BlueSCSI SD Transfer Utility - Alpha Testers Wanted!

[eric]

Hello all!

I'd like to introduce a new 68k app for Macintosh. The BlueSCSI Transfer Utility is the first app in a suite of 68k apps for the BlueSCSI that will allow you to do some pretty awesome things!

It's solving an all too common problem - how do you get files from the garden or anywhere to your vintage mac. Not everyone has a bridge machine, a network card, the ability to write disks, or the know how to get an emulator setup - they just want their mac to work! We want to make the process of getting Oregon Trail onto your Mac Plus, or Open Transport to your Quadra as easy as drag and drop.

As the work in progress name suggests the BlueSCSI SD Transfer Utility allows you to place those files you download on your modern computer directly on the SD card in a shared directory. Once you boot up the vintage computer you can then Download files from the SD card to your Mac. We'll even try to fix the file type and creator for you.

Here's a preview of it running on my PowerBook 540c:

Oh and yes you can also Upload files from your old Mac to the SD card (that's how I got this screen shot!)​

This is in a state of "wow, it works! lets get some other people to try it out." - which is where you come in. I'm looking for a small group of alpha testers to give feedback on usability, design, functionality, and testing on multiple systems. It should work on anything from a Plus with 1MB of RAM to a Quadra 950 (which I developed it on) - PowerPC should work too but currently untested.

To be eligible for this alpha you must:

• Have time this week to test and provide constructive feedback.
• Have a BlueSCSI and the ability to flash firmware updates via USB or STLink.
• To apply, reply below that you are interested, and what systems you can test during the test period.

In turn you will get your names in the credits and future sneak peaks on the other apps coming in the Toolbox!

If all goes well I hope to have a general beta in the next week and then release!

I guess now it's apparent why I was so interested in starting the THINKC programming Study Group!

I want to thank the first two testers @landogriffin and @jcs for all their help. Also @jokker, @Androda, and Glenn from BlueSCSI dev helping me figure out some SCSI commands and bit shifting.

FAQ:
Q: Will it support saving/reconstructing resource forks?
A: Not in it's current state, but we will try to add a way to preserve forks. Files should be compressed in stuffit, maczip, or bin/hex (which is still a bootstrapping issue!)

Q: Mac only?
A: For now, but not for long.

 

[skate323k137]

I've never updated the firmware on my BlueSCSI's but I would be shocked if I can't do it.

I could take some time this week.

The easiest systems for me to test on are an SE, an accelerated SE (micromac), and a SE/30. I have several other machines at my disposal but I have to set them up, including PPC ones if we want to go there.

 

[atariorbit]

I'm interested and have time this week. It will make me update my BS and test on some systems.
I have: 1MB plus, SE, SE/30, Q800.

 

[skate323k137]

Other machines I have in particular, Powerbook 160, PPC 7500, LC II, and Mac Plus (Have not ever used the BlueSCSI on the Plus though). I think that's everything applicable which I have on hand and working.

 

[eric]

I'm prepping the release notes and docs. You will all have some files to test soon! - Also still time to jump in if you'd like. I have a few people on discord too so enough for this closed alpha, but happy to add one or two more!

 

[JDW]

Not everyone has... an emulator setup - they just want their mac to work!

View attachment 8607
Oh and yes you can also Upload files from your old Mac to the SD card (that's how I got this screen shot!)​

I've not tested it yet, but basically the description indicates this amazing new app would save one time in that you wouldn't need to use Basilisk II or Mini vMac or even create a floppy image or drive image after downloading a SIT, BIN, HEX, SEA, IMG, etc. from Macintosh Garden, allowing you instead to just put those individuals files onto a folder named "shared" on your BlueSCSI's SD card using a modern Mac, then insert the SD card into your BlueSCSI, attach the BlueSCSI to your vintage Mac, boot the vintage Mac, then see all the files in the "shared" folder using the special app. You would then decompress the archives or mount .img files on the vintage Mac and use them normally.

Sounds like a great time saver, and I look forward to testing it.

 

[MacKilRoy]

Just curious… I had thought .sit files are dual-fork and downloading them on a Windows machine corrupts them. I remember back in the day you had to .sit and then .hqx a file to upload it.

Same with Apple DiskCopy images. Apparently they are corrupted when transferred to and from a Windows machine. Is that not true?

 

[Borgmac]

Could test on SE, LC and Quadra 610. Quadra 950 also, but as you develop on it, is there any interest?

 

[eric]

Just curious… I had thought .sit files are dual-fork and downloading them on a Windows machine corrupts them. I remember back in the day you had to .sit and then .hqx a file to upload it.

Same with Apple DiskCopy images. Apparently they are corrupted when transferred to and from a Windows machine. Is that not true?

I don't believe it is, there are plenty of files on the garden that are only .sit or only .img/.image and work - with the caveat you have to drag them on top of stuffit expander or use shrink wrap (for disk images). They don't have the type/creator but they still work. I could be wrong (and if I am please provide an example file so I can test!)

Also for instance take FloppyEMU, you can just put disk copy images on there, no resource forks and they work fine.

 

[eric]

is there any interest

If you have time this week, then yes! If you don't you can just try the beta in about a week.

 

[Borgmac]

If you have time this week, then yes! If you don't you can just try the beta in about a week.

Will have time this week

 

[eric]

Ok sent everyone a DM with link, please provide feedback via that DM. Discord users also got the links via discord and asked to share feedback via DM too.

Looking forward to all the bug reports and feedback!

 

[rjkucia]

I don't believe it is, there are plenty of files on the garden that are only .sit or only .img/.image and work - with the caveat you have to drag them on top of stuffit expander or use shrink wrap (for disk images). They don't have the type/creator but they still work. I could be wrong (and if I am please provide an example file so I can test!)

Also for instance take FloppyEMU, you can just put disk copy images on there, no resource forks and they work fine.

Anecdotally, I have had lots of issues where StuffIt refuses to touch some downloaded .sit files. My workflow is Garden -> RaSCSI CD Image -> SE/30 System 7.5.

This may also be worth splitting into its own thread since it doesn't seem directly related to BlueSCSI, just wanted to add this as I wasn't sure if it was a known issue.

 

[eric]

Anecdotally, I have had lots of issues where StuffIt refuses to touch some downloaded .sit files. My workflow is Garden -> RaSCSI CD Image -> SE/30 System 7.5.

Could you provide an example file that exhibits this behavior? I do some peeking at the files to determine what type/version of stuffit they are, maybe I just havent come across this one yet.

 

[rjkucia]

Offhand I know I've been unable to extract the preconfigured version of Black Night for CQII: http://cqbbs.ddns.net/BlackNightCQII.sit

 

[eric]

That is a stuffit 5.x file - if you don't have Expander 5.x installed it wont decompress. When downloading a .sit over http, there is no concept of data/resource forks in the http transfer.

I was able to use this util and it fixed the type/creator and was able to expand it with 5.5.

 

[rjkucia]

Those are probably my issues then - I think I was using 4.5, because I had the same issue trying to expand 5.5 haha. I think your utility would be useful on its own just for repairing those properties!

 

[eric]

I think your utility would be useful on its own just for repairing those properties!

I plan to take that code out and make a util that does just that too

 

[Crutch]

Continuing the sidebar, the history of StuffIt as a format that kept changing silently under the hood with no visibility, no changes in file extension, and no backward compatibility was frustrating in the ‘90s and remains very frustrating for vintage hobbyists.

In the ‘90s, the answer was to always use StuffIt 1.5.1 or (better) Compact Pro. Today, vintage files are tiny and in modern times there is generally no need to compress them. The MacBinary format has supported streaming 2-fork Mac files including type and creator info since the dawn of time. I would love to start a movement where all future Garden uploads are just .bin flies with no compression (and please, please no .sit.hqx)!

 

[eric]

This is a good sidebar! I've been thinking how we can preserve forks when transferring from/to a modern system. What bin format would you suggest (and is there code/documentation for it) - How would bin'ing a folder work? There are some things which forks/bining wouldnt be desierable - eg photos or documents as the user on the modern system would just want to open a jpg or txt document without unbining them.