Ami to PC Linkup

[Robert17]

[dxrdx]

Hi!

You mean ParNet cable ? I'll offer you The-Patent-Solution-For-All-Amiga-File-Related-Problems:

www.aminet.net

Check out for parnet and you're well off.
Wouldn't hurt to search the files with the magic
word "parallel" too

Remember; You'll have to have at least EPP or ECP port
on your PC for the ParNet to work !

Regards;
Mikko

[Robert17]

It's not called Parnet.. it comes with the software on disk for the miggy and on cd for the pc and the cable, it says there are files missing in the prefs/ENV something or other.. not sure how this can be because I installed it all to hard drive from the floppy using the floppies own program :-(

[Will-i-am]

I have the program and the cable but haven't tried it yet as I am still working on getting the ethernet cards I have in two of my A4000s to connect to the web thru a router. If you let me know which files are missing I can check the disks to see if I have them. I'm sure the thing worked with the people who owned the machines before. It's not a Parnet cable, but I think it is still a special parallel thingy, because whoever had it before tagged it to identify it as Ami-to-PC and even marked which end went to which machine. Of course, they might just be a little anal, ya know.

[dxrdx]

It isnt parnet ? Damn, my mistake! I remebered using parnet cable for ami-pc connections several years ago.

Well, we all make mistakes.

Regards;
Mikko

[Will-i-am]

well, now, don't quote me on this....But I know it's not memtioned anywhere in the literature that I saw when I looked the thing over. Entirely possible that it uses the same wiring, but I have some kind of distant memory of it not being exactly the same. On the other hand, I AM 54 years old, doing meds that not only kill pain but short term memory, so anything is possible. But to the best of my knowlege they are not the same cable. How's that for a caveat? Somewhere I saw an article explaining the wiring for a parnet cable so I suppose with some investigation I could figure it out. Trouble is right now I am up to my armpits trying to get the siding on the house and the rails around the deck so the homeowners insurance guy will okay the policy. Cables are on the "C" list right now. I even threw a blanket over the disassembled bodies of my various A4000's I've been swapping parts in. No time, no time!

[jjans]

I use a Parnet cable I built myself for Amiga->Amiga connection. From what the documentation warns, I gather that you could damage your CIA chips trying to connect to a PC.

In reference to your software is it the same as this?      PC2Am308.lha.readmePC<>Amiga Ser/ParNet-like filesytem readme

which you can download from here: PC2Amiga

[dxrdx]

Yeah, like most of us know, You shouldn't connect unknown cables to your computer/ or between computers!

Well, here is one good information source about cables / connectors and stuff:

http://margo.student.utwente.nl/stefan/hwb/hwb.html

Yes, Its the *Hardware Book*, (mirror) one of my favorite sites =).

BTW; There is a pinout of the parnet cable, I don't have time now to get into the issue but you're very welcome to do so

Regards;
Mikko

[lordv]

I believe the simplest way ever known is to use ethernet network. If you have a1200, just buy pcmcia ethernet adapter. Everything works fine: you can share all the amiga disks to the PC, share PC folders to amiga (using samba client and server on amiga), you can use ftp on both sides and even VNC client on amiga to get look at PC desktop controlling it totally!
As a bonus, you can then share your internet connection to both computers.

[dxrdx]

I couldnt agree more.

That's the best method but I'd like to add that *not* *every* PCMCIA ethernet adapter works with the amiga, thanks to the pre-alpha (well,almost...) implementation of the Amigas PCMCIA slot.

I've heard that especially 3COM cards are very hard to get working.

Better check the documentation of your tcp stack .


Regards;
Mikko

[lordv]

RIGHT!

But I've just taken a short look at aminet, there is 3com driver

What about me, I'm using cnet card, and everything OK.

And another little problem with network cards - they often don't reset at machine startup. There are 2 kinds of patches - hardware and software, which work as well.

[Daedalus]

I'd have to say, setting up an Ethernet network isn't the easiest way of doing this IMHO, but the most satisfactory in the long run. The combination of dodgy PCMCIA drivers/hardware, TCP/IP settings and Samba can leave you with a much reduced hair count. Try doing a search for PC2Amiga, had that years ago and it uses a spacial cable indeed, different to the ParNet cable (which uses the nice bi-directional properties of Amiga ports and so can lead to destroyed CIAs if used with a PC). That will have the diagram, and maybe you could use that program youself. It *is* an old program though, and IIRC won't work under NT/2000/XP etc.

Failing that, a null modem cable will work, and there are several serial transfer programs, or terminals, about. I do have a nice network setup here though, and I wouldn't swap it for the world. All the internet connection, file and printer sharing goes through my Amiga...

[dxrdx]

@lordv

Hi!

What's the model number of your 3com card ? I'd like to get one for myself too as they tend to be quite reliable (Talking about regular NICs maybe the iNTEL NICs are even better in that perspective.)

@daedalus

Ah yes, The Famous Null Modem Cable. Though I wouldn't go
transfering ISOs with that ;-).

Regards;
Mikko

[Naeem]

Does the Ethernet Card solution all work out of the box?

I didnt think so.  I thought you at least needed a Harddrive and updated workbench (at least 3.5?) to get all the TCP IP stack etc.

Only then would the drivers for the ethernet card be any use.

Is this correct?

(so ethernet card is not a solution for connecting a stock WB 3.0 / 3.1 A1200 to a PC network?)

[drHirudo]

I use PC2Amiga via Parallel cable now. It gives me speed about 40KB/s which is not that bad. The computer shop didn't have parallel-parallel cable, so I bought two Parallel printer cables, cut them and built one Parallel-Parallel cable, after consulting PC2Amiga manuals how to connect the wires. It took me some time though, to figure out which colored wire is for which pin number, and used a speaker for this. Before that I used NetworkPC which is the commercial version of PC2Amiga, and comes with cable, but I didn't have the cable, so I used serial cable which gave me a speed of about 8KB/s, which for small files was ok, but for the big ones was a nightmare.
 One strange feature to me is that transfering files from the PC to the Amiga is slower than the other way around, despite the fact the PC is much more powerful (through the serial and the parallel conection as well). Not sure why this. Also you can't browse the Amiga directories from the PC side, but that's not a big problem, since you can copy files to the PC from the Amiga.