Apple LWPro parallel port? - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

29 Mar 2001

Everything past the early PowerMacs is PCI, not NuBus.

I'm going to agree that there's no compelling reason for her to upgrade to
OSX. Hell, Adobe and other major vendors aren't going to have their apps
carbonized for a few months yet. OSX is not essential even on the newest G4
until there's applications that can take advantage of its next-gen
capabilities (i.e. multithreading for multiprocessing, integrated G4
acceleration). If she were to upgrade to OSX she'd still be running the
majority of her stuff in a "Classic" environment window. If she decides
she's absolutely got to keep using this localtalk printer after LocalTalk
support is dropped, perhaps she could use a LocalTalk to EtherNet adapter.
Assuming the software will support such a thing.

Once ATM and Photoshop and Freehand and Premiere and InDesign are
OSX-native, look out!

Now - who wants to help me track down a 2 to 9 gig internal SCSI harddrive
for my Quadra 700 running NetBSD that I use as my BIND and Sendmail server?

-carl

                    "Russ Blakeman"                                             

                    &lt;rhblake(a)bigfoot.com&gt;        To:    
&lt;classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org&gt;               
                    Sent by:                     cc:                                      

                    owner-classiccmp@clas        Subject:     RE: Apple LWPro parallel
port?       
                    siccmp.org                                                            

                    03/29/01 11:44 AM                                                     

                    Please respond to                                                     

                    classiccmp                                                            

I've seen NuBus centronics adapters on ebay that allow you to have a
standard 25 pin centronics compatible parallel port - you might look around
for one. I'm not sure if your machine has NuBus or PCI but I'm guessing
that it's NuBus. Why is she worried about upgrading if the OS doens't suit
her needs?
 -----Original Message-----
 From: owner-classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
 [mailto:owner-classiccmp@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Marion Bates
 Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2001 10:32 AM
 To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
 Subject: OT: Apple LWPro parallel port?

 Hi all,

 My mom has the following setup:

 - Beige G3 minitower
 - Apple LaserWriter Pro 600
 - OS 9.1

 The printer and Mac are connected via LocalTalk. (This printer requires
 AppleTalk.)

 She is afraid that the next upgrade (OS X) will make the printer
 unuseable, since Apple is phasing out LocalTalk (this Mac is the last
 model that still comes with a damn serial port).

 The printer has no Ethernet capability, but it does have a parallel port
 in addition to the LocalTalk port.

 The questions are: Is there any sort of hardware/software conversion kit
 that would allow the Mac to use that parallel port if LocalTalk becomes
 unavailable in the future? Does anyone have any experience with running OS
 X and making it play nice with legacy hardware like this? Also, do they
 still make LocalTalk PCI cards, and if so, is there any chance that the
 drivers would work under OS X? This printer still works like new and she's
 not ready to just chuck it and buy a new one.

 Sigh. Old hardware doesn't wear out fast enough to keep pace with new
 software. ;)

 TIA,

 -- Marion "Still using a PowerComputing100 with a G3 upgrade card and OS
 7.6.1 so I can run my $1200 1993 Apple Color OneScanner which is not as
 good as today's lamest $79 USB scanner but it still works goddammit" Bates