9 Jun
2004
9 Jun
'04
11:44 a.m.
1. Are all LaserWriters 100% pure PostScript printers,
speaking nothing
but PS? I know the very original one was, but I'm not sure about whatever
happened later and whatever they make now.
No, some models spoke postscript, some spoke quickdraw. Many spoke
postscript and other languages (like Diablo, ESC-P, PCL). In fact the
original Laserwriter speaks both Postscript and Diablo 630.
Apple has a listing of the printers they made, and what languages they
spoke. <http://www.info.apple.com/support/applespec.legacy/laser.html>
2. Were there any LaserWriters made with duplex
printing capability? If
so, what's the earliest duplex LaserWriter?
Yes, and I'm not sure what the earliest one was (I'm also not sure which
models supported duplex. Probably the Pro series and the 12/600, 16/600,
8500 series... I know at least the 12/640 rates a duplex page speed, but
I believe others besides it also had a duplex option)
3. The original LaserWriter had a serial port. But
given the assault on
serial ports coming from all directions, I don't expect the current ones
to have one, or do they? When was the last LaserWriter made with a serial
port? Was there ever a LaserWriter new enough to support duplex printing
but old enough to have a serial port?
Actually, most of them up thru the end have serial. The problem is, the
serial port doubles as the localtalk port, and it may or may not have
been configurable for connection to a PC. As far as TRUE serial
(RS-232/422 in the form of a DB25 or DE9), I think the Pro 810 may have
been the last to carry that AND talk postscript. I don't know for sure if
there is a duplex option for it or not. Later printers may very well also
support PC serial via the Localtalk connector (which IIRC is really a
RS422 with additional smarts to handle the localtalk protocol)
4. Are LaserWriter serial ports standard EIA-232 DB25
or something Apple
proprietary? If the latter, what kind of adapter would I need to make?
Ones that had true serial were standard 232 and/or 422 ports in a DB25
package (there may also have been DE9 connectors, I don't remember for
sure). So no adaptor should be needed. For those that handled serial via
the mini din 8 connector's localtalk port, you would just need a mini-din
8 to D connector of your choice. Those should be 422 ports... but I can't
say for sure that all of them were usable as regular serial. Some may
have been localtalk only (and others may have done serial but weren't
configurable, so you had to be able to know what it expected to have)
Hope some of that is helpful.
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>