From: Eric Frey <frey@bme.unc.edu>
Subject: First Impressions of EtherWrite (was: Printing to Laserwriters from ethernet)
X-Xxmessage-Id: <A701EDD0FF046506@6.101.2.152.in-addr.arpa>
X-Xxdate: Wed, 14 Oct 92 20:31:28 GMT
Organization: UNC Deptartment of Biomedical Engineering
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d11
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 19:31:35 GMT

I previously responded to a post about options for printing to 
laserwriters directly from ethernet. Below is a portion of:

>In article <1992Oct14.125506.25114@samba.oit.unc.edu> Eric Frey,
frey@bme.unc.edu writes:
>In article <poorman.718931652@convex.convex.com> Peter Poorman,
>poorman@convex.com writes:
>>Compatible Systems "EtherWrite":
>>	Connects up to 6 printers
>>	Cannot connect Macs (apparently)
>>	Does NOT need to be restarted if a printer is restarted
>>	Has an "LPR" variant (not sure what this is)
>>	Has a password-security feature
>>	Priced about the same as EtherPrint Plus
>>
>I talked to someone at Compatible Systems that told me that you can put
a 
>mac behind the box. I just ordered one so we'll see how it works when it 
>arrives!
>
>Eric Frey

We got our EtherWrite just a few hours after I posted this reply. I 
thought I'd take an opportunity to give you my first impressions. Indeed, 
it does allow macs behind it to talk with EtherTalk devices. As a matter 
of fact, we have a PC connected to the LocalTalk network with a PhoneNet 
Card and PhoneNet Talk and, though I haven't tested it extensively, the 
PC seems to be visible on the EtherTalk network!

The EtherWrite was very easy to set up. I simply connected it to the 
Ethernet, took a Phonenet box out of one of the macs, attached it to the 
back of the EtherWrite, turned it on and, voila, the 2 macs and 2 
Laserwriters still on the LocalTalk lan were visible on EtherTalk! This 
led to a small problem. Using the Network Control panel I switched each 
Mac to EtherTalk. However, after a few minutes, I got a message saying 
that the mac couldn't be registered on AppleTalk because a device with 
the same name was already registered. Apparently the EtherWrite still 
thought the macs were connected. I turned off the EtherWrite and then 
turned it back on again but it didn't solve the problem (it has some 
Flash EPROMs inside that I guess it uses to store configuration 
information). I ended up renaming the macs. Maybe I should have shutdown
the
macs while they were still on LocalTalk, disconnected the LocalTalk 
boxes, then restarted. Anyway, it seems to work fine.

As for feature:
 -it claims to be able to support 6 LocalTalk devices. I had 4 connected
and
  that worked, but I haven't tried 6.
 -Macs (and PCs with PhoneNet Talk) can be connected behind the
EtherWrite.
 -The printer and macs do not need to be restarted (I never turned them
off)
 -There is no mention in the manual of an LPR variant?
 -There is a password protection feature. A control panel is included and 
 you can assign each LocalTalk device a password. Then a CDEV called ENS 
 is installed on each mac on the Ethernet. Before the EtherWrite allows 
 the mac to access the device it asks the ENS CDEV for the password and 
 only ones that respond correctly are allowed to use it. I won't be using 
 this feature because I don't have the ENS cdev on our CAP system or on 
 our PC.
-There is some software that comes with it that allows you to connect to 
 the Etherwrite from a Mac and perform various management functions like 
 giveing it a name, assigning it a password, and assigning each of the 
 LocalTalk devices a password (see above). In addition, there are some 
 menu items that provide various LocalTalk and Ethernet stats.
-Using the above mentioned management software you can download new 
 versions of the EtherWrite software to the on board Flash EPROM. This 
 sounds like a very nice feature, especially if the sell updates for a 
 reasonable price (free ;-).
-I got it for something like $489 from MacWareHouse, $40 more than 
 EtherPrint Plus.
 
Anyway, I've only had this thing less than an hour so I can't comment on 
it too much except to say that it seems to work well. Next I need to try 
to get my Sun talking to the laserprinter via CAP!

Eric Frey

I am in no way connected with Compatible Systems nor have I received any 
form of remuneration from them.
Usual disclaimers about the opinions representing only the author, not 
UNC-CH or the Biomedical Engineering Dept.