How to connect Apple Laserwriter 16/600 PS to PowerMac G4

There used to be LocalTalk-to-Ethernet printer adaptors. We used one from Farallon (now discontinued) to keep a LW 4/600PS in service long past its normal service life on our home network. The purchase was necessitated by the addition of a G3 iMac to a stable of LocalTalk Macs. Printing was much faster and trouble-free compared to the old LT network.

Asante still lists their adaptor:

http://www.asante.com/products/CardsAdapters/AsanteTalk.asp

Hi, Betty -

Welcome to Apple's Discussions.

Yes. You can use an AsantéTalk transceiver, which connects to the LocalTalk port on the printer and provides an ethernet port to connect it to the Mac.
AsantéTalk EtherTalk to LocalTalk Bridge

If your G4 is older than a Gigabit Ethernet model (that is, if it is a G4 (AGP) or G4 (PCI) model), it does not have an auto-sensing ethernet port. If that is the case, and you are connecting the printer directly to the Mac, you will need to use a Crossover type ethernet cable.

If you are connecting the printer through an ethernet hub, switch, or router, or you have a G4 (Gigabit Ethernet) or later model, you should use a Patch type cable.

Note - sometimes the AsantéTalk device can lose its handshake with the printer or Mac. To reset that, with everything connnected and turned on, disconnect the power plug for the AsantéTalk device; wait a minute or so; then reconnect the power plug. Wait a few minutes for the device to re-establish contact, then you should be able to use it.

You can connect a farallon Ethermac iPrint LT or AsanteTalk box and plug into the round AppleTalk/LocalTalk port, just as Allan and Don have described.

That printer has an AAUI-15 Ethernet port. To connect that, buy a used US$10 "RJ45 twisted pair transceiver" on eBay and connect it to your Ethernet Switch or Router with an Ethernet cable, then plug into the AAUI-15 port on the Printer. Power is supplied by the port, no external supply is needed.

These techniques both depend on AppleTalk-over-Ethernet, which must be turned on for your primary port in System Preferences > Network. Support drops out at Mac OS X 10.6, but you can continue to Share the printer from a Mac running 10.5 or earlier.

In addition to AppleTalk, your Printer supports LPR protocol, which IS supported in 10.6 and beyond.

These printers are QuickDraw-only printers, do not use AppleTalk, and cannot be "recognized" or "identified" in the usual way. If you cannot get one of these to print by just sending data to it, it will not be useable under Mac OS X.

LaserWriter IISC (SCSI)
Personal LaserWriter SC (SCSI)
Personal LaserWriter LS (Serial only)
Personal LaserWriter 300 (Serial only)
LaserWriter Select 300 (Serial only)

Apple made no apology for dropping support for the LaserWriter Select 310 in OS 8.5. It is a serial or parallel Postscript printer with no LocalTalk capability. This printer is NOT supported by the linux foundation driver.

LaserWriter Select 310 -- Postscript level 1 only; serial/parallel only

These Printers are Postscript level 1 printers that can be identified and used under the Linux-Foundation Postscript level 1 driver. All these printers are AppleTalk/LocalTalk printers.They also need a converter from AppleTalk-over-Ethernet to AppleTalk/LocalTalk to print in Macs without a round serial/LocalTalk port and/or Macs running Mac OS X.

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

LaserWriter
LaserWriter Plus
LaserWriter IINT
LaserWriter IINTX
Personal LaserWriter NT

These are Postscript level 2 printers that do not support LPR/LPD. All these printers are LocalTalk printers. Except for those marked (Ethernet) they also need a converter from AppleTalk-over-Ethernet to AppleTalk/LocalTalk to print from Macs newer than the Beige G3 and with Mac OS X.

Personal LaserWriter NTR
Personal LaserWriter 320
LaserWriter Select 360
LaserWriter 4/600 PS

LaserWriter IIf
LaserWriter IIg (Ethernet)
LaserWriter Pro 600
LaserWriter Pro 630 (Ethernet)

Apple LaserWriter Printers with Ethernet and Built-in LPD:

LaserWriter 8500 (Ethernet)
LaserWriter 12/640 PS (Ethernet)
Color LaserWriter 12/660 PS (Ethernet)
Color LaserWriter 12/600 PS (Ethernet)
LaserWriter 16/600PS (Ethernet)
LaserWriter Pro 810 (Ethernet)