CPMH Tips: March 14, 2000

Here’s my problem: How can I share a printer between my new iMac (which only has USB connections) and my older Power Center Pro clone (with only Apple serial connections), which I’ve connected with Ethernet. Most network printing solutions are a bit pricey for a small home setup -- costing upwards of $100, as much as a new color inkjet.

HARDWARE OPTIONS

If your office or desk space is at a premium and you can only have one printer, there are several options costing between $100 and $200. Farallon makes the iPrint device for this purpose. Epson also sells the Axis 1440 print server for Epson printers at around $150; and Axis makes other printer servers for other brand printers. Another comparable product is the AsantePrint adapter, which goes for about $180. You can also buy a network-ready printer for about $200 more than the cost of the same printer without built-in Ethernet.

If you've got two Macs with serial ports, you can buy a data switch for around $15 that will let you switch between two computers and a printer. But if one of your Macs is USB-only (like an iMac), you'll need a USB-to-serial connector, which costs around $70. This is almost affordable, but it leaves you disconnected if you later buy a USB printer that you want to connect to both computers.

Those were the solutions I had discovered, so I put it to the readers of my Mac Web Servers column at MacCentral. The reason I'm spending so much column space responding is that I received 15 responses -- more e-mail than I get most weeks. And I did get some tips that I thought might be useful.

SOFTWARE OPTIONS

Option 1: If you're willing to buy a new printer, since color inkjets have dropped in price over the past few years, one solution is to make sure your new printer has both USB and Mac serial connections. A number of printers have both USB, Mac serial, and PC parallel connections. For example, an Epson Stylus 740 can be connected to a USB and serial Mac in this way, but you may want to confirm with the manufacturer that this will work. Total cost: perhaps the price of an extra cable.

Option 2: The most widely cited option works only for Epson printers (which, unfortunately, I do not have). EpsonShare from Nice Boy Software has two parts, a server for the Mac to which the printer is connected, and a client for the other Macs. This seems to be the best-supported software option. Total cost: This shareware starts at $24 for one client.

Option 3: If you poke around in your Extensions folder, you might come across an extension called Printer Share. Lo and behold, this is for sharing a printer. However, this only works with Apple StyleWriters and ImageWriters. Bummer for me. If you fit into this category, you just have to set up the printer to be shared. (Open the Chooser, select the printer, select Setup, and select Share this Printer.)

Option 4: The useful Web site, Three Macs and a Printer, in addition to noting options 1-3, also lists SharePrint, a pair of free AppleScripts that work as a print server and print client. The set-up appears to be somewhat more complicated than your average Mac application, but the price is right.

Option 5: If you have an AppleTalk-ready printer -- and most Mac-compatible printers are -- it should be possible to use the AppleTalk-ready printer drivers, plus Apple's own LocalTalk Bridge software, to share your printer. LocalTalk Bridge is an unsupported control panel available free from Apple.

PRINTER SUCCESS

To, conclude, I’d like to describe how I networked my HP DeskWriter 600 to both my iMac DV and my PowerComputing PowerCenter Pro. I feel obligated to report on this since my Mac Web Server columns on the subject generated several dozen e-mail messages. Readers take great pride in having networked a printer, so I thought others might like to hear my final, low-budget solution.

My HP DeskWriter 600 is AppleTalk-ready. I reinstalled the driver software to recover the AppleTalk-enabled Chooser extension, called DW 600 Series (AT), which I had tossed out some time ago. I never thought I would need it. Live and learn. I installed the same drivers on the iMac. The HP Web site had updated drivers and a driver update for Mac OS 9.

The next trick was to connect the printer to the PowerCenter Pro's printer port via LocalTalk connectors. I borrowed a pair of Belkin QuikNet connectors from a co-worker. PhoneNET from Farallon is a comparable product. Two connectors will probably set you back $25 retail. Through the magic of LocalTalk, when the printer is connected via the QuikNet cabling, the HP AppleTalk driver could see it, but if it is connected with the printer cable, the AppleTalk driver could not locate the printer. Don't ask me why, just accept it. (If you must know, AppleTalk and Mac serial connections use different pin configurations, which the combination of cables and software can detect.)

Next, I downloaded a piece of free software from Apple -- the LocalTalk Bridge control panel. I installed this control panel on the PowerCenter Pro. This unsupported control panel connects a LocalTalk network to the network that is selected in the AppleTalk control panel. So, I set the AppleTalk control panel on both the iMac and the PowerCenter Pro to connect via Ethernet.

Total cost to me: $0. Well within my budget. You might reduce the retail cost by picking up the connectors at an online auction. There are two minor downsides. First, I must have both computers on to print, and the PowerCenter Pro's turboprop fan negates the sublime silence of my iMac. Second, each time I turn on the PowerCenter Pro, I have to select the DeskWriter in the Chooser before it can be seen by my iMac. Small prices to pay until I upgrade my printer.