IP address for connecting Laserjet 4M and internet cable to Mac G4

[Loretta M. Jeffreys]

Our Laserjet 4M was connected to the built-in ethernet port on our Mac G4 via AsanteTalk. When we got cable internet it needed to use the ethernet port too, so we had a second ethernet port installed, which AppleTalk recognizes as Ethernet slot SLOT 3, but the computer fails to talk with either the internet or the printer through this port, even when it is chosen in AppleTalk. I got a Linksys hub which works with the internet but the computer still can't find the printer. Linksys support says I need the printer IP address to fix the problem. Where can I find it? Any other ideas to fix the problem?

[Terhorst]

Hi Loretta,

Do I get it rigth: you now use the "old" ethernetport on your Mac G4 and connected it to the linksys-hub. Also cable and printer are attached to the hub (I suppose you have a link on your network connection). I think this is good solution to connect them all.
After this you have to configure IP addresses for all devices. Did you configure an address manually for all devices? Can you tell more about this?

Regards,
Alexander

[Loretta M. Jeffreys]

Thanks for your reply. I have tried everything to no avail. With the hub, the cable is plugged into the uplink plug on the hub, according to the salesman's directions, with the printer and computer plugged into other ports on the hub, and the other end of the internet modem cable is plugged into the built-in ethernet port (not the one we added.) However, if I could use the ethernet port we added by reconfiguring the printer, I should prefer to do that and get rid of this extra appliance on my desk. When I called Linksys they asked for the printer IP address. I have done a printer self test to get it with no luck, offered the TCP/IP address, but that apparently wasn't it. How do I reconfigure the printer addresses? And where do you find the current address? The apple system profiler says it is at the built in ethernet port, but the chooser can't find it there. Would the AsanteTalk (which translates from the SCSI connection to the ethernet be causing the problem? Loretta

[Terhorst]

Hi Loretta,

Because you want to be connected to the Internet means that you need an Internet address and TCP/IP configured on you Mac. The Internet-cable is provide with a modem or router. Did your provider gave you an IP-address, subnetmask, default-gateway and/or DNS-server address? (maybe this is provided automatically on the cable-modem via DHCP)
Please give me some clues.

Regards,
Alexander

[Loretta M. Jeffreys]

Hi Alexander,
First of all, thank you so much for your concerned replies. They gave me hope when I was about to give up on any reasonable solution.
My computer and printer apparently have minds of their own. When we first got the internet cable modem we learned that we always needed to have the printer on and plugged into the built-in ethernet port when we turned the computer on, but we could plug in the internet modem at any time. But sometimes the printer still wasn't recognized by the computer. After we got the second ethernet port installed, neither the printer nor the cable would work with it. I had tried everything, I thought, before we bought the hub, to get the second ethernet port to work. Two days ago I plugged the printer into the second ethernet port, set appletalk for that port, and tried printing. No luck. I left it plugged in that way, and this morning when I tried again, suddenly it started printing!! Go figure!
I am going to return the ethernet hub. Currently the internet modem is plugged into the built-in ethernet port, which works for it, the printer is plugged into the added ethernet port, with AppleTalk in the control panel set to that ethernet address, and for some unknown reason it has decided to work too!
Once again, thanks for your time and concern. Gratefully yours, Loretta

[Loretta M. Jeffreys]

With a MacIntosh G-4 system 9.2.2 it may take some time for the computer to recognize the new configurations for a printer, but it seems in time it will. If you have a SCSI printer talking through an ethernet port in a USB computer and you add an internet cable modem that needs to use that same ethernet port, you can have another ethernet port installed. Make sure the green light on it is on, go to the control panel and reset appletalk to that ethernet slot, leaving your internet cable in the built-in ethernet port, and in a few days (or maybe it is based on how many times you turn your computer on and off) the computer will find the printer and you will be able to use both the internet cable and the printer without a hub and without constantly switching the cords in the built-in ethernet port.