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Snow Leopard means no more Appletalk

This article alleges that the release of Snow Leopard will end support for Appletalk.

Like WDS, it seems Appletalk is a protocol that Apple wishes would just go away on its own. Unfortunately I use it for two of my printers. When Apple discontinues the few lines of code that drive Appletalk, they'll have to add to a landfill's population.

I am not hopeful that anything the user community can do will save this unfortunate victim of progress, but it's worth a try:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

Powerbooks  iMacs  iPods  Airports  Appletalk printers , Mac OS X (10.4.11),  24 years Apple!  "it's" means "it is"  "lose" is a verb  "loose" isn't

Posted on Jul 7, 2009 6:51 AM

194 replies

Jan 29, 2011 7:35 AM in response to John Galt

Judging by the volume of comments on this subject, there is a market for a solution, if there is a knowledgeable and ambitious entrepreneur around. One last question: Does the issue change in any way depending on whether the Farallon EtherMac adapter is connected directly to the computer or through a router? I can't think that it should, but maybe I'm missing something.

Jan 29, 2011 8:33 AM in response to Frederick Van Veen

Frederick Van Veen-

Does the issue change in any way depending on whether the Farallon EtherMac adapter is connected directly to the computer or through a router?

Generally no, but there is one narrow case where it can make a difference, in certain off-brand Routers and Switches. The difference is that it does not work at all.

To understand why, you need to know a little more about the internal operation of Switches and Routers. These devices accept the entire incoming packet, store it momentarily, check the checksums and other fields for validity, then forward only the Valid packets. Packet fragments and Invalid packets are discarded. This is referred to in the Industry as "Store and Forward" technology.

The trouble with certain devices is that they were not tested with AppleTalk packets, only with IP packets. They reject AppleTalk packets as invalid IP packets, and refuse to forward them. So AppleTalk packets do not pass through such equipment. The problem is more prevalent on off-brand Wireless networks.

Major Brand Switches and Routers do not have this problem. Most are "Apple-aware", and have been tested and "fixed" to allow AppleTalk packets on both wired and wireless.

Jan 30, 2011 7:40 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Since mine is a plain vanilla Linksys router, I gather that its presence or absence makes no difference.
The LW 320 worked perfectly with my G4 desktop (10.4.11). Is there any point in recreating that setup, determining the settings (including the IP), and then trying to duplicate them with the new MacMini? Or is it a lost cause?
I really appreciate your sharing your considerable knowledge with me, Grant.
Fred

Jan 30, 2011 1:18 PM in response to Frederick Van Veen

AppleTalk simply does not use IP Addresses. It is like a parallel universe that uses the same Ethernet cabling for a Highway, but does not interact with IP packets in any way.

Apple removed support for Appletalk Printing in 10.6 Snow Leopard, so users without another port on their printers (like you and like me) are stuck with some awkward solutions.

Jan 31, 2011 6:19 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Time to throw in the towel. But I will keep my G4 desktop in storage, rather than give it away. Thanks for your advice and patience, Grant.
Fred

John Galt Author

Level 10

141,174 points

Feb 13, 2011 4:50 PM in response to Brent D.

Brent D. wrote:
... Does anyone who succeeded with the USB to Parallel solution on a LW Pro 630 have any advice?

Ultimately, I'm hoping to set it up through my Airport Extreme, but first I thought I'd get it working plugged directly into my iMac

Brent, sorry for not noticing your question long ago (Apple Discussions doesn't send me emails after a time it seems) but I have used an IOGear GUC1284B USB to parallel adapter with my HP LaserJet 4MP. It worked flawlessly connected to an iMac. Better yet, it even worked while connected to an Airport Express, so I surmise it should work with any Airport base station. I can't imagine it wouldn't work with your LaserWriter Pro 630.

Try it. Some USB to parallel adapters work, some don't. This one does.

About $20 on Amazon.

Since then, I have tried both the D-Link DP-311P and DP-G301 wireless print servers. They worked too, unfortunately both are discontinued. The DP-311P is still available on Amazon though. If you buy one of them these instructions are priceless, since D-Link offers exactly zero support for them.

Good luck!

Jun 22, 2011 7:19 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

If you had at least one Mac still running 10.5 or earlier, you could share that printer with the other computers on your Network and continue to print to it using Printer Sharing. The Mac doing the Sharing would accept print jobs from the other computers as long as it was powered up and running when you wanted to print.

Thanks for this Grant, it solved my problem of printing to a 1996 LaserWriter 12/640 than still prints great looking documents. I used a G5 as my print "server" with sharing of the 12/640 turned on, and successfully printed to it from a networked MBP running 10.6.6.

After it is Shared, go to another Mac and add an LPR print queue (virtual printer) that forwards the print jobs to the Shared Printer.

What do you mean by adding an LPR print queue? Would that make the process any better?

Jun 22, 2011 8:02 PM in response to WoosterBoy

WoosterBoy-

You instinctively did what was right. You added a Printer on your 10.6 Mac. The one available was the shared printer. Done.

In older versions of the software, the add-a-printer process can be much more arduous. In OS 9, you would have to describe it in detail without being able to see it, thus you specify it as an LPR Printer.

timmer21

Level 1

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Jul 11, 2011 2:18 PM in response to John Galt

Does anyone know if this is a solution for a LW 320, mini (10.6) and Airport Extreme set up?

http://www.tripplite.com/en/products/model.cfm?txtSeriesID=849&txtModelID=3915

I have not been able to set up the printer otherwise.

If not - any steps or suggestions to get it to work?

Jul 11, 2011 8:26 PM in response to timmer21

timmer21-

If connection to the Printer were the ONLY issue, (which it is NOT) that device might do the trick.

But Alas, support for any form of AppleTalk (the only protocol your printer can talk) has been removed from Mac OS X 10.6.

Some users are using an older Mac, still running 10.5 or earlier, to act a a Print Spooler.

Others have found a Printer Server that can do AppleTalk, such as some from HP.

Some have given up on their great old Apple Personal Printers and bought a new Brother Laser Printer or something else.

This discussion has over 185 entries, so if you want to know what others are using, just read some of the older entries.

timmer21

Level 1

0 points

Jul 12, 2011 5:53 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thanks Grant.

I will see what else there is and any suggestions others had.

Tim

John Galt Author

Level 10

141,174 points

Jul 15, 2011 11:25 AM in response to timmer21

Trimmer21, I have used that adapter sucessfully with an Imagewriter II printer. It works great, but bear in mind that's strictly a serial application. I don't believe it will work with a LW but that's not certain.

I think your best possibilty for a solution may be found in this thread:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2810913

Scroll down to the last reply describing my USB/parallel cable and Airport Express solution that ought to work for you.

Jun 12, 2013 9:29 AM in response to Frank Reed

Thank you Frank. Your suggestions worked when NOTHING else had. I have a Laserwriter 16/600 and was trying to print form a MacBook Pro using Snow Leopard (10.6.8). Originally the IP address of the Laswerwriter had been 192.168.1.6 but nothing would work with that IP. I tried to ping it using the Network Utility. Nothing. If I told it to print something using the same exact IP set up I eventually used to get this one running the printer could not be found. But then I changed the IP address using an old computer running classic and the Printer Utility program that runs in OS 9 and changed it to 10.0.1.2 and it WORKED!

Why would it work with your suggested IP address and NOT the other one?

Jun 12, 2013 1:41 PM in response to Redpackman

Computers can communicate freely with others on the same subnet, without Router intervention. So if the IP Address is within your subnet (typically the same high-order numbers as your Mac with a different last octet) it can communicate fine.

Ethernet Routers tend to establish a Network around 192.168.0.1 or something similar.

WiFi Routers tend to establish a network around 10.0.0.1 or something similar.

Look at Your Router address (or your computer address) and assign one that is similar, but not identical, and high enough to be "out of the way", but not over .254

Snow Leopard means no more Appletalk