I'd brought an SE/30 back from the dead: replaced the vacuum-less CRT and assorted video components, recapped, added 64MB RAM, installed 32-bit ROM and BlueSCSI. It now runs MacOS7.6, A/UX, and NetBSD-3. Nice machine, but only serial networking. TCP/IP over LocalTalk is possible but it’s slow and troublesome. And who can find or afford an ethernet PDS adapter!
So first, I played with DaynaPort ethernet over SCSI using a Raspberry Pi with RaSCSI/PiSCSI. This is a workable solution for MacOS but it does involve hardware external to the SE/30 (connect by DB-25) together with the Pi unit and interface adapter and the whole Pi Linux stack .. so it’s messy. You can connect the Pi via ethernet or Wifi .. but note that AppleTalk won’t work over Wifi.
I also managed to get DaynaPort SCSI to work with NetBSD but this is non-trivial (involving driver and kernel changes) and ought to be the subject of a separate note.
Then BlusSCSIv2 appeared with DaynaPort over Wifi .. magic!
I initially tested a card connected externally via DB-25 with DB-25 to SCSI 50 pin adapter. In this configuration, the WiFI worked well but I wasn’t sure that the Pico-W’s built-in antenna would function when mounted inside an SE/30. However, to my surprise, I did work if the BlueSCSI was mounted high enough in the usual HD slot. The signal attenuation was certainly high and the machine was sensitive to location/orientation. Furthermore, with this mounting, changing the SD card meant disassembling the machine.
So I 3D-printed a bracket(https://www.printables.com/model/755222-bluescsi-v2-tray-for-macintosh-se-se30that) that provided rear mounting with external access to the SD slot. [I also have an SE with SCSI2SD v5 mounted this way.] Perfect. Except that WiFi reception is practically non-existent with this mounting position. D’oh!
But I had a cheap Vonets WiFi repeater box lying around that I use occasionally as an ethernet to WiFi bridge. So I reconfigured this as a WiFi repeater and set this up a few feet away from my SE/30. This provides enough signal strength to reach the internally-mounted BlueSCSI. You do need to configure the repeater with MAC layer transparent transmission to get AppleTalk to work. But it all works quite well.
So first, I played with DaynaPort ethernet over SCSI using a Raspberry Pi with RaSCSI/PiSCSI. This is a workable solution for MacOS but it does involve hardware external to the SE/30 (connect by DB-25) together with the Pi unit and interface adapter and the whole Pi Linux stack .. so it’s messy. You can connect the Pi via ethernet or Wifi .. but note that AppleTalk won’t work over Wifi.
I also managed to get DaynaPort SCSI to work with NetBSD but this is non-trivial (involving driver and kernel changes) and ought to be the subject of a separate note.
Then BlusSCSIv2 appeared with DaynaPort over Wifi .. magic!
I initially tested a card connected externally via DB-25 with DB-25 to SCSI 50 pin adapter. In this configuration, the WiFI worked well but I wasn’t sure that the Pico-W’s built-in antenna would function when mounted inside an SE/30. However, to my surprise, I did work if the BlueSCSI was mounted high enough in the usual HD slot. The signal attenuation was certainly high and the machine was sensitive to location/orientation. Furthermore, with this mounting, changing the SD card meant disassembling the machine.
So I 3D-printed a bracket(https://www.printables.com/model/755222-bluescsi-v2-tray-for-macintosh-se-se30that) that provided rear mounting with external access to the SD slot. [I also have an SE with SCSI2SD v5 mounted this way.] Perfect. Except that WiFi reception is practically non-existent with this mounting position. D’oh!
But I had a cheap Vonets WiFi repeater box lying around that I use occasionally as an ethernet to WiFi bridge. So I reconfigured this as a WiFi repeater and set this up a few feet away from my SE/30. This provides enough signal strength to reach the internally-mounted BlueSCSI. You do need to configure the repeater with MAC layer transparent transmission to get AppleTalk to work. But it all works quite well.