Snow Leopard means no more Appletalk

The software is included with an older printer driver in this package:

Download LaserWriter for Windows NT \[including Printer Utility for Windows]

This forum has been a tremendous help.

I have an HP LaserJet 4550N and a Business Inkjet 2800dtn. Luckily, I had an old multiple boot G4 that I started up in OS 9. I downloaded the OS 9 software and drivers for the LaserJet from HP's website and the package included a program called "HP Laser Jet Utility." Using this showed the IP addresses of both printers and allowed me to change them to static IPs that I knew were still available on my home network. I don't know if the HP Laser Jet Utility works with other brands of printers, but it might be worth a try.

I assigned the IP addresses with the LaserJet Utility and then jumped back onto my Snow Leopard computer. From there I went to Print and Fax menu / IP / Protocol and pulled down to select HP Jetdirect Socket. I typed in the correct new IP addresses and the Mac found the printers and their drivers. Everything works great!

My question now is if anyone knows how to assign an IP address that is out of the range of the 5 static IP addresses assigned to me by my internet provider. When I do this, the printers disappear from the Print & Fax menu. Also, they are no longer available through Safari. I can still see the printer from the older computer running OS 9.2.2 through the HP LaserJet Utility, but nowhere else. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,

Tom Carlson

Tom Carlson-

Thanks for adding insight about HP LaserJet Utility.

Your additional question is interesting, and deserves the attention of a wide range of readers. It will not get that attention buried in this very long topic with an unrelated title. Please start a new thread for best results.

Thank you Grant for your suggestion.

I posted at:

Apple.com > Support > Discussions > Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard > Printing, faxing and scanning

The topic is:

Assigning Static IP Address Outside a Range

Hope that gets a response.

Tom

OK...This is a very interesting thread to me. I have what I think is a similar problem, and none of the fixes herein seem to work. I updated my MBP to Snow Leopard, now 10.6.2, and my networked HP Laserjet 5si stopped working. I get that this is because AppleTalk is no longer supported, and I'm ok with that, because the printer SHOULD work over with an IP. I can't seem, however, to assign an IP address to the printer. I have the Ethernet cable from the printer plugged in to one of the Ethernet ports on the back of my airport extreme. When I print the config page on the printer, the IP is listed as 0.0.0.0. If I enter that in the add printer dialogue, I get nothing. I have a sense that I'm slightly beyond my networking skills here, but if I could just get this set up, it would work easily. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

If your hp printer has an Ethernet Interface, it is likely to contain an HP JetDirect print Server card. The document below is hp's answer to your problem.

There is some hope that if you hold down one of the buttons while you power up the printer it will do a master reset, after which it will accept an IP address from a DHCP Router on your network.
Good luck.

HP Jetdirect and Embedded Jetdirect Inside Print Servers - How to Determine, Reset, and Configure an IP Address on an HP Jetdirect Print Server

After a one hour conversation with Apple Support yesterday, they told me I would have to get rid of my 18 year old Laserwriter Pro 600 printer because it would not interface with my new iMac.

I refused to believe this. Looking at the back of the printer, I noticed a Centronics parallel interface. I searched for Centronics-to-USB cable on the CDW web site, found they had what I wanted in stock, drove up there today (10 miles) bought it and plugged in my baby.

System Prefs/Printing found the device immediately and added it to the printer list. It came up as the cable name which I then changed to LaserWriter Pro 600. I am also sharing it with my wife's iBook.

I bought an IOGear USB to Parallel Printer Cable, part# GUC1284B for $17.95.

Spread the word!

I have a G4 and can run OS 9 native. There is nowhere in the printer utility that I see an an IP address for my LW 630, nor is there anywhere to set it. I have printed start up page and config page and still see no address that I can use. I am pretty dumb about this stuff so I am probably missing something obvious. Any ideas?

You have posted in a thread that already has 113 entries. You do not seem to be running Snow Leopard, the subject of this thread. The solution to your issues has nothing to do with these. I have some ideas, but it is not helpful to post them on this torturous thread, where few will venture to read your query, suggest solutions, or read the suggested answers.

Please start a new topic and give it a Title that will attract readers who can answer your query.

Yes, I am running Snow Leopard. Sorry I failed to make that clear. I just got a new iMac and my LW 630 and 8500 stopped working as a result of Snow Leopard and no appletalk support. I read this entire thread 3 times and tried many of the solutions but unfortunately, nothing I do returns an IP address so I thought this would be the place to find out how to get the IP and try to move on to the next step in trouble shooting. As I stated, I fired up OS 9 on another Mac and found the printer (630) but no IP. Any thoughts?

The link I posted has gone bad. This is the essence of it:

Ping can help you -- either the Mac OS X version in Network Utility or the Terminal version (or OS 9 MacPing). Set up a ping to the LAST address on your local network, with two or more pings, and it acts as a Brodcast Ping and will show all connected Ethernet Addresses. Add or remove the mystery device and Ping again. The difference is the mystery device's Ethernet Address.

Example:
You use 192.168.0.xxx as your local address range, with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0.
A ping or two to 192.168.0.255 gets all attached devices to respond and show their addresses.

OK, thanks. I will fire up Network Utility and check it out. If I may, can I ask you one more question? When I went into the printer utility in OS 9, I printed a config page for reference. On the page, I got a couple of pieces of info regarding the printer:

LocalTalk Node ID: 246

Ethernet Address: 08:00:07:CC:6E:6A

I assumed this was not the info I am looking for (need IP address, right?). But I am a dummy about this stuff so, is this info somehow relevant to getting my 630 to print under Snow Leopard?

PS: The LW 630 is connected to the ethernet network via your basic cable running into the wall jack and an Asante box going into the back of the printer. Thanks again!

This two-way communication feature of AppleTalk has been the thing that has made me clutch it like the costliest of treasures. Indeed, IS there any other printing method that treats the printer as the fully-communicative device that it is?

If not, I'll keep holding out hope, and perhaps someone (I, perhaps? -- thinks grand thoughts about his willingness to learn despite possessing next-to-no code-fu) will put all things printerish into the next release of netatalk for Mac OS X.

Darn it, Apple, why'd you have to go and...

Ethernet Address: 08:00:07:CC:6E:6A

Read, "M.A.C. Address: 08:00:07:CC:6E:6A".
That is not the IP address, that is the hardware Serial number which is occasionally used to uniquely identify a particular device.

The LW 630 is connected to the ethernet network via your basic cable running into the wall jack and an Asante box going into the back of the printer.

The LaserWriter Pro 630 has its own Ethernet port, but it is not an LPR/LPD printer.

1) has it own Ethernet port:
The LaserWriter Pro 630 has an AAUI-14-pin Ethernet port. This port is "uncommitted" to whether it connects via RJ45 (what we think of today as "regular" Ethernet) or some other medium such as coax cable. A twisted-pair transceiver is available on the used market for around US$10. Don't rush out and buy one for this printer, as it will not help with the Snow Leopard problem.

2) is not an LPR/LPD Printer:
This printer uses Ethernet as a "highway" to carry Appletalk packets. ONLY Appletalk packets. It has no ability to communicate via any IP Protocols (such as LPR/LPD) normally used for printing over Ethernet.

You will need a PrintServer of some description to continue to use this printer. The AsanteTalk will not do the job unless you have an older Mac that continues to support AppleTalk-over-Ethernet Printing. One of the magazine articles cited on this and a nearby thread suggest using a printserver such as LinkSys PrintServer that would connect to the printer's parallel port, thus preserving its network printing ability.

Your LaserWriter8500:
The 8500 is completely capable of printing using LPR/LPD protocols. If you connect its RJ45 jack directly to your Ethernet Switch/Router, and can determine its IP Address, you can add it as an IP Printer (instead of an AppleTalk printer) and live happily ever after.

And another thing:

"Wont fix. If you need lecacy protocols use a legacy OS."

Who won't fix? I know I can't (see my last post) just step up to the plate and insert the PAPD and all and all into netatalk for Mac OS X, but surely someone on the project can see the usefulness thereof?

Legacy protocol?!! I guess that means they have to kill netatalk, too!

I feel a logic vortex forming around the whole subject -- must step away...