How do i share a imagewriter (1) using apple talk?
How do i share a printer using appletalk?
- Thread starter Macintoshguy1984
- Start date
I do not believe you can. Appletalk is a network protocol. If the printer was an IWII then you could add the hardware LocalTalk Option, which would make it into a network printer accessed using the AppleTalk protocol.
Because there is no way to make the IWI into a network printer, the only other option is if there's some way to connect it to a print server which handles the network communications for the printer. There might be print server software that turns the IWI's host computer into a print server, but I'm not aware of it. The classic Mac OS doesn't support sharing local printers on a network, although OSX does. That does raise the question of whether you could wedge OSX on an older PPC with serial ports and then try to share the IWI. The fly in that ointment is that OSX doesn't have an Imagewriter driver/extension.
However, see this article:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6621
Because there is no way to make the IWI into a network printer, the only other option is if there's some way to connect it to a print server which handles the network communications for the printer. There might be print server software that turns the IWI's host computer into a print server, but I'm not aware of it. The classic Mac OS doesn't support sharing local printers on a network, although OSX does. That does raise the question of whether you could wedge OSX on an older PPC with serial ports and then try to share the IWI. The fly in that ointment is that OSX doesn't have an Imagewriter driver/extension.
However, see this article:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6621
To expand on the above, the method of using an ImageWriter with OS X depends on leveraging CUPS, which also happens to be the standard printer support infrastructure for Linux (and most other free UNIXes these days). Therefore it might actually be more straightforward to run the Imagewriter on a Linux machine (you could use a Raspberry Pi or something via a USB-> serial adapter) and share it via Netatalk.
Of course, with *either* the OS X or Linux solution you'll need a localtalk/ethertalk bridge if you intend to share the printer with localtalk hosts, because OS X doesn't support Localtalk even on machines that have the hardware.
Of course, with *either* the OS X or Linux solution you'll need a localtalk/ethertalk bridge if you intend to share the printer with localtalk hosts, because OS X doesn't support Localtalk even on machines that have the hardware.
Pretty sure you can share printers in classic Mac OS. I used to share a LaserWriter 300 all the time from a PM5500 over over phonenet to a Classic.
Apparently it's a specific extension but, yes, it does indeed seem to be possible:
http://www.atpm.com/network/printing/apple.htm
http://www.atpm.com/network/printing/apple.htm
That would be the "print server software that turns the IWI's host computer into a print server" that I was not aware of.
It looks like Apple Printer Share Extension is the secret sauce.
Nice to learn something new. Thankyou.
Where can i download the Apple Printer Share Extension
If I recall correctly, it was a part of my install for 7.6.1 or 8... I can't remember it's literally been 15 years since I had that setup. Try checking in the .iso CDs of those two installers and see if it is there.
Bad news, this doesn't appear to work with the ImageWriter in 7.6.1, but for LW300, and every StyleWriter installed by default:
Just verified this on a Color Classic rocking an LC520 logic board and running a universal system install of 7.6.1. Configure Appletalk and get it and your other computers up and running. Disable QuickDraw GX on host machine (can be done with it on, but steps change slightly). Restart. Select printer in Chooser. Click port it is connected to (or that you plan on connecting it to). Still in Chooser with printer and port selected, click setup. Click box to share this printer, and assign a name and password if you want. Bonus, you can keep log of printer usage.
If I remember correctly (this part I didn't verify since I don't have another 7.6.1 machine handy at the moment), you would go to the remote machine, open Chooser, select the printer in the chooser and in the right pane the list should populate with printer port, modem port, and any shared versions of that printer in your AppleTalk network
Just verified this on a Color Classic rocking an LC520 logic board and running a universal system install of 7.6.1. Configure Appletalk and get it and your other computers up and running. Disable QuickDraw GX on host machine (can be done with it on, but steps change slightly). Restart. Select printer in Chooser. Click port it is connected to (or that you plan on connecting it to). Still in Chooser with printer and port selected, click setup. Click box to share this printer, and assign a name and password if you want. Bonus, you can keep log of printer usage.
If I remember correctly (this part I didn't verify since I don't have another 7.6.1 machine handy at the moment), you would go to the remote machine, open Chooser, select the printer in the chooser and in the right pane the list should populate with printer port, modem port, and any shared versions of that printer in your AppleTalk network
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