Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!olivea!samsung!usc!ucla-cs!ucla-se!watson!weiss
From: weiss@watson.seas.ucla.edu (Michael Weiss)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.comm
Subject: Re: Having Localtalk and Ethernet too
Keywords: localtalk local ethernet
Message-ID: <2581@lee.SEAS.UCLA.EDU>
Date: 26 Apr 91 22:50:15 GMT
References: <1991Apr26.204034.27688@hubcap.clemson.edu>
Sender: news@SEAS.UCLA.EDU
Organization: SEASnet, University of California, Los Angeles
Lines: 35

In article <1991Apr26.204034.27688@hubcap.clemson.edu> philip@hubcap.clemson.edu (Philip L Harshman) writes:
>I have heard of a product called "Liaison" that will do the trick, but another
>user at our site is having great difficulty with it and doesn't recommend it.
>There is a box called "EtherPrint" (or something like that) that will allow
>us to hang the LaserWriter directly off of the Ethernet.  I don't know anything
>about this other than what I read in a catalog.

Both will work.  Liaison is probably the cheapest way to do it, but it's not
all that user friendly (as your site user has found out).  Some claim that it
slows down the computer, but I have never noticed any significant change in
speed (but I also haven't run benchmarks on it under both...it's just my
eyeballing).

EtherPrint is a new device that uses an ingenious method to hook up an
AppleTalk printer to Ethernet.  You have to turn on the EtherPrint before
the printer for this reason.  See, when you turn on the printer, you need
to be able to know what node number to assign.  The printer randomly checks
numbers until it finds one that nobody is using.  Unfortunately, the
EtherPrint has to do the same thing, and the two devices need to have the
same number.  So, how does this happen?  EtherPrint finds a free number, and
then on its connection to the LW it blacks out all numbers except that one
that is assigned to the EtherPrint.  That way, the LW gets the right number,
and everything's happy.  There's a problem, though.  Let's say you've got
these two devices hooked up and happily humming along.  Suddenly, the power
goes out.  Five minutes later, it comes back on.  Now the number-finding
is going to happen on both devices simultaneously, with a great liklihood
that they are not going to be the same.  Suddenly, communications break
down between the devices.  I just figured you should know this for
assessing the benifits of each approach.

--
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Michael Weiss                     |    School of Engineering     \ /
weiss@watson.seas.ucla.edu        |     and Applied Science   ----O----
izzydp5@oac.ucla.edu              |            UCLA            YF " 22