weigele@bosun1.informatik.uni-hamburg.de (Martin Weigele) (02/14/91)
After eventually having reached the buy decision, I am now in the business of having to deal with silly cable standards of the new otherwise much more reasonable machines (i.e., non-standards). The name SCSI-2 to SCSI-1 doesn't mean much to most hardware shops. I was even told the name is ill-chosen, because these standards do not specify the connectors(?) or at least not the NeXt ones. The NeXT documentation gives the wiring but does not state which exactly are the norm names of the connectors, for making ones own cable. My dealer can't get any cables, apparently a widespread experience. Other manufacturers' names or connector specifications anyone? The easy one seems Centronics(?). A similar story are the serial connectors. Apparently Macintosh cables might work. Has anyone verified this? Even though one can sometimes get Mini-DIN-8 connectors, it would be nicer to have a manufactured cable because these tiny connectors make soldering unpleasant. Martin
madler@pooh.caltech.edu (Mark Adler) (02/15/91)
>> The name SCSI-2 to SCSI-1 doesn't mean much to most hardware shops. The name "Sparc" does, which uses that same connector (I suppose it was chosen for its small size). >> A similar story are the serial connectors. Apparently Macintosh >> cables might work. Has anyone verified this? If you just want ground, serial in and serial out, any Mac serial cable will do. If you want modem control for dial-in (DTR and DCD wired correctly), then some Mac serial cables will work. Check against the zs(4) man page for DIN pins 1 through 5 wired as listed. If you want modem control and hardware flow control, then *no* Mac serial cable will work. Wire your own as per zs(4) (DIN pins 1-6 and 8), or wait for NeXTconnection to get them in stock ((800)800-NEXT). I got the impression from them that it would be a while. Mark Adler madler@pooh.caltech.edu
cs4ed3ap@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Tyldesley A) (02/21/91)
>If you want modem control and hardware flow control, then *no* Mac serial >cable will work. Wire your own as per zs(4) (DIN pins 1-6 and 8), or wait >for NeXTconnection to get them in stock ((800)800-NEXT). I got the >impression from them that it would be a while. > >Mark Adler >madler@pooh.caltech.edu This is partially true, no off the shelf mac modem cable seems to be wired for RTS/CTS. The trick though is, an imagewriter 2 cable has all 8 pins wired through. I bought one of these for 15 bucks (note: all prices Canadian you should be able to get it for less in the US) then stopped by at Radio Shack and got a DB-25 end kit for 6 bucks. It works fine, the only dealer I found that had a modem cable that supported flow control wanted $60 for it! By the way you can make 2 cables doing it this way since the cable has minidin-8's on both ends. Andrew
madler@kanga.caltech.edu (Mark Adler) (02/23/91)
Andrew Tyldesley writes: >> the only dealer I found >> that had a modem cable that supported flow control wanted $60 for it! when he was looking for a serial cable for the NeXT with RTS, CTS, and everything else properly wired. NeXTconnection (800)800-NEXT sells them for $19, which is almost reasonable. The ones they have now are gray, but they'll be getting black ones soon. I did the same thing Andrew did, which was find some cheap Mac serial cables (I got some at an Egghead Clearance Store for $5 each), cut the end off, and wired my own DB-25. When you do that, it doesn't matter how the cable used to wired, of course. Mark Adler madler@pooh.caltech.edu
datran2 (02/23/91)
In article <27C2E5DE.6775@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca> cs4ed3ap@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Tyldesley A) writes: >>If you want modem control and hardware flow control, then *no* Mac serial >>cable will work. Wire your own as per zs(4) (DIN pins 1-6 and 8), or wait >>for NeXTconnection to get them in stock ((800)800-NEXT). I got the >>impression from them that it would be a while. Thats odd. I just bought two. They had some local outfit making them up. A very professional job with a molded end DIN for $28 and they shipped in two days. It was grey 8^( which might displease purists, but I keep the cables out of sight anyway. Steve -- #====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====# # Steve Boker # "Badgers, we don't have no stinking badgers" # # smb@data.com # -from Treasure of the Sierra Madre Zoo # #====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#
cs4ed3ap@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Tyldesley A) (03/01/91)
In article <1991Feb22.170758.2792@csn.org!datran2> smb@csn.org!datran2 writes: >In article <27C2E5DE.6775@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca> cs4ed3ap@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Tyldesley A) writes: >>>If you want modem control and hardware flow control, then *no* Mac serial >>>cable will work. Wire your own as per zs(4) (DIN pins 1-6 and 8), or wait >>>for NeXTconnection to get them in stock ((800)800-NEXT). I got the >>>impression from them that it would be a while. > >Thats odd. I just bought two. They had some local outfit making them >up. A very professional job with a molded end DIN for $28 and they >shipped in two days. It was grey 8^( which might displease purists, >but I keep the cables out of sight anyway. > >Steve > Hey, hold on here Steve. Some how my name has gotten associated with someone elses words. I didn't write any of the above. My posting stated the opposite explaining how one could use an Imagewriter 2 cable to make two hardware flow control capable modem cables. Andrew
ogawa@orion.arc.nasa.gov (Arthur Ogawa) (03/02/91)
In article <27CD581B.12634@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca> cs4ed3ap@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Tyldesley A) writes: |In article <1991Feb22.170758.2792@csn.org!datran2> smb@csn.org!datran2 writes: |>In article <27C2E5DE.6775@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca> cs4ed3ap@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Tyldesley A) writes: |>>>If you want modem control and hardware flow control, then *no* Mac serial |>>>cable will work. I believe there is an innaccuracy here. There _IS_ a cable for Mac that supports hardware flow control: it is made by Hayes. I'm using one right now with my T2500 ;-) And it does provide for hardware flow control. Presumably there are other cables that do this as well.