Re: More Questions from a New IIgs User

[dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

I see most of these questions have been answered already, so I'll skip
to the ones that might need further clarification.

Jon Bettencourt <jonINTERNETrelayCHAT@napaVALLEYnet.CLARInet> wrote:

> How can I hook up a simple network between the IIgs and a Mac Plus so that
> the IIgs can use the hard drive on the Mac Plus? Do I need a ProDOS boot
> disk or something to do that (I don't have one)?

You need to be running System 6.0.1 to do this, and it needs to be set
up to include the software required to enable AppleTalk support and
access to the server.

It is possible to do this from a 3.5" drive, but rather tricky, because
you can't fit all the required system software as well as the actually
useful stuff (like the Finder) on a single disk.

It is much easier if you get a hard drive for the IIgs (a Focus is by
far the cheapest option now, unless you can get a second hand SCSI hard
drive and card).  You can then use AppleTalk to exchange files between
the IIgs and Mac (easier than doing the floppy shuffle).

You can't access the file server on a IIgs if you have booted into
ProDOS-8.  You have to boot into GS/OS to load the AppleTalk support
software.  (You can then run ProDOS-8 applications from GS/OS, and they
will be able to access the server, as long as the server's shared folder
or hard drive has a name which is compatible with ProDOS naming
limitations.)

> Do I need to format something on the hard drive as ProDOS? Do I need to
> completely reinstall the MacOS on the Mac Plus and use System 7.5 with PC
> Exchange?

No.  The only requirement on the Mac side is that you have System 7 or
later, with File Sharing enabled, with an appropriate account created in
Users & Groups, and sharing set up as you prefer (exactly the same as
sharing for another Mac).

> I tried connecting my IIgs and my other Mac (a Quadra 700) together with
> AppleTalk. I got the Quadra to file share, but the IIgs didn't do anything
> (I did have Slot 1, Slot 7, and StartUp set to AppleTalk on the IIgs).

It sounds like you have a ROM 3 IIgs.  To use AppleTalk on this model,
you should have slot 1 set to AppleTalk, but leave slot 7 set to Your
Card, and the startup slot set to Scan.

The "Startup Slot: AppleTalk" option is only useful if you are running
the full AppleShare server software on a Macintosh, with Apple II
support included.  This is only available for AppleShare 2.0 and 3.0,
not later versions.  (AppleShare is rather expensive.)

The "AppleTalk" setting for slot 7 is only required for running some old
software which assumes IIgs AppleTalk support is in slot 7 (like in the
original model of the IIgs).  Enabling this if you don't need it will
just waste an extra slot.

> I did it with PhoneNet connectors. Maybe I should use a regular printer
> cable instead....

That would have behaved exactly the same.  As with two Macs, you can use
a direct serial cable for a simple two station AppleTalk network between
a IIgs and Mac.  You must use PhoneNet or LocalTalk drop boxes and
cables (with appropriate termination) if you want to connect more than
two devices, but it will also work for two.

> I heard somebody tried to connect a Mac Plus hard drive to the floppy
> port, and didn't get it to work because the floppy port doesn't support
> it. Shortly after, I saw a post that said someone had successfully
> connected a HD20 (???) to the IIgs's floppy port.

I don't remember seeing anything about that.  (I see Supertimer
mentioned the original version of the Universal Disk Controller card.)

Even if it did work, the HD20 would be so slow that it would be painful
to use (about the same speed as a floppy drive, or an AppleTalk network
to a Mac which has a SCSI drive).

Get a Focus card.  It will be a much nicer solution.

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P O Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand