A little more testing with the machines I have available tells me that a Centris 660av, oddly, is like the G3: "mp" is ON whether the machine is awake, asleep or shut down. However, a IIsi nicely turns "mp" off when it is shut down, and (with the Auto-Power Control Panel installed) is capable of automatic startup and shutdown at specified times. Same with a IIvx/Performa 600, and maybe a IIvi (though I don't have one to test). The IIcx, IIfx, and IIci can do some but not all of this, and obviously the Compacts and LCs can't, so at this point the humble IIsi has a niche feature set among the pre-Quadra machines. The Quadra 650, 800, 950 and 840av also behave like the IIsi, but they are best used for more exalted tasks than I now have in mind.
So I think what I'll do is just use a IIsi, as it is smaller and much more energy-efficient than the PCI Macs with which I began. The method in the madness will be as follows: I'll set the IIsi to automatically start up and shut down in the timeframe when the youngsters need to do their homework printing, connect the LaserWriter to it for power, and let the IIsi do some simple home automation. That will work well enough. I think I will also run a second hard drive in the IIsi, which has room for it, connecting it to the SCSI port of the LaserWriter in question (a LW Pro 630) for storing TrueType fonts that aren't in the old gal's ROM. This is a seldom-used feature of the older LaserWriters, requiring use of the Apple Printer Utility, but it is said to speed things up — much needed with a printer running an '030 processor. Too bad I can't make the IIsi do some postscript processing in combination with the printer!
Why do this? The cheapest of all toner can be had for the printer in question (HP92298x, findable at $30 for c. 9000pp. of output), and these printers just go on and on like tanks. I also like to find a use for old gear, largely because I am able in this way to thumb my nose at the disposable culture. I am not sure that I could exactly be said to be "reducing" with all the old stuff I have around, but I certainly do reuse, and recycle when there's nothing else for it.
So I think what I'll do is just use a IIsi, as it is smaller and much more energy-efficient than the PCI Macs with which I began. The method in the madness will be as follows: I'll set the IIsi to automatically start up and shut down in the timeframe when the youngsters need to do their homework printing, connect the LaserWriter to it for power, and let the IIsi do some simple home automation. That will work well enough. I think I will also run a second hard drive in the IIsi, which has room for it, connecting it to the SCSI port of the LaserWriter in question (a LW Pro 630) for storing TrueType fonts that aren't in the old gal's ROM. This is a seldom-used feature of the older LaserWriters, requiring use of the Apple Printer Utility, but it is said to speed things up — much needed with a printer running an '030 processor. Too bad I can't make the IIsi do some postscript processing in combination with the printer!
Why do this? The cheapest of all toner can be had for the printer in question (HP92298x, findable at $30 for c. 9000pp. of output), and these printers just go on and on like tanks. I also like to find a use for old gear, largely because I am able in this way to thumb my nose at the disposable culture. I am not sure that I could exactly be said to be "reducing" with all the old stuff I have around, but I certainly do reuse, and recycle when there's nothing else for it.