Imagewriter II

The last Mac OS X to support AppleTalk (the only protocol the Imagewriter II understands, if it has the LoaclTalk card inside it) was 10.5. To use the Imagewriter again, you would need a computer running 10.5, or earlier, including OS 9 or "Classic" (last supported in Mac OS X 10.4).

The way it would have been hooked up is with the farallon box bridging between AppleTalk-over-Ethernet on an RJ-45 from your Router or Switch to AppleTalk/LocalTalk on the round 8-pin to the Printer.

If you have another computer running an older Mac OS, you can use it to connect to the Printer and have it Share the printer with the rest of your connected Network. The older computer would have to be ON to print.

The driver you had in 10.3 is the same one you would use in later versions of Mac OS X -- that is not the problem.

Using your Imagewriter II with Snow Leopard is not a problem, however, you will have to abandon Appletalk and be satisfied with connecting your Imagewriter directly to your iMac. As Grant writes, Appletalk simply isn't a part of any OS beyond Tiger. After OS X 10.4.11 there is no longer an easy way to network that printer - other than to use "printer sharing" of course.

I use a Keyspan USA-28XG USB to serial adapter. It plugs into a USB port on your iMac and uses the Imagewriter's standard mini-DIN 8 cable. You will need to disable your Imagewriter's Appletalk protocol by switching the appropriate DIP switch in the Imagewriter. I don't believe you need to actually unplug the Localtalk option board.

You also need to install the appropriate Keyspan driver, which you can download from the website link above. If you're already printing over Appletalk with 10.3 you are probably already using Ghostscript and the Imagewriter driver from the Linux Foundation so there is no need for you to install anything else. Just remember to install a new printer in Print Center - your Appletalk printer won't be needed any more.

Important! I almost forgot. Install the Keyspan's USB driver first, then reboot your iMac. Then, install the Linux Foundation's Foomatic driver *while the Keyspan is connected.* This is critical for the driver to recognize the printer. The Imagewriter II and Keyspan drivers will then appear in Print Center (or whatever Snow Leopard calls it).

The Keyspan adapter above has a list price of around $90 but I found a similar model on eBay for much less. Search for models USA-28, USA-28X, USA-28XA, USA-28XB (these may also be designated -28A or -28B... the website has conflicting information about their designations) but there is no functional difference between them for your purposes.

Please post back with any problems. My Imagewriter II is still running strong with all my new Macs. The Keyspan solution has been reliable and trouble-free.

John Galt wrote:
... Appletalk simply isn't a part of any OS beyond Tiger. After OS X 10.4.11...

Correction: ought to read "...Appletalk simply isn't a part of any OS beyond *Leopard. After OS X 10.5.x*..."

I have had a similar problem myself (getting an ImageWriter to work with Snow Leopard).
I got the Foomatic drivers to work, but I had a REALLY hard time getting a cable (DB-9 Female <-> Mini Din 8) to work properly.

I found a company called IEC (www.iec.net), that sell a cable that is specifically made for the task of hooking up an ImageWriter II up to a DB-9 serial port on a PC.

The wiring of this wonderful cable is:

MiniDIN-8 Male ... DB-9 Female

1 DTR … 8 CTS, 6 DSR, 1 DCD,
2 DSR … 4 DTR
3 Tx- … 2 RX
4 SG … 5 GND
5 Rx- … 3 TX
6 Tx+ … (open)
7 (open) … (open)
8 Rx+ … 5 GND
(shield) … (shell)

The pinout picture in the manual for the Mini-DIN 8 on the ImageWriter II is shown wrong! In reality the pins are as follows: when facing the Male end, pin 1 is the bottom row, left side. Pin 2 is bottom row, right side. Pin 3 is middle left. Pin 5 is middle right. Pin 6 is top left. Pin 8 is top right.

On the DB-9 female side, when facing the connector: pin 1 is top right, pin 5 is top left, pin 6 is bottom right, pin 9 is bottom left.

After many weeks of searching, this was the only wiring that made it work for me. I did see another wiring diagram from John Galt but with that config, I was unable to get hardware handshaking to work, and when using XonXoff handshaking, half a page would print, then garbage for about 30 more pages.

This cable will allow you to hook up the cable to a PC (which I have tested), or a print server with a DB-9 Male serial port (which I am using normally), or a USB to serial converter that has a DB-9 female port (I tested a no-name branded one).

The pinout picture in the manual for the Mini-DIN 8 on the ImageWriter II is shown wrong! In reality the pins are as follows: when facing the Male end, pin 1 is the bottom row, left side. Pin 2 is bottom row, right side. Pin 3 is middle left. Pin 5 is middle right. Pin 6 is top left. Pin 8 is top right.

You are quite right about the diagram in the Imagewriter II manual. The "trick" I use to make sense of it is:
" pins 3 and 4 are close together. Pins 4 and 5 are wide apart."

So you need to flip the diagram and keep the pin numbers the way they are, or flip the pin numbers and keep the diagram the way it is, but not both. Either the diagram is mirrored, or the pin numbers are mirrored.