LaPorta
Well-known member
If you would be so gracious as to explain what/how you do this, what is involved, and how to set it up...I would be eternally grateful!
-
Updated 2023-07-12: Hello, Guest! Welcome back, and be sure to check out this follow-up post about our outage a week or so ago.
Is it possible to download software and transfer it to a floppy disk via USB Floppy Drive from a 2018 MacBook Pro?
- Thread starter HeartletTullius
- Start date
Byte Knight
Well-known member
Sure thing. Start with the A2SERVER page and follow the steps there. The main thing you're using it for is its version of Netatalk, so you can ignore all the Apple II stuff. I installed it on my Pi 2 that emulates the Hayes modem for my BBS.
I couldn't get it to work over wifi, so I ended up plugging the Pi in via Ethernet to an old Airport Extreme and then plugging my old Macs into the other 3 Airport ports. That way I can connect with my old Macs via Ethernet and my modern MacBook Pro via wifi. I have the Airport assign the Pi a static IP address (DHCP reservation) for ease of connection.
There's further discussion here about setting things up here.
It’s a while since i setup my network but doesn’t half duplexing come into it somewhere for transferring files to an older mac or is that just for getting them online? I’m sure i had issues when getting my se/30 networked to my other machines as i needed an (auto switching) half duplexing switch box for the older network adapter to work as it couldn’t communicate through my modern router and therefore couldn't see my network. Cheap enough though i think i paid £8 on amazon for one.
i too needed to fix my IP Address on my iMac (master machine).
neal
cheesestraws
Well-known member
The only WiFi bridges that pass AppleTalk from Ethernet to WiFi and back again are Apple's own ones, unfortunately, and even this seems a little bit questionable (as you have noticed; it may be mac-only, or at least require client support?). I believe this is because Apple misinterpreted a standard that was worded unclearly, or at least that seems to have been what discussions on various IETF mailing lists seems to have concluded. It's something to do with the fact that AppleTalk Phase 2 uses LLC headers in a slightly incorrect way (using them to distinguish between phase 1/phase 2). Ethernet standards bureaucracy is one of my least favourite things so I stopped digging about there...
Some older Ethernet cards don't do auto speed negotiation properly, and need to be set manually to 10mbit, either by putting a 10mbit hub between them and the switch, or by having a switch where you can turn off auto negotiation. I believe some also need the port to be set to half-duplex, but I don't have any that require that personally.
seconding this, a ZIP drive has been one of the most useful things I have had for getting things on and off my vintage macs.
Last edited by a moderator:
I agree with you on the Zip drive it was my savour. i went bridge machine route just new enough to get online running os8.6 so it could run macintoshgarden and other software sites plus a zip drive combined got my SE/30 up and running in no time. cost wise £80 or about $120 for both zip drive and powerpc tower
LaPorta
Well-known member
AirPorts do AppleTalk just fine. My entire house network is a mix of them. I have my PT Pro and iMac G4 attached to one base station. Machines I am working on I have a little AirPort express that I plug their Ethernet right into. The AirPorts are all meshed together. As far as the old Macs are concerned, AppleTalk works just as if it was all wired. Machines show up in the Chooser effortlessly.
I agree with you on the Zip drive it was my savour. i went bridge machine route just new enough to get online running os8.6 so it could run macintoshgarden and other software sites plus a zip drive combined got my SE/30 up and running in no time. cost wise £80 or about $120 for both zip drive and powerpc tower
Kaa
Active member
I guess I take a slightly different approach to getting stuff on and off of old machines. Granted I don't have any that don't have a SCSI port on the back, so the SCSI2SD v5.5 is my goto solution. However, the computers that have Ethernet cards I usually transfer files via FTP. I use Fetch 3.03 as a client and NetPresenz as a server on system 7 machines. Fetch works fine with System 6, not yet tried NetPresenz though.
I do Have an SE without a Network card, and probably won't be looking for one. I've used the SCSI2SD with it fine. Also I have the Floppy EMU, and use this probably just as much as The SCSI2SD. The nice thing about the EMU is that the SD card mounts on my Mac Pro and I can transfer disk images to and from it. The caveat here is that I have to run Sheep Shaver to then modify those disk images. But, this is still easier than setting up my G3 or G4 as space is at a premium at my desk so I only run one vintage mac at a time for the most part. My suggestion would probably be the Floppy EMU for early macs.
Also for the SE I built a Raspberry Pi serial to WIFI bridge that uses PPP so that I can Fetch to Macintosh garden or my Mac Pro. This works great, but it is slow (56K). Makes you feel like you really are on the computer back in the 90s. One of my next projects is to build the Pi into the Global village modem case that I plundered the serial cable out of.
One problem (file transfer) Many solutions!
I do Have an SE without a Network card, and probably won't be looking for one. I've used the SCSI2SD with it fine. Also I have the Floppy EMU, and use this probably just as much as The SCSI2SD. The nice thing about the EMU is that the SD card mounts on my Mac Pro and I can transfer disk images to and from it. The caveat here is that I have to run Sheep Shaver to then modify those disk images. But, this is still easier than setting up my G3 or G4 as space is at a premium at my desk so I only run one vintage mac at a time for the most part. My suggestion would probably be the Floppy EMU for early macs.
Also for the SE I built a Raspberry Pi serial to WIFI bridge that uses PPP so that I can Fetch to Macintosh garden or my Mac Pro. This works great, but it is slow (56K). Makes you feel like you really are on the computer back in the 90s. One of my next projects is to build the Pi into the Global village modem case that I plundered the serial cable out of.
One problem (file transfer) Many solutions!
LaPorta
Well-known member
Looks like you can use this on VirtualBox? That would be huge for me, as I have a house Mac Mini server. Is there any way to make it host my external drive directory for classic mac files? I would assume so.
I must admit, I am basically a two-year old when it comes to this. I do not have the background all of you have: I hate command lines, and the reason I like my old macs is that they do not exist!
Last edited by a moderator:
davidg5678
Well-known member
Coincidentally, I just spent several hours yesterday setting up and comparing both A2Server and MacIPpi.
Because A2Server is really just a Linux script that downloads and configures several other Linux programs and provides an interface to them for you, I think that you probably could run it as a Linux virtual machine without issues. There is already a download image provided to do this on their website. It would be trivial to drag your classic mac file directory to the shared location of A2Server. -you can simply connect to it as a server from your Mac Mini. The more difficult piece is figuring out a way to preserve the resource forks and get files into a more Vintage Mac-friendly format when transferring them to the A2Server. I used an emulator beforehand to do this.
Depending on what LocalTalk-Ethernet Bridge you use, things can become fairly finicky. It took me several attempts at this project before I found a series of events that allowed me to connect properly using my AsanteTalk.
Similar threads
