LocalTalk file sharing and IWII printer?

[jefframsey]

I have a ROM01 IIgs, a Powerbook 540c, a Mac SE and a newly acquired ImageWriter II printer. (My IWII does not have the optional LocalTalk interface installed)

Right now, I have the 540c and the SE connected together using phone net adapters and LocalTalk. The 540c only has the one modem/printer combo port and the SE has one each. However, the SE is only running 7.1.1 due to it's 4MB max RAM so it can only connect to the AppleTalk network on it's printer port.

How can I connect the ImageWriter II to the Mac SE at the same time as the LocalTalk network? Can I connect it on the Modem port and use it there? Will I be able to share it and connect to it from the 540c? Is there a way I can install a new System OS that will support OpenTransport and allow me to run the LocalTalk on the serial port with only 4MB RAM?

Is there some other way of doing this that I have not thought about yet at all?

 

[Dog Cow]

I have an AppleTalk ImageWriter.

How can I connect the ImageWriter II to the Mac SE at the same time as the LocalTalk network?

In the Chooser, select the ImageWriter II printer and click the modem port. And connect your ImageWriter to the modem port too.

Can I connect it on the Modem port and use it there? Will I be able to share it and connect to it from the 540c?

You need the LocalTalk card installed in the ImageWriter II to share it on the network. And you need the AppleTalk ImageWriter driver too.

Another solution may be to use the AppleShare Print Server software.

 

[Scott Baret]

I highly recommend tracking down a LocalTalk card. It works better than using an AB switch (which also could solve your problem of sharing that ImageWriter), especially since the ImageWriter can be shared with many, many Macs.

They're a bit hard to find on their own these days; your best bet may be finding a spare ImageWriter II with one already inside (check old elementary computer lab specimens, where they were used quite often into the late 1990s as inexpensive printers for Kid Pix drawings; I got my first card from one).

 

[beachycove]

Other options might include some or all of the following, off the top of my head:

1. I seem to recall that A/UX can share a serial printer. I’m not sure whether that is available in the AppleShare version that shipped with it or in the terminal, but I do think it can be done. Having said that, none of those machines will run it.

2. Check out Print66, which supposedly can share a serial printer, but again, I am not 100% sure about its abilities, as I have never used it.

3. Ye olde other obvious option is a serial switch. I probably have one going unused around here somewhere, if you want to shoot me a pm. But frankly, I think I’d look for the LocalTalk card so as to kit out the printer right and proper.

 

[jefframsey]

Thanks for all of the advise.

I had to take care of some other AppleTalk business before I could even begin to worry about sharing my printer. I had tried to install AppleShare 3.0 onto my two 68k Macs, one on 7.1.1 and the other on 7.5.5 - this move proved widely unpopular, as it broke AppleTalk/LocalTalk on both machines. After reloading the OS on each machine, I was back to a working LocalTalk over Phone Net network for the two macs. After this, I created a GSOS bootdisk with AppleTalk support and booted from it. I then loaded the Control Panel item for AppleTalk File Sharing, and I was able to see all of the shares on my two 68k Macs. So far, so good!

Now, will I be able to install my IWII on the SE and share it to the other two computers? I’ll try it and report back...

 

[jefframsey]

Ok. So after I realized that if I do not use the AppleShare 3 software (as described here: http://www.synack.net/~bbraun/iigsboot.html) then I do not get the necessary AppleTalk parameters for remote booting an Apple IIgs over the LocalTalk network, which was not part of my initial project, but is extremely cool to boot the IIgs diskless. That being said, I now have AppleShare 3.3 installed on my Mac SE and my IIgs will boot from the share on it over the LocalTalk network. I left the normal Mac System 7.5.5 AppleTalk on that machine and I installed LocalTalk Bridge. Now, I can read/write to the netatalk shares on my RaspberryPi, so that is also a bonus.

Now for the printing...

I still do not see any way to share my direct connection IWII. I have connected it to the Mac SE and configured it via Chooser, but when I go to AppleShare Print Server, I do not see it listed nor do I have any choice. Can anyone point me towards any documentation on this?