[HouseSold]

Does anyone have connected or does anyone in this forum have advice on how to connect a Pismo to a Hewlett Packard 6MP? HP is not savvy enough and seems to shudder when I said MacIntosh. (The 6MP was the Apple version only a year ago of a 600 dpi laser printer) It has serial Mac and separate PC parallel inputs under the input cover.

Any ideas appreciated. There is a wealth of knowledge and impressive first hand experience in this forum.

Thanks in advance.

I am also looking for the best solution to this, HouseSold; I bought a Pismo a couple of days ago, and I have a 6MP I want to connect.

Apple's Tech Info Library suggests using a serial-to-usb adapter; I don't know how reliable/speedy this adapter is.

Another alternative is to install an Ethernet card in the 6MP and set up a small network -- this is probably the best solution in terms of printer speed and reliability.

But hey, I just realised now, while I was searching for info about the other two solutions -- shouldn't it be possible to print via the infrared (IrDA) ports on Pismo/6MP? This would definitely be the coolest solution, less cable cluttering and no need for adapters... I know that the 6MP supports IrDA printing, so it should be possible to set it up to communicate with the Pismo this way, but we might need to find a new printer driver to make it work. This TIL article has more info.

Let's try!

[Misha]

Just a note that Keyspan's serial adapter is *not* compatible with the 6MP.

[SillyPooh]

To complete Misha, just go have a look at their website: http://www.keyspan.com/products/usb/usa28x/

[SillyPooh]

If it doesn't work, you could try Powerprint from Strydent, they're the leader in this. They offer a software/hardware solution to this. Look there:
http://www.strydent.com/products/powerprint/usb.htm

[CMYKid]

if memory serves me correctly, and if those models are similar to many other HP's, the only way is to basically spend so much on upgrading that you might as well purchase a new printer. Case in point: prior to my tenure here one of our staff bought a coupla HP "Mac" laser printer from MacWarehoue (jackasses...) Perfectly compatible according to them and HP, but buried in the tech info part of HP's site is this little detail...in order for that serial port to even be connected you hafta purchase a 300 dollar Postscript SIMM...and ifya wanna network it you must of course buy the 250 dollar network card... even the Infowave-type adapters that work on the parallel port didnt work. Of course Macwarehouse refused to accept a return either... anywho, hopefully you arent in this position, but maybe...

:ryan
[email protected]

[HouseSold]

The 6MP is Mac (Localtalk-read serial) configured with the simm for Postscript 2 and worked great on all my serial Macs G3's before(plug and print). There is an Ethernet $300 card available, however, from HP.

Short of trying the infrared port with Pismo, I don't want to buy their 2100M replacement (1200 dpi)

What laser printers are some of you interfacing to your Pismo's or Firewire and USB ports with success?

Any ideas appreciated.

I had the same problem with an Okidata LED page printer when I got my PB400 - Appletalk Serial only. Lexmark has the Optra 312 Postscript laser printer with built in USB for under $400. In fact, I found an open box return at MacZone for $268. It prints fast and perfect. It is so good that I'm glad the Okidata wouldn't work.

[duboy]

HouseSold, to answer your question, i am interfacing an NEC SuperScript 1400 via USB with my Lombard, should have no problem with Pismo. It's a decent printer and can be upgraded in the future as well. :-)

[Paul Huang]

The most economical and sensible (presuming that you may want to add more systems in the future) is the AsanteTalk Ethernet/LocalTalk bridge. It's around $70 after $20 rebate. This turns your 6MP into an ethernet device. However, you must have LocalTalk connectors on both end of the device: one on the AsanteTalk box and another one connected to the LocalTalk/serial port of the HP 6MP. The AsanteTalk, then, is connected to the ethernet port of the Pismo with a croosover (yellow, included) ethernete cable.

Infrared worked fine. IrDA is slower than ethernet, of course, but by no means annoyingly slow (4 Mbit/s). How fast is the Asante bridge?

[tjcrebs]

I've been using Asant�Talk (Ethernet-to-Localtalk, for about $90) adapter from my iMac to my HP-6MP for over two years now. Works great, never a problem, I used to use the cross-over ethernet cable (yellow) which comes with the Asant�Talk in "single-computer-to-6MP" mode.

When I bought my Pismo, I also bought Asant�'s Ethernet Hub (5-port, $25), then replaced the "cross-over cable" with regular CAT-5 (gray color, which also is included with the adapter) into hub--now iMac and Pismo both print to the 6MP. (Also, I use the MacOS-8.6 (iMac) and MacOS-9.0.4 (Pismo) Laserwriter-8 printer drivers, rather than the driver-software which came with my HP-6MP.)

Hope the above is helpful. Also, Farallon's iPrint (Ethernet-to-Localtalk) adapter will also work with your HP 6MP--Farallon's adapter price is similar to the Asant�Talk.

Good Luck & Regards, T.

[tjcrebs]

Asant�Talk adapter to HP-6MP LaserJet is quite "zippy", I don't know how fast but "mucho" faster than IrDA.

Here's the link to the Asant�Talk adapter:
http://www.asante.com/product/adapters/MicroAP.html

I highly recommend; it's simple and works as advertised.

Regards, T.

[HouseSold]

Thanks to all of you for replies. I never would have thought of Asant�, since I was unaware of the localtalk bridge with them.

I searched on shopper.com and saw that chaseshop.com showed them on their site priced at $78.46 plus $3.50 shipping.
I had to search by Asant� mfg number (Asant�talk Mfr. Part #: 99-00505-01), however to locate vendors initially.

Then other benefits showed up ordering at Chaseshop online. There is an additional 5% discount ordering with a Chase bankcard (Visa or Mastercard).
When I called questioning sales tax to Califronia being added online, since they are in Washington state like Onvia, they explained they have California outlets and therefore add tax. But they realized Onvia ships for free, so not to be outdone, they waived shipping and it ships from California as well.

Wait there's more ! Thanks to Paul Huang's post, while at Asante's site, I discovered the PDF link for $20 rebate through December 31st, 2000.

So this solution may end only costing $58 or so.(plus any hubs or cables)

Thanks to all of you for good ideas and posts. TJCrebs, thanks additionally for your solution, since we have the same two Macs and printer.

I'll keep you all posted. (no pun intended)

I'd just like to second HouseSold's note of appreciation; thank you all.

Hope that one day I will be able to return the favour(s) -- these forums really make up an impressive pool of knowledge.

[tooki]

For the record, IrDA is 4Mbps, LocalTalk is 262kbps (or thereabouts).

tooki

[romeosc]

Originally posted by SillyPooh:
If it doesn't work, you could try Powerprint from Strydent, they're the leader in this. They offer a software/hardware solution to this. Look there:
http://www.strydent.com/products/powerprint/usb.htm

I also use powerprint USB to Paralell .... so I can use hotels IBM printers when on the road. You can also use many cannon multifunction scanner , copier, fax. printers too.