Laserwriter 8500 and WinXP - anyone got an installed copy?

  • Thread starter Thread starter larwe
  • Start date Start date
L

larwe

I just inherited (okay... trashpicked) a LaserWriter 8500 and I'd love
to use the internal Ethernet interface. However I can't get the Apple
Laserwriter software to install in WinXP, even when I tweak the
compatibility settings on the setup.exe file; it performs some bogus
version check and errors out because it requires Windows 95. My MacOS
machines all have OSX with no Classic support, so I'm out of luck there
too.

Does someone have an installed copy of the LW utility (XP) they could
zip up and email me? Or, is there another way of setting up the network
parameters?

Thanks.
 
So put Classic on one.
Click to expand...

Frankly I have no idea how to do it since these machines came preloaded
with OSX. If it's not on the Tiger DVD then I can't do it.[/QUOTE]

It *is* on the OS X DVD that shipped with the machine.

RTFM. And a fine one it is.
 
Mike Berger said:
The 8500 has PostScript. You really don't need special drivers
for it.
Click to expand...


First off, top posting is bad.

Secondly, the problem he's having is that there are no front panel
controls--everything for configuration and setup (IP address, etc.) is
done through the Apple Printer Utility. Under OS9.

And he's never bothered to investigate putting OS9 on his computers,
even after he ran into this issue. He just came here asking to be spoon
fed an answer, without bothering to find out if he can run OS9 and put
the Print Utility on his machine.

Since he knows about the Printer Utility, and he knows how to configure
the printer, he was just being lazy about not bothering to investigate
how to put OS9 on his machine. He wanted a magic bullet that didn't
involve him working, AND he came here asking to be spoon fed said magic
bullet.
 
And he's never bothered to investigate putting OS9 on his computers,

Because the two Macs I have for this purpose are servers that I don't
want to futz with, and don't want to take down (I don't even want to
REBOOT them if not necessary). That's why I didn't consider this. I
wouldn't spend hours searching out drivers from distant star systems on
a whim.

As it turns out, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that
the printer supports configuration via vanilla telnet. The bad news is
that I can't get the printer to show up on my LAN - it won't get an IP
address from my BOOTP server and I'm not even sure the Ethernet
interface is enabled because I don't see any activity from the device's
MAC address.

I can only get around this by using the Apple setup software connected
via LocalTalk from a Mac or Centronics from a PC to hardwire an IP
address and netmask. Since my Macs are modern and have no serial ports,
it would not have helped me to install Classic anyway.

Hence I'm still in the position of wanting EXACTLY the thing I posted
about - an installed copy of the Windows setup utility, or a way to
coerce the Apple installer to install on XP.
 
As it turns out, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that
the printer supports configuration via vanilla telnet. The bad news is
that I can't get the printer to show up on my LAN - it won't get an IP
address from my BOOTP server and I'm not even sure the Ethernet
interface is enabled because I don't see any activity from the device's
MAC address.

I can only get around this by using the Apple setup software connected
via LocalTalk from a Mac or Centronics from a PC to hardwire an IP
address and netmask. Since my Macs are modern and have no serial ports,
it would not have helped me to install Classic anyway.
Click to expand...

That's not true.

The Apple setup software will happily talk to the printer via AppleTalk
over Ethernet--no need for a serial port.

As for installing Classic, no need to reboot.
 
The Apple setup software will happily talk to the printer via AppleTalk
over Ethernet--no need for a serial port.

As for installing Classic, no need to reboot.
Click to expand...

So, care to tell me just how it is possible to install Classic on a Mac
running Tiger?

* Can't boot OS9 off the CD
* Can't start Classic using the CD because OSX wants to update files on
the disk
* Can't start Classic by copying the System folder across because
System says "the system software only functions on the original media,
not when copied to another drive".
* No Classic support materials are on the Tiger DVD

Seems like you can't get there from here.
 
So, care to tell me just how it is possible to install Classic on a Mac
running Tiger?
Click to expand...

On a Mac that came with OS X installed? Classic is on the install
discs. Nowadays, it's additional software that's optional.

* No Classic support materials are on the Tiger DVD
Click to expand...

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86775

To get that document took me about 5 seconds. I went to
www.apple.com/support, went to the "Power Macintosh" pull down, selected
the G5, and on the resultant page I typed "classic" into the search
field.

The above document was the first result listed.
 
On a Mac that came with OS X installed? Classic is on the install
discs. Nowadays, it's additional software that's optional.
Click to expand...

This machine came with OS X but not with Tiger. If I run the installer
off the disks that came with the machine, it tells me the system is
unsupported.

However, last night I trashpicked a bondi iMac with OS 9.2.2 (not from
the same place, actually; seems a lot of people are upgrading). I also
installed Windows 95 in Virtual PC on one of my machines.

-> Windows utility can't connect over AppleTalk. Requires a parallel
connection. The printer has that semi-proprietary Honda connector, not
a standard 25-D or 36 Centronics.
-> OS 9.2.2 gives an unimplemented trap on restart after installing the
LaserWriter update that adds LW8500 setup support.

Fantastic job, Apple. Locked everyone out. Maybe I should just put this
printer back on the trash pile, though it seems shameful because it
works fine (printing from a Mac over EtherTalk).
 
On a Mac that came with OS X installed? Classic is on the install
discs. Nowadays, it's additional software that's optional.
Click to expand...

This machine came with OS X but not with Tiger. If I run the installer
off the disks that came with the machine, it tells me the system is
unsupported.[/QUOTE]

OK, but it came with Apple install discs, correct?

EVERY Apple computer ships with OS X and also with Classic support.
Maybe you don't have ALL the original discs the computer came with?
 
OK, but it came with Apple install discs, correct?

EVERY Apple computer ships with OS X and also with Classic support.
Maybe you don't have ALL the original discs the computer came with?
Click to expand...

I bought the machine new off apple.com, so I do have all the original
disks. The problem is that the install disks that came with the
computer are apparently keyed to work only on the OSX version
(10.3.something) that was preloaded, and Classic support was not
preinstalled on the unit. I've since upgraded to Tiger, and the retail
Tiger DVD does not include any Classic support installer.

However, in unrelated Success! I found a copy of the OS 9.1 CD
and the printer utility was on that CD, so I ran it on my trashpicked
iMac. Looks as if I will have to keep that machine around, because the
telnet-based setup does NOT allow you to tweak all the printer's
options.

The printer is now playing nicely, though the drum isn't in great shape
- I think the reason the machine was discarded is that somebody rammed
the cartridge in misaligned and got it thoroughly stuck (spilled a lot
of toner inside, too). It could definitely use a cleaning, but more
importantly it needs a new cartridge.
 
EVERY Apple computer ships with OS X and also with Classic support.
Maybe you don't have ALL the original discs the computer came with?
Click to expand...

I bought the machine new off apple.com, so I do have all the original
disks. The problem is that the install disks that came with the
computer are apparently keyed to work only on the OSX version
(10.3.something) that was preloaded, and Classic support was not
preinstalled on the unit. I've since upgraded to Tiger, and the retail
Tiger DVD does not include any Classic support installer.[/QUOTE]

But that's OK. You simply use the discs it came with to install the
version of Classic it came with.

No big deal. Classic hasn't changed in years, anyway.
 
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