Printing from Sun to LaserWriter with CAP

These notes are a beginner's "cookbook" approach to a basic CAP printer installation - just getting a Sun SS2 to print to an Apple LaserWriter via EtherTalk. They consolidate information scattered through the CAP Installation Procedures, the man pages, the CAP FAQ, and postings in comp.protocols.appletalk.

Network Setup

The objective which prompted these notes was to get a new Sun SS2 to print to an existing Apple LaserWriter IIG via an isolated Ethernet subnet. There were no other A/Talk devices on the Ethernet; in particular, there was no A/Talk router, and therefore no zones. However the LaserWriter was already connected to an established LocalTalk network, with LocalTalk zones established by a Webster Multiport Gateway.

                    LaserWriter         Lots of   Webster
    Sun SS2           LW IIG              Macs    Multigate
      |               |    |                |      |    |
      -------Enet------    ----LocalTalk-----------     ---Another Enet--

The LaserWriter IIG is claimed to service both LocalTalk and EtherTalk interfaces concurrently, but several people have reported difficulties, especially with firmware prior to Revision 2. However, the LocalTalk side of the printer turns out to be largely irrelevant to the CAP setup, other than for initially setting the printer's AppleTalk name.

The good news is that CAP _will_ work in this configuration, using the "Native Ethertalk" mode through the Sun Network Interface Tap (NIT). There is no need to have an AppleTalk router on the Ethernet segment. Network numbers will be assigned by CAP; the zone must (ie, can only) be the "default" zone "*" (because there is no router); and the printer name will be the same as its LocalTalk name.

If there had been Macs already on the Ethernet, CAP would simply fit in with the existing network numbers. Ditto if there had been an AppleTalk router, provided that the printer's zone names on the EtherTalk and LocalTalk sides were different. (Otherwise, the printer name would match two network addresses, and it would shut down the LocalTalk port).

Pre-requisites

Get the latest CAP FAQ from munnari.OZ.AU (mac/CAP.faq). The version that comes with the CAP distribution is NOT the latest.

Get and install the "patch" utility (after getting and installing the gzip utility!).

Check that the NIT (network interface tap) has been configured into your kernel. If etherfind runs, it is probably OK, but see the FAQ for details.

Check that the LaserWriter firmware is Version 2 or later, and arrange for a ROM upgrade if necessary. (The version number is in the fine print at the bottom right of the startup test page).

Getting Organised

Download the CAP file patched to level 100 (cap60.pl100.tar.Z), and all the subsequent patch files (patches.XXX-YYY.tar.Z).

Unpack CAP and all the patch files in /usr/local/cap. (Patches end up in this directory, CAP files in ./cap60).

Change to the top-level CAP directory (cap60).

Check the README file to find out the current patch level. Apply all the required patches, adapting the 3-line command in the FAQ (painless).

Check file ownerships, and change to root.daemon or something sensible
(" chown -R root.daemon . ", as user root from the cap60 directory).

Print and read the Installation Procedure in cap60/doc/install.ms
(" nroff -ms doc/install.ms | more ")

Read the relevant UNIX manual entries in cap60/man.
(" nroff -man man/CAP.8 | more ")

Add the assigned AppleTalk UDP port numbers to /etc/services, as per the instructions in the Installation Procedure.

Configure and Build CAP

From the cap60 directory:

Run ./Configure, and take all defaults except:

        Use Native EtherTalk?           Yes
        Use Phase 2?                    Yes
        Restrict CAP to one directory?  Yes

Run ./gen.makes to build the makefiles from the m4 scripts.

With CAP resticted to one directory, there is no need to "make include".

Run "make libsmade" to build CAP libraries.

Run "make programs" to compile the applications.

Run "make install" to move things into ./bin

The files ./etc/atalk.local and ./etc/etalk.local contain addressing "seed" information ex Melbourne Uni, and should be deleted. etalk.local will be re-created from scratch by "aarpd" and "atis" in the steps following.

Initial Testing

Start aarpd with the default zone name ("*" or \*): bin/aarpd le0 "*"

Aarpd may take 15 seconds or so before returning, while it establishes an initial node number and creates a new version of etalk.local.

Start atis: bin/atis

Wait while atis listens for routing packets. There won't be any, unless there is a router on the Ethernet. After about 15 seconds, atis updates the file ./etc/etalk.local with either the existing or its own network numbering. With no router, it should look something like:

   #
   # EtherTalk dynamic configuration data
   #
   # Last update:  Tue Jan 18 15:34:30 1994
   #
   # Generated by Native EtherTalk (Phase 2)
   #
   interface       "le0"
   netRangeStart    0.00
   netRangeEnd     255.254
   thisNet         255.00
   thisNode        168
   thisZone        "*"
   bridgeNet        0.00
   bridgeNode      0
   bridgeIP        127.0.0.1
   nisNet          255.00
   nisNode         168
   asyncNet         0.00
   asyncZone       ""

If there is an AppleTalk router on the Ethernet, run bin/getzones and check that the existing zones are visible to the Sun. If there is no AppleTalk router, there can be no zones either, and getzones will fail.

Run bin/atlook to show the devices visible on the network. This should show (at least) the LaserWriter. See the man pages for the many options to atlook - no arguments will show all devices in the default zone.

   auric# bin/atlook
   abInit: [ddp: 255.00, 168] starting
   Looking for =:=@* ...
     1 - Administration Room A1.62 :LaserWriter@* [Net:255.246
     Node:246 Skt:128]

Note the extra space character at the end of the printer name (before the colon). This is due to a bug in some versions of the naming program, but it _is_ part of the printer name and must be included in the setups following.

Test the Printer Access Protocol (PAP) by sending a PostScript file direct to the printer with the lwpr utility:

  bin/lwpr -p PrinterName:LaserWriter@* PSfilename

where the PrinterName is exactly as output by atlook above.

If this works, it means that the CAP name and address daemons and the printer access protocol are all OK. Next step is to set up lpd spooling.

Set up Printer Spooling

There are several ways to do this, as per the papif man pages. This one is the simplest and most understandable.

Create a printcap entry, spool directory, and so on, as per normal. (Note that CAP _does_ write to the accounting and log files, so you will need to keep an eye on them).

   # LaserWriter IIG (Admin) via CAP/Ethertalk
   lp2|lw2|Administration Room A1.62:\
           :lp=/dev/lw2:\
           :sd=/var/spool/lw2:\
           :sf:\
           :mx#0:\
           :lf=/var/adm/lw-errs:\
           :af=/var/adm/lw-acct:\
           :if=/usr/local/cap/cap60/bin/lw2if:\
           :of=/usr/local/cap/cap60/bin/papof:

Some systems are said to perform locking on the device file for local printers (the "lp" entry), so just create an empty normal file for each CAP printer:

   auric# touch /dev/lw2
   auric# chmod 660 /dev/lw2
   auric# ls -lg /dev/lw2
   -rw-rw----  1 root     daemon          0 Jan 19 12:19 /dev/lw2

The input filter "lw2if" is a small shell script which simply passes the Unix short printer name (eg "lw2") and any other lpd arguments to the "real" filter (CAP papif). There are more elaborate examples in the papif man pages. Create one of these for each CAP printer:

   #!/bin/sh
   # lw2if - CAP Input filter for lw2
   /usr/local/cap/cap60/bin/papif -P lw2 $*

The Unix short printer name ("lw2" above) then has to be mapped to a fully-qualified AppleTalk entity name (name:type@zone) via a list in ./etc/cap.printers:

   # Unix to AppleTalk Printer Name Mappings
   #
   lw2=Administration Room A1.62 :LaserWriter@*

Note again the spurious space character at the end of the printer name.

Ownerships and Permissions

Now, the final key point, from the cap60/support/ethertalk/README file - you need to set matching ownerships and permissions on the network interface /dev/nit and all of the executables, or none of this will work (not even for root, if you got there via a regular su). The most secure method is:

Create a group "nit" in /etc/groups.

Change /dev/nit to be group "nit", with group read/write permission:

   crw-rw----  1 root     nit       37,  40 Jul 30  1992 /dev/nit

Change papif, papof, and all your input filters ("lw2if" above) to be group "nit" and setgid "nit":

   -rwxr-sr-x  1 root     nit           203 Jan 14 16:05 lw2if
   -rwxr-sr-x  1 root     nit        106496 Jan 14 15:15 papif
   -rwxr-sr-x  1 root     nit         16384 Jan 14 15:15 papof

Final Stages

Now test the printer by sending a PostScript file via lpr. Watch the job progress with "lpc stat lw2", check the printout, and check the entries in the printer accounting and log files.

When all is well, re-compile if desired using the "normal" directories, make clean, and add a suitable startup script to /etc/rc.local:

   if [ -f /usr/local/cap/cap60/start-cap-servers ]; then
           /usr/local/cap/cap60/start-cap-servers & echo -n ' CAP ' > /dev/co
           nsole
   fi

where start-cap-servers is something like:

   #!/bin/sh
   # start-cap-servers
   # Called from /etc/rc.local
   #
   # Start aarpd for Native Ethertalk
   /usr/local/cap/cap60/bin/aarpd le0 "*"
   sleep 5

   # Start atis for RTMP and NBP
   /usr/local/cap/cap60/bin/atis
   sleep 15

Name-Binding Protocol