I would like to add a USB "port" to my Mac Classic II machine running Mac OS 7.0.1. Can it be done? How?
Gary
Edit :Replaced 'xxx 7' by 'Mac OS 7' - IIGS User
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2012, April 6 - 12:10pm
#1
USB on my Mac Classic II?
Comments
2012, April 6 - 1:21pm
#2
::taps fingers together::
Why?
2012, April 6 - 1:44pm
#3
File Transfer.
2012, April 6 - 1:50pm
#4
I have a Classic II I transfer files from, and I use a Zip drive for that. A SCSI Zip for the Classic II and another drive for whatever other machine I'm using--there are USB Zip drives.
I do remember checking into an external SCSI Compact Flash adapter years ago, also for transferring files, but it was expensive and by the time I looked into it the company responsible for it had already quit making it.
2012, April 6 - 2:46pm
#5
You could also get a USB floppy disk. They are like $20(US) the last time I checked. IIRC the Classic II has a 1.4 mb drive. If so you use the disk drive from the mac and attached the floppy to what ever computer you want.
Adding USB support would be very hard. You are talking about creating a completely custom piece or hardware, and you would probably need to write drivers.
I would go with a zip disk like MCP said, or go with the floppy.
2012, April 6 - 9:10pm
#6
Mac Classic II machine running Mac OS 7.0.1. Can it be done?
AFAIK the only USB solution for Macs without built-in USB ports was a USB-PCI card for Macs with PCI slots & a USB-PCMCIA card for laptops without built-in USB (or needing extra/faster USB ports). All of which required a minimum of Mac OS 8.5.1.
The only options for file transfer via a Classic II that I know of, would be SCSI based (CD, Zip-drive, Mo, Ethernet), or serial based (PhoneNet, FTP, Kermit, (X|Y|Z)Modem), probably some others, but not USB directly.
--- Back in the olden days, I actually used the ClarisWorks Comms mode to transfer files over a modem (ZMODEM protocol), it worked well at the time, I used this for remote file transfers before the web & email became in common use.
Edit :Replaced 'xxx 7' by 'Mac OS 7' - IIGS User
2012, April 6 - 9:49pm
#7
From the comments you've made I guess I should explain a bit about my dilemma. My first try was via AppleTalk file sharing. That failed for some reason. I couldn't get the Classic to show up in the Chooser window on the other machine (or vice versa).
I tried the ZIP disk idea but I couldn't figure out any way to get the ZIP Installer onto the Classic due to its size (about 3 MB. I tried just taking a copy of the driver itself from another machine. I got the driver into the extensions folder OK but it had no effect. ZIP disks inserted into the drive failed to mount.
So I'm looking at other options. The USB idea was a thought that appears to be going down in flames.
What I REALLY want to do is archive a bunch of 800K diskettes onto more permanent storage media.
Gary
2012, April 6 - 9:54pm
#8
Ah ha! Split & Join is really excellent for this, but you can use any splitter including Stuffits.
2012, April 6 - 9:58pm
#9
Pre-formatted Zip disks from the time actually had software drivers already on them. And in any case you shouldn't need a whole 3MB installer; there's a small extension that should work, try looking here:
2012, April 7 - 9:24pm
#10
>http://www.macdrivermuseum.net/disk.shtml
was the magic bullet. I downloaded the ZIP 100 driver from this site, loaded it up and Voila, my zip disk was just were it was supposed to be.
Thanks for pointing me to such a valuable archive.
Gary
2012, April 7 - 10:23am
#11
…and; the Zip disk should show up on your Mac's desktop if connected, turned on and inserted before you startup your Mac. This way the Zip disk is treated as any external Hard disk. Provided the Zip disk is Mac HFS formatted, that is… I´ve tried this meself. 
2012, April 7 - 5:04pm
#12
For file transfer, I suggest getting an Ethernet card on your old Mac (provided it doesn't have one built-in) and working from there.
2012, April 7 - 9:18pm
#13
For file transfer, I suggest getting an Ethernet card on your old Mac
Normally this is the way I would go too. But in this case, with the Classic II, it doesn't have the slots to take an ethernet card. To get around this shortcoming, there are SCSI to Ethernet solutions. One such beast is the "Asante EN/SC", one of which I still have (y' never can tell when it'll come in handy again). Here's a couple of picture walkthru's of setting up an Asante EN/SC on a Classic II. It has some good pics. Here 1st then here 2nd.
2012, May 3 - 5:03am
#14
You could do USB on that Classic. But you'll have to write a driver yourself, and create your own hardware. USB is pretty simple as far as wiring goes, you have +5V, Data -, Data + and Ground. The USB standard is fairly open. The hard part would be making the bridge and software.
If you don't have an ethernet solution, then you'll need a good bridge Mac that does. I much prefer networking over fiddling with physical media. The acquisition of a such a bridge Mac would be an excellent platform (usually with color) that can augment the rediscovery of old games.
EDIT: crap. got the date wrong. Oh well