LaserWriter 4/600 PS and MS-DOS/WordPerfect 5.1

[Scott Baret]

I'm not sure if anyone has adapted their LaserWriter 4/600 to run on a DOS machine or has found a driver that is compatible with it for WP5.1, but if anyone has, please let me know. I'm in the process of restoring an old IBM PS/2 and need a decent printer to use with it. Since I don't really feel like getting my LaserWriter 16/600 PS back out (it's too big for my place!) I want to look into somehow adapting this printer.

It doesn't have a parallel port or Ethernet; would it be possible to bridge the LocalTalk box to the DOS machine somehow? It's got DOS 5, for the record. Alternately, would it just be better for me to invest in an old HP LaserJet 4L or something similar in size to the 4/600 to run on this?

 

[Unknown_K]

II2II has run a 4/600 under windows before. I have a serial port to ethernet box for my 4/600 but that is not in use anymore since I have a HP 4si with ethernet and appletalk port. I think you can dump postscript to the printer if you can rig an IP out of it (using an etherprint device) under DOS, but you will be much better off with an old cheap/free HP laserjet 3/4/5 series.

 

[Scott Baret]

I'll go LJ hunting then, especially since I know a guy who might be getting rid of some IIIs, 4s, and maybe a 5.

Since I don't have it set up right now, can someone check for me to see what drivers WordPerfect 5.1 supplies for LJs? This way I can see what the newest model of printer I could get would be.

In particular, does 5.1 offer support for the compact LJs?

 

[~Coxy]

Does the PS/2 have ISA? You could always try to find a LocalTalk card for PC.

 

[shred]

I think you are better off finding an old HP LaserJet or using a more up-market Apple LaserWriter that has (ideally) a parallel port or a standard serial port and supports PCL.

Back in the day, it was possible to print to a PostScript printer from the DOS versions of WordPerfect and MS Word, however the drivers weren't pretty and it definitely wasn't easy to get going - particularly if the users wanted to do anything fancy with extra trays of features on the printer. With PostScript, you also lost some nice features that DOS users relied on, like the ability to "Print Screen" or pipe DOS directories and other data to the printer. If it's a serial printer, expect to get familiar with the yukky "mode" statement in DOS.

A little trivia. At the time that the PS/2 machines were popular, Apple themselves made an ISA LocalTalk network card for DOS. It had a DB-9 (Mac 128 style) port. I don't recall seeing a MicroChannel Architecture (MCA) version, so it was limited to the low end PS/2 machines such as the Model 30 286 (or IBM clones). The card came with a full suite of file sharing and print sharing drivers for DOS to allow a PC to become a client in an all Mac LAN. I can't remember what Apple called it now, but really wish I'd kept one of them (I threw a few out at one stage in my mis-spent youth!). The solution worked reliably, but unfortunately consumed large amounts of conventional memory, severely limiting its usefulness.