Does this special cable [a DB-9/MiniDIN-8 cable] go from the Localtalk port to standard ethernet then?
Not directly. I mentioned the necessary intervening AsantéTalk LT/EN adapter in the next para, and that has to be used. The DB-9 plug is necessitated by the ports (printer and modem) of the 128-512K Macs.
Yes, I can see that with plenty of expensive equipment it could be possible - with just standard ethernet cables, home router and AAUI transceivers it seems harder though.
Expensive is a relative concept. I have one LT/EN and two EN/SC adapters in my LAN, which cost me USD20, 5 and 20. The adapters are all routed through a Netgear 10Base-T hub to one of two XNet 10/100Base-T and a Wiretek ditto switches. I was happy to get the adapters for my purposes.
... is it never possible to connect an old Mac to any 100baseT router/switch etc without a 10baseT switch inbetween, or does it depend on your router?
Connectability of 10Base-T veterans directly into 10/100Base-T networks has been a subject that has raged (almost literally) here and elsewhere for years. In the end, it is certain that it depends on the brands of gear used. My PB 540s use Apple AAUI-Ethernet adapters directly into the LAN proper. My PB 1400s use Farallon PC cards straight into the LAN with their own proprietary cables. My Colour Classics with Apple LC NICs go straight into the LAN. My SE/30s, with Asanté NICs, go through the Netgear hub. My Classic IIs have Asanté EN/SC adapters through the Netgear hub into the LAN. The Macs routed through the intermediary hub will connect in no other way. What it amounts to is that if a 10Base-T port will not successfully connect directly to a duplex switch (supposing that it works at all), it must be routed through a 10Base-T hub, no matter what anyone swears to be the case otherwise. It is a classic case of YMMV.
So does that mean that ethernet file sharing from Tiger to Classic Macs is possible? How would you go about setting it up?
For starters, I use manual assignment of IP addresses throughout, so as not to confuse anybody or anything. Beyond that, once you have confirmed that any two 10Base-T Macs can communicate both ways (in the server/client sense), you just get the client oldie to address a Tiger Mac server over TCP/IP. If the oldie doesn't 'do' TCP/IP, send the file to another Mac that does, and from there to the Tiger Mac over TCP/IP. That's why, as I wrote and as far as I am concerned, the floppy disk is now almost completely
de trop.
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True...though it's not always easy to get the older Macs networked - I have had trouble getting them to play nicely with my router, though I've also got a wireless bridge now which I'm going to try them with when I get the chance, and also there doesn't seem to be any way to get Windows/OS X to talk to Classic Macs. How would you, for instance, get a file from Windows Vista to Mac OS 9.1 by ethernet?
:-/ 
