Hi all! I recently bought a Mac SE on eBay for a great price. Ever since I've been thinking about how I'm going to get software on it. I got an idea that I could use my old Dell to transfer files using a DB9 to 8-pin mini DIN adapter(and a DB9 male to DB9 female null modem cable). I thought I could fire up a direct file transfer program (like Star Gate) and transfer them that way. Will this work? If not, anyone have any suggestions? I have an old iMac G3(which I'm typing on right now). Thanks for any help!
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2012, June 3 - 1:34am
#1
PC to Mac SE
Comments
2012, June 3 - 9:41am
#2
Here´s a (fairly old) page of Gamba's concerning your task:
http://home.earthlink.net/~gamba2/pc2mac.html
HTH! 
2012, June 3 - 11:48am
#3
If you wish, I could donate my USB floppy dirve for the iMac G3 for postage fees - alas it will only handle HD floppies or 120 MB disks.
A nullmodem cable should be fine, I was using Z-Term back in the days on the Mac side.
It worked flawlessly, but slow. The nullmodem cable was a self soldered one of course.
For your other request, I have some SCSI Syquest 40MB cartridge drives on the attic.
Maybe you could make use of those?
2012, June 3 - 12:27pm
#4
I use a Farallon EtherWave printer adapter to connect between a G3 and and LC630. One of the two ethernet ports on the device connects to the ethernet port on the G3 and the localtalk end connects to the LC630 (this end used to connect to a printer years ago so I could network the printer). Then I enable file sharing on the LC630 and mount it on the G3 via the Chooser in System 9. I can't see why it will not work with an SE rather than an LC630 provided its system supports appletalk file sharing.
2012, June 3 - 6:55pm
#5
Thank you all for your wonderful answers! I looked on the back of my Dell today, and it looks like it has a SCSI port on it. If so, doesent that mean I can use one of 24bit's cartridge drives? Could'nt I simply connect it to the Dell, put the files on it, then connect it to the SE? 24bit: How much do you want for one of your Syquest drives? Do you have any carts for it? Thank you for the offer on the usb drive, I'm not sure I need it though.
Here's a video of my dell, and it's ports. Can someone clarify that that is indeed a SCSI port?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lu1SNRq8Zg&feature=youtu.be
2012, June 4 - 5:49am
#6
It may've been easier (on my eyes) if you'd sat a camera on a tripod, or a box, and tried for a fixed still shot of the back ports. However, it is more likely to be an old type Parallel Printer port than a SCSI port. A SCSI port if on a PC will likely be a 3rd party add-on card filling a spare slot, rather than something that shipped with the box. They are not compatible even if they share a similar DB25 pin connector.
You should look for symbol of the device associated with the port. Pink colored ports denote a Parallel Printer port and usually have a printer icon near the port (looks a bit like a sheet of paper coming out of the top of flattish rectangle).
A SCSI port's icon looks like a square diamond shape, standing on one corner, with another corner broken by a horizontal bar to its right. If you have a look at the rear of the Mac SE case, you will see this symbol imprinted directly above its DB25 pin SCSI connector port.
Also, what capacity floppy disk drive does your SE have? 800k or 1.4 MB? There might come a time when you will need to use this and if its an SE with an 800k floppy drive, then a USB floppy drive for the G3 iMac will not be of any use in transferring files between the two as USB floppy drives cannot format or read/write 800k media.
2012, June 4 - 12:08pm
#7
If you can confirm your DELL´s capability for hosting such card, it may be worth a thought adding something like this:
http://www.amazon.de/SCSI-Adaptec-Adapter-AVA-2904-ID9376/dp/B004AI71E6/...
Bigmessowires floppy emulator may be a perfect solution for moving files:
http://68kmla.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=17287
An interesting project in any case, for connecting something to the SE´s external floppy port.
No idea how far he got, the thread wasnt updated for some time.
2012, June 4 - 2:55pm
#8
I think my best bet would be to get a null modem cable, connect it to my DB9 to 8-pin Mini DIN adapter, then plug that in to my dell, then use Star Gate to transfer the files. That should work, right?
MikeTomTom: Thanks, turns out it was a parallel printer port. The SE has an 800k drive.
24bit: I might have to look into that card.
I'll post my findings.
2012, June 4 - 3:14pm
#9
Do you know the pinouts of your serial cables/adapters? You may know that wires have to be crossed for a null-modem, if you should be using ordinary serial cables.
Except for that, a serial connection should be no problem. I dont know stargate, best use a terminal app of your choice on Mac and PC with the capability to send/recieve files and be prepared for a sloooow data rate.
Any files for the SE must be stuffed before transfer to preserve resource forks, they will be useless on the Mac otherwise.
2012, June 4 - 3:53pm
#10
I'm not sure about the pin outs. Do you have a guide on modifying the cable should the wires not be crossed?
2012, June 4 - 3:55pm
#11
By the way, do SE's come with terminal apps that send and receive?
2012, June 4 - 11:28pm
#12
@Ilovetheoldones:
By the way, do SE's come with terminal apps that send and receive?
Not built-in, but if you have ClarisWorks installed (versions 1 - 5), then yes.
I've used the ClarisWorks Comms Terminal successfully for file transfer back before the web was in common use. It supports Kermit, Serial, Text & Ymodem protocol but not Zmodem. If each end used the same protocol it wasn't a problem. I believe the other main "Works" programs of the day also had Comms modules.
2012, June 4 - 6:43pm
#13
The terminal app for the SE will be a hen/egg problem, I´m afraid, as there is nothing built in with SSW 7 AFAIK. As written above, Z-Term was the app to use back in the days for the Mac side. http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/zterm
It escapes me right now what I used on the PC side, but Google will come up with some freebees for sure.
For getting used to RS232 read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Null_modem
BTW: If you happen to own a iMac G3 Rev. A or B, the pinout for a floppy connector is still on the logic board. You would have to solder in the connector and find a Mac floppy drive to be wired though. This hack was done by many people with the early iMacs.
If your SE has the so called Superdrive Floppy, it can read 1.4MB disks and I would go for a USB floppy for the iMac. Larger files can be split/joined with Stuffit. Its a hassle still, but better than a null-modem IIRC.
One of the not so easy to find external SCSI drives with a SCSI host adapter in your DELL would be the easiest going, I suppose.
Edit: Replaced 'xxx7' with 'SSW 7' - IIGS User
2012, June 4 - 7:21pm
#14
Hmmmm.....I'm stumped. How can I get files to the SE? My iMac is a rev. D, BTW. I believe the SE has system 6.
2012, June 4 - 7:31pm
#15
Should I request that someone put ZTerm on an 800k disk and put the file on my SE? I'd pay for it, of course.
2012, June 5 - 12:11am
#16
@Ilovetheoldones:
Hmmmm.....I'm stumped. How can I get files to the SE? My iMac is a rev. D, BTW. I believe the SE has system 6.
The main stumbling block for you is the 800k floppy disk drive. This really prevents you from the most basic of file transfers. The next problem is the lack of ethernet or serial connections to other hardware that you possess.
1). Ideally you would obtain a SCSI to Ethernet solution. I recommend, if you can locate one, either the "Asante EN/SC" or the "Asante Mini EN/SC". Rare but they do turn up from time to time on ebay and elsewhere. If you ever come across one of these and you "still love the old ones", grab it fast. - I own a Asante EN/SC box (same as the one sitting on top of the "Classic II" in the pics on the 1st link) - its not for sale (I live in Australia so postage to the US would be expensive anyway).
2). Locate an external SCSI CD (preferably a burner as it would be able to read & mount writable & burned disks) to transfer files from either your iMac or PC if they too have burners. System 6 CD drivers might be an issue here.
3). This might sound odd: Buy another PPC, any model from a beige G3 or earlier. As these all have floppy disk drives and the ability to read/write 800k floppy media. Better, they also all have compatible serial ports to the SE and are therefore networkable at a minimal cost. Also & ironically, most pre b/w G3 PPCs can be obtained for less than the cost of an SE on ebay.
2012, June 4 - 9:22pm
#17
@24bit: isn´t the 'Chooser' available in Sys6/7?
2012, June 4 - 10:52pm
#18
Sure SwedeBear, Chooser and AppleTalk. I have not seen the old AppleTalk dongles for ages actually and the OP would need an intermediate Mac capable of speaking AppleTalk, plus EtherTalk for further connectivity.
There were AppleTalk adapter cards available for PC in the days of yonder, but I have never seen one myself and would not expect to get one ever, these days.
Maybe its indeed easier to find some Centris, Quadra or early PPC Mac instead of other the stuff.
68kmla should be a good starting point for investigating for two AppleTalk dongles, cable and a additional Mac acting as Fileserver and AppleTalk to Ethernet turntable.
(Someone over there is certainly willing to donate a 800k disk with Z-Term on it too.
I could prepare such a disk too, but mailing stuff to the US from my place is rather expensive and tedious. 
)
BTW: Did someone mention a SCSI CD-ROM device already? If its a one way lane from iMac to SE, something like the Apple CD300 might serve very well too. One of the old Yamaha toasters would suit nicely probably, though I never used one with a SE with 4MB RAM, alas my MacII worked well with a Toaster.
At last, as a long shot, one could even take out the SE´s HDD and mount it in BasiliskII (Build142) for Windows to write to HDD directly, given that you got a working SCSI host adapter in your Windows box.
2012, June 5 - 12:19am
#19
Would this work?
http://www.amazon.com/HP-356963-B21-SCSI-CD-ROM-Drive/dp/B0002UE9W8
2012, June 5 - 12:26am
#20
It appears to be internal, not external.
2012, June 5 - 12:44am
#21
Here's a good walk-through with tips on how to build your own external SCSI CD drive and what to use. It involves using a SCSI CD drive from an old Mac.
However, as you can purchase a working older 68k or PPC Mac very cheaply, it would be easier (to my way of thinking) to buy any one of the Mac models listed on that walk-through page and use it to transfer any files to your SE. You could also, easily, simply remove the drive from the SE and place it temporarily into another SCSI compatible Mac to transfer files, or install a newer System software such as 7.1, etc.
2012, June 5 - 1:56am
#22
It really is great to have made the jump from a PC and though things would really be a lot different and difficult to deal with, it is something that could still be workable with the lot of third party hardware and support items available for purchase and use. But the problem with most implementations is that they are not working enough to actually merit a nod.
2012, June 5 - 2:02am
#23
If I get ZTerm, I could link them via serial, or so I think.
2012, June 5 - 2:28am
#24
And if I had $75 + P&H to spare and lived in the US - I'd be eye-balling this little puppy. It'd help sort out your SE woes PDQ 
2012, June 5 - 3:55am
#25
Man, I wish I had that much to spare! My last hope is Z-Term. Well, my cheapest hope.
2012, June 5 - 6:22am
#26
If you get Z-Term setup and working, what are you going to use to recover the files you transfer over? Transferred files will be in some kind of Macbinary or text (hqx) format I imagine and will need another program to interpret/expand/install from once they arrive onto your Macintosh.
What programs do you have installed already on the SE that may help?
Do you have installed for example, Stuffit (version 3 - 4)? Apple File Exchange? DiskDup+? ClarisWorks? Having the latter may eliminate requiring Z-Term for file transfers, but you will still need one or two other program that will handle the files you transfer using a terminal. Apple File Exchange if it is installed (its an optional, manual install with System 6, so may not be in place).
DiskDup+ is the only Mac disk imaging program that can mount floppy disk images onto a System 6 desktop (Disk Copy 6 & ShrinkWrap can in Mac OS 7 & later). Its usefulness here? It can mount 1.4 MB Disk Copy 4.2 or DiskDup+ disk image files for you to install from, even though you only have an 800k floppy drive.
You may need some other utility programs included on 800k floppy disks initially, just to get you up and running properly.
Edit. Replaced 'xxx 7' with 'Mac OS 7' - IIGS User
2012, June 5 - 11:20am
#27
Mike has made quite a point here. Once we know whats on the OP´s SE, we might set up some folder with needful things in Stuffit3 file format.
The OP would need the terminal app and Stuffit3 on a 800k disk to make use of any additional software.
Any volunteers for creating/shipping 800k disks?
The main question: Whats on the OP´s SE and what does he plan to run on his Mac?
HDD size, RAM and System version will matter.