The LocalTalk PC Card and the AppleShare PC software were sold to Farallon
and are marketed under the name PhoneNet PC. Please refer to Farallon for
support on the PhoneNet PC product line.
In its most basic configuration, the PC LocalTalk Card can only print to a
LaserWriter over an AppleTalk network with the software included with the
card.
To make the PC become a client on AppleShare, print to a LaserWriter as a
native MS-DOS-type printer (directly address LPT1: / LPT2: and so on), and
have access to other AppleTalk services, you must have AppleShare PC
software on the PC, too.
When printing to the LaserWriter just from the utility software that comes
with the card, and not from AppleShare PC, the file to be printed must be
stored to a disk first (either floppy or hard disk). Most of the more
powerful MS-DOS word processors provide PostScript output, but -- because
of the limitations of the software provided with the LocalTalk PC Card --
not directly to the LaserWriter.
Again, the PostScript information generated by the word-processing program
must be stored on disk as an intermediate step. Before the PostScript file
can be sent to the printer, a PostScript initialization file must be sent
to the printer first. It is possible that each PC application that outputs
PostScript may need a different initialization file.
The PostScript initialization file that comes with Microsoft Word 4.0 is
called POSTSCRP.INI. The tool that you send the file to the printer with is
called LWPRINT.EXE and comes with the basic PC LocalTalk option card. As
per the instructions in the LocalTalk PC card manual (pages 74, 75), to
send the PostScript initialization file to the LaserWriter, type in the
following at the DOS prompt: LWPRINT -A POSTSCRP.INI and press <Enter>.
At this time, if all is well, you will be returned to the DOS prompt with
no error messages. You can then call up the LaserWriter.EXE program and
follow the instructions in the PC LocalTalk manual to print out your
PostScript output. The initialization file needs to be sent to the printer
only when the printer is first being used by the PC, if the printer has
been reinitialized by another machine (like a Macintosh), or if the power
to the printer has been interrupted.
However, due to operational environments of MS-DOS, you may run into
problems. For example, if all PC LocalTalk utilities are in one
subdirectory on the user's hard disk and that subdirectory is in the PATH
command's search path, you can access LWPRINT and LaserWriter from anywhere
in the DOS directory structure.
If the <file name> specified as an argument for the LocalTalk Utilities --
that is, - LWPRINT -A <filename> -- is not in the current directory, you
will get a message saying "CAN'T OPEN PRINT FILE <filename>". If this
happens, no printer initialization will take place and any subsequent tries
to send PostScript files to the printer via the LaserWriter.EXE program
will result in printer error messages. Just make sure that the files
concerned (utility programs, printer initialization files, and data files)
are really where you specify them to be.
Article Change History:
16 Nov 1993 - Included information on Farallon and PhoneNet PC.