Transfer Files to Powerbook 520c

"I have heard of transfering files using a serial cable, but I am not sure if this a viable option due to the OS."

Lap Link Mac was created in 1988 or 1989, I forget. I just remember driving to the shadow of Microsoft in Redmond, WA to buy the software the day that it became available. They offered a serial cable for the Mac Plus and a PC AT. That 'new' of an OS will not be the problem. Finding dedicated software for that era will be harder.

In my mind, using a pair of zip drives might be the easiest but you did not list that as something you have on hand. A USB zip drive will talk to just about any current device.

So that leaves you with ethernet. For network simplicity, I would still recommend a bridge machine to jump the generations. If I am not mistaken, the 520 is based on the 68040 chip, not a PPC. A PPC will look forwards and backwards.

Give us a little more detail on your goal. Do you want to use the laptop on a daily basis for file creation and printing?

AFluffyNarwhal wrote:

The OS on the powerbook is OS 7.5.5, and it uses Mac TCP for ethernet networking.

You want to install OpenTransport 1.3 and the AppleShare client from Apple's older software site:

http://www.info.apple.com/support/oldersoftwarelist.html

That gets you much closer to "modern" TCP/IP standards than MacTCP did.

>The OS on the powerbook is OS 7.5.5

The downloadable System 7.5.3 (which can be found under the link provided by JustSomeGuy) installs an Apple Extras folder. In this folder one can find a Network Software Selector. Is this not the case with your operating system?

The Network Software Selector can be set to use Open Transport networking (the MacTCP and Network control panels will be hidden; TCP/IP and AppleTalk will appear instead).

The Ethernet port is AAUI. An external AAUI to RJ-45 transceiver (such as the Apple Ethernet Twisted-Pair Transceiver M0437) is used to connect a normal Ethernet cable.

Just set the TCP/IP control panel to connect via Ethernet, and configure it to use a DHCP server. You can now connect the computer to one of the LAN ports of a router. With a text-based web browser like WannaBe, the machine would be ready to download files from the Internet.

A small FTP client (such as Fetch) would allow FTP connections to a server on another computer (Mac, Windows PC, Linux PC). It is also possible to install an FTP or web server (for example, NetPresenz) on the PowerBook 520c.

If necessary, all this can be done already with the nineteen files System 7.5.3 download, even without updates.

Jan

I should add that a transfer is possible between the serial ports of a PowerBook 520c and a PC via a null-modem link (a MiniDIN-8M to DB-25M Mac modem cable combined with a standard DB-25F-to-DB-9F PC-style null-modem cable), using terminal emulation software on both sides. However, Ethernet is both faster and better, so the serial transfer is of limited interest here.

For the initial transfer of smaller files (such as the WannaBe web browser from http://mindstory.com/wb2/download.html ), 1.44 MB floppy disks can be used. System 7.5.3/7.5.5 can read PC-formatted floppy disks. Keep all downloaded files as they are (.sit, .bin or .hqx). The compression or encoding is important and protects Mac application files. Do not make an attempt to decode or decompress files on a PC.

The (.sit, .bin or .hqx) files can be decoded/decompressed once on the PowerBook. For this you will need StuffIt Expander for Macintosh (drag the downloaded and transferred files onto the StuffIt Expander program icon, or open the files from within this utility).

With access to a Windows PC (capable of running a DOS program) with a floppy drive , you may want to try this: Prepare an empty PC-formatted 1.44 MB diskette via FORMAT A: in DOS or the "full" formatting option under Windows. Download the MACDISK.EXE file from http://rrzs42.uni-regensburg.de/Macintosh/files/macftp.html . Run the MACDISK.EXE (DOS) program on the Windows PC. Follow the instructions on screen. The result will be a Mac-formatted (sic!) floppy that can be immediately used in the PowerBook 520c. This floppy contains a StuffIt Expander installer.

With a limited amount of RAM (12 MB), it is better to stay with System 7.5.3/7.5.5.

Jan