Recently, I’ve been following through on my previous notes on how to build a serial cable to connect a Macintosh SE to a PC via a null modem serial cable. Indeed, the devil is in the details! I didn’t realize the first time upon discovering those sources that the original Macintosh didn’t support full hardware handshaking, but later ones did, and this resulted in some early software having bugs whereby it doesn’t manage the handshaking status lines. So, that one really threw me off with three potential decisions to make on how to wire up a Macintosh Classic serial cable. Oh, and the fact that there is no easy way to wire up the much needed critical DCD signal, unlike is the case with the Apple IIc Plus. Initially, I planned on this scheme for my use:
- Tie RTS & CTS together on the PC-side.
- Wire DCD to DTR on the PC-side.
But, after having worked with the serial cable for a little while and learned a bit more about the software, I decided it makes the most sense to wire up the cable with full hardware handshaking. Why is this? Luckily, when you are controlling the other end of a serial port via a computer, it is very easy to reconfigure how your computer interacts with the serial interface. You can enable and disable hardware handshaking at your pleasing. Got a program that is being uncooperative with hardware handshaking wired up and enabled? Simply disable hardware handshaking in software, no need to cut wires.
So, using that plan, I resoldered the generic, definitely non-Macintosh cable that I previously mentioned to the designated variation of a Macintosh to PC null modem cable. Because I am a soldering novice, the first time through, I made the mistake of trying to solder with some wires cut shorter than others, by quite a bit. (More specifically, the commercially soldered wires were left at full length.) That was pretty hard to solder and did not work out well, so I had to come back and redo it a second time, with the wires cut to be closer to all the same length. Better, but because I was lazy about cutting the wires, I still had some length variation that made the cable a bit less optimal, but overall I got much better results.
Finally, if you do so desire, I’ve devised a cable that is also an “Apple printer cable” that can be used to connect up printers, or a virtual printer via a PC on the other end of the null modem if you will. And it also is plug-compatible for use as a null modem serial cable for the Apple IIc Plus. I’ve tested it, and it also works great there. The main change (compared to the Apple II Disk Transfer ProDOS specifications) is how DCD is wired, which only has an effect on the PC-side, not the Apple computer side. One cable design, many vintage computer equipment supported.
Okay, so I thought that getting the cable soldered was hard, but wow, looking more into the details on what software to install on the Macintosh Classic side for terminal access, I had yet to see the end of the maze.
My first choice on serial software is Kermit. Yes, Kermit is the software of choice if you want to perform some sort of serial communications file transfer on an old 1980s vintage computer, which was exactly what this is. But… reading into Kermit further, I found out that there is a considerable culture divide. Kermit, despite supporting a large number of different computers, was, in fact, never really largely used by most computer users. The original scope of Kermit use was for connections between mainframe and PC microcomputers, like that which was found at Columbia University. Who ever had mainframe computers, anyways? Unilaterally, this was large “institutions,” such as universities, governments, banks, or enterprise companies, of which there relatively few that actually had “mainframe” computers compared to today. (Read “mainframe” = “cloud” of today.) Also, relatively speaking, there were proportionally a lot more “computer hobbyists” back then than there are today. That is, although the number is less than that of today, the proportion set them as virtually the “dominant” type of computer user in the 1980s, of which very few ever had access to a mainframe computer of the time.
So, to be more specific, the world of computer networking in the 1980s was cleaved distinctively into two different camps: the “institutional” camp and the “hobbyist” camp. Each of these camps had their own cultures, their own views, and ultimately didn’t really communicate much between each other. So, reading into all of this, I realize that Kermit is really outside the side of the computer world that I am trying to target and stay close to. That is, the traditional 1980s hobbyist computer user.
Also, reading further into Kermit, I realize that although Kermit did make a version for Windows called Kermit 95, apparently this never really caught on among your typical Windows user. How do I come to this conclusion? First off, the software was sold with a fee, and it had to introduce itself by asking the question “Why would you use Kermit 95 instead of one of the other options?” And that’s just it. Your typical Windows user had other less expensive options that they used every time except for those few times where they actually needed a feature specific to Kermit 95.
Ultimately, the picture painted of networking among the hobbyist computer is this. In the 1980s, the dominant form of networking was by means of Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs). These involved setting up PC microcomputers connected through modems, so naturally all communication was by means of serial communications. In the BBS world, the dominant protocols for file transfer that emerged were XMODEM, YMODEM, and ZMODEM. Although Kermit was sometimes supported, these implementations tended to be low-quality third party ones, which caused Kermit to develop an indelible reputation of being “slow” among those of the BBS world. So, no Kermit file transfers if you want to be politically correct down to the party line of the BBS world, ZMODEM is the way to go.
Also, in case you are wondering about Apple II Kermit, yes there is one out there, but compared to Apple Disk Transfer (ADT) ProDOS, it is definitely much harder to setup if you are just getting started with an Apple II, like I was when I bought my first Apple II first and foremost for the sake of using it with ADT ProDOS. ADT ProDOS was definitely a timesaver for me to transfer 800K Macintosh Classic floppy disk images to modern PCs. (PC floppy disk hardware cannot read 800K Apple floppy disks due to the zone recording technique they employ to boost the capacity from the PC double-density floppy disk limit of 720 KB to 800 KB.) But, if you have your Apple II already all setup, and you want to transfer individual files rather than whole disk images, Apple II Kermit may be the way to go.
20190516/http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/mac.html
20190516/http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/k95.html
20190516/http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/mskermit.html
20190516/http://www.kermitproject.org/k95sourcecode.html
20190516/http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/appleii.html
20190516/ftp://kermit.columbia.edu/kermit/a/apple.doc
20190516/http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/ck90.html
20190516/http://www.kermitproject.org/
20190516/http://www.kermitproject.org/kermit.html
20190516/http://www.kermitproject.org/kermit.html#controversy
The Wikipedia article on Kermit is severely out-of-date.
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kermit_%28protocol%29
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XMODEM
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZMODEM
So, all that being said, off to looking at a Macintosh Classic ZMODEM tool it is. And indeed, I found some good ones… almost. But, yes, definitely like I was saying, these appear to have been much more widely used at the time than was the case for Macintosh Kermit, which never reached a full version 1.0, staying a perpetual beta. ZTerm looks to be the way to go, but it does not support Macintosh System 6, which I happen to have installed to a hard drive of my particular Macintosh SE as it is. Sure, I can install Macintosh System 7 on it, but let’s save the more invasive changes until after I figure out how to copy a full disk image of this classic Macintosh.
- UPDATE: ZTerm does work on Macintosh System 6, read on for details.
20190516/DuckDuckGo zmoden macintosh
20190516/http://www.macintoshrepository.org/156-zmodem-tool
20190516/DuckDuckGo ymodem macintosh
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZTerm
20190516/http://dalverson.com/zterm/
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_7
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_6
Kermit, by contrast, claims that it should work on all versions of Mac OS Classic.
But, I am undeterred. I’m still looking to see if there really is a Macintosh Classic terminal emulator that works on System 6, one that is more into the Macintosh hobbyist computing mindset than Kermit.
Failed search.
20190516/DuckDuckGo macintosh classic system 6 serial modem
On the other hand, I did find this useful article on Macintosh serial throughput. So, are you looking for a good fastest baud rate to get started with? Start with 28.8 kbps. If that works, see if you can go up to 57.6 kbps. To go faster, you may need to install FreePPP, which basically removes some hard-coded operating system limits on serial port speed. BUT, please note, as we discuss later, that FreePPP requires at least a 68020 processor and System 7.1, so that means no “128k, 512k, Plus, SE, or Classic.”
20190516/http://lowendmac.com/1998/macintosh-serial-throughput/
20190516/http://www.mac.org/internet/freeppp/
In particular, running System 7 on an old Macintosh will slow down your serial port throughput. So, that means “no ZTerm for me.” (Please note we will describe ZTerm on System 6 later.) If you get some errors at 28.8 kbps, you may need to slow down to 19.2 kbps. If you want the full speed for the higher speeds, make sure you don’t use your floppy disk drive, hard drive, or CPU intensive software during the transfer. If possible and necessary, copy your files to be transferred to a RAM drive first.
20190516/http://lowendmac.com/1999/real-world-mac-serial-throughput/
Now, let’s segway into another important topic to discuss, then we’ll come back to our first subject at hand. It seems there’s a relative shortage of Macintosh networking software, why is that? Well, when I think about this, I want to say that most Macintosh users weren’t really concerned about connecting to the Internet. The reason for the shortage of software and knowledge is not so much the technical capabilities of the machine, but the typical desires of end computer uesrs. My undertanding is that most early Macintosh users used the Macintosh computer solely for WYSIWYG document editing and printing. For that, the combination of a Apple LaserWriter laser printer connected to an AppleTalk network to share with multiple Macintosh computers was extremely popular. Such a setup could easily be built into a single shared computer lab room, not to mention that this was extremely popular.
So, now for the lowdown on AppleTalk. The physical implementation of AppleTalk is termed LocalTalk. This is basically a very simple splitter device with automatic electrical termination that is inserted into the printer serial port of a Macintosh computer. It creates a single twisted-pair shared communication bus connected in a daisy chain manner. At the outset, this of course is only useful for local area networks. The addition of router and bridge equipment is needed to scale up to Internet proportions. As I understand it, though there were a few early incarnations of such dedicated equipment for AppleTalk networks, by far and large, by the time Macintosh users were interested in connecting to the Internet, which didn’t happen until a few years later, twisted pair Ethernet was already gaining a considerable foothold.
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AppleTalk
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LocalTalk
Aha! Now we’re making progress. Comet is a terminal emulator program designed with old black and white Macintoshes in mind. Alas, I get led to a broken link! Luckily, I was able to find a copy on other sites.
20190516/DuckDuckGo macintosh classic terminal emulator
20190516/DuckDuckGo macintosh classic remote terminal
20190516/http://www.macorchard.com/classic/#terminal
broken/ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/info-mac/comm/inet/comet-311.hqx
20190516/DuckDuckGo comet-311.hqx
20190516/Google comet-311.hqx
20190516/https://www.info-mac.org/viewtopic.php?t=5997
20190516/https://www.applefritter.com/node/15166
Okay, but I’m still looking for more information. Maybe there is yet a better terminal emulation solution for classic Macintosh System 6.
20190516/DuckDuckGo macintosh classic terminal login
Oh, here we have some vague discussion on the forum of ways in which some people connect up their classic Macintosh to modern computers, but nothing in enough detail for me to figure out how they are doing it.
20190516/https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/easiest-way-to-transfer-files-to-macintosh-classic.1658488/
20190516/DuckDuckGo macintosh classic serial terminal unix
Whoa, now this one is it, the big find.
First we have this great page with links out to other Macintosh information reference pages regarding networking and Internet on the m68k classic Macintosh.
20190516/https://www.jagshouse.com/MacClassic.html
From here, there is a rudimentary information page on getting your Macintosh on the web with System 7 and 2.5 MB of RAM, useful but not particularly so, given the statement about System 7 being slower than System 6. And, of course, the fact that 2.5 MB of RAM is quite restrictive in terms of supported classic Macintosh models. Software to keep in mind: MacTCP, MacPPP, Config PPP, GifWatcher, GifConverter, MacWeb, and Eudora.
20190516/https://web.archive.org/web/20001212061400/http://jagshouse.com/classic.html#web%20kit
Here is yet another useful page on ZTerm, again advocating that you need at least System 7 to run it.
20190516/https://web.archive.org/web/20020108014553/http://www.pclan.calpoly.edu/User_Guides/commsuite/zterm.htm
Again, if you really have the far-end of a somewhat high-end classic Macintosh, these are some useful tips for running the newest possible Netscape web browser that hardware can support.
20190516/https://web.archive.org/web/20010309022422/http://www.jagshouse.com/browsingtips.html
20190516/https://web.archive.org/web/20010309141621/http://www.jagshouse.com/browsers.html
Here is another page confirming some expected serial communication (modem) speeds you can have with a classic Macintosh. Again, around 19.2 kbps and 28.8 kbps.
Also note that the original Macintosh 128K does not have enough RAM to run a TCP/IP PPP Internet connection. But, it’s good news that all newer Macintoshes are capable of running the TCP/IP PPP stack. That simply gives you a lot more software to choose from for your networking needs.
20190516/https://www.jagshouse.com/MacPlusModem.html
Ah, yes! This is it! The repository ne ultra of classic Macintosh tips and tricks for getting on the Internet. This has virtually all the information you could ever need.
20190516/https://web.archive.org/web/20000903002651/http://www.sjoki.uta.fi/~shmhav/
20190516/https://web.archive.org/web/20000904173135if_/http://www.sjoki.uta.fi:80/~shmhav/68000.txt
20190516/https://web.archive.org/web/20000828060013if_/http://www.sjoki.uta.fi:80/~shmhav/mac-internet-faq.txt
-
System 6.0.7 is probably the fastest and best. System 6.0.8 includes System 7 printer drivers which are not as fast as the System 6 printer drivers used by System 6.0.7. (But if you need to use a System 7 printer, go with System 6.0.8 for sure.)
-
You can in fact run ZTerm 1.0.1 on System 6. In fact, you can run ZTerm (“zterm-10b3.hqx” = ZTerm 1.0b3?) on a computer with only 1 MB of RAM, so this includes the Macintosh Plus and newer. Or, alternatively, the only major Macintosh models excluded are the Macintosh 128K, Macintosh 512K, and Macintosh 512Ke. You are probably going to want to strip the fat binaries so they only include m68k code when running on older Macintoshes.
Purportedly, according to a later link I note on System 6 Internet, ZTerm can in fact run on the Macintosh 512, though you might need to specifically use version 0.09 for this (???).
-
Black Night is another terminal emulator. I’m not sure if it works on System 6 with 1 MB of RAM like ZTerm does. Maybe not, it is designed with AppleScript scriptability in mind.
20190516/DuckDuckGo black night terminal emulator
20190516/DuckDuckGo black night macintosh terminal emulator
20190516/https://www.files32.com/Black-Night-i75818.asp
20190516/https://web.archive.org/web/20020220051823/http://www.kagi.com/raine/x-bn-desc.html
20190516/https://web.archive.org/web/20011227225254/http://www.kagi.com/raine/x-bn-vers.html -
Kermit is mentioned, of course! Purportedly, according to the Macintosh Kermit documentation (mentioned earlier), Macintosh Kermit will work with all Macintosh System Software versions.
-
Some notable TCP/IP client software: NCSA Telnet, NCSA Mosaic, MacLynx, MacWeb, MacWWW, Fetch (ftp client), UULite (uucoder), uuUndo (uudecoder).
-
Public Folder 1.01 allows System 6 Macintoshes to also be file servers.
-
Basic Black is a minimal screensaver.
-
Again, I reiterate, because this is important! Disinfectant is a must-have when working with downloaded software in a classic Macintosh environment.
-
You can install support for TrueType fonts on System 6.
Here is more specific information on connecting a System 6 Macintosh to the Internet. The required software versions are pre-packed into three archives that you download.
20190516/DuckDuckGo macintosh system 6 modem software
20190516/https://www.jagshouse.com/internet_on_system_6.html
Also note that RedRyder is another great old terminal emulator for the Macintosh. It will work on the Macintosh 512K.
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Ryder_%28software%29
Please note that FreePPP requires at least a 68020 processor and System 7.1, so that means no “128k, 512k, Plus, SE, or Classic.”
20190516/https://www.jagshouse.com/internetfaq.html
Now, this is really it if you want to do things the Linux way. Alan Cox discussing his journey on how to get Linux running on a Macintosh II. Of course, because the Macintosh SE does not have an MMU, I can’t run Linux on my Macintosh… or can I? Come on, there are Linux variants that do not require an MMU. Surely, I could run ELKS or uCLinux, couldn’t I? But, the point in hand here. Using Kermit to transfer files to your Macintosh is definitely a good Unix-style way of doing the file transfers, although it is not so much in the hobbyist and BBS style of file transfer.
Also, indeed there still is good hardware information on the Linux m68k website.
20190516/https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/2996
20190516/DuckDuckGo ? <lost search string>
20190516/http://www.mac.linux-m68k.org/devel/plushw.php
20190516/http://www.mac.linux-m68k.org/status/MAC_MODEL_SE30.php
20190516/http://www.mac.linux-m68k.org/docs/faq.php#sec-4.5
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embeddable_Linux_Kernel_Subset
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9CClinux
Here is more information on setting up Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) on your GNU/Linux server-side. Good news, setting up PPP is pretty easy if you have a direct serial link, just as follows. Use these commands on your PPP server (a.k.a. “modern modem”).
alias ppp="exec /usr/sbin/pppd -detach"
pppd -detach lock proxyarp <local IP>:<remote IP> /dev/ttyS3 38400 &
Here, I am omitting crtscts so that we do not require hardware
handshaking. And, surprise surprise, PPP login is quite mundane.
Literally, it is just built on top of the traditional Unix login
prompt, the client searches for the “login:” prompt string and then
uses that to automatically fill in the username and password as
provided by the GUI on the Macintosh (or Windows PC!) side. That
being said, the HOWTO recommends after login, set your client to run a
ppp command alias that we’ve defined previously, and you’re all set!
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point-to-point_protocol
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point-to-Point_Protocol_over_Ethernet
20190516/DuckDuckGo linux ppp howto
20190516/http://tldp.org/HOWTO/PPP-HOWTO/
20190516/http://tldp.org/HOWTO/PPP-HOWTO/x1577.html
20190516/http://tldp.org/HOWTO/PPP-HOWTO/direct.html
SLIP is an older and less powerful protocol similar to PPP, sometimes preferred due to its simplicity.
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_Line_Internet_Protocol
The Serial HOWTO, may contain some useful information.
20190516/http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Serial-HOWTO.html
Now, here is the lowdown on Mac OS versions and other useful software that can be run on the oldest of Macintoshes.
-
System 1-4 were not originally released with clear names.
-
System 3 is the newest version that is recommended to work well on the Macintosh 128K.
-
System 4 was distributed on 800K floppy disks, officially dropping support for the Macintosh 128K and 512K, although you might still be able to boot the Macintosh 512K into the newer operating systems by way of a hard disk.
-
System 2 introduced AppleTalk and LaserWriter drivers.
-
System 2.1 introduced support for the incompatible, proprietary Macintosh Hard Disk 20, and a preliminary HFS that was only supported in-RAM. Therefore, Macintosh Hard Disk 20 is a good target for me to write custom software to support creating a backup image of the data from.
-
System 3 officially implemented HFS, and also introduced 800K floppy disks, SCSI, and AppleShare. Hence the name “Hard Disk 20SC” of later Macintosh hard disks.
-
System 4.0 added support for Apple Desktop Bus (ADB), expansion slots, and the Macintosh SE in general.
-
System 4.1 added features specific to the Macintosh II such as external color displays and the Motorola 68020 processor.
-
System 5 introduced the MultiFinder.
-
System 6 is a roll-up version that includes various features and functions of previous versions all rolled into one.
-
System 7 introduced many major new features, at the expense of requiring a considerably more powerful minimum machine configuration to run on. 2.5+ MB of RAM, 32-bit clean addressing, virtual memory, TrueColor displays, TrueType fonts, MacTCP networking stack built-in, AppleScript, a persistent Trash that does not automatically empty itself, and so on. It is also basically the last version to support the m68k family of Macintoshes.
-
Mac OS 8 and Mac OS 9 transition into the PowerPC world.
-
Mac OS X is the last Mac OS version to support PowerPC, with the transition to Intel happening during this OS version. There are many versions of Mac OS X with key differences along the way, not worth detailing for the purposes of this discussion.
-
OS X was a short-term rename of Mac OS X.
-
macOS is the rename of Mac OS X designed with the iOS generation of operating system names and features in mind.
Now, for terminal software for the Macintosh 128K. It’s pretty tough to run software inside the smaller and older environment, but MacTerminal is one viable official option. After MacTerminal became irrelevant, ClarisWorks’ terminal program provided some similar but more modern functionality.
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_Mac_OS
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Disk_20
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_6
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_128K
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_512K
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_Plus
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacTerminal
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ClarisWorks
The Internet Archive has some useful information on some of the early Macintosh browsers, more so than Wikipedia.
20190527/DuckDuckGo MacWWW
20190527/https://archive.org/details/macwww-evolt_browsers
20190527/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacWWW
20190527/DuckDuckGo MacLynx
20190527/DuckDuckGo NCSA Mosaic System 6
20190527/DuckDuckGo MacWeb
20190527/https://archive.org/details/macweb-evolt_browsers
Okay, let’s take a quick trip into the world of modems. The Hayes modems were some of the earliest and most successful modems, but they quickly failed to modernize to higher speeds and were thus outmoded by modems from the likes of U.S. Robotics. Conexant was one of the last companies to supply modems, with an emphasis on those built into PCs.
Good news about the command set for modems, it is pretty basic. Like a string of three plus signs “+++” with a guard pause of a one second on each side, followed by some short string of characters for the command. Pretty easy to implement by means of a software emulator running on your PC on the other side of the null modem serial connection.
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcom
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayes_Microcomputer_Products
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Robotics
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telebit
20190516/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conexant
So, let’s summarize. What is the software of choice to pack into a bundle, what services do those provide access to, and what is the Macintosh compatibility range of the software?
-
MacTerminal, terminal emulator, all classic Macintoshes.
-
RedRyder, terminal emulator, Macintosh 512K and newer.
Definitely runs on the Macintosh Plus and newer, purportedly runs on the Macintosh 512K, and definitely doesn’t run on the Macintosh 128K. Compatible with all System software versions:
- Macintosh Kermit, both a terminal emulator and file transfer via the Kermit protocol.
Definitely runs on the Macintosh Plus and newer (1 MB of RAM or more), purportedly runs on the Macintosh 512K. and definitely doesn’t run on the Macintosh 128K. Definitely compatible with System 6, possibly compatible with older versions:
-
ZTerm, both a terminal emulator and file transfer via the ZMODEM protocol.
-
MacTCP, MacPPP, ConfigPPP, the must-have system software to get you connected to a modern TCP/IP network over a PPP serial link.
-
Some notable TCP/IP client software: NCSA Telnet, Fetch (ftp client)
-
Public Folder 1.01 allows System 6 Macintoshes to also be file servers.
-
Some notable TCP/IP client software: MacWWW (no graphics)
Definitely runs on the Macintosh Plus and newer (1 MB of RAM or more), purportedly runs on the Macintosh 512K. and definitely doesn’t run on the Macintosh 128K. Definitely compatible with System 7, possibly compatible with System 6:
- Some notable TCP/IP client software: NCSA Mosaic, MacLynx, MacWeb (external graphics), UULite (uucoder), uuUndo (uudecoder).
Requires System 7 or newer and 2.5+ MB of RAM:
-
Black Night, an advanced terminal emulator that that looks to only work with System 7 and newer, and it probably requires 2.5 MB of RAM.
-
FreePPP, “faster” alternative to MacPPP, but requires 68020 processor and newer, System 7 and newer. It’s not faster if you can’t get it running, of course.
Please see this next logical article in the sequence for some information on how to configure Kermit/ZMODEM software on your modern Unix-like PC side. Or, for extra credit, how to set up vintage Linux on a Windows 9x-era PC for running the Kermit/ZMODEM software.
Copy a Windows 9x disk image over the network
Modern style TCP/IP Internet. On older Macintoshes without Ethernet, this is solely by means of a “modem” as follows:
TCP/IP protocol stack -> PPP link -> serial connection -> modem -> telephone system -> modem -> serial connection -> ISP host machine -> PPP link -> TCP/IP protocol stack -> Internet switching and routing network
In modern times, this connectivity diagram is simplified as follows:
TCP/IP protocol stack -> PPP link -> null modem serial connection -> ISP host machine -> PPP link -> TCP/IP protocol stack -> Internet switching and routing network
Furthermore, in this case, the “ISP host machine” is nothing special, it’s merely a moderm PC with both a serial port and modern network communications attached. It could be as simple as a Raspberry Pi. In fact, I would strongly recommend using such a small single-board computer as your “moderm modem.”