VOGONS


First post, by AlessandroB

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Work has slowed down a little and I have some time to spend on my retrocomputers, if I had much more time I could probably do it myself, but since I don't have much I would need your advice so as not to finish after Christmas.

1)The computer is a PS/1 386sx and comes standard with a 1.44 floppy disk. I also installed a 1.2Mb floppy disk, I connected it to the same original cable as the computer because it already had the connector set up, but when I try in DOS to exceed any of the two drives it gives me the typical error when the drive is not configured correctly asking me abort, retry etc... The 5.25 drive is original IBM and I think it is the standard one of an IBM 5170, I have no experience, could there be jumpers to select? I attach the photo of the drive.

2)2) I tried to connect a parallel Iomega Zip 250 in the same way I connect it to Pentium computers. At the DOS prompt I usually use the "Guest.exe" program provided by Iomega itself which is used to install the drives on the fly, but the computer immediately writes to me that it cannot find the drive letter. I attach photo of the bios with the address of the parallel port. Note: I also have a sound blaster pro2 installed but I don't think it could be a conflict.

3)I installed the classic EtherlinkIII card but I have no idea how to use it to exchange files, I did some research on the forum but I didn't find situations that were identical to mine, there were always differences or things that helped me. I would simply like to exchange files with the 386, i.e. upload them to it. I have read that there are incompatibilities between such different versions of the network, between dos and win10, between dos or win3.11 and win10, between dos and freenas (which I have). I wanted to have simpler management, if I have to configure a small NAS perhaps WinXP between my retrocomputers and the modern MAC/WIN10 I can do it. I would like you to advise me of the simplest solution.

THANKS A LOTTTTT

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Reply 1 of 20, by Horun

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#1 Remove the white resistor terminator pack off the 5.25", the 3.5" will already be terminated on the end of the cable, it will mess things up if termed on the first floppy connector...
other questions am unsure...

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 2 of 20, by AlessandroB

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Horun wrote on 2023-10-15, 18:37:

#1 Remove the white resistor terminator pack off the 5.25", the 3.5" will already be terminated on the end of the cable, it will mess things up if termed on the first floppy connector...
other questions am unsure...

you mean the white integrated circuit package??

Reply 3 of 20, by Horun

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Yes ! That is a 7 X 150 ohm "isolated resistor" pack. Circuit type -3 https://www.mouser.com/datasheet/2/414/tt%20e … 890-1210339.pdf

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 4 of 20, by VivienM

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AlessandroB wrote on 2023-10-15, 18:12:

2)2) I tried to connect a parallel Iomega Zip 250 in the same way I connect it to Pentium computers. At the DOS prompt I usually use the "Guest.exe" program provided by Iomega itself which is used to install the drives on the fly, but the computer immediately writes to me that it cannot find the drive letter. I attach photo of the bios with the address of the parallel port. Note: I also have a sound blaster pro2 installed but I don't think it could be a conflict.

You want to connect a parallel port Zip drive on a 386 that precedes ECP/EPP by a number of years?

Reply 5 of 20, by HanSolo

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You don't need EPP for the ZIP drive. Haven't tried it myself, but from what I've read the original driver only needs DOS 4 or 5. With another driver (PalmZip) it even works on an XT. At least the ZIP100. Things may be different with the ZIP250, though.

Reply 6 of 20, by AlessandroB

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VivienM wrote on 2023-10-15, 19:38:
AlessandroB wrote on 2023-10-15, 18:12:

2)2) I tried to connect a parallel Iomega Zip 250 in the same way I connect it to Pentium computers. At the DOS prompt I usually use the "Guest.exe" program provided by Iomega itself which is used to install the drives on the fly, but the computer immediately writes to me that it cannot find the drive letter. I attach photo of the bios with the address of the parallel port. Note: I also have a sound blaster pro2 installed but I don't think it could be a conflict.

You want to connect a parallel port Zip drive on a 386 that precedes ECP/EPP by a number of years?

i can’t?? for me primter port is a primter port sorry, is what i know

Reply 7 of 20, by AlessandroB

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HanSolo wrote on 2023-10-15, 20:05:

You don't need EPP for the ZIP drive. Haven't tried it myself, but from what I've read the original driver only needs DOS 4 or 5. With another driver (PalmZip) it even works on an XT. At least the ZIP100. Things may be different with the ZIP250, though.

sorry hat you mean? my 386 has 6.22, the problem is a combination between the elecronic inside the zip 250 and the parallel port inside my 386?

Reply 8 of 20, by HanSolo

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AlessandroB wrote on 2023-10-15, 20:53:
HanSolo wrote on 2023-10-15, 20:05:

You don't need EPP for the ZIP drive. Haven't tried it myself, but from what I've read the original driver only needs DOS 4 or 5. With another driver (PalmZip) it even works on an XT. At least the ZIP100. Things may be different with the ZIP250, though.

sorry hat you mean? my 386 has 6.22, the problem is a combination between the elecronic inside the zip 250 and the parallel port inside my 386?

I was referring to VivienM's comment about EPP. That is a mode of the interface that enables higher transfer rates over the parallel port.

IMHO the ZIP100 should work on the 386. I don't know if the ZIP250 (or the driver for it) is different.

Reply 9 of 20, by Horun

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I would change the Parallel port to 378h as that is the standard default for LPT1, 278h and 3BCh are LPT2 and LPT3 respectively iirc....

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 10 of 20, by CharlieFoxtrot

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I have Ethernet cards on every DOS system I have, including a 386SX, and can’t live without one. It simply makes life so much easier and it takes away 90% of the floppy/CD hassle after the initial installation. If you have already configured the card, you only need the packet driver for it from the setup disk. Then, get MTCP package and set it up and according to instructions with FTP-server. The process is as follows:

1. Load packet driver
2. Load DHCP from MTCP
3. Start FTP-server from MTCP
4. Start FTP client software of your choosing on your modern rig and connect to the FTP-server
5. Start moving files over LAN like there is no tomorrow

Reply 11 of 20, by chinny22

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Before running guest type lastdrive=Z
This should give guest its pick of drive letter.

If this works check your config.sys file for the lastdrive= line and give it a letter 1 or 2 higher then what's needed.

For networking you have a few different options.
DOS networking is really basic and bit of a pain to setup, Windows for Workgroups is slightly better but you do need to modify security settings to have it talk to modern OS's.
mtcp uses ftp which is much easier to get working with modern hardware, but its not built into dos/Win3x so will need to install a ftp client if you want a GUI interface.

Personally I prefer Windows networking as it feels more correct? but fully acknowledge mtcp is the superior option both in transfer speed and setting up.
Once you decided which networking you want to use we can help you out

Reply 12 of 20, by AlessandroB

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chinny22 wrote on 2023-10-16, 05:12:
Before running guest type lastdrive=Z This should give guest its pick of drive letter. […]
Show full quote

Before running guest type lastdrive=Z
This should give guest its pick of drive letter.

If this works check your config.sys file for the lastdrive= line and give it a letter 1 or 2 higher then what's needed.

For networking you have a few different options.
DOS networking is really basic and bit of a pain to setup, Windows for Workgroups is slightly better but you do need to modify security settings to have it talk to modern OS's.
mtcp uses ftp which is much easier to get working with modern hardware, but its not built into dos/Win3x so will need to install a ftp client if you want a GUI interface.

Personally I prefer Windows networking as it feels more correct? but fully acknowledge mtcp is the superior option both in transfer speed and setting up.
Once you decided which networking you want to use we can help you out

in my ignorance I thought of using networking via dos, I had read something and it seemed difficult but now you can confirm it for me. what do you think about this?

286 win 3.11
386 win 3.11
486 win 3.11
Pentium60 3.11 or win95
Pentium 200 Win98
Pentium II/III Win98
PentiumIV Win98

-at this point I would start with win3.11, except that I absolutely don't know how to do it, I have installed the card in every computer but what do I do now? I'm looking for 3com drivers for win 3.11?

-On the server side, however, I haven't understood how to act. What is the simplest method to connect via 3.11 machines? A dedicated computer? A dedicated NAS?

tnks

Reply 13 of 20, by CharlieFoxtrot

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chinny22 wrote on 2023-10-16, 05:12:
Before running guest type lastdrive=Z This should give guest its pick of drive letter. […]
Show full quote

Before running guest type lastdrive=Z
This should give guest its pick of drive letter.

If this works check your config.sys file for the lastdrive= line and give it a letter 1 or 2 higher then what's needed.

For networking you have a few different options.
DOS networking is really basic and bit of a pain to setup, Windows for Workgroups is slightly better but you do need to modify security settings to have it talk to modern OS's.
mtcp uses ftp which is much easier to get working with modern hardware, but its not built into dos/Win3x so will need to install a ftp client if you want a GUI interface.

Personally I prefer Windows networking as it feels more correct? but fully acknowledge mtcp is the superior option both in transfer speed and setting up.
Once you decided which networking you want to use we can help you out

The good thing about MTCP is that it includes FTP server, so you don’t need a client software on the vintage system at all and you can use some modern client software on your current system. Of course things change, if you want to transfer files between DOS systems, but I don’t find that necessary at all: you can always move files to your modern rig from the other system and then transfer them to the target machine, if you don’t want to use some DOS client.

I use MTCP specifically for the reasons you mentioned: you don’t need to alter security settings on your modern systems and it is really easy to setup. It probably takes 15min, perhaps a bit more when you do it for the first time as you need to read MTCP manual more thoroughly and you don’t have previous configuration files as a starting point. As far as setting the card up, 3COM Etherlink IIIs are probably the easiest in my experience and packet drivers work nicely with memory managers without much tinkering (I have also SMC cards).

I wouldn’t say Windows networking is somehow more correct compared to DOS. Ethernet after all existed in the DOS days and Netware was probably the most common solution over ethernet or token ring back in the day.

When I’m setting up a new DOS system, Ethernet packet driver and MTCP are first things I do after the DOS installation. After networking is functioning, I can drop every other driver or software package to the system without using floppies or some CDRW, if system has an optical drive. It makes everything much faster, although there are cases where you need to still use floppies, but in general it saves a lot of time and hassle when you have a working network and FTP.

Reply 14 of 20, by CharlieFoxtrot

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AlessandroB wrote on 2023-10-16, 05:53:
in my ignorance I thought of using networking via dos, I had read something and it seemed difficult but now you can confirm it f […]
Show full quote
chinny22 wrote on 2023-10-16, 05:12:
Before running guest type lastdrive=Z This should give guest its pick of drive letter. […]
Show full quote

Before running guest type lastdrive=Z
This should give guest its pick of drive letter.

If this works check your config.sys file for the lastdrive= line and give it a letter 1 or 2 higher then what's needed.

For networking you have a few different options.
DOS networking is really basic and bit of a pain to setup, Windows for Workgroups is slightly better but you do need to modify security settings to have it talk to modern OS's.
mtcp uses ftp which is much easier to get working with modern hardware, but its not built into dos/Win3x so will need to install a ftp client if you want a GUI interface.

Personally I prefer Windows networking as it feels more correct? but fully acknowledge mtcp is the superior option both in transfer speed and setting up.
Once you decided which networking you want to use we can help you out

in my ignorance I thought of using networking via dos, I had read something and it seemed difficult but now you can confirm it for me. what do you think about this?

286 win 3.11
386 win 3.11
486 win 3.11
Pentium60 3.11 or win95
Pentium 200 Win98
Pentium II/III Win98
PentiumIV Win98

-at this point I would start with win3.11, except that I absolutely don't know how to do it, I have installed the card in every computer but what do I do now? I'm looking for 3com drivers for win 3.11?

-On the server side, however, I haven't understood how to act. What is the simplest method to connect via 3.11 machines? A dedicated computer? A dedicated NAS?

tnks

I wouldn’t bother with fileshares/Netbios stuff with any of those systems and just use FTP all over. It is easier and you don’t need to alter security configurations on your modern systems.

Then again, I wouldn’t bother networking just for file transfers on those newer machines. I just use USB for file transfers on such newer rigs and for example my P3/slot 1 system doesn’t even have a NIC and there hasn’t been a situation where I’ve missed it, although I have few PCI cards available. But FTP is a good option there too.

Reply 15 of 20, by AlessandroB

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Horun wrote on 2023-10-15, 19:18:

Yes ! That is a 7 X 150 ohm "isolated resistor" pack. Circuit type -3 https://www.mouser.com/datasheet/2/414/tt%20e … 890-1210339.pdf

YEAH IT WORK!!! Thanks a lot, now all drive work perfect! i never think that....

Reply 17 of 20, by chinny22

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AlessandroB wrote on 2023-10-16, 05:53:
in my ignorance I thought of using networking via dos, I had read something and it seemed difficult but now you can confirm it f […]
Show full quote

in my ignorance I thought of using networking via dos, I had read something and it seemed difficult but now you can confirm it for me. what do you think about this?

286 win 3.11
386 win 3.11
486 win 3.11
Pentium60 3.11 or win95
Pentium 200 Win98
Pentium II/III Win98
PentiumIV Win98

-at this point I would start with win3.11, except that I absolutely don't know how to do it, I have installed the card in every computer but what do I do now? I'm looking for 3com drivers for win 3.11?

-On the server side, however, I haven't understood how to act. What is the simplest method to connect via 3.11 machines? A dedicated computer? A dedicated NAS?

tnks

Ethernet III drivers are included in Win3x, Never used them but doubt newer drivers offer much benefit.
You will also need TCP/IP for Windows, search for tcp32b.exe

Here is a good guide on installing Windows networking.
https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?p=495913#p495913

and this on how to enable file sharing
https://www.geocities.ws/politalk/net/win311.htm

for best success you want workgroup, username and password to be the same on all computers. If you don't 9x and earlier will get confused and get stuck in a loop asking for log in details when accessing different machines.

dos, win3x don't have any ability to browse the network. You have to map a drive to a share. I find it easier to copy the files from my more modern PC onto 3x computers then the other way round, but it can be done.

People here are reporting some NAS devices no longer support the required SMB version required. In this case you would want to use a PC in the middle.

See how much luck you have with the above, If you can get an IP address from DHCP then you know your on the right track and should be able to share files with anything upto XP pretty much as is 

Reply 18 of 20, by digistorm

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There is a benefit for networking if the drive on you target machine is not so large. You can install Microsoft Office from network for example instead of fiddling with a lot of floppies or having the space for the installer. I have even run DOOM entirely from network (in DOS) to test different versions and that will work (although a bit slow).

Reply 19 of 20, by AlessandroB

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chinny22 wrote on 2023-10-17, 03:26:
Ethernet III drivers are included in Win3x, Never used them but doubt newer drivers offer much benefit. You will also need TCP/I […]
Show full quote
AlessandroB wrote on 2023-10-16, 05:53:
in my ignorance I thought of using networking via dos, I had read something and it seemed difficult but now you can confirm it f […]
Show full quote

in my ignorance I thought of using networking via dos, I had read something and it seemed difficult but now you can confirm it for me. what do you think about this?

286 win 3.11
386 win 3.11
486 win 3.11
Pentium60 3.11 or win95
Pentium 200 Win98
Pentium II/III Win98
PentiumIV Win98

-at this point I would start with win3.11, except that I absolutely don't know how to do it, I have installed the card in every computer but what do I do now? I'm looking for 3com drivers for win 3.11?

-On the server side, however, I haven't understood how to act. What is the simplest method to connect via 3.11 machines? A dedicated computer? A dedicated NAS?

tnks

Ethernet III drivers are included in Win3x, Never used them but doubt newer drivers offer much benefit.
You will also need TCP/IP for Windows, search for tcp32b.exe

Here is a good guide on installing Windows networking.
https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?p=495913#p495913

and this on how to enable file sharing
https://www.geocities.ws/politalk/net/win311.htm

for best success you want workgroup, username and password to be the same on all computers. If you don't 9x and earlier will get confused and get stuck in a loop asking for log in details when accessing different machines.

dos, win3x don't have any ability to browse the network. You have to map a drive to a share. I find it easier to copy the files from my more modern PC onto 3x computers then the other way round, but it can be done.

People here are reporting some NAS devices no longer support the required SMB version required. In this case you would want to use a PC in the middle.

See how much luck you have with the above, If you can get an IP address from DHCP then you know your on the right track and should be able to share files with anything upto XP pretty much as is 

Thanks, I just needed a simple guide as indicated. As soon as I have a moment of time I'll try to do what you wrote, thanks!!