Ethernet on a Classic II

[gsteemso]

Hi, I have both a DaynaPORT SCSI/Link-T SCSI-to-10baseT adapter and an AsantéTalk LocalTalk-to-10baseT bridge, and I can't seem to get a connection, in either direction, using either one of them. This is odd because the status LEDs do not seem to indicate a problem in either case. Does anyone know of a way to test for the network presence of a device whose Ethernet MAC address is unknown? Once I figure out a way to direct packets at them I can see if they're actually doing anything or not.

 

[porter]

Once I figure out a way to direct packets at them I can see if they're actually doing anything or not.

You can only pass appletalk packets across localtalk, so try using AppleTalk file sharing. Set up one as a server, (eg enable sharing and make soming shared ) and use the chooser on the other to look for it.

 

[equill]

A few extra nuggets of information about the System on the Classic II, what you are using as 'server' to the Classic II's 'client', whether you are connecting into a LAN or directly via crossover cable, and whether you have the almost-obligatory 10Base-T hub between the Classic II and LAN or server will help us to make more-informed wild guesses on your behalf. Further nuggets about Asanté and Apple software installation will help the mix. Porter has distilled the requirement, but there are a few preliminary sandwiches needed before you can have a picnic.

I haven't used a Dayna adapter, but an Asanté EN/SC adapter serves me well as a portal for a Classic II into an ethernet LAN.

de

 

[gsteemso]

Good point. My apologies for being vague.

The network is EXTREMELY heterogeneous. There are three main sections. The AirPort Extreme (G, not N) segment is largely extraneous to the discussion at hand, but I'll tell you about the two devices on it anyway. One's a Nintendo Wii and is usually powered off (we don't feel like wasting the money to buy the web browser channel for it). The other is my main machine, a G4 TiBook running 10.3.9/9.2.2.

They’re hooked via a Snow base station to the Comcast cable internet connection (Arris TM602G/CT digital-telephone / Internet terminal adapter, connected to the WAN port) and the 10/100baseT segment, which consists of two autosensing Netgear switches (DS104 and FS105) and 2 to 4 computers (minimum of a Blue & White G3 Mac, OS 10.3.9/9.2.2, and an IBM P4 Windows XP Pro box; the other two are the TiBook when it's booted into OS 9 [the OS 9 AirPort client can’t handle WPA encryption], and the Classic II when I'm trying to get the DaynaPORT to work).

The third network segment is LocalTalk (the real stuff, not PhoneNet — yes, I admit it's a bit geeky), and has anywhere from 0-5 nodes depending on what I can get working. The Lisa II has been dead for some time (I'll fix it some day, I swear) and the Apple IIgs has no boot volume yet, so they aren't currently connected and don't affect anything. Currently the B&W G3 is connected to LocalTalk over a gPort serial adapter and OS 9.2.2 built in file sharing, and the Classic II sees it just fine — I installed OS 7.6.1 from a network image that way. Horribly slow though. The fifth potential node is the AsantéTalk unit, which is missing its part and serial number stickers, and (obviously) connects to the 10/100baseT segment as well when I'm trying to get it to work.

Further bulletins as I learn more. First thing I'm going to check is that the AsantéTalk unit may be preventing LocalTalk from working — I disconnected its entire cable segment from the LocalTalk daisy chain last night, and noticed the G3 had showed up in the Classic II’s Chooser at almost the exact same time. Was it visible before I unplugged the AsantéTalk? I’ll find out.

 

[porter]

AsantéTalk

These units can be a bit fuzzy. I find that getting the whole network up first, then powering up the AsantéTalk is the best way to get it correctly initialized. So sometimes, if I'm having problems I just power cycle the device.

Having an AppleTalk router on the network can confuse things further.

Also worth considering is LocalTalk bridge to run on your B+W G3.

 

[gsteemso]

Update: The DaynaPORT suddenly works perfectly, so I'm returning the AsantéTalk to storage (ha, what a dignified name for a cardboard box full of old cables and miscellaneous network hardware). I plan to use LocalTalk Bridge on the Classic II to connect the IIgs and the Lisa II — and, assuming I ever build a working adapter, the Commodore 128 — to the rest of the machines. The Commodore PET I intend to connect directly to a SCSI/GPIB adapter on the Classic II. Now that’ll be a project; I don’t have a source for drivers for it, but I’m going to order it anyway — it’s too nifty to pass up. The vendor is one Herb Johnson of retrotechnology.com. Does anyone have experience with buying from him?

 

[porter]

The vendor is one Herb Johnson of retrotechnology.com. Does anyone have experience with buying from him?

I've had no problems. My LC-II's now have FPUs.

 

[bear]

Herb's a talker, but otherwise a fine upstanding fellow. I bought some Sun-2 parts from him a year ago. No complaints on my part, except he sold the one part I was most interested in before I could tell him, "I'll take it!" Hardly his fault though.

 

[Mike Richardson]

My transaction with him was suitable. I feel that he overcharges for most things, though.

 

[gsteemso]

I feel that he overcharges for most things, though.

Depends what the stuff is worth to the purchaser, really. He's got to pay to store the stuff and it does take time to do inventory, power stuff on to see if it works, etc. He quoted me a 6' GPIB cable for $10 — which could be viewed as expensive for such a basic piece of retrotech, yes, but considering new ones cost $40 or more, not unreasonable.

I find that the biggest expense with the stuff I buy, from any seller, is shipping charges, and no one can do anything about that when the stuff is 2000 miles away or more, and weighs a ton to boot.