9 Jun
2004
9 Jun
'04
1:54 p.m.
As an alternative to DEC LPS, one other possibility I'm considering for
a perfect PostScript printer would be an original Apple LaserWriter.
But since I'm NULL in apples, I need some help.
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.
2. Were there any LaserWriters made with duplex printing capability? If
so, what's the earliest duplex LaserWriter?
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?
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?
MS
9 Jun
9 Jun
2:41 p.m.
As an alternative to DEC LPS, one other possibility I'm considering for
a perfect PostScript printer would be an original Apple LaserWriter.
I would avoid the very first Laserwriter. It uses a CX engine, which is
very solid and well made, but getting toner cartridges for it is
non-trivial.
I use an Laserwriter II NT (SX engine). I'll make a few comments on that
below.
But since I'm NULL in apples, I need some help.
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.
The LW II NT has a DIablo 630 emulation mode (!), selected by DIP
switches. It's fairly useless. Apart from that, all it understands is
Postscript.
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
The LW II NT has a real RS232 port on a DB25 connector. It also has
Localtalk on the standard 8 pin miniDIN (this is technically a serial
port, but probably not what you meant). There is no parallel port.
port? Was there ever a LaserWriter new enough to
support duplex printing
but old enough to have a serial port?
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?
It is DB25, buit the pinout is a little odd (IIRC the ready signal is on
pin 11, I can check the schematics if you end up with one). Wiring the
cable took a few minutes.
-tony
2:54 p.m.
As an alternative to DEC LPS, one other possibility
I'm considering for
a perfect PostScript printer would be an original Apple LaserWriter.
But since I'm NULL in apples, I need some help.
I don't know about *all* LaserWriters, but I can talk about the ones I've
had experience with. By the way, here's Apple's spec page on all their LWs:
http://www.info.apple.com/support/applespec.legacy/laser.html
It might fill in the gaps in my memory (I'm too lazy to check all of them
^_^).
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. There are some of the Personal LW and Select series that speak Apple's
proprietary QuickDraw (like the irritating Select 300, a printer which I
hardly like to speak the name of). However, the vast majority speak PS and
pretty much only PS.
2. Were there any LaserWriters made with duplex
printing capability? If
so, what's the earliest duplex LaserWriter?
The 12/640 PS, one of the last in the line, is duplex. I don't know about
any others. My 16/600 (tip of the hat to Mike Ford) is not, and the 8500
(1997 -- last one?) is not.
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?
I think they all have a mini-DIN-8, but not all are serial. The 8500 (1997),
according to Apple's spec page, is LocalTalk but not necessarily serial.
Some of the Select series are serial (the 310 will speak PS over a serial
line, so maybe this is a good choice for you even though I despise this
particular line from personal (mal)experience).
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?
They are not DB25, they're Apple "standard" mini-DIN-8, and most of them
are RS-422, I think.
My 16/600 has a LocalTalk serial, Ethernet and Centronics-style parallel.
I send it print jobs from a Mac IIci running NetBSD, netatalk (not -asun),
and txt2ps. The servers connect to the IIci over TCP/IP and send it an ASCII
print job, and it in turn spools it to the 16/600 over EtherTalk Phase 2.
--
---------------------------------- personal: http://www.armory.com/~spectre/ --
Cameron Kaiser, Floodgap Systems Ltd * So. Calif., USA * ckaiser(a)floodgap.com
-- All science is either physics or stamp collecting. -- Ernest Rutherford ----
10 Jun
10 Jun
11:17 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. There are some of the Personal LW and Select series that
speak Apple's proprietary QuickDraw (like the irritating
Select 300, a printer which I hardly like to speak the name
of). However, the vast majority speak PS and pretty much only PS.
7381
days inactive
7382
days old
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ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
msokolov＠ivan.Harhan.ORG -
patrick＠vintagecomputermarketplace.com -
spectre＠floodgap.com