Apple LaserWriter IINT - AppleTalk Perfection [Working At Last!]

[tevion5]

I was looking to get an old apple laser printer to compliment my Mac collection. I wanted one that would of course be connected via LocalTalk so I could use it with my 512Ke up to my G4 systems via the EtherTalk adapter.

I was lucky to have found a mint condition LaserWriter IINT on eBay for only 60 bucks. It arrived safely and so far I've hooked it into my LocalTalk network and interacted with it from my 512Ke. It came with all the original documentation including the ring binder manual and floppy disks. I installed the software from the disks to the HD20 on my 512Ke which is thankfully running System 4.3, the minimum required.

From there I could rename the printer, initialise it and send print jobs to it all without a problem. Now I don't yet have a toner cartridge for it, but I have one on order. When it arrived I might post a video of it in operation as I actually can't seem to find any contemporary videos of one in operation. I'll update this thread once the toner gets here from Italy of all places.

(My room needs a clean up as I just put in new shelves. My collection will be much prettier soon and I'll do the machine justice!)

 

[Floris]

Your Mac collection is taking shape. I am so jealous I didn't start one 20 years ago, so it is a bit of fun for me to see something like this. That printer is a good addition. Thumbsup

 

[tevion5]

Your Mac collection is taking shape. I am so jealous I didn't start one 20 years ago, so it is a bit of fun for me to see something like this. That printer is a good addition. Thumbsup

Cheers! Just thought it'd be sweet to have a networked printer that all my Mac across the generations can share. Hopefully with a bit of tweaking and my EtherTalk dapper I can get my OSX machines using it as well.

 

[MacTech68]

I prefer my LaserWriter II of a "g" flavor, with ethernet.

 

[tevion5]

I prefer my LaserWriter II of a "g" flavor, with ethernet.

Assante EtherTalk makes it a much if a muchness

I assure you as soon as I get my NT working over Wifi I'll be sharing it.

 

[jerwin]

I have a Laserprinter II NT taking up space. It made the lights flicker, and filled the room with the scent of ozone.

Ten years ago I did get it working under Linux using a serial connection. But under OSX? IIRC, OSX likes to produce Level 2 postscript.

I suppose I could advertise it

FREE TO GOOD HOME. AS IS. Local pickup only. Stairs are involved.

 

[MacTech68]

Assante EtherTalk makes it a much if a muchness

I assure you as soon as I get my NT working over Wifi I'll be sharing it.

Although the IIf & IIg provide "FinePrint" and the IIg with "PhotoGrade" provided you up the installed RAM.

I should say, it looks like you've got a well looked after machine. Very nice..

 

[tevion5]

Ordered toner from Italy but they cancelled due to shipping costs to Ireland...

Ordered now from Germany so I should have a full M6002 cartridge in the next week. Now I just hope I'll have a few minutes free on the weekend to take it for a test drive.

 

[MacTech68]

You may find it easier to look for a cartridge denoted as compatible with a Canon SX engine (or Canon LBP SX).

 

[tevion5]

You may find it easier to look for a cartridge denoted as compatible with a Canon SX engine (or Canon LBP SX).

Thanks for the tip! I assume there is a way to refill these cartridges? I won't be able to sustain on old unused M6002's forever.

 

[MacTech68]

There is, but it's often the blades and the drum that require replacing to keep the print quality acceptable.

 

[tevion5]

There is, but it's often the blades and the drum that require replacing to keep the print quality acceptable.

Looks like I've run into a spot of trouble. The cartridge arrived with box and kit. I followed the delecate instructions to swan and clean the rollers and insides. I then placed the new toner inside the machine and pulled with plastic tape out.

However, now I am getting a flashing Paper Jam and Paper Empty lights. Red flashing. Previously this was not there.

Before I only had a missing toner light, but now even when I remove the toner I get hear flashing jam and empty red lights on top of be empty toner light.

Did I do some mega damage already with a cotton swab? :/

 

[MacTech68]

Probably not. IIRC there is a capacitor inside the AC Power Supply that leak and require replacement. IIRC this causes an intermittent flashing red paper jam and paper out lights.

The AC power supply diverts AC power to the fuser assembly with a small control circuit - it's this circuit in the AC power supply PCB that fails. It took an age to discover the cause of this fault many years ago (pre-google).

The AC Power supply is in the box that the AC power cable plugs into, just below the fan.

EDIT: whilst this can be a failed fuser (bulb, saftey cut-out, or temperature sensor), which is the original fault description, it's most likely caused by the failed capacitor in the AC Power Supply.

In looking around, here is a page that details the fault on a HP branded printer with the same engine:

https://www.rheinfeld.de/andreas/laserjet50.htm

EDIT 2: after you remove the offending capacitor, you'll need to clean the board and check for any corrosion and re-solder/repair as necessary.

 

[tevion5]

--- UPDATE: Success at last! ---

This has been quite more of a saga than I assumed it would be!

I actually ended up acquiring a second toner cartridge, this time a HP one for a LaserJet 1. It's the same type, and it's also far more recently in production so I thought it would be more likely top yield positive results. (I also managed to spill lots of the original one all over my feet while I wasn't paying attention...)

I also acquired a second LaserWriter II in the meantime which puzzlingly displayed all the same problems and symptoms as the first one, despite the seller claiming to have tested it as working.

In any case, I tired a few more times to get the HP cartridge working in my 1st LSII. At first it would give me the same blinking lights. But then I figured that it would only gave me the blinking lights issue when I put toner in, and while I was waiting on toner to be delivered it just gave me the "out of toner" light. So then I chanced my arm and fired it up without the toner, waited for it to give me that light, then popped the toner in live and closed the lid again. This time it just looked ready to go. Finally! It started to print it's test page by itself but got the paper jammed. I sent it a print job from my 512Ke and it also got jammed. I left it alone for a while but when I came back the test page had been printed!

Then I sent it some more jobs from the 512Ke and PB140 and after a few hit and miss jams I was getting constant and reliable printing out of it. So whatever the cause of the issue it seems that all is working now. I have since enabled almost all my Macs to work with it over my LocalTalk-Ethernet-Wifi network all the way from the 512Ke to the G5 Quad. I'm even using the Quicksilver as a print server for post-Leopard systems.

Quite happy it is working now after a good run of disappointments. And even more fun that's it's working so well on big network practically serving my entire collection of machines aside from the Apple II.

Probably not. IIRC there is a capacitor inside the AC Power Supply that leak and require replacement. IIRC this causes an intermittent flashing red paper jam and paper out lights.

I have done a good bit of reading on old forums about this double blinking light issue and it seems you are dead right @MacTech68 !
I will have to see what I plan to do with the second printer, but seeing as it was sold "tested and working", I have grounds for rebate if the AC is not properly operational.
[doublepost=1484276671][/doublepost]--- Extra ---

I would like to use my Quicksilver to share the Postscript 1 LaserWriter IINT with later macs that don't support Postscript 1 even with the use of 3rd party software like GhostScript. For example my macOS 10.12 MacBook Pro.

Is there a way for the Tiger Quicksilver to share the printer in such a way that the client never directly communicated with the IINT, and uses the Quicksilver as a sort of proxy? Because simply sharing it via Bonjour doesn't seem to accomplish that.

This sounds like your area of expertise @eyoungren !

 

[eyoungren]

This sounds like your area of expertise @eyoungren !

IDK. All I've done is shared the two printers at work by clicking the box "Share this printer" inside the printer prefpane (System Preferences).

The Mac Pro sees the share through the Leopard Mac and simply submits the job to the G4. It's the G4 that actually communicates with the printer. I just assumed that was through it's Appletalk connection which was set up years ago.

We have two Xanté Accel-a-Writer 3Gs. Both are Postscript 3 but I'm usually sending only PS2. PS3 only has a few more benefits which I don't normally use but tends to cause more problems. But PS level 3 also includes everything back to 1.

Technically, I could print direct to to one of the Xanté's, but I don't because it's IP printing and it tends to skip lines so I end up with prints that have little bitty blank gaps. Hence, why I use the Leopard Mac as a print server.

But again, beyond just sharing it from Leopard I've not done anything else.

My ONLY suggestion would be to try sharing from a Leopard Mac and seeing what happens.

That's one of the reasons I moved the print sharing to the Leopard Mac. Tiger's print sharing is not consistent.

 

[MacTech68]

...I have done a good bit of reading on old forums about this double blinking light issue and it seems you are dead right @MacTech68 !
I will have to see what I plan to do with the second printer, but seeing as it was sold "tested and working", I have grounds for rebate if the AC is not properly operational.
...

You may find it comes and goes. When I originally discovered it and saw my first example (many moons ago), the offending printer had been almost everywhere in my local area with techs trying to fix it. It was a really annoying fault because it wasn't faithfully repeatable, so you'd do something to the printer and it would appear to work (over and over for several days) - send it back to the client and sometime later the call would come: "It's doing it again"

Mind you, I'd be happy for you if it keeps working too !

 

[tevion5]

Thanks me too!

It was a really annoying fault because it wasn't faithfully repeatable

Working at an IT support desk I know exactly those kinds of issues.

"Ugh please help me here, I've been having this really annoying problem wh...oh hold on it's working now..."

 

[cosmichobo]

Gotta revive the history because I'm living in the past anyways...

I loved my LaserWriter IINT (x?). Picked it up in about 1995/6 and used it til about 2004. Still remember when it arrived in a huge box, on a Greyhound bus, and luckily I had a friend on hand to help me with it.

I know this thread is from close to 10 years ago... I wonder how you're going for getting toner these days!