Baslinux mailing list

[Samual Acorn <sam.acorn AT gmail.com>]

what is klondike?

i unfortunatly (its not something im proud of) know as much as i know
about macs because it gets around (locally) that i like old
computers... and ppl somehow consider macs computers... so i have a
pile of them in the corner of the shed... along with a few macintosh
specific accessories (a handheld black and white scanner... a strange
appletalk telephone network connector (no.. its not a modem)...
useless 300dpi inkjet printers... adb keyboards/mice and a strange adb
device that has electrical outlets on it... still dunno what that last
one is for...)  and of course the only functional laptop i own is a
powerbook duo 280c.... (im waiting for someone to toss the duo floppy
adapter my way so i can transfer data faster than 57600 bits/sec...
and so i can install linux/m68k)

my relationship with macs is definitly love/hate .... they are
designed so shoddily i cant stand it but on the other hand they have a
cpu so like any good geek (hacker?) im always trying to find ways to
get them to do something that they 'arent supposed to do' .... one
example; the serial port is memory mapped and completely software
driven.... lets see how fast it can go before something 'pops' ;)
(57600 is as fast as it gets on 68k macs if you want stability...
could probably get faster with a layer of error correction but the cpu
cant keep up with the data xfer and actually 'computing' at the same
time at fast speeds...)

another interesting bit is that the pram battery is dead in my duo...
so it makes for the interesting ability to turn it on and off with the
120v wall-plug (normally laptops dont turn themselves on when just
plugged in) and with 'akua sweets' i can write whatever data i want to
the pram... the date/time is never correct but the pram settings are
;)  (the 'top does have to be rebooted for the poked data to take
effect... which ok considering it has to be rebooted to realise it has
a serial port after being plugged in for the first time anyway)...
saved me the rediculous price of 13$ for the battery.....

ok... ive rambled and ranted enough... (these systems get on my
nerves... need to vent a little every now and again)

On 14/09/05, David Lane <Jaypooh3 AT hotmail.com> wrote:
> Knew I was forgetting something, the external scsi port.Been too long since
> I played with my old LC (7.5.5).I should have included this too,
> http://macfaq.org/index.shtml That site is for everything you've wanted to
> know about old macs but was afraid to ask.Oh, and you forgot the best use
> for old macs,to play Klondike!
> 
> David Lane
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Samual Acorn" <sam.acorn AT gmail.com>
> To: <baslinux AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2005 5:44 AM
> Subject: Re: [BL] mac
> 
> 
> > this is probably too late but;
> >
> > On 11/09/05, sindi keesan <keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org> wrote:
> > > We cannot find a way to transfer files between our DOS-BL3 laptop
> computer
> > > and a macintosh computer (with a french keyboard - it must have a cap
> > > locsk key somewhere).
> >
> > kaps lock is the one that clicks and stays down when pressed (like an
> > apple 2 and commodore 64)
> >
> > >
> > > There is one Mac computer with a floppy drive but our laptop floppy
> drive
> > > is broken.  We plugged the parallel port zip drive into what looks like
> a
> > > parallel port but it kept the mac from booting.  There is no serial
> port.
> >
> > that was the scsi port... you might want to check that zip drive with
> > a good computer for damage...
> >
> > the serial port on a mac is an 8pin mini-din with a picture of a
> > telephone headset near it...
> > it uses apples wonky attempt at rs422...
> >
> > pin equevalents follow -- the numbers with dashes are pins that are
> > tied together on the local side... note: this is a -straight through-
> > cable -not- a crossover... pins not listed should be left to 'float'
> > ... pc side is for 9pin port...
> >
> > PC       MAC
> > 2          5
> > 3          3
> > 5          4-8
> > 7          1
> > 8          2
> > 6-4
> >
> > (i use an old powerbook as a dumb terminal)
> > http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/raine/products.html
> >
> >
> > >
> > > The other computer has an ethernet connection to a dsl line.  We have a
> > > 10MBit pcmcia ethernet card that works.  Can we connect somehow to the
> > > Macintosh and if so how.
> >
> > TCP/IP over appletalk using a nullmodem cable and netatalk on linux
> > should work... (note: i have not tried this) but its pointless... macs
> > arent good for anything but holding down paper... if your mac does not
> > have pci slots (in which you could put an ethernet card) just get rid
> > of it...
> >
> > >
> > > We have serial and parallel transfer cables, and pcmcia CF adaptor, but
> > > those are useless with a mac.  We have a USB camera but not a usb cable
> > > for it.  Do macs have usb ports.  our other camera has a usb cable but
> > > wont work with this particular CF card, but we could transfer the files
> to
> > > a different card and then plug in the other USB camera - do Macs
> > > automatically find USB cameras.  We did not, of course, bring the CD
> > > because we are all set up to communicate with ANY pc computer via serial
> > > or parallel cable, parport CF adaptor, pcmcia CF reader, or parport zip
> > > drive, using a DOS or linux boot disk.
> >
> > newer macs have usb ports (if the keyboards connector looks like an
> > s-video connector then the mac you have is too old to have usb ports)
> > but ive never used one that new so i dont have any clue what they do
> > when a usb device is connected... if your camera follows the 'usb
> > storage device' standard (doesnt use its own proprietary drivers) it
> > -should- work with a usb endowed mac...
> >
> > >
> > > Our floppy drive is broken.
> >
> > and my electricity is acting like it wants to go out... gotta go...
> > (sorry if this gets double sent)
> >
> > >
> > > keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org
> > > SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > BasLinux mailing list
> > > BasLinux AT lists.ibiblio.org
> > > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/baslinux
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > --sam
> > http://mephitus.renamon.org/
> > "When you've done something right, no one will be sure you've done
> > anything at all." -- Futurama
> > --
> > _______________________________________________
> > BasLinux mailing list
> > BasLinux AT lists.ibiblio.org
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/baslinux
> >
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> 


-- 
--sam
http://mephitus.renamon.org/
"When you've done something right, no one will be sure you've done
anything at all." -- Futurama
--