As reported in Mac OS 9 Late Breaking News, the Apple LaserWriter 8f printer driver is not compatible with Mac OS 9. If you have this driver installed, remove it and use the LaserWriter 8 driver instead.

PostScript Fax is an option for the LaserWriter Select 360, the LaserWriter 16/600 PS, and the LaserWriter Pro 810. Apple discontinued PostScript Fax printer driver development many years ago and the last PostScript Fax driver created was LaserWriter 8f (v8.2.3). Though these printers can continue to receive faxes and you can print to these printers, sending faxes with old drivers is not supported with Mac OS 9.

LaserWriter 8, version 8.7 supports PostScript output filters, which are code fragments that live in the data fork of files that reside within the "Printing Plug-ins" folder contained in the Extensions folder. These code fragments can intercept the PostScript output data stream generated by LaserWriter 8 and add, remove, or modify the data before it is transmitted to the output device. Such a filter could add PostScript fax instructions to a "print job," and should such a third party PostScript fax output filter become known to Apple, the information will be posted here.

LaserWriter 8.3.4 has limited PostScript fax capabilities, and though no compatibility testing was performed with it and Mac OS 9, Apple was able to send faxes successfully with this driver. Again this was not tested, nor is this solution supported. Should you wish to experiment with this potential solution, the driver may be downloaded from Apple Software Updates. Place the driver in the Extensions folder or drag it onto your System Folder, then select your printer using this driver via Chooser. Mac OS 9's printer PPD files may be used with this old driver. LaserWriter 8.3.4 requires you to enter your fax destination; LW 8.3.4 will remember the last phone number you faxed to, so if you wish to fax to a different destination you'll need to enter the new number. It has no support for the Fax Phone Book, LaserWriter Fax Log, or the Fax Printer Utility. Important: After sending a 'fax' using the LW 8.3.4 driver, Apple strongly recommends you reselect and use the LaserWriter 8, version 8.7 to 'print' to these printers.

LaserWriter 8.3.4 is available from Apple Software Updates. Please see Software Updates Document Number 10454, or use the following URL to access the article directly:

http://asu.info.apple.com/swupdates.nsf/artnum/n10454 .