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brunzel
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Q: PB 540C - two questions

Hello -

I need to get the data off my old 540C and I've thought of a couple solutions.

1) Use a thumb drive...but there is no USB port on the 540C. Does anyone know if there is an adapter or some way to get a thumb drive to work?

2) Get the 540c connected to the internet and transfer the files. I've read about using an AAUI to RJ-45 adapter for this. If I get an adapter, is there anything I need to configure to get on the internet? I vaguely remember a program called TCP/IP or something like that...would that need configuring? If anyone has a list of changes or configurations that would be most welcome and helpful!

Thanks,

Brad

Powerbook 540c, Other OS

Posted on Jul 2, 2009 1:21 PM

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brunzel

Q: PB 540C - two questions

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  • by Niteshooter,

    Niteshooter Niteshooter Jul 2, 2009 7:23 PM in response to brunzel
    Level 2 (454 points)
    Jul 2, 2009 7:23 PM in response to brunzel
    Hi, welcome to the boards.

    One other possibility is to get a CF to PCMCIA card reader and use an inexpensive Compact Flash card to dump your data onto.

    Or get a PCMCIA to USB adaptor to use with a thumb drive.

    If you get an AAUI to RJ-45 then you could possibly set up for filesharing though it might depend on what other Mac you are trying to hook up to so this might not be my first choice.

    Kevin

  • by Ben Sivertsen,

    Ben Sivertsen Ben Sivertsen Jul 3, 2009 8:57 AM in response to brunzel
    Level 2 (170 points)
    Jul 3, 2009 8:57 AM in response to brunzel
    USB is not an option for the 540, it's just way too old. In order to use the PCMCIA and CF option listed above you will need the PCMCIA bay adapter which fit into a battery slot and is very rare. If you have access to a floppy drive for your newer machine that would be your best bet, but if not I would look into the ethernet option.

  • by Niteshooter,

    Niteshooter Niteshooter Jul 3, 2009 1:51 PM in response to Ben Sivertsen
    Level 2 (454 points)
    Jul 3, 2009 1:51 PM in response to Ben Sivertsen
    Ben Sivertsen wrote:
    USB is not an option for the 540, it's just way too old. In order to use the PCMCIA and CF option listed above you will need the PCMCIA bay adapter which fit into a battery slot and is very rare. If you have access to a floppy drive for your newer machine that would be your best bet, but if not I would look into the ethernet option.


    Hi Ben, the 540c has a PCMCIA card slot therefore you will not require an adaptor.

    Belkin made a PCMCIA USB 1 adaptor for this generation of PowerBook. They turn up from time to time, the newer USB2 cards made by Adaptec do not work.

    Ethernet can be hit or miss depending on the OS' involved that's why I'm hesitant to recommend this route. Now if he had access to a fileserver or perhaps a FirstClass server sure as that is what I use as a bridge between ethernet and appletalk.

    Kevin

  • by Niteshooter,

    Niteshooter Niteshooter Jul 4, 2009 8:35 AM in response to Niteshooter
    Level 2 (454 points)
    Jul 4, 2009 8:35 AM in response to Niteshooter
    Correction, I am wrong. I just checked my 540c. It does have a PCMCIA slot but it is an adaptor.

    Sorry.

    Kevin

  • by Jan Hedlund,

    Jan Hedlund Jan Hedlund Jul 4, 2009 9:22 AM in response to Niteshooter
    Level 6 (9,894 points)
    Jul 4, 2009 9:22 AM in response to Niteshooter
    Hi Kevin,

    Yes, the PCMCIA Expansion Module was sold separately. A manual for one of the versions can be found here. If available, I agree, using a CompactFlash card (in a PC Card adapter for CF) through the expansion module is a quick and simple solution for most file transfers.

    With an AAUI to RJ-45 transceiver (e.g., the Apple Ethernet Twisted-Pair Transceiver, Model No: M0437), TCP/IP software and an appropriate web browser, Brad should not have a problem connecting to the Internet (typically, connecting via DHCP).

    For example, the downloadable System 7.5.3 (the US version here) contains a TCP/IP control panel (active once the Network Software Selector has been set to Open Transport networking). The individual system software files are small enough to fit onto 1.44 MB floppies.

    Jan

  • by Ben Sivertsen,

    Ben Sivertsen Ben Sivertsen Jul 4, 2009 11:11 AM in response to Niteshooter
    Level 2 (170 points)
    Jul 4, 2009 11:11 AM in response to Niteshooter
    No worries, I haven't actually seen a 540, just guessed offf the form factor of a 520 (look similiar in the photos). Interesting that the 'book can have USB but later machines (1400, and 5300 models) cannot. Perhaps it has to do with the speed of the ports.

  • by adsfushi72,

    adsfushi72 adsfushi72 Jul 7, 2009 12:38 PM in response to brunzel
    Level 4 (1,115 points)
    Jul 7, 2009 12:38 PM in response to brunzel
    Hello, brunzel.
    For smaller files, you could use floppy disks. Many modern PCs still have floppy drives, so you could transfer the files from the 540C to a PC on a floppy disk and from the PC to any modern computer on the USB thumb drive.
    Note that some files (especially applications) may be corrupted when using the PC to copy them in this manner because of the way files are stored on older Macs. However, you can get around this by using compression software (such as DropStuff) to compress the files and encode them as BinHexed (sometimes called ".hqx") files. BinHexed files can be transferred in this manner without being corrupted.