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EtherTalk Networking

What hardware do I need to set up an EtherTalk network? - First of all, any Macs that you intend to connect over an EtherTalk network MUST have Ethernet cards, also called NICs (Network Interface Cards), you can get them for almost every Mac from the SE and on (It is also possible to get SCSI Ethernet connectors, but they are extremely slow). If you plan on connecting only two Macs via EtherTalk, you will need the following hardware:

  1. One (1) Ethernet card installed (w/ the appropriate drivers) in each Classic Mac
  2. One (1) RJ-45 (twisted-pair) cross-over cable

If you plan on connecting more than two you will need the following hardware:

  1. One (1) Ethernet card installed (w/ the appropriate drivers) in each Classic Mac
  2. One (or more) Ethernet Hubs with the correct number of ports for the number of Macs connecting to the EtherTalk network
  3. one (1) normal RJ-45 (twisted-pair) Ethernet cable for each Mac connecting to the EtherTalk network

Once I get the right hardware for a EtherTalk network, how do I connect it all together? - If you are connecting only two Classic Macs together, you need to do the following (diagams comming soon, hopefully):

  1. Turn off the computers you are connecting
  2. Connect one end of the RJ-45 (Twisted-Pair) Ethernet cross-over cable to the Ethernet card (NIC) of each the two Macs.

If you are connecting more than two Classic Macs to the same EtherTalk network, you need to do the following:

  1. Turn off the computers you are connecting
  2. Connect one end of a RJ-45 (Twisted-Pair) Ethernet cable to the Ethernet card (NIC) of each Mac to be connected to the network.
  3. Connect the other end of the RJ-45 (Twisted-Pair) Ethernet cable that is connected into each Mac into a port on an Ethernet Hub. (DO NOT connect anything into the "uplink" port of any Ethernet Hubs at this point)
  4. Connect the Ethernet Hubs together. (This is done differently with different Hubs, so read the manual to do this part, I will soon supply methods for a couple different types though)

Once I have the hardware connected together correctly, what do I do with the software? - The software, which I listed on the main networking page, needs to be installed. If you are using AppleTalk Workstation Installer (which can be downloaded as either a 400K or an 800K disk image), do the following:

  1. Restart your Classic Mac with the AppleTalk Workstation Installer disk in the floppy drive
  2. When your Mac has booted successfully, open the disk's icon and run the installer program
  3. Select "AppleShare" from the list
  4. Click the "Drive" button until the name of the boot disk, or hard disk, is displayed (if you only have one floppy drive, and are planning to install AppleShare on a boot disk, press the "Eject" button and be prepared to do a lot of disk swapping)
  5. Click "Install"

If you plan on using the extensions, which are listed on the main networking page, either obtain copies of these extensions from somebody who already has them and place them in their appropriate places, or use the installer disks (or CD) for a System Software version and run the installer application. If you chose to use the installer disks (or CD), do the following:

  1. Open the Installer application
  2. Choose "Custom Install" from the drop-down menu in the upper-right corner of the Installer's window
  3. Scroll down until you see an item named "Networking & Connectivity"
  4. Click on the arrow to the left of the "Networking & Connectivity" item
  5. Click on the check box next to the "Classic AppleTalk" item
  6. Click on the check box next to the "File Sharing" item
  7. Click the "Switch Disk" button until the name of your hard disk is displayed
  8. Click "Install"

Note: The previous explanation is for the Installer for System Software version 7.5.3, which can be downloaded for free from Apple Computer's web site (go to the System Software section of this site to find a link to where to download it), and can be installed on any Classic Mac from the a Mac Plus, w/4MB of RAM, and newer. If you use installers for other versions of System 7, the procedure may not necessarily be the same, but will probably be very similar.

After you completed installing the AppleShare System Software, you will need to install the drivers for your Ethernet card (if it came built into your Mac, you shouldn't need to), then restart your Classic Mac (if you installed AppleShare on a boot disk, you will need to restart from the boot disk) to access your network.

I still can't do it, can you help? - Sure! If you still can't figure it out how to do it, or maybe you noticed something that I left out contact me.