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sopranojam851

Q: Networking a PowerBook 165c

Hello everyone. A friend of mine has an old PowerBook 165c. It is, for the most part, maxed out with 16 MB of RAM, and has the largest-OEM 160 MB SCSI hard drive. It's got Mac OS 7.6.1 installed, which runs pretty good.

I wondered how to get it online. Aside from the obvious dial-up modem, I know I can connect using the Modem or Serial port (Mini DIN-8).

My friend had a RJ-11 to RJ-45 adapter, which was previously used to hook up a printer to a network. I also found a Mini DIN-8 to RJ-11 local-talk adapter. The DIN-8 to RJ-11 Local-talk adapter was connected to the back of PowerBook, and I used an RJ-11 cable to connect this to the RJ-11 to RJ-45 adapter. I know that this setup worked fine to network an Apple II GS.

I opened the AppleTalk control panel, and chose the "Modem" port for AppleTalk. Then I opened the Chooser, and chose "LaserWriter8". When I did, it actually saw all of the network printers on the network. (I tried connecting to one and printing without success, but that's another day.) The point is, it's on the network and seeing printers.

But I don't have TCP-IP connectivity, and can't browse the web. So, I opened the Chooser, chose AppleShare, but saw nothing to connect to.

I opened the the TCP/IP control panel and switched to MacIP, but this didn't work as far as web browsing. I think this only works if AppleShare in Chooser is setup with an AppleTalk server.

I changed TCP/IP control panel to MacIP manual, but this requires manually typing in an IP address. I can't assign a static IP to this machine, as it's on a work network, and probably won't have this allowed with a machine so old. I know I can't just rely on DHCP, since there's no DHCP without any ethernet hardware on the computer.

Anyone have advice on how to get one of these old dogs networking successfully?

PowerBook 165c, Mac OS 8.6 or Earlier

Posted on May 5, 2010 8:00 PM

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Q: Networking a PowerBook 165c

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  • by Jan Hedlund,

    Jan Hedlund Jan Hedlund May 5, 2010 9:41 PM in response to sopranojam851
    Level 6 (9,894 points)
    May 5, 2010 9:41 PM in response to sopranojam851
    Hi,

    At least some LocalTalk to Ethernet adapters do not handle TCP/IP, only AppleTalk. If you could post the exact
    model(s)/type(s) tested, someone here might be able to provide you with additional information.

    As you already indicated, an alternative approach would be to use a dial-up connection, either through a built-in modem or via an external serial modem connected to the MiniDIN-8 Modem Port. Plain download speeds directly to disk would of course be higher if some kind of broadband connection could be used, but since the actual web page loading speed is limited anyway by other factors, dial-up should be quite sufficient for a PowerBook 165c.
    WannaBe is a fast text-based browser. iCab is a "normal" browser (slow on a machine like this).

    Jan
  • by Niteshooter,

    Niteshooter Niteshooter May 8, 2010 7:13 AM in response to sopranojam851
    Level 2 (454 points)
    May 8, 2010 7:13 AM in response to sopranojam851
    You might be at the mercy of the OS..

    I have used PowerBooks as old as the 100 on the web albeit slowly and with some tinkering.

    What you want is to find an Asante mini EN/SC adaptor which plugs into your SCSI port on the PowerBook. You can do a google search for asante mini en sc .

    Farallon also made an adaptor which plugged into your mini din 8 plug and drew power from the ADB port. It's called Farallon EtherWave Mac/PowerBook adaptor and is PN840ADB. I would say this is pretty rare...

    Both work, both are slooooow even though you are on 10T, something gets lost in the translation...

    It sounds like you are using an ethernet bridge for printers and that might be why things are not working out for you....

    Apple also had a really old piece of SW out called AppleTalk internet router which ran on a Mac with Appletalk and Ethernet and linked the two but if I recall that did not give you internet access....so the name is misleading since they mean internet as in internetworking not the more common meaning...