Infrared compatability? (IRTalk, IRDA)
John Johnson
DaveC <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
> PowerBook 5300 has IRTalk interface. PowerBook G3 has IRDA interface.
>
> Do these protocols overlap at all?
Nope.
> I want to get some data between these but:
[snip-no ports in common]
I wonder if a USB-->serial adapter would allow you to share data. I've
never used one, so do not know.
Otherwise, it's possible that you could find a PCMCIA ethernet or modem
card that would fit the 5300 (check compatibility before purchase, the
card interface has also changed, IIRC).
Of course, you could use a third machine that had at least one
compatible port, should you have access to something.
Unless you really want to keep the 5300 for something, using the third
machine is likely the one-off solution, as it's not going to require you
to spend money or install anything.
Paul Fuchs
I moved from a 5300ce to an iMac Bondi. Two easy solutions, but both
cost money. Get an ethernet PC card for the 5300. I had a Dayna which
worked will. The GV ones, of course, work as well. Don't think any
other brands work with Macs.
Other solution is get two zip drives; a SCSI and a USB.
Both solutions should be cheap enough with judicious sniping on eBay.
--
paulfuchs at attglobal dot net
Sitting on a small rock (St. John) in the Caribbean
John Johnson
DaveC <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
> On Tue, 13 Apr 2004 14:08:13 -0700, John Johnson wrote
> (in article <null-250D5B.1...@newsclstr01.news.prodigy.com>):
>
> > Unless you really want to keep the 5300 for something, using the third
> > machine is likely the one-off solution, as it's not going to require you
> > to spend money or install anything.
>
> How can I upgrade the OS on the PB 5300? It has no CD-ROM drive. I've got
> scads of OS CD's, but no means for reading them with the 5300.
>
> Ideas?
>
Why upgrade the OS? Are you trying to solve a particular problem?
In any case, I think that Paul Fuchs' suggestion of a SCSI Zip drive has
merit. You can find the old ones with SCSI and parallel ports for pretty
cheap. Then you use another computer to load the disk images onto Zip
drives and assemble them on your 5300 before installing. Apple.com
carries pre-segmented disk-images (even floppy-sized images!) of OS
versions through 7.5.3 for free, IIRC.
If you're going looking, you might find an older Apple SCSI CD-ROM drive
(the Apple one has a few nice features, but many others will do just as
well). They're pretty rare, and SCSI can be un-fun to work with (though
that's not typically an issue with only one device), but if you have
access to one, great. My dad has gotten these things free from neighbors
sometimes: perfectly functional PowerMac 6100CD, SE-30, computer-table,
etc.
I take it then that you wish to continue to use the thing? If so, find
an ethernet card for it. It will make your life MUCH easier. If there's
a Mac User Group in your area, look them up and likely you'll find the
equipment that you want locally to borrow or to keep.
USENET Poster
m...@privacy.net wrote:
> How can I upgrade the OS on the PB 5300? It has no CD-ROM drive. I've got
> scads of OS CD's, but no means for reading them with the 5300.
> Ideas?
Option 1:
If you have another Macintosh equipped with LocalTalk ports (ie. those
small round serial ports), you can hook up your PowerBook 5300 to such a
Mac with a standard Apple Mac Serial Printer Cable) and proceed to install
the OS and other stuff in that fashion, although it will be
slowwwwwwwwwwww, due to the LocalTalk speed of networking. Instead of the
the serial cable, one could use LocalTalk adapters, if you have them lying
around.
I did this with my PowerBook 190 (the PB 5300's lesser sibling),
installing Mac OS 8.1 onto the 190 in this way using a Mac LC 475 and it's
external third party CD-ROM drive.
Option 2:
A better option would be to get an Ethernet card (PCMCIA) for your PB 5300
together with an Ethernet crossover cable to hook up to your other Mac
(assuming it too has Ethernet built in/added on).
For instance, I installed a Global Village 56K Fax/Modem/Ethernet/Cellular
combo card into my PB190. Got this GV card off of eBay for relatively
cheap. I flashed it to V.90 (for the Modem part of it). I've transferred
stuff to and from my PowerBook 190 to other ethernet equipped Macintosh
machines with no problem via Ethernet.
Option 3:
Get an external SCSI CD-ROM (preferably the Apple brand which Apple sold
back in the early to mid-90's), probably look for a 4X speed or better.
Get a PowerBook SCSI adapter, and a pass through terminator, and proceed
to install software in that fashion.
Personally, I'd go for either option 2 or option 3.
Joe Heimann
An alternative to the PC Card ethernet if you are comfortable opening up
your 5300 to install an internal card is the Focus MV16-EN card. It goes
in the internal expansion slot for the video out card and provides both
video out and 10BaseT ethernet. Data Memory Systems, www.datamem.com,
has some listed on their closeout page for $5 plus shipping.
> Option 3:
> Get an external SCSI CD-ROM (preferably the Apple brand which Apple sold
> back in the early to mid-90's), probably look for a 4X speed or better.
> Get a PowerBook SCSI adapter, and a pass through terminator, and proceed
> to install software in that fashion.
> Personally, I'd go for either option 2 or option 3.
Someone else mentioned possibly using an USB to serial adapter. That
should work okay to set up a serial protocol connection such as Zmodem.
It would not be enough to set up a LocalTalk connection though.
As for the external CD-Rom drives. Panasonic and Sony made external
SCSI drives that would work with the 5300 as well. I have a Sony 6X
for the PB190 I have, it works quite well with standard CD's, but has
some trouble with some CD-R's.
Joe Heimann
Spud Demon
>PowerBook 5300 has IRTalk interface. PowerBook G3 has IRDA interface.
>
> Only one has a modem
> Only one has ethernet
How about using the Internet?
Assuming you have a some kind of connection for the new one, you can pay $10
for a month of dialup to get the old one connected. If the files are small
enough, you can e-mail the HQX'ed files. For larger files you can use ICQ
or Personal Web Server if it will run on the old one.
Also, Apple.com sells external USB floppy drives for $36.95.
-- spud_demon -at- thundermaker.net
The above may not (yet) represent the opinions of my employer.