BlueSCSI v2 - DaynaPORT WiFi!

[eric]

I'm pleased to announce that the BlueSCSI now supports DaynaPORT network emulation over the Pico-W WiFi interface! This has been in the works for a few months now and lead by @jcs with help from @Androda, @jokker and myself. Also huge shout out to Tony from @landogriffin for doing the initial work in PiSCSI and documenting the DaynaPORT commands!

If you're interested in trying out this beta and providing feedback please see the wiki page for details. I've provided a drive image with all the utilities you'll need. https://github.com/BlueSCSI/BlueSCSI-v2/pull/59

WiFi DaynaPORT

Open source, open hardware, SCSI emulator using the Pi Pico PR2040 - BlueSCSI/BlueSCSI-v2

github.com

Some things to do when you get WiFi on your Mac Plus or PowerBook 160:

• Login to Klud.ge (@jcs's BBS)
• Jump on IRC via Wallops (@jcs's IRC client)
• Login to CQBBS (@Byte Knight's BBS) http://cqbbs.ddns.net/
• Use frogfind.com to browse the web in a vintage browser (from @Action Retro)
• Grab some files via Fetch/FTP from the Macintosh Garden (from @fogWraith)

And a bunch more! Have fun and let us know if it works for you and if you have questions/feedback.

FAQ:
Q: Do I need any special hardware?
A: You only need a Pico-W ($2 more than a non-W) instead of the regular Pico.

Q: What is performance like?
A: Currently a bit slower than a real DaynaPORT, see the wiki.

Q: Why do you want a computer from the 1980's online?
A: Why not!

Q: Does it work with an Atari ST?
A: We're testing that soon!

Q: Great I'm going to use this on my PowerMac!
A: Thats not a question, and DaynaPORT is more suited for older slower machines that dont have AAUI or built in ethernet.

Have fun exploring this new Information Super Highway!

 

[robin-fo]

Cool! Does it work with AppleTalk? (As long as the other side treats AppleTalk nicely)

 

[eric]

Does it work with AppleTalk?

Yes! @Mac84 got it working over a IP by installing the AppleShare client update (I'll add it to the getting started drive for ease of use)

Note it probably wont work with DDP (old Appletalk protocol) though we could have some work arounds for that.

 

[Byte Knight]

Awesome - this will be perfect for networking my LC III with IIe card!

 

[robin-fo]

Note it probably wont work with DDP (old Appletalk protocol) though we could have some work arounds for that.

That‘s what I‘m interested in..

Depending on how much the WiFi chip is messing around with the frames you send and receive, it shouldn‘t be too hard for some „inter-BlueSCSI“ AppleTalk networking…

Feel free to send me Wireshark captures if someone ever tries this

 

[eric]

Feel free to send me Wireshark captures if someone ever tries this

If you're interested in contributing I could just mail you a BlueSCSI v2 (or have @OneGeekArmy to mail you one as he's closer ) - I'll send you a DM

 

[OneGeekArmy]

If you're interested in contributing I could just mail you a BlueSCSI v2 (or have @OneGeekArmy to mail you one as he's closer ) - I'll send you a DM

Yes get in touch in you want to.

 

[fourteentones14]

This is so cool, I'm surely getting one!
It probably could do LTtoUDP, the protocol supported by mini vMac and AirTalk? I'm actually working on a "internal" version of AirTalk for the PB1xx series, it could be a super cool complement!

 

[3lectr1c]

So in order to do this, I’d need to upgrade the Pico module in my V2 unit? Would be a nice way of getting my 170 online…

 

[MacMaster]

Tried this out on my SE/30. I socketed the Pico on my Desktop BlueSCSI v2 in anticipation for this feature and put the new firmware on a PicoW. I wasn't able to get it working for some reason. After installing the drivers, the DaynaPort isn't seen by any SCSI utilities or the diagnostics software on the DaynaPort disk (Tried on 7.0.1 and 7.5.3). Is there a particular SCSI ID this would be using? The PiSCSI docs (which I haven't used) seem to indicate that SCSIProbe will show '•' No Data on ID 0, but I get nothing there (I have the boot drive on ID 1, The provided PicoW setup drive on ID 2, and my own software drive on ID 3).

The log.txt shows I am running "FW Version: 2023.07.08-dev Aug 5 2023 16:28:19" but nothing else indicating a DaynaPort device is initializing.

 

[Mu0n]

Under @eric 's guidance yesterday, I was able to accomplish this on my Mac Plus - there's a bug for the Mac Plus that @eric and @jcs are aware of and will be working on.

-Flashed my BlueSCSIv2 with Pico W with this beta .uf2 file by connecting with USB to my PC while holding on the button
-Brought back to my Plus and attempted a boot - IT NO LONGER BOOTS (this is not normal, I've had that BlueSCSI v2 properly set up for my Plus for months, I know about its quirks and steps you must perform for it to work on a Plus, this is confirmed on being totally a new problem)
-Checked out log.txt and indeed, my 3 hda drives are detected by the BlueSCSI v2 but just do not boot
-Booting with a FloppyEMU running in HD20 mode with a 100 mb 6.0.8 image, I'm able to go into TattleTech 2.7 (iirc) and check out that a drive is detected under SCSI ID4 (which is indeed at the spot taken by one of my 3 images)

-Eric suggests I rename/remove my drives out of my BlueSCSIv2 and just create a dummy NE4.HDA to test at least the network capabilities of this beta firmware. I just use notepad.exe on my Windows 10 PC to do so and drop it down. I also edit bluescsi.ini to add my SSID login parameters as instructed by the documentation
-I reboot on my Plus, check things under TattleTech again:

-Copy MacTCP and put its ini inside my 6.0.8 FloppyEMU system folder
-Reboot
-Open Disk Copy 4.2
-Load DaynaPort 7.5.3 disk image (3 were provided but one of them is in Disk Copy 4.2 format) and write to a real floppy (I didn't have a system 6 ready utility to mount a disk in desktop, it's way easier when you do this in System 7 which I didn't have handy on my FloppyEMU just now)
-Install DaynaPort 7.5.3 from my written floppy, by just selecting the normal Install (I didn't go into Customize)
-Reboot
-Go into control Panel/Mac TCP
-Click on the Ethernet icon instead of LocalTalk which was highlighed by default
-Click on the More button
-Click on Manual
-Enter my router subnet mask as 255.255.255.0
-Enter my router as 192.168.0.1
-Enter my Domain DNS server as Google/8.8.8.8
-Click on OK
-Click on IP Address (whch becomes editable ONLY if you chose Manual in the previously mentioned dialog)
-I entered something like 192.168.0.69
-Launch the provided Ping - it crashes (math coprocessor not install bomb)
-Launch the provided iCab - it crashes (address error bomb)
-Launch Fetch 2.1.2 - it....

WORKS

I was able to get into Macintosh Garden's FTP and check stuff around before it froze minutes later due to scrolling their humongous /games folder


Now, I have no experience using the internet on a Mac Plus, not even back in the day. My first machine that I used to go on the net was my 386 SX/25, first on BBSes, then text internet applications, then very short lived 16 color Windows 3.1 browser iirc, but nothing on the Mac.
I got to be tutored in:

1) OpenTransport seems to be associated with networking on the Mac. What does it do exactly here for me?
2) What's a good browser for System 6 that would not bomb on my face here?

 

[Mac84]

Great new beta feature!

I've tested this on my Mac LC III (7.5) and Centris 650 (7.6). I can even install Open Transport 1.3 and the AppleShare client update to connect to my Mac Mini G4 over the network!

Granted, at this stage this is really only usable for web browsing, BBS, email, etc. AppleShare file transfers over say 30KB are too slow and sometimes hang. The transfer speed seems to float between 100 to 600 bytes.

The same goes for downloading files from an Apache style web directory. However, I believe I saw FTP transfers work a bit better, so it may be down to the protocol, etc.

Of course, I fully realize this is early days and the fact that this is even possible is super cool! Well done!

 

[eric]

The log.txt shows I am running "FW Version: 2023.07.08-dev Aug 5 2023 16:28:19" but nothing else indicating a DaynaPort device is initializing.

Can you attach the log.txt? Did you create a network adapter device by placing a file such as "NE4.hda" on the root of your SD card?

 

[eric]

So in order to do this, I’d need to upgrade the Pico module in my V2 unit? Would be a nice way of getting my 170 online…

If it's not socketed, yes. Though desoldering and re-soldering is no light task. If you'd like a powerbook version with no Pico I'd be happy to send ya one at cost and you can pick up a Pico-W.

 

[3lectr1c]

I've got a proper Hakko desoldering pump so I'm not too worried about desoldering the old module, but that's a very kind offer! It will probably be a while before I manage to get myself a pico-w anyway, I always have so many projects and parts on "the list".

 

[MacMaster]

Can you attach the log.txt? Did you create a network adapter device by placing a file such as "NE4.hda" on the root of your SD card?

Doh! I somehow missed that step in the documentation. Touched a NE4.hda file and now I am up and running!

 

[RetroTheory]

Great work , I got a chance to try it out today on the Powerbook 180.
Speed is about 30K/s. I coudn't pin it down, but it seemed I had to ping out from the powerbook with MacPing to get the network to go live.
Will do more testing ..

 

[jcs]

A Desk Accessory will be released shortly

It currently scans the bus to find the BlueSCSI device, gets the current WiFi information, and does an AP scan to populate the dropdown. The icon next to the list reflects the current signal strength and updates periodically. Being able to actually change the WiFi network and prompt for a passphrase will be coming soon.

 

[PotatoFi]

Wow. This is truly amazing work! Thank you everyone for making this happen!

Is the DaynaPORT emulation still using the same MAC address as my real DaynaPORT?

 

[jcs]

Wow. This is truly amazing work! Thank you everyone for making this happen!

Is the DaynaPORT emulation still using the same MAC address as my real DaynaPORT?

The MAC is stored on the device, so with the BlueSCSI it uses a fake one of 00:80:19:c0:ff:ee. You can override this in the bluescsi.ini file by adding WiFiMACAddress=00:80:19:01:23:45 though it should still start with the Dayna vendor prefix of 00:80:19.