Having some major Personal LaserWriter NTR woes here!!
First, the paper almost ALWAYS jams. I've tried thicker paper (i.e. resume paper) and it works a little better, but I just can't get this to feed nicely. Based on some feedback I've gotten, this is almost certainly the rollers going. I'm not sure if anyone has made a replacement part or if there's an HP equivalent.
Second, my NOS toner doesn't print. I'm chalking that up to it being old and being stored in too many different climates since I got it, from my trunk to a basement to a garage to my office. I did order another toner (which appears to be MUCH newer; it's an HP 75A that I snagged for under $20 on eBay with free shipping so it's not a huge gamble). My guess is that my toner is just no good. I also am wondering if Apple still does the recycling program for these toners, as there was a UPS label in the box. I may actually ask an Apple Store tomorrow about this (if not, I'll just take it to Staples). The cleaning document from the printer install disks didn't work either.
Third, this is the weird one, it keeps printing the same document over and over and over and over and won't communicate back to the Mac I'm trying to print on. I've ruled out a few things. First, I've done this on two different Macs now, which were both AppleTalked to the LaserWriter--an SE running 6.0.7 and an LC running 7.1. I tried first on the SE, which had the LaserWriter driver that came with 6.0.8/7.0 on it. I used the version from 7.1 on the LC, which came out after the NTR's release. I also used several programs, including Word 5.1, TeachText, and Kid Pix. All had the same problem. When the printer ran out of paper, I didn't get an error on the SE (which was running single Finder) but did on the LC (with Print Monitor). The SE eventually threw up an address error after After Dark came on. Command-Period did stop the printing. Out of curiosity, I installed a fresh copy of a newer version of the driver on the SE--to no avail.
(to make matters worse, the SE's Quantum drive, which I've owned since 2001, gave up the ghost a few hours later; thankfully, I had a spare Quantum on hand to hold me over until I get two BlueSCSIs for these machines, which will likely be next month, and was able to restore the system easily from the other BlueSCSI I have for a Mac Plus in my lab).
The entire goal of getting this printer up and running was to reliably print a Print Shop file. I wound up resorting to a trusty old ImageWriter II. Since when has going to an ImageWriter from a LaserWriter felt like an upgrade?
I'm guessing the LaserWriter is going to be a long haul project at this point.
First, the paper almost ALWAYS jams. I've tried thicker paper (i.e. resume paper) and it works a little better, but I just can't get this to feed nicely. Based on some feedback I've gotten, this is almost certainly the rollers going. I'm not sure if anyone has made a replacement part or if there's an HP equivalent.
Second, my NOS toner doesn't print. I'm chalking that up to it being old and being stored in too many different climates since I got it, from my trunk to a basement to a garage to my office. I did order another toner (which appears to be MUCH newer; it's an HP 75A that I snagged for under $20 on eBay with free shipping so it's not a huge gamble). My guess is that my toner is just no good. I also am wondering if Apple still does the recycling program for these toners, as there was a UPS label in the box. I may actually ask an Apple Store tomorrow about this (if not, I'll just take it to Staples). The cleaning document from the printer install disks didn't work either.
Third, this is the weird one, it keeps printing the same document over and over and over and over and won't communicate back to the Mac I'm trying to print on. I've ruled out a few things. First, I've done this on two different Macs now, which were both AppleTalked to the LaserWriter--an SE running 6.0.7 and an LC running 7.1. I tried first on the SE, which had the LaserWriter driver that came with 6.0.8/7.0 on it. I used the version from 7.1 on the LC, which came out after the NTR's release. I also used several programs, including Word 5.1, TeachText, and Kid Pix. All had the same problem. When the printer ran out of paper, I didn't get an error on the SE (which was running single Finder) but did on the LC (with Print Monitor). The SE eventually threw up an address error after After Dark came on. Command-Period did stop the printing. Out of curiosity, I installed a fresh copy of a newer version of the driver on the SE--to no avail.
(to make matters worse, the SE's Quantum drive, which I've owned since 2001, gave up the ghost a few hours later; thankfully, I had a spare Quantum on hand to hold me over until I get two BlueSCSIs for these machines, which will likely be next month, and was able to restore the system easily from the other BlueSCSI I have for a Mac Plus in my lab).
The entire goal of getting this printer up and running was to reliably print a Print Shop file. I wound up resorting to a trusty old ImageWriter II. Since when has going to an ImageWriter from a LaserWriter felt like an upgrade?
I'm guessing the LaserWriter is going to be a long haul project at this point.
