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Color LaserWriter
Posted by: Dwest on 2017-04-08 06:43:42
I have an old Color LaserWriter 12/660 that I'm trying to get going again. It has sat for several years, plugged in, but not turned on. It still works, but it no longer holds any configuration settings sent to it after a power cycle. Does anyone know how/where LaserWriters store the config/IP address information sent to it? Is there a battery in it that just needs replacing? Are the configurations stored in EPROM somewhere and could that chip have gone bad???

Posted by: Dwest on 2017-04-08 06:55:21
I should have pulled the controller board before I asked the question. Did so this morning, and there sat a dead, but intact (thankfully) red Maxell 3.6V battery. Have ordered a replacement and should be good to go.

Posted by: Juror22 on 2017-04-08 10:37:21
Okay, now I'm a bit worried.  I have a few different Apple LaserWriters (as well as some old HP LaserPrinters) does anyone out there know which printers have backup batteries?  While I'm meticulous (overzealous?) about removing old batteries, I never even considered that I'd have to tear apart printers, to look for batteries.

I Guess that I better start downloading some service sources to check them out.

Posted by: Johnnya101 on 2017-04-08 12:11:25
Uh oh...

Never thought about that either.

Posted by: Dwest on 2017-04-10 07:33:14
And that's the reason that I asked the question here before pulling the board. I checked the service source first, and there was no mention of a battery so I assumed that it would not have one. Luckily on most Apple printers, the controller board is fairly accessible. I know all the LaserWriter IIs, Personal LaserWriters, and this Color 12/660 have controller boards that just slide out for upgrades & such. My 16/600 and 8500 are bit more trouble to get to, but not THAT difficult. I'll be checking all the printers I have around.

Posted by: Themk on 2017-04-10 07:39:58
Glad you were able to figure out the issue. That is weird that the service source never mentions the battery, perhaps you were looking at one for a different model, I dunno. Good news is, you didn't have an exploded battery, now THAT would have been bad. :beige:

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