How to use Performa 630 TV tuner card?

[bilbomacuser]

I bought a Performa 630 that contained a TV tuner card, but no hard drive.  When I moved the hard drive from my other 630 it booted but there is no software to use the TV tuner.  What is the software called so I can search for it (unsuccessfully searched so far), or can someone provide a link?

Also, I have read that System 7.6 includes the software.   Can anyone provide links to the English-British versions of System 7.6?  Is it normal to install an earlier version first then update, or are there System 7.6 install disks that will install onto a blank hard drive?

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

he package came with a two floppy installer set named "Video Software Installer Disk" and "Video Software Installer Disk 2" You've tried Macintosh Garden?

 

[bilbomacuser]

That’s great thanks. Found it there. Just need to work out how to get it into a floppy disk now. The performa 630 has an Ethernet card, but I’m assuming modern macs won’t be able to transfer files to it?  It has a cd drive so perhaps I could burn to a cd-rom?  I’m very rust with regards to using old Macs!

 

[tanaquil]

I don't know what software the HD you transferred from the other 630 has on it, but if you can get the new 630 onto the network, you can use Fetch to get files from a modern mac to your 630. I do it all the time. Just make sure the files are stuffed or otherwise protected as the FTP process seems to scramble resource forks.

An older mac likely won't be able to communicate with the internet directly. The security protocols have become too sophisticated for old macs to handle. But Ethernet is great for moving files between macs in your collection.

If you burn to CD, try to make sure it is CD-R not CD-RW, use the slowest speed your burner will allow (less than 4x for sure), and be prepared for it not to work. Old CD-ROMs are temperamental, but you might have good luck.

 

[sstaylor]

To add to Tanaquil's post:

People have reported having trouble with old 10baseT cards connecting through newer autodetect switches and hubs.  If you have an older 10baseT switch/hub, use that.  I don't know whether direct connecting between the two machines will work or not, but some will autonegotiate a connection.

 

[tanaquil]

I have a fairly new hub and have never had trouble connecting macs, but that might be because I always use manual settings for DHCP. There was a recent thread in which people were sharing the exact settings that worked for them. Good luck!

 

[bilbomacuser]

I don't know what software the HD you transferred from the other 630 has on it, but if you can get the new 630 onto the network, you can use Fetch to get files from a modern mac to your 630. I do it all the time. Just make sure the files are stuffed or otherwise protected as the FTP process seems to scramble resource forks.

An older mac likely won't be able to communicate with the internet directly. The security protocols have become too sophisticated for old macs to handle. But Ethernet is great for moving files between macs in your collection.

If you burn to CD, try to make sure it is CD-R not CD-RW, use the slowest speed your burner will allow (less than 4x for sure), and be prepared for it not to work. Old CD-ROMs are temperamental, but you might have good luck.

Thanks for the replies.

If I can connect it using Ethernet, do I need Fetch to be running on the Performa 630, or on a modern Mac?  It has 7.6.1 installed, and there isn't much on there that's useful (a few disk utilities).  I did a bit of reading and worked out that if I install OS X 10.5 on my old MacBook then I could do file sharing with the Performa 630 - is that right?  Or can I use FTP with a modern Mac without needing Fetch on the Performa 630?

 

[tanaquil]

I use Fetch on the older Mac to grab stuff off my modern Mac acting as a FTP server. I've never tried initiating the connection the other way.

If you have the option of using a mac running 10.5 to connect via file sharing, that is probably your best bet. A mac running Snow Leopard or newer can't write to an HFS drive and a system 7 mac can't see an HFS+ drive, but I think a Leopard drive can write to any older mac. File sharing is also nice because you don't have to worry about resource forks getting corrupted.

 

[nglevin]

Leopard also supported AppleTalk file sharing that worked as far back as System 7. Maybe even further back? It's probably more secure than FTP but. Well. The OS is still old and full of other security holes as it is.

That feature was quietly cut from Snow Leopard. AppleTalk is still possible but it won't work with Mac OS 9 or anything before that. Not sure if Snow Leopard even works with 10.2.

 

[bilbomacuser]

Thanks for the replies - I'll need to keep looking for a 10.5 installation DVD - I'm hoping it's something I kept.  Only found 10.2 so far which is too old for the MacBook.  

In the meantime I think I've found a good solution.  I have a PowerMac 7100/80 that does read the CD's created by High Sierra, and I presume I can then create floppy disks from there.

 

[nglevin]

If you don't mind fleaBay, there's a number of copies of Leopard Server with unlimited seats for less than $20. Virtualization friendly!

 

[Macdrone]

I may have a performa 630 cd disk with the original software package.

 

[Macdrone]

I do have it but I would have to burn you a copy i guess if you want it.