Setting up Internet Networking on a BlueSCSI v2 Pico W External Plugged into a PoweMac 6500/300 with Mac OS 9.1

[GerrySch]

Whew, long title. But is scopes out the issue. I bought a refurbished PowerMac 6500/300 at the VCF Southwest here in Dallas. It has installed on it MacOS 9.1 and runs great. Of course, it doesn't have any networking capabilities so I was thinking of using an external 25-pin BlueSCSI v2 with a Pico W. The 6500 has internal IDE drives but there is an external SCSI port which handles BlueSCSI HD images. It has Open Transport installed and active but I'm getting hung up installing the DaynaPort 7.5.3 drivers. It's asking for a DaynaPORT disk but this question didn't come up when I installed these drivers on my SE/30. I don't want to screw up the OS 9.1 install so I thought I should ask. Also looking through the BlueSCSI website, I don't see any reference how to install it in OS 9.1 . So what drivers do I need to get the BlueSCSI to connect this Mac to my local network? My long term goals are to be able to move files around my network using FTP from the 6500 to my SE/30, Apple IIGSes, LC475s, M1 MBP and Dell Laptop. Any feedback is deeply appreciated.

P.S. The 6500 is a great bridge machine between the classic and modern Macs.

Thank you for your help and time,
Gerry

 

[ClassicHasClass]

I don't have an answer to your question, just drooling over the 300MHz. My own 6500 is 275MHz, though it has a 1MB cache and a CS2 Ethernet card.

 

[Mk.558]

You should get a PCI Ethernet card. Fortunately, they're cheap, plentiful and many should work right out of the box. Ideally you'll hunt for one that is supported by 7.5.5/7.6.1 if you want to use those, but also Mac OS 9.

Farallon 10/100 PCI NIC

Should be compatible with both Macintosh and PC systems. 10/100Mbit Ethernet adapter for PCI bus. Farallon part number 8960155-00-01.

wiki.preterhuman.net

There's a handful for about 40 bones in the US on ebay. This has a couple of benefits: A) 10BASE-T and 100BASE-T compatibility, B) wired, so more reliable than wireless, C) Could be faster than wireless, and D) AFP will work. Although not specific to your machine, see the link in my signature for more.

TIL you could get a machine in 1997 with no Ethernet...what in the tarnation? We had Ethernet in 1991 onboard with the Q700...

 

[misterg33]

Looks like the instructions are listed here for Open Transport...

RASCSI

English fork of the Japanese RaSCSI project. RaSCSI allows a Raspberry Pi to function as emulated SCSI devices (hard disk, CD-ROM, and others) for vintage SCSI-based computers and devices.

git.applefritter.com

WiFi DaynaPORT

BlueSCSI v2 Documentation

bluescsi.com

Doing a custom install of just the SCSIlink driver is probably your safest bet. Looking at the install disk, it appears this is a DRVR resource that gets embedded into the system suitcase, not an extension. After installation, you select "Alternate Ethernet" in the TCP/IP control panel (and AppleTalk control panel if you're using AppleTalk).

 

[misterg33]

Separate tip: A reminder that you can view items in Extensions Manager "by Package" to easily see and disable any outdated items that an installer has installed. I didn't see anything like this when I custom installed just the SCSI driver mentioned above.

 

[eric]

Also looking through the BlueSCSI website, I don't see any reference how to install it in OS 9.1

9.1 is way past the DaynaPORT's original target of system 6 and 7. I know people have got it to work in 8, but never seen anyone try in MacOS 9. If you get it working please update the wiki.

I do agree that a PCI NIC for your situation would be a better option for this type of machine.

 

[ClassicHasClass]

TIL you could get a machine in 1997 with no Ethernet...what in the tarnation? We had Ethernet in 1991 onboard with the Q700...

Remember that the 6400 and 6500 were Apple's budget Power Macs for home users and Ethernet still wasn't common for home use then. They were the last Performas as well, after all.

 

[misterg33]

Remember that the 6400 and 6500 were Apple's budget Power Macs for home users and Ethernet still wasn't common for home use then. They were the last Performas as well, after all.

You could get a comm slot ethernet card for the 5xxx and 6xxx macines. The PCI machines used a comm slot II.

 

[misterg33]

9.1 is way past the DaynaPORT's original target of system 6 and 7. I know people have got it to work in 8, but never seen anyone try in MacOS 9. If you get it working please update the wiki.

When I did a custom install of just the SCSI network driver in an emulator running OS 9, it didn't appear to cause any problems. The "Alternate Ethernet" driver appeared in the TCP/IP control panel as expected. I don't have the hardware to test it to see if it actually works though.

 

[ClassicHasClass]

You could get a comm slot ethernet card for the 5xxx and 6xxx macines. The PCI machines used a comm slot II.

Yes, and I said above I have a CS2 Ethernet card in my own 6500 (and TAM, but that's just because it's based on the same architecture). They were still Apple's budget Power Macs regardless. If you wanted on-board Ethernet, Apple wanted you to buy an Outrigger or an 8xxx/9xxx.

 

[GerrySch]

I don't have an answer to your question, just drooling over the 300MHz. My own 6500 is 275MHz, though it has a 1MB cache and a CS2 Ethernet card.

I would think the difference in speed would be not that noticeable. Especially, since you have a 1MB L2 cache. Where did you get it? I have a 512MB L2 cache but the tests I've seen shows the 1MB L2 cache makes a big difference. Also, I found a 10/100 PCI ethernet card that was around $10.00 and works great. Now I'm trying to find OS9 drivers for my new internal USB 2.0 PCI Card with 5 ports. I thought it had OS9 drivers but now I'm trying to figure out where they are. The highest OS my 6500 supports is 9.1. CRAP!