hundt@samadams.princeton.edu (Tom Hundt) (11/02/90)
Hi,
I'm a PC/Unix user who's recently been given an entree into the Mac
world, in the form of an ancient "original" Mac, with the 512k
upgrade ("Fat Mac", I guess it's called). Predictably, I have a
zillion questions, and would *really* appreciate some answers...
(technical == great) The basic question being, "What can be done
with it?"
Mac models: Confusion here. "Classic" Mac seems to refer to the
latest model! What are the important differences between:
"original" Mac, Classic, SE, Plus, IIe, and Extra Crispy. PC
Warehouse refers to Mac 512KE and 512E in their catalog: is this
what I have? (Seems to me I need a ROM upgrade. Is this
possible? Where to get new ones to swap out?)
How to do you tell what version a System is? My Finders seem to
be 1.1 (pretty funny, I know) and 4.1 (more reasonable). What is
the latest version that will run on my machine? (Seems that 6.0.7
won't even *fit* on a 400k floppy! :-)
Adding a hard disk -- what are possibilities? HyperDrive? There
is no SCSI port; can it be added?
Can I put in an 800k floppy drive?
Printers: does anybody use something like an Epson with a Mac?
What's the pinout of the serial ports on back (printer, modem)?
I'd like to construct a serial cable.
What is FDHD? (File system format?)
What are the possibilities for using a PC to store files, as sort
of a file server? Easiest way to transfer?
Downloading: Mac seems to use a format called StuffIt and BinHex.
Do you need anything else (e.g., to move stuff into various forks
of a file?) (PCs just require a file to be downloaded, then
possibly converted from ASCII to binary, then possibly
de-archived/uncompressed. Is there anything special needed for
Mac executables?) What are some standard FTP sites for Mac?
Any and all answers/advice/warnings would be really appreciated.
Right now, the machine is serving as an entertainment device for
guests to my apartment -- it's a lot more compact than a real
Missile Command machine. I'd like to make real use of it.
Thanks,
-Tom Hundt
Thomas Hundt // hundt@samadams.princeton.edu // hundt@occlusal.rutgers.edu
201/539-4054 h // 201/326-6935 w // 19 Max Dr #7B, Morristown NJ 07960russotto@eng.umd.edu (Matthew T. Russotto) (11/02/90)
In article <4168@rossignol.Princeton.EDU> hundt@samadams.princeton.edu (Tom Hundt) writes: >Hi, > >Mac models: Confusion here. "Classic" Mac seems to refer to the >latest model! What are the important differences between: >"original" Mac, Classic, SE, Plus, IIe, and Extra Crispy. PC >Warehouse refers to Mac 512KE and 512E in their catalog: is this >what I have? (Seems to me I need a ROM upgrade. Is this >possible? Where to get new ones to swap out?) No, you have a Mac 512 (no E-- the K is irrelevant). You probably want a ROM upgrade to the 128K ROMS (that's the E), and a RAM upgrade to no less than 1MB (2MB better) to do much with modern applications-- if you want to tool around with MacPaint, MacWrite, and Microsoft Word 1.05, you can stick with what you have. >How to do you tell what version a System is? My Finders seem to >be 1.1 (pretty funny, I know) and 4.1 (more reasonable). What is >the latest version that will run on my machine? (Seems that 6.0.7 >won't even *fit* on a 400k floppy! :-) Finder 4.1 is reasonable-- use the appropriate system version. I believe the last version of the system that will run on that mac is System 4.2 (Finder 5.0) >Adding a hard disk -- what are possibilities? HyperDrive? There >is no SCSI port; can it be added? Yes-- I believe there are kits available with SCSI port, 128K roms, and more memory, even. >Can I put in an 800k floppy drive? Yes. >What is FDHD? (File system format?) 1.44 MB almost-universal disk drive. Can't add it to your mac, except as an external from third parties (Apple's external won't work) >Downloading: Mac seems to use a format called StuffIt and BinHex. >Do you need anything else (e.g., to move stuff into various forks >of a file?) (PCs just require a file to be downloaded, then >possibly converted from ASCII to binary, then possibly >de-archived/uncompressed. Is there anything special needed for >Mac executables?) What are some standard FTP sites for Mac? MacBinary (format on many BBSs) is handled by most communications programs. Ascii (hqx) to Binary can be handled by Binhex or Stuffit. Decompression is handled by Stuffit, Stuffit Classic(Deluxe), or Compactor. (note that these may not run on your 64K ROMS) sumex-aim.stanford.edu is the most popular of mac FTP sites. Problem is, when you do all these upgrades, you may be paying more than you would pay for a new mac.... -- Matthew T. Russotto russotto@eng.umd.edu russotto@wam.umd.edu Tax the rich, and feed the poor -- until there are, rich no more.