hub good, switch bad claims some newsgroup

Post #238,031 by rcareaga 12/14/05 2:50:30 PM Reply	hub good, switch bad claims some newsgroup Somewhere in my researches I recall reading a description of a similar setup (using a product similar to my EtherPrint-T black box) that warned that a hub and not a switch must be used at this point in the chain. Alas, I can't recall details of the explanation. BTW, the hub has clearly not given up the ghost, since it's still sitting between the B&W and the outside world, passing information back and forth without apparent incident. In my original post I asserted, incorrectly, that the B&W's serial out was useless under OS X. I misspoke; additional research on another matter has jogged my memory and I amend that to say that OS X will not print through a serial connection under any circumstances. To my delight, however, last night I finally got the B&W and my Newton Messagepad 130 (one of the prize exhibits here at the burgeoning Harrison Street Museum of Senescent Technology) to shake hands with one another via that channel. I'm still inclined to believe that the individual components, the various boxes, cables and ports, are all sound, and that something in the configuration thereof has eluded me. I thought the nature of the misconfiguration might be obvious to the old hands from my account; since it is not I will press on in some dedicated Mac fora and report my findings, should findings there be, back here. cordially, Die Welt ist alles, was der Fall ist.
Post #238,033 by Andrew Grygus 12/14/05 3:06:27 PM Reply	Hub good - Switch bad? A switch is actually a fast multi-port bridge. It learns who's on each port so it can bridge traffic appropriately. If a switch doesn't work that may be because it can't get a good MAC address from your device, and that might cause problems with other equipment too. A hub, on the other hand is a completely stupid device. It just ties a bunch of ports together so any traffic on any port appears on all ports. [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]
Post #238,034 by Another Scott 12/14/05 3:08:02 PM Reply	Maybe this will help. [link\|http://www.asante.com/downloads/guides/ATALK_Trouble_TD.pdf\|AsanteTalk Troubleshooting Guide] (8 page .pdf). It is a [link\|http://www.asante.com/products/productsLvl3/AsanteTalk.asp\|Ethernet to Localtalk Bridge] and sounds similar to your Dayna EtherPrint-T. It's apparently still available for ~ $90. The paperwork says it'll work with a hub or a switch. It says it is very particular about the order in which things are turned on... HTH! Cheers, Scott.
Post #238,730 by tuberculosis 12/21/05 12:51:07 AM Reply	Have you tried printer sharing? A strategy wherein you connect the printer directly to the device that can handle it - the B&W G3, turn on printer sharing over Bonjour (formerly Rendezvous) on the B&W, then it publishes the printer as shared and handles its print queue. I'm doing this to share a dedicated usb printer on my wireless lan (something else you might consider - eliminate all the cables once and for all). Worth a shot. "Whenever you find you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect" --Mark Twain "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." --Albert Einstein "This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mental losses." --George W. Bush
Post #238,737 by Another Scott 12/21/05 8:36:21 AM Reply	As I understand it, that won't work. There are 3 problems that Rand faces: 1) OS X won't print to the serial port, 2) there's only 1 Ethernet port, 3) the HP 6MP printer has a serial (or Centronics) interface. But that reminds me of our arrangement. We have a Canon i550 inkjet and a Lexmark E324 laser printer that both our Athlon64 and our PowerMac G5 (10.2.8) print to just fine. Both the printers have Centronic and USB interfaces. The Athlon64 uses the Centronics interface on the i550, the PowerMac uses the USB interface on the i550. The Athon64 uses the USB interface on the Lexmark and the G5 prints to it via printer sharing by the Athlon64 (running Win2k). (We can also print to the printers via our PowerBook and PC laptops as both the printers are shared on the network.) If there were some way to get a USB port on the B&W G3/G4 box to talk to the printer, I think that might be a way to go. Then sharing the printer via the Ethernet port might work. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be such a box, and there are probably driver issues. It might be cheaper and less aggravating (and less expensive - power wise) to buy an inexpensive laser printer to replace the HP 6MP. My Lexmark E234 was < $150 and has worked very well. A similar [link\|http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16828106218\|E240] is $150 + $15 shipping at newegg (but I imagine you'd have to throw in tax too). Unfortunately, you'll be giving up PostScript. :-( Another option is to hang the 6MP off a cheap, networked, Linux networked box. It apparently works perfectly with Linux. HTH a bit. Cheers, Scott.
Post #238,772 by tuberculosis 12/21/05 12:20:45 PM Reply	Or... Add an airport card to the G3, replace the switch with a WAP, wire the G3 directly to the printer and configur its wireless interface to talk to the WAP - then share the printer. OTOH, I agree that printers (Color even!) are now dirt cheap. I got a nice Epson Stylus C88 for < $80 and it has been solid for over a year. Individual color carts are fairly reasonably priced and last a fairly long time. Probably cheaper than solving the network problem. "Whenever you find you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect" --Mark Twain "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." --Albert Einstein "This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mental losses." --George W. Bush

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