Apple Stylewriter printers and USB

  • Thread starter Thread starter Petrus Tax
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Petrus Tax

Hello:

This may be a very naive question. Although I am not an Apple person anymore
I still do have a couple of Stylewriter printers (II, 1200, 2500). Since
they are all serial printers I wonder whether it would be possible to still
use them with newer USB (Universal *Serial* Bus) only Macs and/or PCs.
Simplest to my naive mind would be a cable with the old connector at one
and, a USB one at the other. But do they exist and would they work? Is there
still any (other?) compatibility in such cases? Special software?

Many thanks for your thoughts in advance!

Petrus Tax

PS: I always loved those old and sturdy Canon-made Stylewriters, even if the
resolution wasn't that great.
 
Petrus Tax said:
This may be a very naive question. Although I am not an Apple person anymore
I still do have a couple of Stylewriter printers (II, 1200, 2500). Since
they are all serial printers I wonder whether it would be possible to still
use them with newer USB (Universal *Serial* Bus) only Macs and/or PCs.
Click to expand...

The "serial" in USB has little in common with old-style RS-232 or the
variations Apple used. There are adapters, though.
Simplest to my naive mind would be a cable with the old connector at one
and, a USB one at the other. But do they exist and would they work?
Click to expand...

USB-to-DB9 serial adapters are common, USB-to-Apple mini-DIN serial,
much less so. A USB-to-DB9 along with a DB9-to-Apple adapter may work,
although serial printer cables in general are a headache.
Is there still any (other?) compatibility in such cases? Special
software?
Click to expand...

Depends on your operating system. Probably.

Having gone through the cable expense and driver difficulty, you'd end
up with an old Canon inkjet connected by a slow serial port. Maybe fun
for a hobby project.
 
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