ngs on the printer by executing the following
bit of PS:

serverdict begin 0 exitserver
statusdict begin
25 57600 0 setsccbatch

to change the 25-pin port to 57600 baud, no parity. It's best to send this from
one of the Macs using PAP.

Good luck!

Sak Wathanasin
Network Analysis Limited

Internet: [email-masked]