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Getting my SE/30 online

mloret

Well-known member
Hey guys, I need some advice. What is the most reliable and cost-effective (assuming not mutually exclusive) way to get my non-accelerated SE/30 online? I have it working quite reliably and I’m thinking of trying to use it to access BBS.

Any guidance is welcome!
 

Phipli

Well-known member
Hey guys, I need some advice. What is the most reliable and cost-effective (assuming not mutually exclusive) way to get my non-accelerated SE/30 online? I have it working quite reliably and I’m thinking of trying to use it to access BBS.

Any guidance is welcome!
Ethernet cards can be got at ok prices sometimes. Probably your best bet.

Something like a MacCon 30si.
 

Realitystorm

Well-known member
You could check to see if Herb has any in stock, I've purchased from him before, just be sure to follow his instructions for contacting and buying from him.
 

Skate323k137

Well-known member
For BBS, a WiModem232 or similar works just fine. But it's a modem emulator for terminal software, not ethernet, so beyond BBS / telnet you may find it limited in use. Overall a great device though.
 

Bolle

Well-known member
Not exactly cost effective if you're just after getting ethernet into your SE/30 but one of my adapter/ethernet combo cards would do the trick.
There are cheap SE/30-IIsi MacCons on eBay every now and then at least on this side of the pond, haven't checked US eBay in a while.
If you don't plan to ever add any other card besides the ethernet card there are several other options from other manufactures than Asante that don't have a passthrough PDS port and usually end up being cheaper than the MacCons with passthrough.
 

mloret

Well-known member
Not exactly cost effective if you're just after getting ethernet into your SE/30 but one of my adapter/ethernet combo cards would do the trick.
There are cheap SE/30-IIsi MacCons on eBay every now and then at least on this side of the pond, haven't checked US eBay in a while.
If you don't plan to ever add any other card besides the ethernet card there are several other options from other manufactures than Asante that don't have a passthrough PDS port and usually end up being cheaper than the MacCons with passthrough.
I would love to get one of your combo cards but at the moment I don’t have the funds to spare.
 

JaciMac

New member
I bought a Theoldnet WiFi modem last year and love it! However, interests change and new retro products come on the market and I’m looking at a different use for mine..

I just ordered a BlueSCSI v2 w/wifi (DB25) to use with my PB150 and hopefully get the DaynaPORT networking working (something I couldn’t quite figure out with the RaSCSI). I was looking at setting up a BBS on my MacPlus using the WiFi modem, but haven’t started that process yet. I’d be using my old BlueSCSI to power and host the BBS. I know BBSs are passé, but it’s something I wanted to setup in my younger days, but the closest I got was to be one of the Sysops on an existing BBS.

I know the command set in the WiFi modem includes busy messages, but am wondering how I would configure the modem to accept incoming connections and probably how to make it have a static IP to let me setup dynamic dns and open the right port on my router..

Any thoughts would be awesomely appreciated..
 

WakelessFoil

Well-known member
Hey guys, I need some advice. What is the most reliable and cost-effective (assuming not mutually exclusive) way to get my non-accelerated SE/30 online? I have it working quite reliably and I’m thinking of trying to use it to access BBS.

Any guidance is welcome!
Depends on how "on-line" you want to get.

Years ago I tested just about every method for networking 68k macs. Ended up running a SCSI to Ethernet adapter on my plus to allow it to surf the web, send/receive emails, share documents, etc.

With an SE/30 you could run much better web browsers than I could on my humble 68000.

The most cost effective and obtainable setup would be a raspberry pi and a serial adapter. Get an old modem cable for the Mac's RS-422 and use the pi to run a SLiRP server. This will allow you to use your SE/30 for much more than just BBS but you will be limited to 230 kbps.

Here's a tutorial on how to achieve this: http://bylenga.ddns.net/index.php?page=68KMacPPPSLiRP.php

Once you get your mac online fetch a copy of Bolo and you can play against others online.

-Justin
 

Byte Knight

Well-known member
I bought a Theoldnet WiFi modem last year and love it! However, interests change and new retro products come on the market and I’m looking at a different use for mine..

I just ordered a BlueSCSI v2 w/wifi (DB25) to use with my PB150 and hopefully get the DaynaPORT networking working (something I couldn’t quite figure out with the RaSCSI). I was looking at setting up a BBS on my MacPlus using the WiFi modem, but haven’t started that process yet. I’d be using my old BlueSCSI to power and host the BBS. I know BBSs are passé, but it’s something I wanted to setup in my younger days, but the closest I got was to be one of the Sysops on an existing BBS.

I know the command set in the WiFi modem includes busy messages, but am wondering how I would configure the modem to accept incoming connections and probably how to make it have a static IP to let me setup dynamic dns and open the right port on my router..
Passe?! According to Telnet BBS Guide, there are over 1000 BBS's still active! :)

It depends on the type of BBS you want to set up - only a few support TCP/IP connections including the latest version of Hermes II, Subtext, and Public Address I believe. Otherwise the only wifi modem that you can host a BBS with is cbmstuff's wimodem232, which is the only one that emulates the full Hayes command set. I recently set up an earlier version of Hermes II with 6 nodes of wifi modems on my Iici as part of Marchintosh project. I've got a directory full of Mac BBS programs that you can download from CQ II BBS or my file server. And if you do end up setting up a BBS, don't expect a lot of traffic. For whatever reason, most vintage Mac users don't have a lot of nostalgia for BBS'ing.

I use noip.com for my BBS hostname and have their app on my modern computer that constantly updates my IP. And you have to port forward the port you want to use to your router.
 

MichaelLAX

Active member
I recently read that TheOldNet's WiFi Modem has a firmware update that supports PPP. I will look into this with more focus when I have time soon.
 

DW1992

Member
Just something to keep in mind if you don't get a network connection...

My SE/30 has a DaynaPort E/SI30 PDS Ethernet card, which works awesome. However, I had to configure the connected switchport on my CISCO switch to force 10bT / half duplex instead of the regular, modern auto detection of 10/100/1000 @ full duplex.

If I didn't configure the port manually, it wouldn't get a link.
On a CISCO switch with IOS, it's super easy to configure the port.

Code:
Switch# conf t
    Switch(config)# int gi0/14   <-- change this to whatever port you are connected to
    Switch(config)# speed 10
    Switch(config)# duplex half
    Switch(config)# no shut
    Switch(config)# end
Switch# wr

Hope that helps if you get a PDS network card and don't get a link. :)

I also have one of TheOldNet's WIFI2Serial modems. It's a great solution to get onto some BBS or 'dial' into a Raspberry Pi SLiP or PPP connection and get on-line that way.
Works great with my Classic. :)

If you are going to check out some Telnet BBSes, grab ZTerm. It's by FAR the best terminal for displaying proper ANSI on 68K machines.
Grab the SIT here:
 

JT737

Well-known member
I use one of @Bolle's adapters in conjunction with a GL-AR300M shadow router and the Mac WIFI extension on my SE/30. Works pretty well.....at least, as well as it can with a 68030 based Mac. I basically used the same procedure that someone used here:


I just use the GL-AR300M instead of the (rather crappy) vonnets WIFI bridge.
 

jwse30

Well-known member
One thing to note if you go with an ethernet card is that a lot of them won't work with newer routers. The workaround is to put a 10baseT switch or hub in between your SE/30 and your modern router. I don't know if Bolle's card has this issue or not (as I think he's posted before that his has a cloned Asante ethernet card built in which does have this issue)

Farallon made a Localtalk to ethernet bridge that plugs into your serial port and then converts to 10baseT. They made two versions though, and one of them is just for getting printers onto a local network. The other allows a computer to get online; make sure you get the right one.

The wifi modem is probably the most cost effective way to get one online and can be used with other computers too. The cabling to hook it up to a Mac serial port might be a bit awkward though. All of them I have seen have a db9 port, and I've never seen a db9 to Mac serial before (which isn't to say they don't exist), so you may need an additional db9 to db25 adapter in there.

Hope this helps,

J White
 

Byte Knight

Well-known member
One thing to note if you go with an ethernet card is that a lot of them won't work with newer routers. The workaround is to put a 10baseT switch or hub in between your SE/30 and your modern router. I don't know if Bolle's card has this issue or not (as I think he's posted before that his has a cloned Asante ethernet card built in which does have this issue)
Or use a transceiver with the AUI port if it has one.
The wifi modem is probably the most cost effective way to get one online and can be used with other computers too. The cabling to hook it up to a Mac serial port might be a bit awkward though. All of them I have seen have a db9 port, and I've never seen a db9 to Mac serial before (which isn't to say they don't exist), so you may need an additional db9 to db25 adapter in there.
If he truly wants to host a BBS, the WiModem232 would be the best option and DB9 to DB25 cables are readily available on ePay.
 
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