[tie]

My friend has a very old PowerMac 9500 (upgraded) running OS 8.6 (possibly 9.1?). Right now he is using an external modem. He also has an old LaserPrinter 300. There are two serial ports, so he should be able to use both simultaneously (i.e., print a web page) -- but he can't! To use the printer he needs to unplug the modem from its port, and vice versa.

I've tried to fix this in the Chooser. Appletalk is using the second port (which never has anything plugged into it). However I can't turn off Appletalk to free up the port because it says the printer needs Appletalk active to work. Neither the printer nor the modem work when plugged into the Appletalk port.

I am quite confused and don't know what to do, short of buying a new computer (and a new printer). It seems illogical that the Appletalk port can't be used for anything.

[Camelot]

The LaserWriter 300 is serial-based, not AppleTalk. If you get a message saying AppleTalk needs to be enabled to use it, then you're using the wrong driver in the Chooser.

Make sure you're using the LaserWriter Select driver (or the Personal LaserWriter driver if the printer is a Personal LaserWriter 300). if you're using 'LaserWriter', that's the wrong one.