Postscript Printer Driver?

[LC_575]

Considering it's my only Ethernet-capable mac, I'd like to get my iMac printing without needing to use a flash drive to bring my documents-to-be-printed to my Compaq. However, I haven't got a Postscript capable printer, I have a HP OfficeJet 6110. Is there such a thing as a virtual printer driver that could convert Laserwriter 8 Postscript data into something that can be in turn sent to the main 6110 printer driver, via DAVE?

 

[Forrest]

HP has OS9 and OSX printer drivers available for download for the HP OfficeJet 6100. The best course of action is to network your iMac with your Compaq.

 

[LC_575]

M iMac runs OS 8.6, and i'd like to keep it that way.

 

[Gorgonops]

So...

I have a semi-dumb suggestion. It's "semi-dumb" because it's a fair amount of labor to set up and I can't guarantee it will work anymore. The last time I did this was... at least 12 years ago. At least. But it worked like a charm back then. I guess the pages say it works on Windows versions up to XP... if you run Vista or 7 on your Compaq you may be out of luck. (I originally did this on a Windows 95 machine in order to share a non-Postscript printer on a network in such a way that DOS Wordperfect 5.1 users could use it. Yes, that was a long time ago.) Anyway:

The idea is to use RedMon and Ghostscript to set up a "fake" Postscript printer and share it on the network. Obviously there are problems using a Windows printer on a Mac... you'll either have to use DAVE, or you can install "UNIX LPR Printer Services" which will allow your Windows box to act as a UNIX LPR print server. MacOS versions as old as 7.1.1 can print to UNIX LPR servers with the Laserwriter 8.5.1 driver. Here's some links:

This is a complete recipe to get the Postscript autofiltering to work on Windows XP, including the part about installing the UNIX LPR service and pointing it to share the emulated Postscript printer.

This page talks about using the Laserwriter driver on classic MacOS to print to an LPR printer. If you already have DAVE then maybe you don't need this.

Good luck if you choose to accept this mission.

(Edit Update: It is *possible* to make this work on Windows 7. Here is a blog link/. It involves an evil workaround to temporarily disable some of the security features present since Vista.)

 

[protocol7]

You could also try those HP OS9 drivers. Sometime they work fine on earlier systems. OS9 is often just used as a blanket term for pre OS X. I'm using a OS9 driver for my ethernet card just fine in 7.6.1.

 

[LC_575]

@protocol7: I would, but according to the setup my mac isn't powerful enough for a PRINTER DRIVER.

FYI I do have Dave, which I have successfully gotten to work with the vista machine (even sharing a folder) so the network is printer ready.

 

[Gorgonops]

FYI I do have Dave, which I have successfully gotten to work with the vista machine (even sharing a folder) so the network is printer ready.

Since you're running Vista if you want to try the Ghostscript autofiltering recipe the best I could suggest is trying to follow the workaround in the linked blog post for Windows 7. The roadblocks to RedMon working are the same in both OSes. (Another workaround that may work is force-enabling a full "Administrator" account, which apparently you can do "somehow", and use that to set up the RedMon redirector. Some Google searches mention something along those lines. I can't give any specifics because I've never had more than a brief exposure to desktop Windows beyond XP.)

What having DAVE gives you is the ability to skip the part about setting up UNIX LPR sharing. You still need to go through all the other steps of installing Ghostscript and binding it to a virtual LTP port. Then to use Windows sharing you'd set up a second "printer" *on the Windows box" using a generic Postscript driver pointed at the virtual port, and then you'd share that virtual printer via the normal Windows mechanisms. (Which is how I did it back in the day... the DOS clients were actually leveraging the networking portions of Microsoft Windows for Workgroups 3.11.)

Personally, I'd say if Vista gives you the option of UNIX LPR sharing then set it up anyway. (I have *no idea* if it does or not.) Then if you get any more classic Macs networked you can print directly from them without needing a copy of DAVE on each one.

 

[LC_575]

I tried out the RedMon/Ghostscript method, but I cannot get the "standard input" modifier ("-") to work. GSprint works fine when I specify a PDF, but once I try a test page via RedMon, nothing happens.

 

[LC_575]

I finally got it to work - it turns out that my physical printer wasn't available on the Admin acct on the Compaq, breaking Redmon. A registry tweak later and now my iMac prints via DAVE.

However, sharing the DAVE PS printer via AppleShare doesn't work. No AppleShare client or LaserWriter 8 driver actually acknowledges the printer, on either the iMac or my LC. I tried "sharing" the desktop printer by copying it into a shared-via-AppleShare folder, and then pulling it onto the desktop on the LC, but printing anything produces "error -8940." Here is an article describing the error.

 

[Gorgonops]

Were you able to enable Vista to share the printer via LPR? I have zero experience with DAVE, so I can't comment on whether it's "normal" to have trouble re-sharing a printer connected via SMB. (Of course, I also have essentially zero experience with Vista, so I don't know if it supports UNIX printer services.)

 

[LC_575]

First off, I tried installing UNIX LPR services on the Compaq, but the setup just freezes w/ 0% complete.

Secondly, I think I figured out why error -8940 comes up. I think that the DAVE desktop printer is merely a configuration file, one that it simply relays print jobs to DAVE, which in turn relays the print job to Windows/GSPrint/RedMon. Hence, when I print on the LC to this config file "printer," it tries to send the job to DAVE, but alas, a DAVE client there is not.

Sadly, I only have DAVE 6, which needs at least OS 8.5. If anyone could send me the latest version of DAVE that will run on a 68k running 7.5.5 (DAVE 2.0 I believe), that would be great.

 

[Gorgonops]

First off, I tried installing UNIX LPR services on the Compaq, but the setup just freezes w/ 0% complete.

I did a quick Google and found this thread in which someone apparently did manage to enable LPR/LPD in Windows Vista (to share a printer with OS X) so it should be "possible", but... it is Windows we're talking about. As for alternatives I can't think of much. There's a company that sells an AppleTalk server suite for Windows called "ExtremeZ-IP" , but the price is positively breathtaking. ($800 for the cheapest license.) Another company called "Cyansoft" offers separate print-and-file service software packages. (The print server is "cyanPrintIP") No idea what their pricing is as the website doesn't say, other than claiming it's an "inexpensive" way to set up a Mac print server. If it's "inexpensive" by corporate standards that's probably still way more than you want to spend.

If you had a Linux box lying around (Or... I guess if you were willing you could run Linux in VMware or Virtualbox on your Vista machine and get really clever) you could install Netatalk to share the printer and resolve the issue that way... Anyway, hey, at least the solution *sort of worked*, right? ;^b

 

[LC_575]

I have finally gotten the Windows Features setup to behave and now I have LPD services installed. I also managed to get the emulated LPD printer to work - sending documents to it simply relays them to the router, which then relays them to the Ghostscript printer. Everything on the Vista side of things is fine.

Mac OS, on the other hand...

I cannot get either Macintosh to work with the LPR service. Both Macs acknowledge that there is a computer at the Vista machine's IP address (which is static), and both say that a printer is detected when the Verify button is selected (in the Desktop Pinter Setup). However, when it comes to actually printing, the iMac will simply crash with a non responsive desktop, after sending about 2/3 of the document, according to the Print Queue. The LC meanwhile actually spools the entire document, attempts to connect to the LPD, and then reports an error that the selected printer was no found in the queue.

I have checked EVERYTHING. The IP address is correct, the LPD printer is shared, all of the Macs have the correct share/queue name. And every time it either crashes or that same error occurs.

Please help. I'm beginning to lose my patience with this.

 

[Gorgonops]

I don't have Vista so I can't help with that part. It would be technically possible for me to test some of the other legs, but with limited free time it might take me a bit.

First thing I'd suggest... do you have an OS X machine, or some other machine you can set up as an lpd client to test if it works with things other than classic macos' driver? (or have you done that already? I guess you mention "sending a document" to it.) Might narrow down whether it is Windows or the macs that need to be hit with a hammer.

 

[Gorgonops]

So, just FYI, I've lost patience with trying to verify this myself. The only way I have to run Classic OS currently is via emulation, and attempts to set this in BasiliskII were completely stymied by some bizarre dependency the Desktop Printer LPR support seems to have on *Appletalk*. I get through the setup fine (IE, it "sees" the print server, blaw blaw), but when trying to actually spool something it gives me this error about Appletalk not being enabled for that network. Eh, what? YOU'RE PRINTING VIA TCP/IP, STUPID! Maybe it'd work better in SheepShaver, the networking is a little better there, but... I've wasted too much time already.

I swear I got this to work in the past, but it was on a "real" Mac... and possibly complicating the matter is I did happen to have a Netatalk server acting as a router so Appletalk was also "present" on the LAN. (Which is something I'm lacking now.) Apparently this software has some idiotic and broken dependencies in it. So... forget LPD sharing? I'm sorry I ever mentioned it.

At this point if you really want to print directly from your old Macs I'd suggest two courses of action:

1: A Linux box with NetaTalk hosting the printer would make all your problems go away. The problem is you need to get a Linux box, set it up (and there's no GUI for Netatalk... it's not "hard", but it seems to be a formidable wall for people not used to the alternative) and run it as a server whenever you want to print.

2. See what the cheapest network-enabled Postscript laser printer you can buy is. "Cheap" home network printers don't offer Appletalk anymore, but office models do. (The Brother HL6050DN does, for instance.) If it's worth, oh, $350 or so, to print from your old system that's your "new" option. Or of course you could always find a used one. The old postscript-equipped HP 4-series network models are well regarded, if getting extremely long in the tooth. One issue with "office caliber" printers I've encountered is if you live in an older house with cruddy wiring you can end up dimming the lights every time one of the monsters fires up.

If you were running XP there *are* illicit instructions for lifting the AppleTalk DLLs from a Windows 2000 Server installation and inserting them into the right places to enable Appletalk on XP, but I'm sure that wouldn't work for Vista. (And I wouldn't trust it on XP either, but that's just me.) Sorry about the faceplant fail.

 

[LC_575]

I think i'll keep fiddling with it. I tried settign up an LPR printer on my 7 machine (directed at the Vista's LPD), and that didn't work either.Therefore something isn't configured right.

 

[trag]

2. See what the cheapest network-enabled Postscript laser printer you can buy is. "Cheap" home network printers don't offer Appletalk anymore, but office models do. (The Brother HL6050DN does, for instance.) If it's worth, oh, $350 or so, to print from your old system that's your "new" option. Or of course you could always find a used one. The old postscript-equipped HP 4-series network models are well regarded, if getting extremely long in the tooth.

The HP2100 is newer, has a slightly smaller footprint and is (or was) available for well under $100. It probably is not as ruggedly built as the Laserjet 4 and 4Plus, but is also about a decade newer. It has a removable postscript module (so get one with it installed) and LocalTalk is built in. There are (or were) also Ethernet expansion cards including 10/100 available for under $20.