Proper cable for ADTPro with Apple IIc+ and MacBook Air? Or, iBook G4?

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Proper cable for ADTPro with Apple IIc+ and MacBook Air? Or, iBook G4?

            It's been several years since I've done ADTPro transfers and my equipment has changed.  I'm now using a MacBook Air.  What happened was that I discovered that my venerable Keyspan Twin Serial Adapter no longer works with modern Macs.  I'm on OS 10.12.6 Sierra.  I've ended up with several questions.  This gets a little long (apologies for that) as I left in details of what worked and didn't as a help to others in the future.

 

Question 1:  I was wondering if there is a MiniDin8 to USB cable that would work for connecting the IIc+ and the Air.   

Update:  I found this:  http://retrofloppy.com/products/#SerialCables  It seems it would take two cables--the Apple IIgs, IIc+, LC III null modem and the USB to RS-232 Adapter – Macintosh or Windows.  Of course, I also have an Apple IIc, so that would mean getting the Apple IIc, Laser 128 null modem, too.

Oh, I just discovered a box of old cables, and found one that is a MiniDin8 Male ending in a classic PC 25-pin Serial, connected to Serial 9-pin jobbie (port adapter).  I also found a 25-pin Null modem.  Maybe that means I only need the USB-RS-232 Adapter...  

 

Second and Third Issues:  iBook G4   

I resurrected our old iBook G4, which is compatible with the Keyspan.  I'm using a MiniDin8 Male to Male that connects to the Telephone port on the IIc+ and to the Keyspan adapter port #1.  I've gotten ADTPro 0.2.1 up and running on both the IIc+ and the iBook G4.  Both ports of the Keyspan show up in iBooks.

 But the old magic isn't working!  (I'm rusty on it all, so operator error is a distinct possibility!)    ADTPro comes up on the iBook and connects, showing Apple IIc serial.  I have ADTPro 0.2.1 on the IIc+ set for 19,200, but Send or Receive do nothing.  I even tried ADTPro 1.1.2 and 1.2.0 on the iBook and regular ADT on the IIc+.  (I used Virtual II emulator and its A2V2 for that.)   This gets solved-- see below! 

 

Question 2:   How would go about confirming if it's the right cable?

I suddenly realized that the MiniDin8 cable could be the wrong one!  While it fits on both ends, sometimes cables look right, but aren't.   Perhaps, I was using a different cable in the old days.  

 Addendum:  It's the right cable!  Glad I didn't toss it years ago.  See below. 

 

Question 3:  Are there directions anywhere for the older version of ADTPro?  

Something similar to those for ADTPro 2.0.3 that I found online?   See http://adtpro.com  and http://adtpro.com/bootstrap.html   Update:  Those work just fine for all this.  

One thing I just discovered was a tip by Dave Schmidt (of ADTPro fame) that one should download the .dmg files of ADTPro, not the zip ones.  That's proved essential on the iBook side of things.  

Returning several minutes later... In fact, I've now got bootstrapping running, and the IIc+ just booted up ProDos!  It's now transferring the ADTPro serial client!  Fantastic!  

I've decided that David Schmidt is the Wozniak of Mac to Apple II transfers!

 

Question 4:  If the two computers have different version of ADTPro, which one should have the higher number -- the Mac/iBook or the Apple IIc+?  

Part of my problem may have been running ADTPro 0.2.1 on the IIc+ while now I'm using 2.01 or 1.3 on the iBook!  (Well, that and the need to use the .img files.)  From what I've determined, the Apple II_ needs the higher number.  I also discovered that 2.0.3 does not work on the iBook G4, Mac OS Tiger.  But 2.0.1 did the trick.   

 

Note:  What I did was to download ADTPro .img via the MacBook Air (the iBook G4 no longer works well on the Internet, far too sluggish and browsers blocking downloads due to security issues).  I then expand it which creates the ADTPro 2.0.1 folder on the MacBook Air and, with a USB stick, copy the folder over, and "sneaker-net" it to the iBook G4.  I do the same with the old Apple II games and word processing .dsk, .po images I want to transfer -- download on the MBA, transfer to the USB stick, and then use the stick as the target directory (or copy them to the ADTPro disks folder).

 

A Gotcha!

I kept getting Host Timed Out errors on the Apple IIc+.  Frustrating, especially as the bootstrapping had worked.  (Not the Speediboot; I had to do the two-step:  ProDOS, then ADTPro.)

I rummaged the net; found all sorts of advice, including troubleshooting discussions where the focus was on a cable problem.  Yet, it had bootstrapped fine.

The solution was amazing, if embarrassing.  It turned out the MiniDin8 plug in the back of the IIc+ wasn't fully secure and set all the way in position.  Once I removed it and pushed it in all the way, I even raised the block transfer count to 20 and it worked like a charm.  I'm using 115,200.

It's give the long-abandoned, forlorn iBook G4 a new lease on life!

 

Final Revised Cable Question

While my first question was about finding a cable to connect the several-years-old MacBook Air to the IIc+, it occurs to me that I should be future proof -- meaning finding a cable that would go directly from the IIc+ to a current MacBook Air/Plus with USB-C.   Is there such a cable?  I suppose it's handled using the cables identified above and a USB-C to USB-A dongle, but that's a whole lot of cabling-dongle.  A MiniDin8 to USB-C, with built-in null modem, would be ideal.

 

Any suggestions, ideas, , comments, or recommendations would be welcome!  And, greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks!