Ellen Higgins

Q: Trying to get Mac mini to recognize old Laserwriter NTR

I haven't used my old Laserwriter for probably 5 or 6 years.  I plugged it in, connected it to my Mini using an Ethernet/Print Adapter by Farallon (which is what I used before), restarted my Mini.  AppleTalk is enabled, but when I select the Local Zone that comes up after selecting File>Print>Add Printer>AppleTalk, nothing happens; the Laserwriter is not listed.  I click on More Printers, and a window came up that it was searching for installed drivers, but it didn't find the Laserwriter.  I've also looked on the downloads page just to make sure there wasn't an updated driver for this baby, but of course there wasn't.  It's ancient.  Anybody got any suggestions?  Thanks.

Mac Mini, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Jul 12, 2011 9:38 AM

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Q: Trying to get Mac mini to recognize old Laserwriter NTR

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  • by Ellen Higgins,

    Ellen Higgins Ellen Higgins Jul 12, 2011 10:15 AM in response to Ellen Higgins
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Jul 12, 2011 10:15 AM in response to Ellen Higgins

    As an update to this, I found an old post on the Discussion Boards (2007) that suggested this link: 

    http://www.linux-foundation.org/en/OpenPrinting/MacOSX/pslevel1#Printers

     

    So I went to it and downloaded and installed the GPL GhostScript.  So now I have the LaserWriter being recognized in my list of printers, but when I try to print something, I get a message that says Attempting to connect to host for printer.  Network host " is busy; will retry in 5 seconds..." and then the time keeps getting longer--10 seconds, 30 seconds.  And that quotation mark all by itself after "network host" is actually in the message.  When I click on the "info" button in the printer window, this is what it looks like.

     

    Picture 1.png

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Jul 12, 2011 6:26 PM in response to Ellen Higgins
    Level 9 (60,904 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 12, 2011 6:26 PM in response to Ellen Higgins

    The personal LaserWriter NTR is a postscript level 2 printer that should be supported by the built-in Apple drivers through 10.5.8, but NOT in 10.6.

     

    The fartallon adapter should do the conversion of AppleTalk-over-Ethernet to AppleTalk/LocalTalk to talk to the Printer, BUT -- the farallon must be the last device powered up  (after the printer lights have stopped flashing) so that it can see the Printer and not lose track of it.

     

    You must select the Printer as an AppleTalk printer -- it cannot use IP Printing or LPR successfully.

  • by Ellen Higgins,

    Ellen Higgins Ellen Higgins Jul 12, 2011 6:48 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Jul 12, 2011 6:48 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    The printer and the computer seem to be aware of each other as I can select the Laserwriter in the Print window.  But here's the message I get when I try to print:

     

    Picture 2.png

    How do I get it to connect?  Thanks.

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Jul 12, 2011 7:24 PM in response to Ellen Higgins
    Level 9 (60,904 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 12, 2011 7:24 PM in response to Ellen Higgins

    It thinks it is the wrong kind of printer, such as an IP Printer or LPR printer, which both have IP Addresses. You will have to delete it and add it again from scratch -- set up the way it is now, it is going nowhere.

  • by Ellen Higgins,

    Ellen Higgins Ellen Higgins Jul 13, 2011 7:40 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Jul 13, 2011 7:40 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    Dang it.  I've deleted it and now I can't add it back.  I've gone to System Preferences>Print&Fax> and clicked on the + to add a printer.  This window comes up:

     

    Picture 3.png

     

    I don't remember how I got the Laserwriter to appear before.  Arrgghhh!

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Jul 13, 2011 8:38 AM in response to Ellen Higgins
    Level 9 (60,904 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 13, 2011 8:38 AM in response to Ellen Higgins

    Once you have the Printer and the farallon box set up correctly (farallon box powered on LAST, so that it can see the printer when it wakes up) it will appear in the AppleTalk pane in under a quarter minute. Its appearance in that box is your assurance that the printer is visible on your network via AppleTalk, and can be reliably printed to.

     

    The medium you are using for AppleTalk must show a green light in System Preferences > Network.

  • by Ellen Higgins,

    Ellen Higgins Ellen Higgins Jul 13, 2011 9:35 AM in response to Ellen Higgins
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Jul 13, 2011 9:35 AM in response to Ellen Higgins

    I unplugged the Farallon adapter.  With the printer turned on, I restarted my Mini.  Under System Preferences>Network, there is a green light on for Ethernet and Wifi.  After everything was settled, I plugged in the Farallon adapter.  It still didn't see the printer.  I clicked on Add a Printer in the System Preferences>Print&Fax window.  It spent a few minutes checking for installed drivers (which it has done before), and came up with this window:

     

    Picture 4.png

    The drop-down menu also gives me "Canon IJ Network," (my other printer is a Canon), then the above choice, then "Epson Firewire," then "Epson TCP/IP," and lastly "HP IP Printing."

     

    Ellen

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Jul 13, 2011 10:12 AM in response to Ellen Higgins
    Level 9 (60,904 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 13, 2011 10:12 AM in response to Ellen Higgins

    I am not trying to make you mad, but I have to ask, have you removed and re-inserted the AppleTalk plug on your printer lately? they have a tendency to come loose, as they just slide in and are not firmly held.

  • by Ellen Higgins,

    Ellen Higgins Ellen Higgins Jul 13, 2011 1:47 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Jul 13, 2011 1:47 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    Heck, Grant, you're not making me mad.  I'm grateful for your efforts to try and solve this for me.  What I did just now was to check all the cables, pull 'em out, push 'em back in.  Restarted the Mini, still get the same blank window when I try to add the printer.  When I was doing that, I noticed a box at the printer end of the, I think it's the ethernet cable, the one going from the printer to the Farallon adapter..  It has an on/off switch and it was off.  So I turned it on and restarted as before, but it didn't make any difference.  It also has a couple of what look like lights on it that are not lit but are labeled "RX" and "TX."  Here's a picture:IMG_0227.jpg

    Thanks again for all your efforts.  Is there any hope for me getting this printer connected?

     

    Ellen

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Jul 13, 2011 2:09 PM in response to Ellen Higgins
    Level 9 (60,904 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 13, 2011 2:09 PM in response to Ellen Higgins

    Those interface boxes rely on manual Termination at the end of the line. If that switch is a Termination enable switch, you probably want ON, unless you have installed a phone-jack mounted termination resistor in the vacant phone jack. The phone cord you use (if you are using a phone cord) must have four conductors and four gold-colored contacts at each end.

     

    Got any good lights at the Farralon box? Mine turns on #1 Power steady green, and #5 Link steady green, and #4 Ethernet traffic flashes amber once a second or so.

  • by Ellen Higgins,

    Ellen Higgins Ellen Higgins Jul 13, 2011 2:59 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Jul 13, 2011 2:59 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    The cords I'm using actually have Farallon stamped on the end, so they must have come with the adapter, and yes they do have four gold-colored contacts on each end.  Interestingly, the end of the cord coming from the printer to the Farallon box has four contacts all in a row.  The ends of the cord that go from the Farallon box to the computer, both ends, have four gold-colored contacts, but there are three together then two blank "spaces," and then the fourth gold-colored contact.

     

    Regarding the lights, yes #1 and #5 are steady green.  When I first power up the box or unplug and re-plug one of the phone cords, #4 blinks intermittently and frequently, but then stops blinking and #2 (serial activity) blinks about once every 45 seconds or so.

  • by Ellen Higgins,

    Ellen Higgins Ellen Higgins Jul 15, 2011 8:49 AM in response to Ellen Higgins
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Jul 15, 2011 8:49 AM in response to Ellen Higgins

    Grant, would there be any benefit to reinstalling the print driver? I thought I had the original install disk (I keep everything!), but I couldn't find it.  I did a search and came up with this:  http://all-drivers.org/Apple-Computer-Laserwriter-NTR-Printer-Driver.cfm?dsmdsm= 4548

     

    What do you think?

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Jul 15, 2011 9:09 AM in response to Ellen Higgins
    Level 9 (60,904 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 15, 2011 9:09 AM in response to Ellen Higgins

    It is near-impossible to remove the LaserWriter drivers.

     

    And that link does not appear to be a driver for Macintosh.

  • by Ellen Higgins,

    Ellen Higgins Ellen Higgins Jul 15, 2011 9:12 AM in response to Ellen Higgins
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Jul 15, 2011 9:12 AM in response to Ellen Higgins

    Oh, darn.  Am I up a creek then without a paddle?

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