Transfer files from PowerBook G3 Pismo to PowerBook 190cs

[cjsebes]

I'd love some additional suggestions on getting a driver for the Ethernet card from my Lombard (or G5 or Mac Mini) over to my 190cs.

I love a good puzzle and this one has been a mystery. I have a SCSI drive with files that I'd like to transfer to a USB hard drive. All the necessary cables are in place and I can access the drive on my 190cs. However, I don't have a way to getting onto my local network to transfer files off it.

The PowerBook 190cs (running 7.6.1) has SCSI, but no Ethernet. So I picked up a 3Com EtherLink III card, but getting the drivers I've downloaded to my Pismo G3 over to the 190cs is proving a challenge. If I format a floppy disk on the 190cs, the VST USB floppy drive connected to my Pismo (running 9.2) can't understand the format. Format the floppy on the VST connected to the Pismo and the 190cs can't recognize the disk. Each time, the machine says it needs to format the floppy.

I wish I still had my Lombard. I wouldn't be having this problem right now. Anyone want to trade a Pismo for a Lombard? (I'm half joking.)

Even irDA isn't compatible between the two laptops.

Any other suggestions?

 

[Volvo242GT]

Chris,

Got any zip drives lying around? That might be the best way to go, since it seems like your 190's floppy drive may need some work, hence the reason why the VST drive can't read floppies initialized on the 190 and vice versa. Wouldn't need to use the ethernet card.

 

[cjsebes]

Nope. No zip drives. Ideally, If I had a Pismo, I wouldn't be in this conundrum.

 

[retr01]

Hi @cjsebes!

You have some options:

1. SD Card or CF Card

Get either a CF to IDE or SD to IDE for the internal HDD in your PB 190c. Alternatively, you can get an external BlueSCSI with DB25 connector. Then, you can use the PB's SCSI adapter connector. The external route would be easier to move files on SD card from your newer Macs to the PB.​

2. Direct cable connection

You can get a direct crossover serial cable and connect between the PB and modern Mac with USB to serial adapter. That may involve more steps and stuff.​

3. Communicate over WiFi

Get a RS232 Serial Wifi Modem. Connect via WiFi through your local network.​

 

[cjsebes]

I need to make a correction. I have a Pismo and I wish I still had my Lombard. Sorry if that was confusing. I obviously was.

 

[Trash80toG4]

Pismo transfers with SCSI PowerBooks are a no go on several fronts, I/O ports are totally out of sync along that line of development.

But you're talking 190cs, which is blessed with a PCMCIA slot! Get a Compact Flash Card""""" and PCMCIA card adapter for it. DO NOT fall for buying CardBus which everyone seems to misname PCMCIA in this day and age. If you see a gold band across the business end of the adapter it's CardBus and will not work nor even fit into your 190's PCMCIA slot, but PCMCIA will work just fine in the Pismo.

I keep a baseline OS9 boot disk with troubleshooting utilities and my basic apps on an SD card that will boot anything I have at present. It's slow on 5300c/ce, but it works and it rocks on my 1400c/G3 trio.


***** edited boo-boo, typed SD instead of CF originally, my bad.

 

[Trash80toG4]

Lombard's not much better, but retains support for SCSI Disk Mode transfers. The G3 bridge machine to have would be a Wallstreet.

 

[retr01]

PCMICA to SD cards should cost less than $50 for a good one.

 

[retr01]

And take note of this page from the Low End Mac site:

PowerBooks Limited to PC Cards​

These models have two Type II PC Card slots and also support a single Type III card unless otherwise noted. They cannot be upgraded to CardBus.

• PowerBook 500 series, May 1994 (optional PC Card support)
• PowerBook 190/190cs, August 1995
• PowerBook 5300 series, August 1995
• PowerBook 1400 series, October 1996

 

[retr01]

I came across this. Wondered if it's a viable option, no?

Kit Floppy + Data Transfer Cable + CD Applications and Games for Macintosh | eBay

If your Macintosh has a different socket, you need a different serial cable based on the pin of your Macintosh. Serial Data Transfer Kit  Macintosh Plus, Classic, SE, SE FDHD, SE 30, Classic II, etc.

www.ebay.com

 

[3lectr1c]

+1 on PCMCIA to CF, working great on my PowerBook 5300c, 1400c, 3400c, and G3. No reason why it wouldn't also work on a 190.

The one I have looks like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/165288290985?hash=item267bf32aa9:g:8CUAAOSwjhhh5ZKS

Not sure if that's the same listing, but that type of card does work. You can boot off of them as well with pretty much no configuration, just copy a system folder over and go!

 

[jschroeder]

Pismo transfers with SCSI PowerBooks are a no go on several fronts, I/O ports are totally out of sync along that line of development.

But you're talking 190cs, which is blessed with a PCMCIA slot! Get an SD Card and PCMCIA card adapter for it. DO NOT fall for buying CardBus which everyone seems to misname PCMCIA in this day and age. If you see a gold band across the business end of the adapter it's CardBus and will not work nor even fit into your 190's PCMCIA slot, but PCMCIA will work just fine in the Pismo.

I keep a baseline OS9 boot disk with troubleshooting utilities and my basic apps on an SD card that will boot anything I have at present. It's slow on 5300c/ce, but it works and it rocks on my 1400c/G3 trio.

Hi, I have a similar problem with transferring large files to my PB 190cs. This looks like a promising solution. Does the PCMCIA SD card adapter need drivers/extensions or is it plug and play? Is there a size limit on the SD card? Or is there a specific type of old SD card that is needed? Will I have to format the SD card prior to inserting it into the PB? Thanks in advance and sorry for so many noob questions!

 

[Trash80toG4]

Thanks, I just edited that boo-boo, should have read Compact Flash, not SD. It's been so long I feel like a n00b as well here. IIRC you'll only need to initialize the CF Card in the 190. No low level formatting required?

When it comes to volume size/OS limits I think I'll never get things straight, can't go wrong with a 1MB card AFAIK.

Transcend 1GB INDUSTRIAL Compact Flash +ATA PC card PCMCIA Adapter | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Transcend 1GB INDUSTRIAL Compact Flash +ATA PC card PCMCIA Adapter at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Brand new shouldn't cost much more I'd think. What OS are you running on the 190? The gang will keep you straight on max. volume size.

 

[jschroeder]

Thanks, I just edited that boo-boo, should have read Compact Flash, not SD. It's been so long I feel like a n00b as well here. IIRC you'll only need to initialize the CF Card in the 190. No low level formatting required?

When it comes to volume size/OS limits I think I'll never get things straight, can't go wrong with a 1MB card AFAIK.

Transcend 1GB INDUSTRIAL Compact Flash +ATA PC card PCMCIA Adapter | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Transcend 1GB INDUSTRIAL Compact Flash +ATA PC card PCMCIA Adapter at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Brand new shouldn't cost much more I'd think. What OS are you running on the 190? The gang will keep you straight on max. volume size.

Thanks! I appreciate the link to ebay. I’ll pick one of those up. I’m running system 7.5.3 on my 190cs. Do you think that will be a problem?

 

[retr01]

@jschroeder, you'd want more RAM when you use System 7.5 or later. System 7.1.1 is the minimum for the PB 190cs. The correct System version depends on what you need and would like to run as far as the software, drivers, and so forth.

 

[jschroeder]

@jschroeder, you'd want more RAM when you use System 7.5 or later. System 7.1.1 is the minimum for the PB 190cs. The correct System version depends on what you need and would like to run as far as the software, drivers, and so forth.

Thanks! But a 1gb compact flash should work in it, right? Will it not work if there’s not enough RAM? I need to stay in system 7.5 or lower because I also create 800k floppies for my Mac Plus.

 

[retr01]

Thanks! But a 1gb compact flash should work in it, right? Will it not work if there’s not enough RAM? I need to stay in system 7.5 or lower because I also create 800k floppies for my Mac Plus.

As @Trash80toG4 points out, the 1 GB CF card should work. It will be your mass media drive instead of a hard disk drive. The amount of RAM should not affect the operation of the CF card. However, consider RAM like a gas tank in a car. Back in the day, more RAM was nice to run multiple and intensive applications. Now, not so much unless you plan on running many intensive programs. For example, my SE/30 and IIci maxed out to 128 MB of RAM, yet I know I will probably not need that much memory. Ha.