Mac and printer cables?

Nige Danton wrote:

> On Jan 11, 4:39 am, demp....TakeThisOut@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) wrote:
>
> > The best option would be to use this as an interim solution and look to
> > eventually replace the printer with a more modern one that is fully
> > supported on the Mac.
>
> Exactly right, that's our plan.

Having read other replies, I'm concerned about this alleged USB
interface.

If the printer only has a parallel port, you would need a USB to
Parallel adapter, and in that case you need to carefully select one that
is supported on the Mac.

The default cable offered by her local shop might actually be one of
these but they don't think it works on a Mac (or they don't know), which
might explain the confusion.

I have no experience with USB to Parallel, so I can't recommend any
specific products. (I have used some USB to Serial adapters.)

--
David Empson
dempson.TakeThisOut@actrix.gen.nz

Nige Danton wrote:

> On Jan 13, 12:59 pm, demp... RemoveThis @actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) wrote:
>
> > Having read other replies, I'm concerned about this alleged USB
> > interface.
> >
> > If the printer only has a parallel port, you would need a USB to
> > Parallel adapter, and in that case you need to carefully select one that
> > is supported on the Mac.
> >
> > The default cable offered by her local shop might actually be one of
> > these but they don't think it works on a Mac (or they don't know), which
> > might explain the confusion.
>
> Oh, didn't realise there are different types parallel to USB adaptor
> cables.

It is more than just a "cable". The connection includes a microprocessor
which implements the USB protocol and the parallel protocol, and
converts between them.

Using one of these depends on having drivers installed on the computer.
For Mac compatiiblity, it is a question of whether drivers are available
for a particular brand of USB to parallel adapater, and for your general
type of Mac model and operating system version.

Doing a quick hunt around, I found that Belkin have a USB to parallel
adapter which appears to only support Windows (I found it by searching
their web site).

Keyspan sell a USB to parallel adapter which has Mac compatibility, but
they haven't yet reported on whether it works with the current operating
system (10.5 "Leopard"). It does support the previous operating system
(10.4 "Tiger"), but it is also unclear whether it has been updated to
run on Intel Mac models. You might want to contact them to make more
specific enquiries.

http://www.keyspan.com/products/up6c/

I've used two of their serial adapters which worked well.

--
David Empson
dempson RemoveThis @actrix.gen.nz