GS/OS: //WRITE and Network Printing

I have now experimented with a variety of different settings and still can only be sure of getting AppleWorks to print to a LocalTalk ImageWriter. Another major problem I found was inserting a disk with software that GS/OS doesn't recognize (specifically, //WRITE from Random House Media).

I found a "solution" with some bugs. Here it is. I use the old AppleShare GS Workstation disk. Select CHOOSER.II from the menu, select
the LocalTalk printer, escape from the menu, and choose the option that lets you provide a pathname to the software you want to use (in my case, //WRITE). This is where the problems arise.

1) On the new ROM Apple IIGS, the keyboard seems to be remapped so that the "/" key produces a "}". The only way to get the "/" is by using the one on the numeric keypad. On an older Apple IIGS, the keyboard is normal. Why?

2) A second problem arises after //WRITE is launched, and I've created a document and sent it to the printer. On the new ROM Apple IIGS, it goes to the printer, prints successfully, but the screen seems to go into 40-column mode. The machine still works, but you can't read the text (letters overlap). On the older Apple IIGS, everything works the same, but the screen remains normal. Why?

3) Can the menu that appears on the Workstation Disk be edited to place the name of the application in it and delete options I don't want users to play with (System Utilities, Server Log-on, and so on)?
1) The only way we were able to duplicate this result was to go to the Control Panel, select the Alphabet device, and set the Keyboard item to "Spanish". In other language selections, various other characters were displayed. Only in the "Spanish" setting did the "}" character appear.

2) According to the people at Random House, they discontinued their software division about two years ago. We could not find anyone at Random House who knew anything about //WRITE, which is at least two years old. Without Random House assistance with this issue, we were unable to find a workaround to the 40-column problem.

3) The menu items are hard-coded into the menu application. There is no way to change the items in the list. Aristotle or Let's Share are the only network menu systems that can be modified.
Published Date: Feb 18, 2012