Macintosh SE - moving data in and out

[macjalm]

I know that there could already be similar topics but I'd like to resolve my doubts concerning moving data in and out of my Macintosh SE. Here's a list of ways of doing it I came up with:

LocalTalk-to-Ethernet adapter and an old hub

I've heard that this way you could even bring the Internet to your classic Mac. For what I know, the AsanteTalk bridge seems to be the best option.

800 KB floppies

It requires an additional Mac that's capable of reading and writing 800 KB floppies but also has more file exchange options. Correct me if I'm wrong -- the last Macintosh computers to support 800 KB floppy disks were the beige G3s. How about G3-based FDD-equipped PowerBooks? I've seen some contrary opinions on this matter so I'd be grateful if someone could clear things up.

Serial networking

This solution is somewhat similar. I'd need a Mac that is modern enough to be able to put files on it with ease and vintage enough to feature a serial port. Any known incompatibilities?

External SCSI HDD

I happen to have an old SCSI hard disk. I used it several times with my SE. If I were to exchange some files with a PC, would an old SCSI PCI controller be sufficient? Of course, I would have to find a matching SCSI cord (the disk has a CN50 connector) and install something like MacDrive on my PC.

Modem

I've got an old USR 14400 '92 Mac-compatible modem. I believe I could use it to transfer files to and from any modem-equipped computer. Am I right?

Floppy drive replacement / external floppy drive

I could as well replace my internal floppy drive with a SuperDrive and simply transfer files over 1.44 MB floppies. Or find an external 1.44 MB floppy drive that could be connected to my SE. But as far as I'm concerned, it could be difficult to find such devices.

SE PDS card

I've heard that there are ethernet PDS cards compatible with the Macintosh SE. Are they any good? Nonetheless, they must be really rare.

MacRecorder

I never got hold of this little thing. But I imagine it could be used to transfer data over an audio cable. It would require some programming on both sides but I believe it's perfectly doable. Might be painfully slow, though.

Custom device

I even considered creating a custom Arduino- / AVR-based device that could communicate with the Macintosh SE over the serial port. It might be a difficult thing to do and could require quite a bit of time and resources.

I'd be glad if you could share your thoughts.

 

[Blinkenlightz]

Hmmm... Lots of ideas, here are my thoughts so far. What kind of machine are you looking to exchange with? That might help narrow down the best solution. My ideas here are more general.

LocalTalk-to-Ethernet adapter and an old hub

Possibly - the functionality of each LT-to-Eth device can be different (one-to-one bridge, many-to-many bridge, MacIP, zoning, etc), so there is no universal answer as to how well this can work for you. Also, to be practical here it would require that your machine "at the other end" be capable of AppleTalk/AFP.

800 KB floppies

Supported on Macs with built-in floppy drives not running OS X. I use a beige G3 with the latest revision of Mac OS 9 for this all the time, no problem. 400K disks can be an issue because of the file system (MFS vs. HFS) but if writing images using Disk Copy it's not an issue since the disk is never mounted by the newer OS.

Serial networking

I've had issues with how different MacOS/System versions handle this... Sometimes a connection can be achieved in one direction and not the other. Since I've always been able to work it out somehow, I haven't yet pursued why.

External SCSI HDD

MacDrive should enable this technique from a PC, yes. In my experience SCSI backward compatibility is pretty good.

Modem

Possible yes, terminal software at either end, use ZMODEM or similar to transfer... Depending on the modem you may have to supply line voltage similar to a phone line for the modem to detect a connection. However here you're limited to the modem speed.

Floppy drive replacement / external floppy drive

Plausible, but requires the FDHD ROMs to be present in your SE, in addition to the 1.44M floppy drive. However, once this is done, it is by far the easiest method when coupled with the PC Exchange control panel (req. System 7+).

SE PDS card

Yes, they exist. I've never seen one in person, so can't speak to their ease of use...

MacRecorder

Lots of custom development would be needed for this one. You'd basically be programming the equivalent of a softmodem.

Custom device

Your train of thought here could be simplified... A null-modem cable between the SE serial port and another machine's serial port, with speed settings at both ends that the SE is happy with, using terminal software and ZMODEM as in the modem solution, would suffice here.

 

[bibilit]

Hi, the best device for me to move data is a Zip drive (SCSI and USB units)

 

[NJRoadfan]

Zip drives work well. If you have System 7, the PC Exchange control panel allows you to directly mount and access FAT formatted Zip disks. The only "con" is that the version of PC Exchange (2.0) that works with System 7-7.1 doesn't support VFAT long file names, you have to run 7.5.x for that.

 

[Paralel]

Do you happen to know which version of PC Exchange started supporting VFAT?

 

[Blinkenlightz]

Zip drives work well. If you have System 7, the PC Exchange control panel allows you to directly mount and access FAT formatted Zip disks. The only "con" is that the version of PC Exchange (2.0) that works with System 7-7.1 doesn't support VFAT long file names, you have to run 7.5.x for that.

I remember copying the PC Exchange control panel from a 7.5.x machine to a Mac running 7.0 or 7.1, many moons ago... And it worked. I wonder if that's all it would take? I wish I remembered if it handled long filenames!

 

[Paralel]

I'll probably give it a shot. I find many things from as far forward as Mac OS 8.1 are backwards compatible with 7.1.x

 

[macjalm]

Thanks for all your replies! I completely forgot about the ZIP drives :I

What kind of machine are you looking to exchange with? That might help narrow down the best solution.

I mainly use my MacBook Pro (Late 2011). Right now I'm considering buying an old PowerBook but that's also because I always wanted to have one.

800 KB floppies

Supported on Macs with built-in floppy drives not running OS X. I use a beige G3 with the latest revision of Mac OS 9 for this all the time, no problem. 400K disks can be an issue because of the file system (MFS vs. HFS) but if writing images using Disk Copy it's not an issue since the disk is never mounted by the newer OS.

So, specifically, a PDQ / Wallstreet / original PowerBook G3 running Mac OS 9 or earlier could still do the job? I just want to be 100% sure

 

[Blinkenlightz]

So, specifically, a PDQ / Wallstreet / original PowerBook G3 running Mac OS 9 or earlier could still do the job? I just want to be 100% sure

Well I would hesitate to give a 100% answer without seeing it for myself...

Based on my own memory, and supported by this article: http://chrislawson.net/writing/macdaniel/2k0329.shtml - I believe all Apple-manufactured 1.44MB floppy drives are capable of 800K. I know that Mac OS X has serious limitations with floppies, but Mac OS 9 has full support up to the latest version, I'm 100% sure of that part. I would doubt that any USB floppy drive can handle 800K, and the article reminded me that Imation SuperDisk drives and rebranded LS-120 drives also can't handle 800K.

So my feeling is that if the PowerBook has an Apple-branded native floppy drive, and not some internalized USB connection, I would expect it to handle the variable motor speeds and GCR encoding required for 800K support.

 

[macjalm]

Thanks! That's a great link.

 

[NJRoadfan]

I'll probably give it a shot. I find many things from as far forward as Mac OS 8.1 are backwards compatible with 7.1.x

PC Exchange 2.2 won't run on 7.1, I tried it already. 2.0.5 and I think 2.1 work fine.

 

[Byrd]

I'm getting sick of relying on floppies and ZIP drives, their reliability isn't great these days. I recently set up an SE with 500MB HD for my brother and wanted to install as many games and applications on the HD as possible. The fastest way for me was using an external SCSI HD that worked on the SE of course and a Powerbook with PCMCIA CF card slot. I was able to copy all the data from OS X onto the CF card, then straight over to the Powerbook.

 

[Paralel]

I'll probably give it a shot. I find many things from as far forward as Mac OS 8.1 are backwards compatible with 7.1.x

PC Exchange 2.2 won't run on 7.1, I tried it already. 2.0.5 and I think 2.1 work fine.

What was the highest version of 2.1, and what software was it a part of?

 

[NJRoadfan]

I pulled 2.1 out of the System 7.5.5 update tomes.

 

[genie_mac]

I've had the same problem of moving data to my Compacts and have tried a lot of the suggestions. Most worked but finally I found using an external SCSI CD drive was the best / simplest solution for me. It's fast, hassle-free and works well across different platforms (using at least System 7.1 on the destination side). I can burn CDs on pretty much any platform and use them with the Macs. All the software I have (so far!) ever needed fits on two CDs and even if I have to burn one it's not very expensive.

The CD drive was cheap (thanks rabindranath72) and I even found drivers for System 6 (haven't tried them yet though).

 

[mcdermd]

I wish you had better luck with Localtalk. It really is one of the simplest ways to move files between old Macs.

 

[Paralel]

Localtalk almost made me throw two of my Macs out the window!

 

[Paralel]

As far as I can tell, the last version of PC Exchange to run on 7.x is 2.1.1

 

[Kernel86]

My solution may be a little odd, but I've been using a SCSI Ethernet adapter and a OS 8.1 in Basilisk II as a file server. Conversely I use to just use floppies and Basilisk II to get the data off them.