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Mac Printing with ImageWriter I

Hello,

I have an original ImageWriter I that I am trying to get to work with my PowerBook 2400. The printer works and I was able to do a self-test print without issues. However I cannot get the Mac to see the printer. I have it connected with a cable to the serial and selected. When I print it just hangs for a minute and says to check the select button.

I cannot seem to find any documentaion on the original imagewriter and using it with a Mac (plenty on the ImageWriter II). Does anyone have any documentation to help get setup?
 

trag

Well-known member
Is it possible that you have AppleTalk Active and assigned to the port to which the printer is connected?

If AppleTalk is assigned to the serial port you're trying to use, then the Imagewriter driver isn't going to work.
 
Is it possible that you have AppleTalk Active and assigned to the port to which the printer is connected?

If AppleTalk is assigned to the serial port you're trying to use, then the Imagewriter driver isn't going to work.
AppleTalk is indeed off. Chooser wouldn't even let me pick the ImageWriter with AppleTalk on.
 

trag

Well-known member
@Adderthorn Oh well. That's all I've got. Sorry. Hopefully someone with more ideas will be along in a bit.

I wonder if there are switches to set like on the IWII. I guess that's why you're looking for documentation.

I think Larry Pina's "Macintosh Printer Upgrade and Repair Secrets" is available on-line. You might hunt that down and check the IW section.
 

4seasonphoto

Well-known member
Check the wiring configuration of your serial cable. Not sure what the IW1's requirements are, but most DIN-8 -> DB25 cables that I've encountered were designed for lower-speed modems, and they omit the connections for hardware handshaking. Can't recall if it was RTS/CTS and/or DTR pins. "Back in the day" I spent too much time reconfiguring cables in order to get stuff like this to work.
 

ScutBoy

Well-known member
I agree that the cable might be the culprit. Another thing to try is using a null-modem adapter - unless the Apple cable specifically has the little printer icon on it at the Mac end, you might need to cross pins 2 and 3 to get TX and RX on the right pins on the printer.

Another guy who spent a lot of time figuring out serial connections to printers/terminals/whatever back in the day :)
 

LaPorta

Well-known member
Along the lines of the cable, I would say that the best bet is to get one of the Apple-branded cables; that will undoubtedly get rid of any confusion (unless the cable is bad!)
 
Check the wiring configuration of your serial cable. Not sure what the IW1's requirements are, but most DIN-8 -> DB25 cables that I've encountered were designed for lower-speed modems, and they omit the connections for hardware handshaking. Can't recall if it was RTS/CTS and/or DTR pins. "Back in the day" I spent too much time reconfiguring cables in order to get stuff like this to work.
That's what I am wondering too. The problem is I can't seem to find any information about what the pinouts should be. The cable I have isn't branded anything and shows two opposing arrows on the DIN-8 side connector. I swear this thing used to work...
 

4seasonphoto

Well-known member
That's what I am wondering too. The problem is I can't seem to find any information about what the pinouts should be. The cable I have isn't branded anything and shows two opposing arrows on the DIN-8 side connector. I swear this thing used to work...
You might start here:
http://www.radanpro.com/Radan2400/PC/Mac Serial Port to RS-232 DB-25.htm
In the past, I've been able to get away with leaving the DIN8 side alone and making any necessary changes on the DB25 side which is lots easier to solder. IIRC, the DTR (Data Terminal Ready) pin in particular is one you want connected.
 

ScutBoy

Well-known member
That's what I am wondering too. The problem is I can't seem to find any information about what the pinouts should be. The cable I have isn't branded anything and shows two opposing arrows on the DIN-8 side connector. I swear this thing used to work...
The Apple printer cable I think should have a little printer icon on it. The one with two opposing arrows I can't remember if that's straight serial or localtalk.

I'm prepared to be wrong on this...
 

LaPorta

Well-known member
Actually, little Apples are emblazoned on the printer ones. I think the serials have the two arrows.....but I, as well, am no authority here.
 

gsteemso

Well-known member
A bunch of small random thoughts emerge in response to this thread. In no real order:

First topic (annoyingly long):

I vaguely recall that Apple released two different serial cables in the early-Macintosh era (by which, in this case, I more or less mean "the span when at least some currently-selling Macs still had DE-9 serial ports"). One of the two cables would have been used with an original ImageWriter, and the other with newer peripherals.

(Full disclosure: I have never actually gotten my hands on an ImageWriter 1, but I did get onto a "figure out what cables Apple actually supplied around then" kick for a while last year, so I'm not completely full of smoke here.)

Anyway, reading between the lines, it seems likely that the earlier cable was of the "RS-423 to -232" type, while the newer ones would have been of the plain "RS-422" type. To explain what that actually means, first, here are three sentences of vital background data: {1} RS-232 sends individual bits by making the signal line positive or negative with respect to ground (which works great unless the "ground" at each end are not the same voltage), and is asymmetrical (i.e., connecting the cable backwards can't work). {2} RS-422, which Macs use, is similar but fixes both of those: as it sends each bit, it sends the opposite of that bit on a second wire (so there's always a clear difference); and instead of the cables being wired straight-through, all RS-422 cables are "crossover" type: each end's "transmit" signals are hooked to the other end's "receive" signals (so it doesn't matter which end is which). {3} If you run a cable to the Mac's RS-422 ports but only use the _normal_ version of the data lines (i.e., don't also use the opposite-value differential lines), you get the very similar RS-423, which is close enough to the same functionality as RS-232 to be directly plugged into it (as long as you properly deal with every other signal input in the Mac's serial port that you're not actually using).

So what does that mean? Well, if I am correct in deducing that the ImageWriter 1 probably connects by RS-232, then using a normal RS-422 cable with it will fail outright in two different ways simultaneously: the ImageWriter will, from its perspective, have an unexpected null-modem cable plugged in (which _could_ have the disastrous effect of connecting the output signals of both machines to the same wire, allowing very large currents to flow and possibly cooking the serial driver ICs in both machines); and without the unused differential signals being tied off appropriately, even if it is otherwise wired perfectly, one end or the other may simply not be able to perceive the other end's output.

Secondly, I think the "it's got arrows on the plug" dealie mostly only happened with third-party gear. As far as I recall (_not_ definitive!) pretty much any cable Apple ever made, at least during their beige-box period, had an apple on the D-shaped plug segments.
 
Hi All,

Thanks for all of your help and insight. Apologies for the radio silence, but the holiday season kept me away from this thing for a while. I finally had a chance to play around with it again and it seems to be working! My original cable (the one with the arrows) does indeed work. For whatever reason, the trick seems to be to always go into Chooser and select the printer after a reboot.

I assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that the ImageWriter appearing on the desktop meant it would work. Before my first print job, I still had to go to Chooser and select it again, close Chooser, and then was ready to print.

Also @trag thanks for the book suggestion. I was unable to find a digital copy of this book, but did acquire a physical copy. I haven't the resources to scan the whole thing, but I will upload some relevant troubleshooting pages I used which helped me when I get a chance and I'll reply here with the link.
 

pcamen

Well-known member
I've scanned this but haven't posted it to vintageapple yet.
 

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