EtherWave Printer Adapter - Print from Win 7 to RS-422 (Macintosh) printer

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Dazed_Not Confused, Oct 28, 2011.

  1. Dazed_Not Confused

    Dazed_Not Confused Private E-2

    Hi,

    I have a EtherWave Printer Adapter Model PN842-1. Here is the information I found.... No software to install
    Compatable with Apple EtherTALK drivers, MacSNMP, MacTCP, & MacIPX
    I read that it is not compatible with TCP/IP.


    The EtherWave Printer Adapter daisy-chains your LocalTalk printer or other LocalTalk devices to a 10Base-T Ethernet network in minutes, without the hassle of rewiring and without using another hub port.

    How can I use this with Windows 7?


    Thanks
     
  2. djlowe

    djlowe Private First Class

    Hi,

    The first question I have to ask is "use it with Windows 7 for what?" To connect to a printer? To connect to old computers?

    If you want to connect the Windows 7 computer to a printer, it would be helpful to know the printer model. Old Apple printers with LocalTalk interfaces tend to have serial and/or parallel ports as well, and you're better off connecting the computer to those - you'd need one of those on the computer, of course.

    If you don't have those, or you need/want to network the printer, and it has a serial or parallel port, look into a serial to Ethernet or parallel to Ethernet adapter and ignore the EtherWave device for this purpose. You can probably pick up an old HP JetDirect external print server dirt cheap on eBay. Many of them have both serial and parallel ports. If the printer has a parallel port, get a JetDirect that has those - they're faster than serial ports. Oh, and you'll need a serial cable or parallel cable, too, if you don't have one.

    And with regards to serial cables for printers, especially old Apple printers... and serial communications in general well, that's a topic for a another LONG post... use the parallel port if the printer has one.

    Whatever approach you use, the device will handle the "ugly details" of converting TCP/IP over Ethernet to either serial or parallel seamlessly,

    And, even though the EtherWave supports MacIPX, and you could, in theory, get IPX working with Windows 7 in a Windows XP VM using XP mode:

    http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx

    It won't work without an additional common application layer network protocol. In modern networking, this is generally SMB:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_Message_Block

    Without such, you can establish the physical and network level connections, but your Windows 7 computer won't "see" the printer.

    And, even using a Windows XP VM, you still can't get AppleTalk support:

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/305989

    And of course, these same problems would exist for any computers that you wanted the Windows 7 computer to talk to through the EtherWave device.

    So, without more information, sharing an old printer as described above is certainly feasible, but I'd concentrate on the serial or parallel approach (preferably the latter for speed and ease) as I've discussed and abandon the EtherWave.

    Networking old LocalTalk computers to your Windows 7 computer to share files wouldn't work - you'd be better off investing in a USB floppy diskette drive for the Windows computer, and some software that can read Mac diskettes.

    That's all I have - without more information about what you're trying to accomplish I really can't offer any more advice.

    Regards,

    dj
     
  3. Dazed_Not Confused

    Dazed_Not Confused Private E-2

    Thanks for your reply dj

    Parallel would have been my first choice... but putting a parallel card in my last PCI slot is not my best solution...

    My thought was that someone has done this before & the EtherWave Printer Adapter is sitting in a box. You are correct... I had enough of the OSI model in Novel classes.

    I have a NEC SilentWriter 97. It has RS-422 & 36 pin parallel ports.

    The old JetDirect print servers on ebay are selling for around $30-$100. I was looking at a Startech.com print server (PM1115P) http://www.startech.com/Networking-IO/Print/1-Port-Parallel-10100-Mbps-Print-Server~PM1115P in the $35 range. I wish the centronics connector could be adjusted.. so the box did not stick out so far from the rear. Do you have a different recommendation for a print server?

    Not that I wanted to make a serial cable but... I saw 2 articles one said that a MAC modem cable will work,, another had a diagram to change a DB-25 to A DB-9 & the last had a conversion chart (the cable pins) for RS-422 to RS-232.


    Chuck
     
  4. djlowe

    djlowe Private First Class

    Hi,

    Not really - as I said, I prefer HP JetDirect print servers. Their parallel ports are DB-25 male, and you'd use a standard DB-25 female to Centronics cable. You could even get one whose Centronics connector is low-clearance: The cable would enter at a right angle to the connector.

    The nice thing about this approach is that, with long cables, you have much more flexibility with regards to its placement with regards to the printer. The Centronics standard allows 15' between the host and the printer, and 10/100 Mbps Ethernet supports cable lengths up to 100 meters.

    You wouldn't need to put a parallel port into your computer in this scenario - the printer would become a network-attached device and you'd set the printer up under your OS as a TCP/IP device.

    Silentwrite 97 manual: http://support.necam.com/printers//csds/273925.pdf

    I didn't see any NEC printers available under my copy of Windows 7, so you'd want to let it auto-detect the printer first to see what it thinks. If that doesn't work, set it up as a Generic MS Publisher Imagesetter for Postscript, or try HP's Universal Printer Drivers if you want PCL support.

    Regards,

    dj
     
  5. Dazed_Not Confused

    Dazed_Not Confused Private E-2


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