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Moving files around.

mbbrutman said:
I have a bit of a bias, but for me the solution is clearly networking:
  • FTP provides a standard way to move files around from a variety of systems On DOS you can use either an FTP client or server.
  • HTGet lets you download a file over HTTP from a web server.
  • SAMBA works if you want Microsoft-style file sharing, although it eats a lot of RAM.
  • EtherDFS does file-level sharing that is lighter than SAMBA
  • mTCP NetDrive is less about file movement and more about adding storage to a machine over the network.
Click to expand...

For me, it's a 2Mb machine, so I tried an 8 bit card, but WFW doesn't like 2Mb of memory and won't run up far enough to connect the network and run windows. Otherwise that would have been my plan.

Then I realized I am very unlikely to find a larger computer since even a 386sx/2Mb has huge specs compared to the rest of my collection.... But it is crippled with a plasma display, so it's quirky enough to fit my tastes.

I could serial-network, but would need to implement a SLIP line to my server, which while a long term objective isn't something I've implemented yet.

Now I'm looking towards some XT era tech, and got the ZIP, which works OK, but is a pain to move files from floppy to zip... Let alone if I needed to back up a zip disk.

So the USB suggestion earlier is a great one.
 
Twospruces said:
Fwiw, here is what I do.
I have a tweener PC running W98 that is able to run laplink via Parallel. The tweener has a network share that allows Laplink to access files from my main storage. The tweener also has old floppy drives if needed.
Click to expand...

Same here.
 
cj7hawk said:
For me, it's a 2Mb machine, so I tried an 8 bit card, but WFW doesn't like 2Mb of memory and won't run up far enough to connect the network and run windows. Otherwise that would have been my plan.

Then I realized I am very unlikely to find a larger computer since even a 386sx/2Mb has huge specs compared to the rest of my collection.... But it is crippled with a plasma display, so it's quirky enough to fit my tastes.

I could serial-network, but would need to implement a SLIP line to my server, which while a long term objective isn't something I've implemented yet.

Now I'm looking towards some XT era tech, and got the ZIP, which works OK, but is a pain to move files from floppy to zip... Let alone if I needed to back up a zip disk.

So the USB suggestion earlier is a great one.
Click to expand...

I'm having trouble understanding this. If it's a 2MB machine then don't run Windows on it. But an 8 bit Ethernet card is an entirely orthogonal matter, and DOS networking code will work fine in 256K. (And even better, depending on what you use it's only in memory while you use it.)
 
I have a MS-DOS system I run trumpet NFS on. Mount file shares from linux. Linux is also running SAMBA for the one windows box.
The footprint for NFS is pretty small and you can load hi if your system can do that.
 
mbbrutman said:
I'm having trouble understanding this. If it's a 2MB machine then don't run Windows on it. But an 8 bit Ethernet card is an entirely orthogonal matter, and DOS networking code will work fine in 256K. (And even better, depending on what you use it's only in memory while you use it.)
Click to expand...

I tried running network under DOS, but couldn't get TCP/IP running at all, and none of the machines I have could see it under MS network, though that could be either because I didn't set it up right, or because windows10 has a user identity fetish so that Microsoft can more accurately sell your data to people who shouldn't have it. Installing network drivers under windows was no problem, but windows would bomb out when I tried to run it so I could configure the network.

Are there any websites that detail the process of getting an older card up and running? I'm somewhat familiar with command line net configuration, but it's been so long since I did it, and there is so little instruction available to check it would be great to see how others have done this. Better still if I can get it running with an IP stack under DOS without having to run windows to configure it.

Thanks
David
 
Zare said:
Can this card boot from USB?
Click to expand...
stairwaytoretro said:
I've never done this myself, I only use it with FreddyV's driver loaded from config.sys, but it seems that it can be done with a specific BIOS ROM:
Click to expand...
I would recommend using HakFoo's BOOT ROM BIOS for booting from USB Flash drive, https://gitlab.com/hakfoo1/ch37x-bios

NOTE: A long time back the Chinese ISA-USB card was being tested by some members of this forum and it was found that the ' BOOT ROM socket ' did not work in some cards.
 
Small file floppy drive, larger files Ethernet or ZIP drive. I find burning CDs just for moving files wasteful. You can also just pull the HD and use an IDE dock to move files.
 
cj7hawk said:
I tried running network under DOS, but couldn't get TCP/IP running at all, and none of the machines I have could see it under MS network, though that could be either because I didn't set it up right, or because windows10 has a user identity fetish so that Microsoft can more accurately sell your data to people who shouldn't have it. Installing network drivers under windows was no problem, but windows would bomb out when I tried to run it so I could configure the network.

Are there any websites that detail the process of getting an older card up and running? I'm somewhat familiar with command line net configuration, but it's been so long since I did it, and there is so little instruction available to check it would be great to see how others have done this. Better still if I can get it running with an IP stack under DOS without having to run windows to configure it.

Thanks
David
Click to expand...

I think you are over-complicating it. Let me try to put the general idea in bullet points to make it clear and we can expand on anything needed.

For the DOS/retro PC (assumes a network card with packet drivers available and mTCP configured):
.Load packet driver
.Run mTCP's DHCP to get an IP
.Run mTCP's FTP or FTPSRV

Once you have all the above working they can be included in a simple batch file (of course run your own packet driver as per its instructions and the card's configuration), for example
Code: 
3C589PD.COM 0x60 5 0x300
DHCP
FTPSRV
Then each time you can just run eg. STARTNET.BAT and be ready in 10-15".

For the modern machine:
.Run any FTP client (if running FTP server on the retro PC) to connect and transfer files. Using FTP you don't need any MS networking
 
Malc said:
I would recommend using HakFoo's BOOT ROM BIOS for booting from USB Flash drive, https://gitlab.com/hakfoo1/ch37x-bios

NOTE: A long time back the Chinese ISA-USB card was being tested by some members of this forum and it was found that the ' BOOT ROM socket ' did not work in some cards.
Click to expand...

Yeah I figured out I'll need to flash and put in a ROM.
Good to know venues exist. Right now I'll use it as a supplement to move files.

konc said:
I think you are over-complicating it.
Click to expand...

1. Install a packet driver
2. Check whether the card actually works by PKTTOOL from mTCP distribution

That's it. Everything else is up to end-user application
 
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