If you want to print from a DEC VAX supporting PostScript or from
Macintoshes on LocalTalk to a LaserWriter connected to a terminal server
port, the following paragraphs may give you some ideas:
Attaching a LaserWriter to a DEC terminal server port is similar to
attaching it to the serial port on the VAX. Normally, some steps have to
be done by the VAX systems manager to define the terminal server port to be
used by the queue manager.
On the Macintosh, you need a cable, with the appropriate pinouts,
connecting the LaserWriter to the terminal server port. You have to set
the LaserWriter communications settings, such as parity and baud rate, to
the same settings as those on the terminal server port. Some installations
get by with only 3-pin wiring: transmit, receive, and ground. However, you
will lose data when the printer is turned off. You need full modem control
port on the terminal server to support all XON/XOFF features.
On the DEC hosts, normally a virtual port is defined for the printer. A
command is issued to map the virtual port to the physical port on the
terminal server. The physical port on the terminal server should be set
as: Accessing mode, Break disabled, Autobaud disabled, and Broadcast
disabled. A print queue is then initialized with LATSYM as the name of the
processor. PostScript software should be run on the VAX to support
PostScript printer queuing. All DEC hosts on the Ethernet with the print
queue defined through the terminal server can print to this LaserWriter.
Only the LaserWriter IINTX can be connected to both the serial port and the
LocalTalk port and be switchable between them via soft switches. To allow
Macintoshes on LocalTalk to print to the LaserWriter on a VAX queue, you
may want to look into PacerPrint from Pacer Software.