Internet on Apple IIGS Questions

[John A]

Hi!

I have an Apple IIGS with a Floppy Emu B, and 4 MB of ram.

Im kind of interested in connecting it to the internet at some point.

What would I buy or need to do this? Ive seen the Uthernet II, is that all I need?

And whats the best, most modern program for it to run (GUI wise)? I found Contiki, and Spectrum, Spectrum looks a lot more cleaner and modern...


Thanks for your help!

[John A]

Id also need System Software 6.0.3 too, right? I have 6.0.1 right now on Floppy Emu.

[bara...@gmail.com]

6.0.1 will work,its your choice. You will need the latest marinetti with a uii.or get a 56k modem and go dialup. Contiki is great, but 8bit. Youll find more flexibility with the 16 bit gsos also lookup gopher:// its slim and quick and no flash CSS or java. gopher://gopherpedia.com/1 is of note.
Not sure if spectrum can do gopher at this point.

[John A]

Thanks! Ill keep looking around.

[John A]

Does anyone know anything about using a raspberry pi to connect it to the internet? Ive been seeing a few things about that...

[David Schmidt]

On 5/29/2016 8:21 PM, John A wrote:
> Does anyone know anything about using a raspberry pi to connect it to the internet? Ive been seeing a few things about that...

Your journey starts here:
http://schmenk.is-a-geek.com/wordpress/?cat=10

[ultramagnus_tcv]

On 2016-05-30 00:21:53 +0000, John A said:

> Does anyone know anything about using a raspberry pi to connect it to
> the internet? Ive been seeing a few things about that...

The way I've done it:

1. You will need a IIGS Modem-port to DE-9 cable. You can make it or
buy it. I bought it. http://retrofloppy.com/products.html (Make sure
you choose the one for the IIGS.)

2. You'll need a USB to 9-pin adapter for your Pi. You don't have to
pay much for this but they're not that expensive anyway. I know the Pi
out of the box will support any Prolific chipset like the PL2303 which
is common. You can buy one from the same Retrofloppy link above.

After these two items, the next steps are based on what you want to accomplish.

BBSs: If you want to try your hand at old-timey-time BBSs, you'd
download and compile tcpser. This converts modem communications (like
Hayes AT-style commands) and allows you to "dial out" to BBSs. An
example would be, "ATDT bbs.fozztexx.com."
https://github.com/fozztexx/tcpser

Pi Shell: On the other hand, if you want to bring up your Pi's shell
prompt and use its built in tools to connect to things over the
Internet, that's fine too. Pretty much anything you'd be able to do
over SSH you'd be able to do from your IIGS. That would require setting
up getty on your Pi. I've done this less recently so I'd have to look
up how to do it.

Either is going to require a terminal program. I've been using Proterm
3.1 on my IIGS with the Null Modem Driver. There are others but I am
less familiar with them. Just recently I started using MODEM.MGR on a
//e which I find to be a bit easier to use once it's set up but
installing it was a little involved.

Do you have any sort of solid-state storage for your IIGS like the CFFA
3000? Or even a period hard drive?

m

[John A]

Wow, thanks!

I do have a Floppy Emu (As stated), which can be used as a smart port HD (Up to 4), or floppy disks. So its honestly exactly like a CFFA in HD terms.

[ultramagnus_tcv]

On 2016-05-30 00:43:03 +0000, John A said:

> I do have a Floppy Emu (As stated), which can be used as a smart port
> HD (Up to 4), or floppy disks. So its honestly exactly like a CFFA in
> HD terms.

That'll make things a lot easier. I have a CFFA3000 and the ability to
add or swap images on-the-fly makes things a lot easier.

I asked about the solid-state solution when I mentioned MODEM.MGR
because there's an installation process that requires you to make a
"Work Disk." The images I found of the Work Disk and Install Disk were
only partially set up. When I booted the Work Disk, it reported I had
to "Video Driver" installed. This meant I needed to create the Work
Disk properly via the Install Disk. This will be a lot easier with a
solid-state solution like Floppy Emu.

If you do want to try MODEM.MGR, I have a Work Disk image that's setup
for a Hayes 2400 Smartmodem. I can send it to you.

[John A]

Im fine for right now, but thanks! Im just trying to see my options for my GS right now, and Ill plan on getting it all up and connected later on.

One more quick question, as you've answered all my others ( :D ).
Would you (Or anyone) know the difference between the Uthernet and the Pi approach? They would both work out the about the same price with the Pi and the cords compared with the U.

[ultramagnus_tcv]

On 2016-05-30 01:17:26 +0000, John A said:

> Would you (Or anyone) know the difference between the Uthernet and the
> Pi approach? They would both work out the about the same price with the
> Pi and the cords compared with the U.

I imagine someone else is better suited to answer this question. In
general, I've found the serial approach more flexible, however I am
less familiar with programs available for the IIGS than other computers.

Having said that, I have an Uthernet II and have used it with both
Spectrum and Samurai. I suppose I could setup a telnet server on my Pi
and then use Spectrum to connect from GSOS to the Pi via the Uthernet
II card. I've done that yet. I should try it.

I don't know how much you're willing to spend on getting things set up
but if you can go both routes (serial and Uthernet II) that might be
preferable. That would give you a lot of projects to complete.

It's also worth noting that a number of these devices and cables and
parts are made by hobbyists in their spare time. In other words, while
the Uthernet II and the items from Retrofloppy are available now
there's no guarantee they'll be available in the future. If you don't
have the capacity to make these items yourself (save for the USB to
serial adapter) it might be useful to buy both.

[John A]

Well, Im not planning on waiting a year or anything! Just maybe a couple of months...

Well, hopefully, say if the cables from retro are not made then, then the uthernet will be available, or vise versa :)



Thank you for your help!

[bara...@gmail.com]

Re diffrence between the iigs gettig On the net by itself or by using the horsepower.id like to refer to the youtube of the man who removed the engine from his Citroen 2cv and put in a ferrari v8 .its certainly not orginal but rather more capable.Its totally upto you.when it comes to computers,I dont like cheating...to cars im happy with a bigger engine....as long as the outside looks the same.

Monday, May 30, 2016 at 4:19:40 AM UTC+10, John A wrote:

[6502en...@gmail.com]

Hi,

I can only speak for the Apple II+ and IIe - here I use the Uthernet (IIe) and the Raspberry PI (II+): with the Uthernet you can surf the internet and in your network with a software like hmail server you are able to send emails - but with the PI you can use f.e. alpine and connect it to all the email addresses you have.
So if you wanna have an email solution I would suggest the PI.

... mh at the end using both solutions is the best way - then you have the 68 HEMI and the high end nowadays Mercedes engine :-)

[John A]

Thanks, again, Ill just see what options are available when I do choose to start connecting it to the internet.

Does anyone know if I need the disk for Spectrum Internet Suite and Marinetti?

[ultramagnus_tcv]

On 2016-05-30 12:13:32 +0000, 6502en...@gmail.com said:

> I can only speak for the Apple II+ and IIe - here I use the Uthernet
> (IIe) and the Raspberry PI (II+): with the Uthernet you can surf the
> internet and in your network with a software like hmail server you are
> able to send emails - but with the PI you can use f.e. alpine and
> connect it to all the email addresses you have.

What does "surf the Internet" mean in this context? Web browsing?

m

[John A]

I would assume so...

[6502en...@gmail.com]

(...)

> > What does "surf the Internet" mean in this context? Web browsing?

(...)

Yes, with the Uthernet I use the contiki web browser - but here the Apple II has to built up every internet page - so it is not as fast as the PI with lynx ...

[Steve Nickolas]

If you want a slightly more modern option on the Rpi end, there should be
links2 and elinks as on normal Debian... ;)

-uso.

[6502en...@gmail.com]

Does links2 work with Proterm or Kermit on the Apple IIe or II+ ?

[Steve Nickolas]

On Mon, 30 May 2016, 6502en...@gmail.com wrote:

> Does links2 work with Proterm or Kermit on the Apple IIe or II+ ?
>

It works with Apple Access, at least.

-uso.

[Ewen]

John A <typewrit...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks, again, Ill just see what options are available when I do
> choose to start connecting it to the internet.
> Does anyone know if I need the disk for Spectrum Internet Suite
> and Marinetti?

It depends on what you want to do. For the majority of native IIgs
applications that access the Internet, you need to have Marinetti
installed.

Spectrum is available in various versions, but I would suggest the
latest Spectrum Gold disk image.

With Spectrum, you can access Telnet, and run the basic web browser SIS.

Other applications you might want are SAFE2, to access FTP servers, SNAP
to access usenet servers, and if you have POP3 mail access, then SAM2
will let you read and send your email.

All but SIS, can be accessed from my web server: http://speccie.uk

For SIS: http://www.gwlink.net/sis/

Cheers - Ewen

[John A]

When I go to the SIS site, on downloads, there is no disk image, just the source which I would then need that assembler disk. Is there one online somewhere?

[Alex Lee]

Hi there!

Simply download ‘Speccies IIgs Starter Kit from here:

http://wannop.myzen.co.uk/software/index.php/category/disk_archives/

Mount that with the FloppyEmu, and you’re all set. It’ll boot by itself
and it’s preconfigured with Marinetti, the TCP/IP stack for the IIGS,
as well as all of Ewen Wannop’s apps for FTP, Mail and Usenet.

Then download the Spectrum Gold disk image found here:

http://wannop.myzen.co.uk/software/index.php/category/spectrum/

which you can install onto the Speccies IIGS Starter Kit image, if it’s
not installed there already.

Spectrum is the ultimate Telnet client for the IIGS - you can log into
ANSI based BBSs with it - just like the good old days.

Then go to http://telnetbbsguide.com to find out what BBSs are
accessible via Telnet, and go check em out on the IIGS using Spectrum.
It’s cool. Back like the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

- Alex
http://www.whatisthe2gs.apple2.org.za

[D Finnigan]

John A wrote:
>
> When I go to the SIS site, on downloads, there is no disk image, just the
> source which I would then need that assembler disk. Is there one online
> somewhere?
>

Pre-compiled binary of the Spectrum Internet Suite:
http://macgui.com/downloads/?file_id=25490&keywords=sis%20built


--
]DF$
The Marina IP stack for Apple II--
http://marina.a2hq.com/

[John A]

Thats what I was looking for everyone, thank you!

[John A]

Could I use a serial cord to something that would fit into my router? That ways it could plug into the modem port...

[John A]

On Friday, June 3, 2016 at 4:33:22 PM UTC-4, John A wrote:
> Could I use a serial cord to something that would fit into my router? That ways it could plug into the modem port...

Like this?

http://imgur.com/cnIxMNo