How to hook up a Laserwriter 16/600 so it works with computers running Mac OS 10.6 or greater.

Question

I am using a MacBook Pro 2.4 Ghz. I am using an Apple  1Tb Time Capsule as my source for the internet and "router" (I don't know if I'm using the terminology correctly, so if you need clarification, ask away). I have that Time Capsule connected to my Laserwriter 16/600 (32 meg ram) via an eternet cable from an Ethernet port on the Time Capsule to an Apple Twisted Pair Transceiver Model No M0437 on the 16/600 printer.  Is this an acceptable AAIU Transceiver?
I can print to the Laserwriter 16/600 with any machine that has OS 10.5 or less because they have Appletalk. If I have greater than OS 10.5 those machines do not recognize the Laserwriter 16/600. I can set it up as described in other posts telling me to us IP printing and the printer's IP address, and it refuses to connect. When a print order is given, It just searches for the printer continually and finally gives up saying it cannot connect. I know the IP address of the printer, 198.162.1.6 in this case because I have a machine that runs OS 9 and can use the old Apple Printer Utility to discern such essential details. I can change the IP address to anything I want and have done so. Nothing works.
Let me say, as well, that I can print with the Mac OS 10.6 printer as long as I use Bonjour, but that necessitates having a computer with 10.5 or less act as the "bridge" between the two. I'm already doing that with success, but it gets wearisome having to make sure both computers are up, running and not asleep. I want to print from the 10.6 or greater computer whether others are running or not.
I can do all the above, entering in the correct IP address and it still will NOT connect with the printer via this current hook up. I can even hard wire to the Apple Twisted Pair Transceiver Model No. M0437 using an Ethernet cable hard wired between the Transceiver and the MacBook running OS 10.6 completely omitting any wireless connection and NOTHING connects.
What am I doing wrong?
Please don't give me "theory" (what should work) because I've tried it all and it doesn't. Tell me only if you have a similar set up, running OS 10.6 or greater and have had consistent success printing to a Laserwriter 16/600.  I realize that the problem is that Apple ceased supporting AppleTalk with systems greater than OS 10.5, which made all this work so seamlessly. Thank you Apple for that omission!
Will a parallel Port to USB adapter work in this case? The 16/600 has an unused, capped parallel port. Will it work for Mac OS 10.6 or greater, or is it only operational with Windows computers? Is there some magic patch or driver that's needed for one to work on a Mac or is it plug and play?   People say they will, but I've heard that they won't work with this Mac configuration. Again, don't give me theory. Some speak so glibly about getting one and then of course "with USB all problems are solved." Others say they don't work.
Informed suggestions are eagerly awaited.

Answer 1

Novice or not, you've signed yourself up to set up an IP network.
The answer you seek — what address to assign to the printer — is dependent on knowing what the configuration of the DHCP address pool is.  If the stuff is in the 10.0.1.1 to 10.0.1.254 range, then you're likely in the 10.0.1.0/24 subnet, which means you can assign an address to that printer in that range that is not configured in the DHCP pool.
You're probably using the Airport as the DHCP server, so use Airport Utility (Applications > Utilities) to have a look around for the DHCP server settings within that device.  If the DHCP server is enabled, you'll almost certainly find a range of addresses that the DHCP server can pass out.  (Other devices can also potentially be a DHCP server for your network, such as your cable or DSL box.  You'll usually only want one DHCP server, but I don't know what device is providing that service is on your network.)
If you're not sure what box is the DHCP server, the IP address can be available from a couple of Terminal.app command (launch Terminal.app from Applications > Utilities), ifconfig and ipconfig, as shown with some (partial) response data:
ifconfig -l
lo0 gif0 stf0 en0 p2p0
That's a lowercase dash-ell, BTW.  Look for the en device in the list that gets returned.  en0 from the above list is used in the following command:
ipconfig getpacket en0
server_identifier (ip): 10.4.4.1
If you see a couple of en devices, try both.
The server identifier is the DHCP server IP address.  That's the address of the box on your network that's passing out IP addresses — the address is 10.4.4.1 in the example shown.  What that particular network box is (on your network) I don't know.
As it can both help answer your question and help improve the documentation, please let me know what parts of what I've written both here and over in the article might be confusing to you.