Hi everyone
I recieved an old world performa 6400/200 as a give me. This machine came with a dial up 28.8 Modem. The clock battery was dead and I changed that today and at the same time I removed the modem card and installed a 10 base nic for connections to my Linksys router via cable. I need to know where to find good infomation for setting up this new nic and also how to properly remove the modem software. I read that open transport 1.1.2 is needed and it appears to have this installed already. This is the first Apple Mac I have touched so it is hunt and pick so far. The machine has 32 megs of memory and is in great condition. I would like to get it internet connected and maybe use Linux Debian later or just keep it for printing books and manuals since the 2500 printer came with it. Any advice and pointers to the right source and text to deal with the TCP/IP would be appreciated. I will use a static IP and not DHCP and absolutely not AOL. By the way how do you dump all this AOL garbage that came with the machine already installed. Will Netscape 3 be sufficient for surfing now or will I need to upgrade to something like Firefox.
Thanks
Tom
Usually to configure TCP/IP you go into the TCP/IP control panel (located on the apple menu under control panels). There, you should see your network card listed in the drop down menu. You can enter the IP address there. Its all pretty straight forward. I would get more ram if I were you, unfortunately I can't seem to remmber the exact type that machine uses but im pretty sure its some kind of DIMM(?) To get rid of AOL, just delete the AOL folder and any related items in the System Folder. You may want to use IE 5 as a browser,but depending on your OS that may not be an option. Netscape 3 is pretty old, I would recommend at least 4, which is archived on Netscapes site last time I checked
it uses 70ns 169-pin DIMMs
you can use ram from an 85/86/95/9600. in fact, I believe most 604 machines use the same compatible memory that will fit in your machine. So, i think that any 604 machine has the memory that you can use in you machine. That mean 70,60ns memory will work in your 6400. Those 6400's were snazzy machine (not fast, but looked cool) and were few of the white machines that apple produced. I had a PowerBase 240MHz that used the same board design and processor. I really loved it.as it could accomadate a removable 604(e/ev) CPU that came from later machine (8/9500. 8/9600), but that was the powerbase. I suggest looking for a Vimage G3 240MHz Upgrade. I had one, but was never able to get it to work on the PowerBase.
too bad, I spent $70 on it, and couldn't use it
Good luck on the project. I really like the machines, and having gotten to use one that my mom had in her classroom, they were a really great machine to work with.
32mb's of RAM means you're probably using OS 8 or less, unless you've got virtual memory turned on--which will slow down your already slow machine. If you watch the eBay auctions for a matching pair of 64mb DRAM, preferably EDO, you should be able to get a pair for under $15. I've scored pairs as low as $5. Kicking it up to 128mb will do wonders, and will be the cheapest upgrade, and may be all you should spend on it, depending on what you are going to do. You could also buy one of the L2 G3 upgrade cards that fit in the L2 cache slot, but for the $35 you'd spend on that you could just buy a whole Beige G3 computer instead, so to avoid wasting money on a very old machine, just upgrade the RAM, and get a 256k L2 cache if it doesn't have one already. I've got a few spare that are not even worth the effort to put on eBay. You can get them for a couple of bucks these days, so you might watch for an auction by someone selling his 6400/6500 parts and pick up the RAM and the cache at the same time. The Powerbase uses the same cache, but the other PCI macs do not. They all use the same RAM, but EDO is preferable instead of FPM. Once you get the RAM up to 128mb, you can install and run OS 9.1 and avoid a lot of anguish. A 6400 with 128mb and OS 9.1 is a happy machine. OS 8.6 is also a stable system and happy on a 6400. Less than that is just not worth the hassle.
Here's a better place to find info on the 6400 and ask questions:
http://www.voy.com/8627/
Coius, did you actually ever try a daughtercard from a 8500, 9500, etc. in the Powerbase? I don't think they actually work in the Powerbase, athough I may be wrong. The Powerbase was very limited in compatibility. The only way to kick up the speed on a Powerbase, I had found, was with either the L2 G3 cards, a Newertech G3 daughtercard, or an XLR8 MPe ZIF Carrier daughtercard. Nothing else worked as far as I could determine--something about six slot something or other.
Here's a schematic of the 6400 motherboard:
http://www.macgurus.com/products/motherboards/mbppc6400.php
Firefox only works in OS X, I believe, so it's a no go for your 6400.
I tried a 604 from an 8600 in it. Worked, kinda... It sometimes hung from the heat inside the case. I never did like the case design of the Powerbase. The biggest problem was the heat.
I would try opera, or the Wamcom version of Mozilla. You can find it here:
http://wamcom.org/latest-131/
EDIT: Opera would be your best bet, as it is more up to date than WamCom build. IIRC, I think they just stopped developement for Classic only a few months ago
What I did with my Powerbase was replace the fan with a fan mounted right on the processor heatsink, worked pretty good, and was a lot quieter than the stock fan.
Also, by kicking your machine up to OS9.1 you'll have a much easier time with TCP/IP.
It seems this Airlink 101 PCI 10/100 is not being seen by open transport. Should it actually show the name of the card when the open transport applet opens.
Do you know of any pci cards by name that will work with a performa ?
Thanks
Tom
does it have the drivers installed? I believe PCI Cards are going to need a driver. My D-Link 530tx+ did.
PC ethernet cards aren't Mac compatible. Is the Airlink supposed to be Mac compatible? In your situation, a better solution than a PCI ethernet card would be to get a Comm Slot II ethernet card. Comm Slot II is the slot where the internal modem is. That way you won't be using up a valuable PCI slot. You can pick up a 10/100 Apple version on eBay pretty cheap these days. Just do a search in the Apple computers section for "Comm II" or "CS II" and a bunch of them should pop up. The better ones, and always more expensive ones, are the Farallon version. Don't get a Comm Slot I. Those are for older macs.
Hmm, I just reread your original post. You removed a 28.8 modem card. That was the Comm II modem card, not a PCI card, right?
I'm pretty sure it was a modem, I'll give it a look and see what it is. I'll ask the family member tomorrow what type of office connection it was originally on.
I guess if I had looked around at Fry's I might have found a compatible card for apple, I'm used to buying everything for a pc.
The modem card says Apple Computer 1996 and has a part no > 820-0809-A
Made by Valmark industries !
Looks like a modem to me.
I'll try ebay and also look at Fry's and Price Watch. You pretty much answered my question since the pci is different for Apple and a PC.
Thanks
Tom
It depends on the chipset on the card. I've tried those with Realtek 8139 chips on them and they will work if drivers are installed. Supposedly Digital-based network cards will work, but I have yet to try them.
Yes this Airlink 101 is a 8139 chip card and I also have an original Realtek card. Now how do you go about getting a driver installed for these.
If I knew which card to buy I would just buy one and be done with it.
Only if it is not too expensive of course. I don't see any as yet for an apple. I'll go to Fry's and take a look at what they have.
Tom
I used the 503tx Series for my AIO. It works great. The 530tx+ does automatic cross-over
I can't remember exactly, but I'm pretty sure that 28.8 modem is the notorious Comm Slot II Geoport modem. If so, you can toss that puppy in the trash, and use rubber gloves when you do so (joke). The Geoport modem was one of the pinnacles of dismal Apple OEM--a software, rather than hardware based modem. The general consensus: Piece of Total Cra...!
yeah, I remembered that post on 6400zone.com They talked about how they slowed down the machine to about Mac 040 speeds for the net. it used the OS to negotion and all that.
I had very good luck with Asanti' NIC cards on the older machines.
Very cheap on eBay when available...
Dave
Perhaps here???
http://cgi.ebay.com/ASANTE-AsanteFast-590-PCI-10-100-NIC-Card-for-Mac-PC_W0QQitemZ5840565528QQcategoryZ64051QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
yeah, the 6400 and 6500 are great machines. in fact thats why i have 1 of each :). both of mine have 246 ram and run nicely, although i dont really use them
246 RAM? What's that? You can't be talking about mb's. 128mb is the max those machines can do. The 6400 has 8mb also on the motherboard, so 136mb max total. Clue me in or enlighten me. I'd love to be able to kick up the RAM past 128mb on my daughter's 6500, but that's impossible from what I know.
I've got the RTL8139x driver for Macintosh Power Mac on my 9600. Requirements: "The NIC on your Ethernet adapter must be RTL8139 series and the Subsystem Vendor ID must be 10ec and the Subsystem ID must be 8139." I guess I must have downloaded it off the Realtek site, but the link for it that I stored in my bookmarks goes to a "this page does not exist" message on the Realtek site.
sorry typo. both have 2 128mb simms installed. bumping the 6400 up to 264mb and the 6500 to 256mb ram. sorry for the orginal typo. i really dont even use them that much ethier
I have a realtek card and can't remember where it came from but it believe it or not has a Model number of ENL832-TX+, and is a 8139 chipset card. This might be my ticket. I'm going to do some googling and see if I can come up with infomation with these model numbers. Does anyone recognize the brand or number ?
Tom
Okay Folks got the card it is an Encore model and does support MacOS, went to Drivers.Com got the driver in a zip and I'll see what happens.
Never ever throw anything away, this card would not work in one of my other windows machines or at least it wasn't recognized and no driver for it. I'll let everyone know if it works or not.
Tom
Well, there are some things that definitely should be thrown away. That Geoport modem card is prime example. You don't want to be tempted at all to find out how it works. What a complete waste of time that would be. Of course, you might cut it in three and paste some little reindeer on the pieces and hang them from the tree.
Hi, I'm returning to this thread because of my new adventures with my 8139 chipped PCI Ethernet card, just in case anyone googling a similar problem turns up here.
I decided to upgrade my PM 9600 to OS 9.2 using OS 9 Helper. My PCI Ethernet card is in this machine. After performing the 9.2 upgrade I found that I no longer had internet connection through my ethernet card. On another computer, I went online to see if there were any updates to the Realtek 8139 drivers, thinking that might solve the problem. The driver I had was version 3.0 and I did find a driver version 3.1 at Versiontracker.com, but when I tried to download it, all that downloaded was was an empty .zip file.
So I went searching for a version 3.1 elsewhere. Nothing at the Realtek site. Finally, I found it stored on a page at 6400Zone:
http://www.zone6400.com/files/ethernet_cards.html
Thank you 6400Zone! It's amazing how that site remains a great resource even today.
So I installed the Realtek update, restarted, but still no internet connection, so I went into control panels>TCP/IP and noticed that the "Connect Via:" was set at "built-in ethernet," so I changed that to "Ethernet Slot F2" where the PCI ethernet card is installed, et voila, the internet connection works like a charm. The upgrade to 9.2 must have switched the TCP/IP to a default setting, and the Realtek driver update probably wasn't the cure, but I don't know that for sure, but anyway, I've got a happy machine now.
One thing interesting about the OS 9 update is that my Big Island YoYo telephony device which isn't even suppose to work in OS 9 still works like a charm even in 9.2.2. It's a wonderful ADB device which only works on the beige macs. I tried it on a B&W and it doesn't work there, but it does on the beige PCI Macs and the Beige G3.
ive got a pc ethernet card in my umax c500. but it has a realtex 8139 chipset. that would be your best bet. PS: its PCI
I was using an Asante card with I think the Digital chipset. Good machine, though it ran best with 8.6 (had 72mb of RAM, 2.4gb hard drive IIRC). Hook up a set of external speakers, crank the volume adjust on the back, and you've got a halfway decent subwoofer. Netscape 4.7 was awesome on it. (also the last revision of Netscape I used on a regular basis)
Also had a PowerBase 240 w/ the L2 cache slot G3 card and 128 mb of ram. Good machine, though not as fun as the 6400.
I was using an Asante card with I think the Digital chipset. Good machine, though it ran best with 8.6 (had 72mb of RAM, 2.4gb hard drive IIRC). Hook up a set of external speakers, crank the volume adjust on the back, and you've got a halfway decent subwoofer. Netscape 4.7 was awesome on it. (also the last revision of Netscape I used on a regular basis)
Also had a PowerBase 240 w/ the L2 cache slot G3 card and 128 mb of ram. Good machine, though not as fun as the 6400.