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MacIPpi - Surf the Internet on your old Macintosh with TCP/IP over LocalTalk

caver01

Well-known member
Here are some beta test notes so far. . .

I setup the image on a 16gb SD card running on a Pi 3b+.

It goes through the booting process with everything loading and scrolling by and ends by stopping at last line:

[OK] Started Raised Network Interfaces

There is no login prompt, no CLI—which maybe I should assume is normal/expected since these will probably be headless gateway systems. No need for a display at all—you can SSH in—is that the idea?

SO, I don’t have my localtalk wired up yet as I am awaiting hardware delivery, but I did SSH into it as macipgw user. Tried to expand the partition using:

sudo /usr/bin/raspi-config —expand-rootfs

but this fails. In fact, I cannot run raspi-config because I am not in the sudoers list. Can’t edit /etc/sudoers either. . . so, I logged out and back in as pi (same password) and I was able to run raspi-config.

Maybe I missed it but logging in as pi to expand the partition is worth updating in the docs, or add macipgw to the sudoers.

I know the cool part is seeing this from a vintage mac through the local talk bridge, but from a more recent mac Mini running High Sierra, I see 

three versions of the file share:

MACIPPI

which has a mountable ‘MacIPpi-Samba’ folder,

macippi MACOS

which has a mountable ‘MacIPpi DISK’ folder,

and

macippi WINDOWS which has a mountable ‘MacIPpi-Samba’ folder

I was able to mount all three and place a file into the SHARED_DISK folder which is showing over 11 GB available. Of course, this file is visible in all three mounted shares.

I assume the different “servers” that are showing up on my network are simply a result of my modern machine’s ability to see all three running the various protocols. The common mapping is as much as anyone needing to transfer files around would need. Nicely done!

I might try setting up a VM either on another Pi or on my mac running MacOS 7 if I can make it work to see if a virtual mac can see this in lieu of my SE/30 which has no connectivity as of yet.

Also, I tested the Web Rendering Proxy, albeit from a modern system. It works a treat! Performance is what it is, but that is a nice addition.

This is a very capable little network solution. I wonder if it can run alongside CUPS with Airprint? I have that running on another Pi (also running PiHole on that one). Do we know if a CUPS printer setup is visible to the old macs this way?

 

NJRoadfan

Well-known member
CUPS runs fine in any Linux distro. Netatalk's PAP server needs patches to work with modern versions of CUPS among other fixes if you plan on using something other then the LaserWriter 8.x driver. Once it is working, its far easier to setup on the Mac side of things vs. LPR (which is now disabled out of the box on modern Linux distros).

 

caver01

Well-known member
yes, I have it running now on another Pi. Works great and serves my Brother color laser to our iPhones, iPads etc. I was just wondering if it will be visible to the vintage systems on LocalTalk. Sounds like maybe not without patches. In any case, probably a better topic for another post.

 

NJRoadfan

Well-known member
Yes, it will be visible on the LocalTalk side of the network if papd is properly setup. Shows up just like a LaserWriter would on the AppleTalk network.

 

mactjaap

Well-known member
Thanks for this test report! I continue to post and give some answers in the article about the new Rpi 5.0.1




 

caver01

Well-known member
Update:

Today I received the AsanteTalk. After hacking together a PhoneNet Terminator, I connected it to my LAN and to the Mac SE/30. I already have the Pi running and connected elsewhere in the house.

I was immediately able to connect to the shared folder from the old Mac. I have not tried TCP/IP yet but with the file sharing I can now load MacTCP and anything else. Is there something in particular that I should load/try that will be the best test of this setup? SO FAR SO GOOD!

 

caver01

Well-known member
Hit a snag with my SE/30. While loading and patching MacTCP and transferring some other utilities via MacIPpi, the screen started to shimmer and then flipped on black vertical bars! I have Jailhouse Mac unfortunately. This has nothing to do with the Pi software/localtalk setup. I recapped the logic board a couple weeks ago, but have been stricken with sound issues and now this. I only mention it here because I am prepping a new post in another forum seeking advice while I wait for desoldering alloy I ordered to arrive. I plan to remove, clean and reattach the ASC, but I have other problems with the video to diagnose now, so it may be a while before I can really put the Pi through some TCP bridging tests, as it is just too hard to read the dialog boxes for setting IP, gateway, dns, etc.

 

mactjaap

Well-known member
Ok. I will be working on my beta. So take your time. If you want to use your Macintosh with TCP/IP do it like this:

You set your Mac with MacTCP on f.i. 172.16.2.2 (anything between 172.16.2.2 and 254, subnet mask 255.255.255.0), as gateway 172.16.2.1 and DNS 8.8.8.8. Or do the same with a TCP/IP control panel, but then choose Connect via: AppleTalk (MacIP) and configure:Using MacIP manually. Same IP information.

 

caver01

Well-known member
Thanks! I had JUST copied that same block instructions into a text file, went over to my workbench to setup MacTCP when the display flaked out on me. I am really looking forward to setting this up, but consider just the Pi bridging with file share a major win as I had no other way to move stuff to the SE! So, thanks for that much so far!

 

Realitystorm

Well-known member
So, I figured out a way to do something similar with Basilisk II, https://www.savagetaylor.com/2020/12/17/creating-an-internet-gateway-for-you-68k-macintosh-using-basilisk-ii-ara-ps-ipnetrouter-and-a-usb-serial-null-modem-cable/

Turns out Apple has software for "dialing in" to an apple talk network, that works fine with null-modem CLL files.   Once connected via apple talk, I could use TCP/IP over appleltalk and IPnetrouter to setup a gateway through basilisk II.

The benefit is Basilisk II becomes a node on my AppleTalk/LocalTalk network too for sharing files via AppleTalk.

I'm currently waiting on a copy of ARA version 3 server which added PPP support, so I'm hopping I can use MacPPP and skip the AppleTalk layer.

 

mactjaap

Well-known member
@Realitystorm

Nice! I will have a closer look!

Did you test the MacIP.net Raspberry Pi solution? You can have this 24x7 in your network. Filesharing and alternative “FastPath” in one!

 

Realitystorm

Well-known member
@Realitystorm

Nice! I will have a closer look!

Did you test the MacIP.net Raspberry Pi solution? You can have this 24x7 in your network. Filesharing and alternative “FastPath” in one!
Not yet, I need to pick up a Raspberry Pi for this and to try RaSCSI.   I've found a copy of ARA 3.0 that supports PPP, just waiting for it to show up in the mail to see what it can do.   I'd seen the HTTP mount extension, will see what I can do with it.  Will need to do some speed tests on different options at some point.

 

caver01

Well-known member
Just used MacIPpi to update a Powerbook 5300cs from 7.5.2 to 8.6. The install ran entirely over LocalTalk, through an AsanteTalk bridge using the MacIP disk on the raspberry pi where I put the installer files copied from my MacOS 8.5 CD using a modern mac on ethernet. It was slow, but worked perfectly. 

 
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