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How to copy a file from a 30-year-old laptop

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Re: How to copy a file from a 30-year-old laptop

#61

Post by implements »

thebeardisred wrote: post #54
ruslan wrote: post #12

Arn't there a serial (COM) port available on that laptop ? It was kind of ubiquitous at those days. This website [1] says there were two of them. Solving the probem with Zmodem would be trivial. The software (terminal) is already there, it seems. 1. https://everymac.com/systems/apple/powerbook_duo/specs/mac_p...

Thanks for mentioning {X,Y,Z}modem. I think folks forget that it still has modern uses.

There’s also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kermit_(protocol)

(We used back in the day to move files between PDP11s and PCs - it was the original “anything to anything” file transfer program)

Re: How to copy a file from a 30-year-old laptop

#62

Post by inferiorhuman »

rvense wrote: post #29
ruslan wrote: post #12

Arn't there a serial (COM) port available on that laptop ? It was kind of ubiquitous at those days. This website [1] says there were two of them. Solving the probem with Zmodem would be trivial. The software (terminal) is already there, it seems. 1. https://everymac.com/systems/apple/powerbook_duo/specs/mac_p...

Apple used 8-pin mini DIN connectors for serial. The author might not have had the right cable.

Classic macs had RS-422 not RS-232 ports so you'll need more than just a dumb cable to get it working with a PC.

Re: How to copy a file from a 30-year-old laptop

#65

Post by jeffhuys »

zbentley wrote: post #50
qwerty456127 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it so hard to write your own program which would just read a file stream and send it to a port? Maybe also split it into smaller frames with CRC hashes attached.

Depends: I wonder what programming tools/languages were present on the old PowerBook. Otherwise, getting any handwritten program or its associated tools/runtimes (if necessary) onto the laptop might be just as much of a challenge as getting audio data off.

Just program directly on the macbook! :D would be fun to experience imo

Re: How to copy a file from a 30-year-old laptop

#68

Post by charbuff »

jorgelbg wrote: post #66

Immediately took me back to the scene from Firewall (2006) when Harrison Ford is copying the account data with an iPod and a fax machine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J13jKfVH01o ^_^.

What an epic save. I have a few laptops and harddrives that I have been wanting to convert for years, and this motivates me again to try since I know that they're a bunch of ide and nvme connectors, nothing near the hoops the author had to jump through.

Re: How to copy a file from a 30-year-old laptop

#69

Post by tsegers »

thebeardisred wrote: post #54
ruslan wrote: post #12

Arn't there a serial (COM) port available on that laptop ? It was kind of ubiquitous at those days. This website [1] says there were two of them. Solving the probem with Zmodem would be trivial. The software (terminal) is already there, it seems. 1. https://everymac.com/systems/apple/powerbook_duo/specs/mac_p...

Thanks for mentioning {X,Y,Z}modem. I think folks forget that it still has modern uses.

I still use it regularly in 2024 to load data onto embedded devices running U-Boot. It saves me a network cable if one is not otherwise required.
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