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getting files onto a vintage pc?

This works pretty well too and doesn't need a parallel or serial port. Operates in either 8 or 16-bit slots:

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I think you missed the point of the post ...

Any real Ethernet card works better than the parallel port adapter. But the parallel port adapter doesn't require you to open the machine, doesn't require an open slot, and won't conflict with anything else on the machine (unless your parallel port was misconfigured to begin with).

Most machines have a parallel port available, even for temporary usage.
 
Of course, you have to set any ethernet device up before it'll start working. That can be daunting in itself on an older system.

On the other hand, using Laplink via parallel port or serial port is a good close-to-universal choice that doesn't require a lot of smarts. Carry LL on a bootable 3.5" and 5.25" disk along with an "octopus" cable (3 connectors on each end) and you're pretty much set for anything--maybe.

Where any of this this doesn't work is when the target system isn't running DOS or a DOS work-alike. Novell, OS/2, Xenix, Pick, etc. systems are a problem, as are "non-PC" PCs, such as a NEC APC. Said PC may not have anything resembling compatible expansion slots, nor a serial or parallel port that matches the IBM idea of them.

Up until yesterday, my XT didn't have a parallel port, nor a serial port. Recall that if you purchased a 5150 with CGA, parallel or serial I/O was an extra.

Diskette may be the best alternative after all--assuming that you can create a diskette that can be read by the target system.

But if I had a parallel port-equipped PC that was "PC enough" and the Laplink idea was too slow, I'd probably use a Trantor/Adaptec MA358 parallel-to-SCSI adapter and a Zip drive or even a SCSI hard disk.
 
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Back in the day we used to use Norton Commander 5 to transfer files back and forward. It has a built in feature that uses either a serial or parallel port. One pane become local the other remote.

This worked every time we used it. Laplink on the other hand we could never get to work quite right.

In fact the NC way of getting files from one machine to another became our standard way of transferring files all they way till the early Pentiums, when we switched to Ethernet. But the NC way is still one of the simplest PC to PC transfer systems I have ever used.

PM me if you want to try this way.
 
I was just about to mention that there were other parallel port transfer programs than LapLink. My own copy is very old. The laplink cable itself is pretty generic, even working with Microsoft Interlink. I'd forgotten about NC.
 
I always used either Fastlynx or XTLink (which came with Xtree Gold). I only ever did this on 286 machines upwards though, so no idea if either work on an 8088.
 
Might be worth emphasizing again that, unlike most suggestions mentioned here, with Laplink, Interlink and NC you don't have to install any software on the subject machine (which can of course be tricky if you don't have compatible drives, which is why you're here in the first place ;-) ); they're self-installing.
 
MikeS said:
Might be worth emphasizing again that, unlike most suggestions mentioned here, with Laplink, Interlink and NC you don't have to install any software on the subject machine (which can of course be tricky if you don't have compatible drives, which is why you're here in the first place ;-) ); they're self-installing.
Click to expand...

I think the Ethernet solutions fall into that too - less than half a diskette of software gives you an IP address and an FTP client.


Mike
 
Hmmm. I wonder how one would get data into a "turnkey" PC with no floppies and perhaps just a parallel port or worse, some sort of unusual interface (e.g. ARCnet)?

It'd be handy to have a gizmo that taps into the keyboard port and funnels data in via keystroke. It wouldn't be blazingly fast, but it might be the only reasonable answer.

On the other hand, the more common problem is getting out of a non-PC computer that's no longer operable--or worse, missing. "I saved the hard disk, but don't remember the model of machine or what it was hooked to." kind of situation.
 
mbbrutman said:
I think the Ethernet solutions fall into that too - less than half a diskette of software gives you an IP address and an FTP client.
Mike
Click to expand...
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I thought the main issue was incompatible disk drives; how do you get that half a diskette of software on to the target system in the first place? (And if you do have compatible drives you could of course just use them ;-) ). Same problem with xmodem etc.

But if speed is important and you have the adapter and a way to install the software, then FTP is the way to go.
 
Chuck(G) said:
Hmmm. I wonder how one would get data into a "turnkey" PC with no floppies and perhaps just a parallel port or worse, some sort of unusual interface (e.g. ARCnet)?

It'd be handy to have a gizmo that taps into the keyboard port and funnels data in via keystroke. It wouldn't be blazingly fast, but it might be the only reasonable answer.

On the other hand, the more common problem is getting out of a non-PC computer that's no longer operable--or worse, missing. "I saved the hard disk, but don't remember the model of machine or what it was hooked to." kind of situation.
Click to expand...

Well, if it's a DOS-compatible system with a serial port there's CTTY. And there are gizmos like you describe; in fact I use several Hagstrom KE-24s in RS-232>PS/2 mode at a client site for exactly that purpose: Computer A sends a request out the serial port which is converted to USB keystrokes and sent to Computer B, which in turn PrintsScreen, redirected to a com port and sent back to Computer A's com port.
 
MikeS said:
Well, if it's a DOS-compatible system with a serial port there's CTTY. And there are gizmos like you describe; in fact I use several Hagstrom KE-24s in RS-232>PS/2 mode at a client site for exactly that purpose: Computer A sends a request out the serial port which is converted to USB keystrokes and sent to Computer B, which in turn PrintsScreen, redirected to a com port and sent back to Computer A's com port.
Click to expand...

USB? USB? What's this USB thing, man from the future? :)

I've got a box (not a PC, strictly speaking) where the only external hookup is IEEE-488. No slots, no serial, parallel, integrated video and keyboard and a completely undecipherable floppy format. I ended up getting data out of it by taping a photocell to an LED on the keyboard and blinking the LED.
 
Chuck(G) said:
USB? USB? What's this USB thing, man from the future? :)
Click to expand...
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Well, yes, the KE-24s are PS/2 out, but the "server" has undergone a few upgrades over the years; this actually started out originally as a "wiretap" into the RS-232 line feeding a serial printer. The computers used in the latest upgrade no longer have PS/2 ports, so I had to find some PS/2>USB converters that actually *work*...
 
Any one use SmallFTP as a server to get files onto older machines? If so, how do you get multiple files in a single command versus having to get each one individually?

Apparently MGET is not supported by SmallFTP.
 
Possible solutions

Possible solutions

It seems like there is a bunch of headache and no solutions.

1. Remove said hard drive and install into another computer with more capabilities. Then, use either LAPLINK, or a DOS EXTERNAL LPT1: ZIP DRIVE, (the driver is a single *.EXE on ONE floppy disk), and copy those babies on over.
2. Attempt to install said ZIP DISK (guest.exe) program and try out running the ZIP drive on the IBM 501502347 computer itself. I had an IBM 25, with an 8086 processor, and it did NOT work, but i'm not sure about ALL IBM's.
3. Remove hard drive and put into another computer and temporally install a CD Driver for DOS, whip the eggs into cream, and blast that data on at a few hundred bps.
4. Get a BAREBONES old old old terminal program for DOS (or have someone code one for you) that accepts ANY protocol, and find the Win 3.11 install disks (hard to find but I have links to them if you need). Install a fresh computer with DOS 6.22 & Win 3.11, run the terminal program, do the file transfer, and you're DONE. Windows term prog to DOS term prog. Simple.
5. Pry the to camputer gowds..



Hope this helps.

BTW, I have install disks for Dos 6.22 (which I cracked the lame copy protect on), install disks for Win 3.11 (which as posted as abandonware online), and a plethora of external ZIP drives for LPT1: (even one I would part with for cost of shipping only), and a transfer cable (lpt to lpt crossover, you'd really have to ask me ALOT to get me to part with that..), for either borrow, or for you to have copies/physical copies of.

ALL THAT I MENTIONED IS ABANDONWARE so i don't wanna hear crap about sharing licenced crap and all that crap.. Please save me that pitiful discussion.



Kiyote!
 
You know, I think half of these solutions are far, far more complicated than they need to be.

All he needs to do is use the floppy drive, and a program to split files to fit on disks. That's it! It's really not that hard, and won't take too long. It'll be faster than setting up all this other stuff :)

It amazes me how many vintage computer guys seem to hate floppies. Come on! Floppies are a fact of life when dealing with old computers. Sure, there are problems here and there, but by and large, they're very reliable. Keep your equipment clean, and take care of the disks, and they work just fine.

I even once did a multiple floppy file copy between servers. A botched upgrade on a SQL server had trashed the kernel and it's associated modules. I could get the machine up with a boot CD, but couldn't talk to the network. I had an identical server right next to it, so I could copy it's kernel and module tree. But these are Sun systems (although running Linux), and don't have USB ports, CD burners, etc. And even if they did, the only way I could boot the borked box was from CD, so I couldn't use the CD drive, and the installer's stripped down kernel probably wouldn't have been able to use USB storage. The quick and dirty solution? Floppies. I used tar to make a multi-volume archive onto 3 1/2" floppy disks. I copied about fifteen megs of data this way. Worked perfectly, and was far faster than any other solution my co-workers came up with.

The funny thing was that I only needed two disks. I just wrote the first disk, stuck it in the target machine and started extracting it. When the second disk was done writing, the first disk was done reading, so you swap the disks, starting to extract disk 2 on the target while overwriting the old disk1 with disk3 on the source.

Salute the humble floppy! They are your friends. Take care of them, and they'll take care of you.

-Ian
 
the floopy idea was posted already..

the floopy idea was posted already..

I would've added that to my post, but it was mentioned by someone in an earlier page of ideas.

I think the ZIP drive idea is easiest, because the TSR is only one *.EXE, and runs either by itself, or at the most, from an install the size of a floppy.

ZIP printer port drives are a dime a dozen at certain specialty computer stores and also junk stores, and you can get all the wires easily.

I loaded a ton of stuff on my DOS computer using a ZIP drive in parallel with a USB Zip drive and got Win 3.11 onto it, as well as other large things the quickest.

Divide 2MB by the bytes of either a 360K, 720K or a 1.44MB disk, wait..

Well crap I talked myself into a corner.



Kiyote!
 
I have been following this thread trying to think of an easy way to help this person. It just suddenly came to me. The answer is so simple I couldn't believe it when it came to me... Sometimes it's the simplest problems that elude us.

Take the 320k drive out of the XT and put it in your modern PC.

It's that easy. Oh, you may have to adjust the bios of the modern PC.

If you have the cable pictured in your first post then this will work fine.

You should look for a 360k drive (not 1.2mb as that will just cause unneeded problems) to permanently install in your modern PC.

There. That's it. I declare this thread answered. ;)

Disclaimer: I know the floppy was mentioned before but no one suggested taking the floppy from the XT and putting it in the modern PC leaving the floppy format differences unaddressed.
 
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