Low-cost networking A500+-Linux PC?

[hayashi]

Hi,

Right now, in order to transfer files from my PCs to my Amiga, I have to use a 720kb DOS-formatted disk (sneakernet xD), transferring from my dad's PC (the floppy drive on mine won't work for some reason - I seem to have a real knack for killing floppy drives) to the Amiga using MultiDOS (which I currently have to set up by going into a CLI and typing pcmountall - how would I get it to run at startup?), which is bearable but I wish there was a faster and less annoying way (MultiDOS can sometimes be a bit tedious with the way it handles the floppy drive).

Is there any way I could connect the A500+ to one of the other computers in my room, using a parallel or serial  (DE-9 to DB-25?) cable (neither of which I currently have), in order to transfer files, without needing to purchase expensive equipment?

Thanks in advance, Matt

[cpfuture]

Hi Matt,

Yes, you can. You'll need a serial null-modem cable, but be sure to get one that's specific for the Amiga, because the serial port on the Amiga is exactly the other way around, i.e. female instead of male or vice versa, I forgot which.

On the Linux side you'll need to install and configure a PPP daemon. You can start it like this:

/usr/sbin/pppd /dev/tty.KeySerial1 76800 noauth local passive proxyarp asyncmap 0 silent persist 192.168.100.43:192.168.100.44

In this example (from my iMac) you'll need to replace /dev/tty.KeySerial1 with the device name of the serial port of your PC.

Replace 76800 with the desired baud rate. Start with something slow like 9600 to get things running and then gradually replace this with higher baud rates until you reach the fastest working and error free speed. Unfortunately you probably won't be able to increase the baud rate much further than 9600 on an unaccelerated A500, but your mileage may vary.

Next replace the IP addresses with the desired IP addresses you'd like to use for the PPP interface on the A500 and the PPP interface on the PC. Also make sure your Linux PC can act as a router. Make sure the following line is present in your /etc/sysctl.conf:

net.ipv4.ip_forward=1

Now on your A500 install AmiTCP and a PPP device. I use AmiPPP which is easy to configure, because it has a GUI and good documentation, but there are alternatives available on Aminet.

Good luck!

[hayashi]

Hmm. I've had a brief look on eBay and AmigaKit, but can't find a DE9-female to DB25-female serial cable, just a DE9-female to DB25-male. (Adapters?)

EDIT: Ah, found one. Looked in the wrong section (Cables as opposed to Networking). Now to save up for one, as I have absolutely no money whatsoever at the moment ._.

(Thanks anyway to nishtek for the link)

[nishtek]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=190287903255
female on both ends.

you can also use lha or zip + Cross Dos & 720 kb disks (or 1.44 disks with hole taped up).

or burn a cd with all your adf images.

[Floid]

Of course, if you don't have a TCP/IP stack and PPP client on the Amiga, you can just use regular terminal programs and Kermit/Xmodem/Zmodem for file transfer.  http://www.amigaforever.com/ae/ exists to make that easy...

If you have a network stack and want to bring the Amiga online, you just need a slipd or pppd and appropriate NAT or routing configured on the *NIX machine.  As noted in another thread, I gather plip can exceed serial performance, but YMMV; start with serial first, and once you're confident about that fiddle with the more obscure arrangements.

[EdFlux]

I use Amiga Explorer with a null modem cable. It's $15 but worth it. It can also recreate ADF images (great for demo disks) just by dragging the image to the disk on the PC side.


http://www.amigaforever.com/ae/

[iconoclaST]

hayashi wrote:

I seem to have a real knack for killing floppy drives

Stop playing music on them

I built my null-modem cable with about $8 worth of parts from Radio Shack. (Though you can probably do it for about $4 if you don't care about connector hoods) it's not too hard. If you can't solder, they have crimp-type connectors too, though I've never used them, so I can't say whether they're trustworthy. I think you only need 7 wires...if you have any spare ethernet cables laying around, maybe not the prettiest solution, but they have enough wires, cheap and effective.