This might be of help:

MacInTouch Reader

Original poster here: my 20 year old Apple LaserWriter 16/600 worked splendidly when used under Mavericks in IP mode via s.o.p. LocalTalk. No issues.

I can look forward to maybe getting 25 years out of this workhorse Apple printer (which was designed by Apple but largely built with Canon innards). Apple pioneered the laser printer back in 1985 using the PostScript printer language from this new little startup called Adobe, whose founders had done the whole printer language gestation at Xerox PARC.

I acquired this printer at a high school surplus auction, for nearly no money, with a pile of unused toner carts. The advisor said the printer was jamming paper a lot. So I got a basic roller replacement kit ($20.00) and talked an IT guy out of some miracle rubber roller treatment fluid that leaves the rubber just right... not too hard, not too soft. But what really rejuvenated this Apple laser printer was removing to large clump of long blonde hair from the inner paper path. Yup. Blonde hair was why the printer was not working optimally. It appeared to be peroxide blonde . I still snicker at that every time I fire up the Apple
LaserWriter 16

The only Apple issue, really, is why all the information about upgrading to the newest operating system was woefully deficient on older printer compatibilities. Nowhere could I find pertinent info in advance about using Mavericks with legacy PostScript printers per se, and nothing useful about the LaserWriter 16. What was available was contradictory info. I can't be the only guy on the planet still running an Apple LaserWriter, can I?

A few years back, it took quite a bit of techno foofawraw to get the Apple LaserWriter 16/600 to run under Snow Leopard when Apple dropped AppleTalk... required hooking the unit up to a beige G3 Mac OS 9 machine and running the ancient and only utility to assign an IP address and plug in some settings. That was years ago. Mavericks was OK with it, as is. The settings are in the printer firmware, not the host Mac. Whew!

Yesterday , the venerable old Apple LaserWriter proved it can still do the job: printing basic monochrome letter and legal size documents sharply. It shares its longevity and durability with my 32-year-old Volvo 245 car, also eminently durable and reliable.

Remember when Apple built stuff to last, and last, and last? And we didn't need to constantly upgrade or replace stuff that was so callously obsoleted? Many HP inkjet printers and one Canon bubblejet have come and gone since I've owned the Apple laserwriter.
They don't build 'em like they used to. ...​

(Macintouch)

 

Wow!! And I thought I was alone keeping our old HP Laserjet 4ML with Mac serial DIN connector and AppleTalk only still working. But I had to use an old iMac running OS X 10.5.8 that has AppleTalk after the old iBook G4's HDD went kaput. And an AsanteTalk adapter. It even works with Mavericks and all other Macs and portables, including our iPads!! Not bad.

Anyway, it looks like some good suggestions here:
Using my Laser Writer 16/600 PS with Maverick ... • E-Maculation Forum

and some mentioned using sheepshaver if it's actually applicable or useful:
Printing from SheepShaver and BasiliskII [E-Maculation wiki]
and:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6728122

There's also mention of using some HP 4 drivers, but I thought the Apple LaserWriter 16/600 was basically a Canon printer, but I may be mistaken.

I'm just pleasantly and very surprised that Apple still includes the HP Laserjet 4ML as one of it's supported printers, but I don't see much sign of any Apple LaserWriter 16/600:
https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201465

 

It's not surprising it would work with a HP driver. It used to be that no matter what make your printer was you could usually use a HP driver to make it work.

 

Too bad that doesn't seem to work any more for all those that upgraded their OS only to find that their printer and/or scanner wouldn't work any more, regardless of driver or software.

I can never really understand why the OS version or code or whatever has to change so much that some things just quit working. Maybe one reason — it's called money!!

 

LaserWriter

Hi

Glad to see there is some interest in this topic, however, I would draw your attention to the original enquiry.

The printer I have is "LaserWriter 12/640 PS" not the 16/600.

I do thank the correspondents but can anyone help me with the printer model I have?

Cheers

 

No kidding. You'd think that once there's a working driver they could keep it working even with a new OS. It would be nice if there could at least be some standard drivers like there used to be that even if not all of the features of your printer or scanner worked that the basics were still there that you could make some basic use of them.

 

The Laserwriter 12/640 and the Laserwriter 16/600 have similar setup.

Here is a link to the 300 or so page manual for the 12/640
https://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/0/MA728/en_US/0340211ALW12640UM.pdf

I have a 16/600 which I've always used with Appletalk, so I thought this would be a good time to see if I could get it working on TCP/IP in OSX.

After much grief, I finally got it working. The catch is that you'll need an OS9 Mac to set up the IP address on the printer. You'll need OS9 (or older), and Apple Printer Utility software. You can set the printer IP address using Apple Printer Utility.

If you don't have an old Classic OS Mac, or the old Apple Printer Utility software, then you're probably SOL.

The biggest problem I had was figuring out what IP address to use for the printer. The Apple Printer Utility software showed the printer already had an IP address, so I tried to use that address in OSX. I could set it up as an IP printer, but when I tried to print I'd get the message that the printer couldn't be found.

I finally figured out that the IP address asigned to the printer wasn't compatible with my network. To get a more appropriate address, I looked up the IP address of my computer using the the Network system preference, and checking it under Built in Ethernet. It's a set of four groups of numbers separated by periods. The trick is to use the same first three groups of numbers, but use a different number for the last group. The first three groups of numbers identify the network, and the last group of numbers identify the device. I just gave it 35 for the last number so it probably wouldn't conflict with any other devices on my network.

Then I went back to my old OS9 mac, and used the Apple Printer Utility to set the IP address for the printer to the new one.

Now back to OSX and add a printer. Select IP printer, and then Line Printer. Enter the IP address for printer. This time when I print it goes through just dandy. The only problem now is that the paper keeps jamming. A problem for another day.

 

I just tried to run Apple Printer Utility under "Classic" mode in Tiger, on my G5, and it works!

If you've got a PPC Mac that can work in "Classic" mode, then that gives you another way to set the IP address of the printer.

 

Here's a screenshot of the Apple Printer Utility configuration page.

You can set the TCP/IP address for the printer down near the bottom.

 

FWIW for setting up our old HP AppleTalk laser jet 4ML several years ago, and I'm sorry I can't recall all the details, but I'm sure it was with an early OS X version, when using it's printer setup. The printer was recognized and it's name automatically entered, but it wouldn't print, until I discovered, and this I do recall, it worked when I removed any and all spaces in the supplied name and put an underscore in the place of the space in the printer_name.

The same fix may still apply and I hope it still might.

 

LaserWriter

Many thanks - as I suspected my LaserWriter (which is in A1 condition - never a problem) is done and dusted.
I have no access to OSX 9 and as I stated my G5 is no more.
I'm just wondering if my media MacMini running 10.8 could be used - but I doubt it. Oh well.
This is really poor form from Apple

 

It will definitely work on the mini in 10.8. I've got it running on my Mac Pro in Snow Leopard and Mavericks.

The only hard part is the IP address configuration for the printer itself, that has to be done with the old Apple Printer Utility. You could borrow an old computer just to do that once.

 

LaserWriter

Hi

mmm I have no access to a PPC. I do have the hard drive from the G5 complete with system.
I don't suppose there is any chance that I could connect it and use it to boot up with the MacMini currently with OSX 10.8
I guess not. I am loath to try as it would mean disassembling somewhat the current setup, for a test - that's why I ask in advance.

Cheers

 

Hi

mmm I have no access to a PPC. I do have the hard drive from the G5 complete with system.
I don't suppose there is any chance that I could connect it and use it to boot up with the MacMini currently with OSX 10.8
I guess not. I am loath to try as it would mean disassembling somewhat the current setup, for a test - that's why I ask in advance.

Cheers

No, you won't be able to boot the mini with your old HD.

It is not clear to me from your original post, so I ask: Do you know the LW 12/640's IP address?

If yes, is it consistent with your local network, i.e.: is the subnet the same, and are the first three digits of the IP the same? If yes, try to set up an LPD printer with that IP.

If the printer's IP doesn't share the first three digits of your local network, but is a reasonable address, (i.e.: not the default of 0.0.0.0), it might be easier to change your local network to match the printer's IP.



If you have access to a Windows computer with a parallel port, you can change the printer's IP. There is a version of Apple LaserWriter Utility for Windows, and it will run under Windows XP and 7. Not bad for a nearly 20 year old bit of software. More details and a link to the software here:

https://discussions.apple.com/message/10913828#10913828

Otherwise, try to find a hoarder of old Macs that is willing to help out.

 

I wonder where and what printer software Rob used and where he got it from.

Sa for setup and IP address, it seems that one can do so without using an old OS and Mac.

Apple has a quite technical article here:
https://support.apple.com/kb/TA21790?locale=en_US&viewlocale=en_US

and some like this:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6149266

but a real winner suggested link was to use IP Scanner to get the IP address of the printer to add, and it still works in Mavericks and available here:
IP Scanner | Free Mac Network Scanning Tool from 10base-t Interactive

With all that stuff in place, there should be several more years of useful life left in that printer.

 

Hi again

Well I downloaded IP scanner and got the address of the LaserWriter - yay!
It seemed to fit the criteria, sharing the first 3 digits of the local network so I added it to the printer list and it registered as 'idle'
However, on trying a test print, the computer was unable to connect with the printer - so back to square 1 - sigh

I really appreciate all the suggestions and help you guys have provided though.

Cheers

 

Don't be afraid to shutdown everything and then start all required devices and try again. It sometimes works to get things working, and also don't be afraid to delete the existing printer settings and start over with a new setup.

You might even want to try using the localhost printer access if it will work and possibly change some settings, and the info here may be enough to work:
Printer configuration for Mac OSX 10.8

Or Google "localhost printing". Just maybe it might work…

 

LaserWriter

Well I shut down everything - same result. Thank you for the references --- mmm I think they sound a bit beyond me but I will see.
Appreciate all the advice.

Cheers