Connecting an SE/30 to the Network/Internet with AsantéTalk

[davidg5678]

I am currently attempting to connect my Mac SE/30 to the internet. I would like to be able to do FTP file transfers and connect to telnets. I am following the MacIPpi guide (http://www.macip.net/?page_id=113) to get everything working. Parts of the guide are quite confusing, but I have followed it to the best of my ability. I have an Asanté Ethernet to LocalTalk bridge that seems perfect for this project. I purchased and set up an Orange Pi as mentioned in the tutorial. To sum up the guide, an Orange Pi Linux computer connected to wifi simulates an AppleTalk Network and sends it through ethernet into the AsantéTalk. A connected Macintosh should be able to access a built-in AppleShare and have an internet connection to the outside world. 

I am running System 7.5.5 on a completely recapped SE/30. I configured all computer-side settings the same way the guide shows. When trying to access anything online, the computer acts as if it is not plugged into any network at all. The AppleShare does not appear. The AsantéTalk’s RX and TX lights never flash when I try to access things. The Asanté was working fine when it was last used but I have no way to confirm if it is the issue now. The Orange Pi reports that it can see an IPGATEWAY (see image below) this might be the Macintosh. 

Is there anything that I am doing wrong? Can someone walk me through configuring the settings? I would appreciate any help in getting this to work.

 

[mactjaap]

I’m the developer of the MacIPpi, so my duty to help you!

See this post just now, so give me some time to think what could be wrong.

 

[mactjaap]

I read the post now and think that I know what it is.

A AsanteTalk is very tricky to get online. I have to power off and power on the device many times before I see it too.

On the command line of the MacIPpi you can check if the AsanteTalk is only if you give this command:

nbplkup

Just give it a try and see if you can get the AsanteTalk online. If so you will immidiatly  "see" your SE/30 as well!

First I see this:

orangepi@macippi:~$ nbplkup
                        MacIPpi:AFPServer                          65280.162:129
                        172.16.2.1:IPGATEWAY                          65280.162:72
                        MacIPpi:netatalk                           65280.162:4
                        MacIPpi:Workstation                        65280.162:4
 

Then later after power off and on|:

orangepi@macippi:~$ nbplkup
                        MacIPpi:AFPServer                          65280.162:129
                       172.16.2.1:IPGATEWAY                          65280.162:72
                        MacIPpi:netatalk                           65280.162:4
                        MacIPpi:Workstation                        65280.162:4
                        AsantéTalk 940863E7:Asant▒Talk                         65521.159:252
 

 

[davidg5678]

Thank you for the quick response. I only saw it now because the website was down yesterday.

I am slightly confused by what you are saying. I just tried to unplug and plug in power to the AsantéTalk while keeping the Orange Pi and Macintosh running. After I plugged in the Asanté Talk, nothing changed in my results. (see picture below) I will also post a picture of my MacTCP settings in case they are incorrect. I did read that the order of power of devices attached to the AsantéTalk matters. I tried using my AsantéTalk to print yesterday and it worked perfectly fine. 

What do you think I am doing wrong? Hopefully, we can get this to work.

 

[mactjaap]

Do you have a “normal” PC or Mac. What is the IP address of that machine?

 

[ScutBoy]

My basic advice with the AsanteTalk is make sure all the Localtalk devices are connected and turned on, and then power up the AsantTalk. The AsanteTalk does not seem to be able to handle things coming on (or off) the Localtalk network without being restarted.

This might have made sense in a business situation (if the Macs were left on all the time) but not very friendly for occasional use. I moved my AsantTalk to sit right on my desk so it was easy to unplug/plug as necessary.

Sounds like you've been doing that, so your mileage is obviously varying I've not used any of the Linux based gateways, so can't offer much help there.

 

[davidg5678]

The network IP of my main mac is 10.0.0.5

I tried turning on the Orange Pi and Mac first. I let them both boot up completely and then turned on the AsantéTalk. This seemed to make no difference in the situation.

 

[mactjaap]

I reread your post and see something about WIFI. If you connect a MacIPpi with wifi you will not have it working.

Do not use WIFI! 

You should connect the MacIPpi to your local network. To a switch or to a switch port on your router. Also do not connect it to your Mac. 

I eddited my instructions:

Connect you Orange Pi One to the network with a network cable. Do not try to connect the MacIPpi with wifi. No Appletalk over WIFI!

 

[davidg5678]

Mactjaap:

Sorry for the late response. 

I would like to more thoroughly explain how I currently have my Orange Pi hooked up in order to make things clearer: The Orange Pi has a USB Wifi adapter plugged into its USB port. There is an ethernet cord plugged in between the jacks on the Orange Pi and the AsantéTalk. The serial cord from the AsantéTalk is plugged into the printer/modem port on the Macintosh SE/30. 

From what you have said, it sounds like I should get rid of the USB wifi dongle entirely. I should then plug the orange pi into my network router with one ethernet cord and plug the AsantéTalk into my router with another ethernet cord. This would be difficult for me as my router is on a different floor than my Macintosh stuff.

• Is there a way I could configure the Orange Pi to recognize both the wifi adapter and ethernet cord?
• Is the way I currently have things set up incorrect?
• Did I interpret what you said in the last post incorrectly?

Thanks for your help!!

 

[mactjaap]

Thank you for not giving up! I think you have to change setup to get this working. This will not work.

Best would be to connect your MacIPpi and AsanteTalk directly with a cable to your LAN. If you have free switch ports on your router you can connect it there. But.... you can also connect it to a separate switch if you have one. Even if you don't would normally use your SE/30 at the same spot as your router, you could test it there if you don't have a switch. If it works you can consider to connect a network cable to a switch from your router. You can pickup a second hand switch at your local thrift shop for 5 to 10 dollar. Buy a 10/100 Mbps switch.

I made  a small drawing. 

 

[davidg5678]

Mactjaap:

Thank you for the diagram -it really helped to clear things up.

I tried the new setup of connecting the AsantéTalk and Orange Pi to my router's switch, but it made no difference. The SE/30 reported that it was not connected to the internet; however, in this setup, the Orange Pi refuses to report anything when I type nbplkup. It simply gives me an error message. In an effort to troubleshoot, I disconnected and reconnected the power to the AsantéTalk in hopes that it would fix the issues; this changed nothing.

I am stumped at what to try at this point unless there is a Mac related issue. 

I hope that I can get this working!

 

[ScutBoy]

I'd really suggest that you have the AsanteTalk connected to a 10MB ONLY Ethernet hub/switch. The Asante doesn't deal very well with autosensing ports.

On mactjaap's diagram, I'd have had the AsanteTalk connected to a 10MB hub, and that hub connected to the Linksys. The iMac and rPi could be connected to the faster network off of the Linksys. This is the setup that works for me with my AsanteTalk and Localtalk machines.

Not saying mactjaap's wouldn't work, but having the Asante on a dedicated 10MB hub is the only way it works reliably for me.

 

[mactjaap]

First thing is to get your MacIPpi working.

nbplkup should not give an error. Try to reboot and see if you can get output.

 

[MACSE30onInt]

First thing is to get your MacIPpi working.

nbplkup should not give an error. Try to reboot and see if you can get output.

Hello everybody, 

I am new in the forum. First many thanks to matcjaap. This discussion helped me very much. I got almost crazy to connect my se 30 with macipgw. Nevertheless, I can still not connect to the internet.... I am working on it. MacWeb only installed now...

 

[MACSE30onInt]

Dear All, 

yes after some trying, it did work. Rebooting was really a good idea. Also a good idea was to chose a site, which the browser could load. But really, it works. Many Thanks for your help!!