Seeking some advice on how to download files larger than 1.4MB from the web (Mac Repository or Macintosh Garden). I'm running into the 1.4MB "Floppy bottleneck". Meaning how do I get larger compressed files that won't fit on a floppy disk onto my Classic II hard drive?
I use one of three techniques:
1.
Mac Mini G4 with 512MB running Mac OS 9.2.2 (although I'm sure mac OS X 10.3, 10.4 or 10.5 is fine). Download software via Classilla or TenFourFox. I have a LAN set up but sneakernet (see below) will also work. As will burning CDs if you have a SCSI CD-ROM for your Classic II.
2.
Burn the downloaded files or image onto CD. You will need a SCSI CD-ROM drive though for your Classic II. It is very much worth while to invest in one of these. 4-speed is good. The Mac Mini G4 can do this as can many Macs & PCs.
3.
Sneakernet: You need two disk-drives: one SCSI and one USB or FW. The former is plugged into your Classic II, the latter into the machine that does the downloading. What disk-system you use doesn't really matter. I personally prefer MO (magneto-optical) but Jaz & Zip are also popular alternatives. You don't even need that many disks. 3 will do you fine.
4. A fourth option has just come to mind:
PowerBook SCSI-Disk mode. If you have a Wallstreet with enough memory, you can download the software onto your Wallstreet, although I imagine that this will be slooow. You can then connect the Wallstreet directly to your Classic II by means of a 30-pin PowerBook SCSI cable.
5. A fifth option is using a
bridge machine with a more modern machine. A bridge machine is a pre-B&W PCI-PowerMac. Essentially any Mac between 1996 and 1998. This will allow you to access downloaded files from your Classic II. The Classic II is connected to the bridge mac by means of LocalTalk (a serial connection that is even slower than the Wallstreet). The bridge mac is connected to the more modern machine by means of EtherTalk and the modern machine must not be too modern. I have never done it myself but others have. There is a great site here on mac networking:
http://applefool.com/se30/.
6. There is the old-school way of doing it, namely with a modem, but this is expensive, slow and I have no idea how the Mac Garden looks with a 68K browser. I used to use a IIsi to go online, but this was back in 1995. The WWW is a very different beast nowadays and I wouldn't recommend this at all.
Be warned about floppies, though: 1. the floppy drive on your Classic II is almost 30 years' old. It may very well need a re-greasing soon: 2. In my experience, 30-year-old floppies don't last long. I make a point of archiving whatever floppies I have. New floppies aren't made anymore. In short, I regard them as unreliable. I am open to contradiction on this point.
On DiskDoubler: DiskDoubler is brilliant. When I was a university student, I stored all of my software using DiskDoubler. I particularly like making SEAs (self-extracting archives). When I first found Civilization on an SE in the library, eMail and DiskDoubler turned out to be my friend. Well, partially, Civilization didn't help my final grade in my degree very much. There are 3 versions that I used all of the time: 3.7, 3.7.7 and 4.0. Have a look the various entries in the Mac garden. It is very flexible and customisable.