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UKenGB

Q: LaserWriter 16/600 MAC address?

Could anyone possibly let me know where I can find the MAC address of this printer. I've no idea of it's IP address or its MAC address and can think of no easy way to obtain either, but if I can get the MAC hardware address it's a start. I thought it would be printed on the outside somewhere (as all other ethernet devices do), but no such luck and it's an SOB to get into, so some idea of where I'm heading would be useful.

Anyone help here, before I throw it out the nearest window?

MacPro, MacBook Pro, XServe, iPhone 3G, Mac OS X (10.6), 30" HD display

Posted on Oct 17, 2009 5:33 AM

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Q: LaserWriter 16/600 MAC address?

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  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Oct 17, 2009 6:24 AM in response to UKenGB
    Level 9 (61,185 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 17, 2009 6:24 AM in response to UKenGB
    You need the IP address. It prints on the startup page, or is easily obtainable with Apple Printer Utility (not to be confused with Desktop Printer Utility) which runs under OS 9 or Classic. The M.A.C. Address is not used for accessing the printer..
  • by UKenGB,

    UKenGB UKenGB Oct 17, 2009 7:47 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 2 (270 points)
    Oct 17, 2009 7:47 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    I know what the MAC address is for and not for thanks.

    The problem is I used to run a BOOTP server which assigned the IP address according to the MAC address of the requesting device. But that server is long gone (along with config. data) and I've been using AppleTalk with this printer, but that's no longer possible with Snow Leopard. I still have a Leopard machine, but that doesn't really help, neither does Windows. I cannot communicate with it as I don't know the IP address, probably using some default as it won't find a BOOTP server and I cannot setup a BOOTP server until I know the MAC address.

    I would check the startup page, but that was turned off long ago and the only way to tuen it back on is with Apple Printer utility which never made it to OSX and I don't have anything that can run Classic. There is a Windows Utility, but the Setup program just quietly crashes when I try to run it in Vista.

    At the moment I'm stumped. I cannot find the MAC address, without that I cannot set the IP address and without that I cannot communicate via IP and I cannot run the only apps that Apple ever released to setup their printers. Brilliant.

    There isn't even a RESET button on the printer to put it all back to standard config. Then I'd be able to set the IP address via ping, but that doesn't work if it's already been set.

    I try to keep a record of stuff like MAC addresses for all my hardware, but this printer seems to have slipped through the net and I don't have it.

    So, how can I turn on the startup page and/or get the MAC and IP address any other way?
  • by UKenGB,

    UKenGB UKenGB Oct 17, 2009 12:23 PM in response to UKenGB
    Level 2 (270 points)
    Oct 17, 2009 12:23 PM in response to UKenGB
    Managed to get the MAC address by snooping the ethernet packets and looking for the BOOTP requests when turning the printer on. Having done that I was able to set the IP address using ping and then use the telnet based utility to set up the rest.

    It's a shame my DHCP server doesn't do BOOTP and an even bigger shame that Apple were so unusually backward in using BOOTP rather than DHCP and also that there is NO current way to be able to control the printer interfaces as that can ONLY be done with the Apple Printer Utility (which doesn't even run in OSX) or LaserWriter Utility for Windows and which cannot install in Vista.

    I understand Apple want to move forward, but there's better ways to do it.
  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Oct 17, 2009 12:45 PM in response to UKenGB
    Level 9 (61,185 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 17, 2009 12:45 PM in response to UKenGB
    Hi UKenGB-

    Please try not to take offense. I tried to provide a fairly complete answer that would get you headed in the right direction, regardless of what you knew. You did not divulge in your original posting that you had been using a BOOTP Server previously, and that knowing the M.A.C. address would solve your problem. For most readers, knowing the M.A.C. address would get them no closer to a solution and would be a major frustration.

    All I knew about you when I answered was what you provided in the very terse first post you made above. It was never my intention to talk down to you or mislead you in any way.

    -----
    There is a technique using Ping that can reveal all the IP addresses currently on your subnet. If you send pings to the last address on your subnet, it acts as a Broadcast and is supposed to be answered by each and every device that has a qualified IP address.

    The reason for the weasel-words is that this depends strongly on the Subnet Mask. If your local DHCP server were dispensing addresses in the range 192.168.0.xxx with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0, the broadcast address would be 192.168.0.255; With a wider subnet mask, such as 255.255.254.0, the broadcast address changes to 192.168.1.255.

    Ping is available as a Terminal command and also as part of the Network Utility. If you use the network Utility version, you may need to send 2 or more pings to get all the results.

    EDIT: Your post below was not present when I began composing. Glad you got it sorted out!

    Message was edited by: Grant Bennet-Alder
  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Oct 17, 2009 12:48 PM in response to UKenGB
    Level 9 (61,185 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 17, 2009 12:48 PM in response to UKenGB
    There are instructions in some of the manuals for Ethernet-capable printers about using Telnet to communicate with the printer. It is never made clear whether the IP address is required to reach the printer, or whether its default name alone could be used to get it to answer. Do you have any insight on that?
  • by UKenGB,

    UKenGB UKenGB Oct 18, 2009 1:42 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 2 (270 points)
    Oct 18, 2009 1:42 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Grant Bennet-Alder wrote:
    Please try not to take offense


    None taken:-)

    Grant Bennet-Alder wrote:
    There are instructions in some of the manuals for Ethernet-capable printers about using Telnet to communicate with the printer. It is never made clear whether the IP address is required to reach the printer, or whether its default name alone could be used to get it to answer. Do you have any insight on that?


    As per any IP based communication, to telnet to another device, either you need to know the IP address, or there HAS to be a way to resolve a name to the correct address. There's nothing magical about telnet or any telnet based app such as in the LaserWriter. The IP address must be known. The use of Zero Configuration technologies (Bonjour) can avoid this in some cases, but the apps need to be aware of it AFAIK and telnet is basic UNIX stuff. Not only that, but the LaserWriter precedes Bonjour by a lllooooooooonnnnnngggggggggg way so no good in this case.

    The great thing about telnet is that it will always be available (as far as we need to care about anyway), yet Apple only included half the capability of the MacOS and Windows Printer utilities in the telnet app so now we're all screwed when trying to configure such printers. It's all very well saying use an old machine that can run Classic, yet the whole problem only exists because Apple is trying to make us move forward onto new technologies. They drop AppleTalk, but by doing so cause us to keep running old versions of the OS instead (those that can anyway). It's just not joined up thinking.
  • by Instant_1,

    Instant_1 Instant_1 Oct 18, 2009 5:59 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 18, 2009 5:59 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    I am not familiar with the LaserWriter 16/600, but I found this page worth beeing referred to here.
    http://www.whoopis.com/howtos/laserwriter16-600/

    There is also a downloadable handbook.

    Message was edited by: Instant_1
  • by UKenGB,

    UKenGB UKenGB Oct 19, 2009 1:03 AM in response to Instant_1
    Level 2 (270 points)
    Oct 19, 2009 1:03 AM in response to Instant_1
    A good write up, but you can see that the MAC address and IP address need to be known.

    The links to further documentation don't work.
  • by UKenGB,

    UKenGB UKenGB Oct 19, 2009 12:19 PM in response to UKenGB
    Level 2 (270 points)
    Oct 19, 2009 12:19 PM in response to UKenGB
    This is getting stupid. Yesterday I found the MAC address, used ping to set the IP address and then telnet to set the rest of the networking config on the printer and it was working perfectly.

    Today.....nope. It's not even responding to pings on the address I set yesterday, but it's not sending out BOOTP requests either, so I've no idea what its IP address is and also how on earth it has changed. In fact, it looks like it's not doing TCP/IP at all, all the packets seem to be Appletalk.

    I've dug out 2 old machines to try and set up Apple Printer Utility, but they both have problems and I'm trying SheepShaver which starts OK, but when I try and install OS9, it crashes out after about 20 seconds.

    This is driving me nuts.
  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Oct 19, 2009 1:17 PM in response to UKenGB
    Level 9 (61,185 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 19, 2009 1:17 PM in response to UKenGB
    On the laserWriter 8500 there is a tiny button. One setting says, "keep your settings across a power outage" the other says "start over when you wake up" Could there be a similar button for the 16/600, in addition to the number wheel?.
  • by Instant_1,

    Instant_1 Instant_1 Oct 19, 2009 2:52 PM in response to UKenGB
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 19, 2009 2:52 PM in response to UKenGB
    I got this from SheepShavers hompage:

    Supported systems

    SheepShaver runs with varying degree of functionality on the following systems:

    * Unix with X11 (Linux i386/x86_64/ppc, NetBSD 2.x, FreeBSD 3.x)
    * Mac OS X (PowerPC and Intel)
    * Windows NT/2000/XP
    * BeOS R4/R5 (PowerPC)

    Some of SheepShaver's features

    * Runs MacOS 7.5.2 thru 9.0.4. MacOS X as a guest is not supported.
    * Color video display
    * CD quality sound output
    * Access to floppy disks, CD-ROMs and HFS(+) partitions on hard disks
    * Easy file exchange with the host OS via a "Host Directory Tree" icon on the Mac desktop
    * Internet and LAN networking via Ethernet
    * Serial drivers
    * SCSI Manager (old-style) emulation
  • by UKenGB,

    UKenGB UKenGB Oct 20, 2009 1:18 AM in response to Instant_1
    Level 2 (270 points)
    Oct 20, 2009 1:18 AM in response to Instant_1
    In frustration, I turned the LaserWriter off while I messed with SheepShaver and this is what I found:-

    I got an OS9 image that I could run with SheepShaver which now runs fine (although I still cannot install from my own CD) but, and it's a big but:-

    SheepShaver doesn't support AppleTalk

    There is a lot of messing about you can do to get it to work, but you have to install another ethernet device emulator AND IPNetRouter (that's not free) AND go through a complex procedure to get AppleTalk functioning. OK, possible, but doable. BUT, you have to do the whole thing again every time you start it up if you want to use AppleTalk which is simply not practical when I just want to run the Printer Utility occasionally. So, close, but no cigar.

    I had switched the LaserWriter back on in order to talk to it from SheepShaver when I discovered the aforementioned problem and then for some reason tried to ping it and it's working perfectly. Huh? A couple of hours ago, it would NOT respond to pings, even after a restart. Now, Having been off for a few hours, it's working correctly again. I think maybe I'm hallucinating.

    So, printer now apparently OK, but still no way to run Apple Printer Utility:-(

    I've got the LaserWriter Utility running in Windows, but AFAICT, that requires AppleTalk to communicate with the printer, or maybe a parallel cable, but that's not easy to achieve from a MacPro.

    Either which way, I'm stymied.
  • by Instant_1,

    Instant_1 Instant_1 Oct 20, 2009 4:25 AM in response to UKenGB
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 20, 2009 4:25 AM in response to UKenGB
    Hi,
    You can read in the topic "Snow Leopard means no more Appletalk". On page 7 there is a SheepShaver sucess story from "greenjewel".

    Another one:
    This morning, after sleeping on it, I went back to the page I linked to in my earlier posting. There are some tricks in the chapter "The Switch". Worth a try?

    Also Grant Bennet-Alder pointed in that direction in his posting here.

    - - -

    As your printer has a parallel port, you can communicate to it that way via a printer server.
  • by UKenGB,

    UKenGB UKenGB Oct 20, 2009 5:03 AM in response to Instant_1
    Level 2 (270 points)
    Oct 20, 2009 5:03 AM in response to Instant_1
    I had read that topic, but it wasn't much help.

    As I said, it is possible to get AppleTalk working on SS, but only with a lot of work that needs to be repeated every time you start it which makes it an impractical solution. I'm not sure how greenjewel managed to use the Printer Utility to talk to the printer from inside SheepShaver - and I'm not sure she does either:-) There's no question that SS basically doesn't support AppleTalk, but I'm also pretty sure that the Printer Utility is AppleTalk only. Surely it cannot use TCP/IP to talk to the printer - or can it?