Question

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My son is working on a school project, the subject is the history of Mac computers.

He's writing a paper but has to create a visual display too.

I suggested displaying his paper live in macwrite on an old mac.

We can get an old mac easily, but how can we copy a file to it ? The best I can come up with is retype it.

We have windows machines and a mac mini, but no other macs.

Is there a cable that can make a pc or a usb drive look like an external disk drive ? Or a usb floppy drive that can write an old mac floppy format ?

Thanks

Update: based on information on this website I think I can use an old scsi cd-rom drive with a mac plus.

edited Nov 15 at 20:01

asked Nov 15 at 17:41

Bart
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Richard Hoskins · Answer 1 · 2009-11-15 20:14:08Z

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A USB to DB9 or DB25 adapter, a Null Modem cable, and Kermit on both ends.

I'd just re-type it, but I got Cs in school.

answered Nov 15 at 20:14

Richard Hoskins
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	Do old macs have db9 connectors ? I like this idea. – Bart Nov 15 at 21:39
	At least some do. groups.google.com/group/vintage-macs/… – Richard Hoskins Nov 15 at 21:59
	This is actually just a mac modem cable. But: how do I get kermit on the mac ? I think I still need a floppy. – Bart Nov 15 at 22:09
	You might not need kermit on the old mac. It may have a terminal program on it. Did OS 8 or whatever have comms software installed? It must have. – Richard Hoskins Nov 15 at 22:15

mouviciel · Answer 2 · 2009-11-15 18:49:26Z

The most common hardware interface shared by both new and old macs is Ethernet (you may need an additional Ethernet card on some old mac). From this, any IP-based protocol should work, including Appleshare IP. For converting the paper to Macwrite, I suggest plain text.

NSD · Answer 3 · 2009-11-16 02:22:34Z

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A USB floppy drive would probably be the simplest method. Shove a blank disk in the Plus and let it format it there, then see if it mounts on a newer Mac.

answered Nov 16 at 2:22

NSD
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Joe Internet · Answer 4 · 2009-11-15 17:47:00Z

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If the file isn't too large, you can email it to yourself at a web mail address, such as a Yahoo mail or Google mail account. Then you can download it onto the classic Mac.

answered Nov 15 at 17:47

Joe Internet
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It might be hard to believe, but there were times when computers were not connected to the internet... – Arjan van Bentem Nov 15 at 19:03

@Arjan - Depending on the age, I remember using a beefed up Mac Classic to browse the web in the late 90s. It wasn't fast, it was B&W but it did work. I'd never have used it seriously however. – Chealion Nov 16 at 5:46

How can I copy a file to a “vintage” mac ?

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