Marinetti, MacIP and GatorBox

[andrew.roughan@writeme.com (Roughana)]

I just wanted to give you all an update on what's happening with MacIP
connectivity experiments that have been happening on my home network.

I recently purchased a GatorBox CS/Rack on Ebay (ridiculous price of
$1.25, + $10 UPS shipping). It has subsequently been delivered to me
in Australia by other means. I was pleasantly surprised to find that
it had a Switching power supply (even though the seller said it did
not).

Marsha helped with some information to remove the system password and
provided the latest software (Thanks again Marsha).

I've networked it with 10base2 to a hub and have configured it for
TCP/IP and AppleTalk protocols. The GatorBox can also act as a MacIP
server so I've turned that on as well.

As part of my work with the Marinetti Open Source Project, I have
access to the MacIP Link Layer. So I've plugged that in and
established a connection from my IIgs to the GatorBox using Telnet.
The MacIP link layer currently can auto-detect the MacIP server
provided by the GatorBox, or you can enter the IP address of the
GatorBox.

I am still determining if I can have the IIgs obtain an IP address
from the GatorBox dynamically (the GatorBox supports it, however I am
still not sure if the MacIP link layer does it now).

Next I need to try connecting to a TCPIP service on the ethernet side
of the GatorBox. Things are looking very promising.

Those of you with a desire for a low cost connection to ethernet
(entirely dependent upon your auction skills of course) may like to
consider this alternative.

I can't comment on general availability of the MacIP Link Layer at
this stage. It does require Marinetti 3.x and the latest build of this
is unfortunately not available in a form that can be installed by the
average user - you have to build it from source files first.

So... please don't treat this as an announcement... just be aware that
things continue to progress.

Cheers,
Andrew