![]() I decidedto try using Classic Mode with a USB-to-Serial adapter. Using Classic Mode on PowerPC Macsīy the time the printer was ready for it's second career at my home,Mac OS X was the current Operating System, and I was running10.3.9 on a Power Mac G4 that didn't have DIN-8 serial ports. I claimed it during a subsequentequipment purge - "take it now or it's trash" - and decided toput it to use in my home office. The printer was originally used in a commercial recording studio.After several upgrades to faster CD printers, the old Sig II gotrelegated to a shelf in the basement. With the printer I use alabel database created in FileMakerPro v4 (Mac and Win compatible)that contains templates with my business logo and fields for disccontent information. The printerincludes a Mac DIN-8 serial port and a PC parallel port, and it hasdrivers for Mac OS 9 and Windows 98/2K. It's slow butreliable, and I can still get ink from the manufacturer. To illustrate how virtualization can help, and the challenges ofgetting it to work, consider the tale of an inkjet printer: I have a Primera SignatureII CD printer, which is an old professional workhorse. On PowerPC Macs, examples of virtualization include running MacOS 9 in Classic Modewithin Mac OS X and running Windows within VirtualPC.On Intel Macs, Parallelsand VMWare can runWindows side by side with Mac OS X, and SheepShaverprovides the ability to run Mac OS 9 on current machines (withsome limitations). The older peripheral runs inside thevirtual machine, which will have a mechanism to share data with thehost OS. Virtualization is thepractice of running a "guest" operating system inside a host operatingsystem: The host OS runs the computer, and the guest or virtualized OSruns as a process, fooling the older software into thinking it'srunning on an actual computer. To bridge the Operating System Gap, you can use virtualization torun old hardware and drivers on newer systems. Old printer and scannerdrivers, software for the expansion card or adapter itself, and evensome USB devices may only work in Mac OS 9 or earlier.Īnother solution is required. ![]() More often than not, however - particularly with devices more than afew years old - additional software is required that may not becompatible with your current operating system. If you're lucky, just having the expansion card or adapter with theright connector for your legacy device will be enough - the drive willmount on the desktop, the printer can be added as a USB device, etc.For example, you can use ADB mice and keyboards via the Griffin iMateadapter, just plug and play. Manufacturersof USB adapters and expansion cards include Keyspan, Belkin, and Griffin, among others. Desktop Macs with PCIslots (PCI, PCI-X, or PCIe) and laptops with expansion card slots (PCCard for PowerBooks, ExpressCard for MacBook Pros) have options to addUSB, FireWire, SCSI, IDE/ATA, serial ports (RS-422), etc. These types ofadapters are particularly useful for printers and input devices(keyboards, mice, tablets, etc.).Įxpansion cards are another popular option. USB adapters are available for a wide variety of legacyconnectors, including ADB, serial (DIN-8 and DB-9), PS/2, and parallelports (which can be useful with Macs - see below). On the Mac hardware front, there are several ways to tackle theproblem. ![]() ![]() Printers, scanners, harddrives, and various specialty equipment have long life spans and oftenremain in use longer than the computers they were originally used with.But as operating systems evolve and new computers lose ports andhardware interfaces they once had, continuing to use those peripheralscan present challenges. A recurring issue that users of all platforms face is how to useolder peripherals with newer computers.
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