Topic: How to connect a Win9x machine via Serial connection?

[Troy Starkey]

Hi,  I'll cut right to the chase.

I have an e-smith SME 5.1.2 server installed for our business.  We have an ADSL internet connection and some files on this machine.  We repair and reinstall PC's in our workshop (near where the server is located).  I want to connect a Win9X box to the server via a Serial link (eg Direct cable connection).  This would save me having to install a network card on these old junkers, just to update their anti-virus definitions, and various other updates that i keep in an I-Bay with html links.

Is there such a way to perform this mighty feat?  I have setup the dial-in components mgetty-1.1.25-5.i386.rpm & e-smith-dialin-0.4-2.noarch.rpm.  I have also followed an article on this topic from http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue41/smyth.html without any success.

In most cases in our workshop, the computers have windows98 and USB ports, and, in that case, I just plug in our SMC USB LAN adaptor and update via the network.  But, the older (P100 - P233MMX) systems seem to always have windows 95 and no USB.  This is why I want the serial connection.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,  Troy.

[Michael Maggard]

Get an old external hard drive with a parallel connection, one popular brand was "Backpack". I'd look on eBay or the like.

Those will plug into about anything, well be a lot faster then a serial connection (fast enough to run installs off of) and be a lot more straightforward then what you're trying to do now.

[Troy Starkey]

Hmmm..... If I wanted to pull the machine apart, I'd install a network card temporarily (which is what I do at the moment).  But to save time, I want to update the anti-virus def's from our server via serial.  Serial is quite capable of driving over 10K/s which is quick enough for files around 2Mb.

I did put a link in my last post of the article I was following, but, it doesn't seem to work.  I'm no Linux expert, I do put a lot of time in the OS, but, unfortunately DOS and Windows is where my roots in computers began.

Can anyone else suggest something that might be useful for my needs?

Troy Starkey.

[Jochen Hoegerl]

I haven't tried this, but it looks to be more informative than the description
on linuxgazette.

http://www.linux.se/doc/HOWTO/Serial-Laplink-HOWTO/x23.html

jochen

[Michael Maggard]

Michael Maggard wrote:
>
> Get an old external hard drive with a parallel connection,
> one popular brand was "Backpack". I'd look on eBay or the like.

Troy Starkey wrote:
>
> Hmmm..... If I wanted to pull the machine apart, I'd install
> a network card temporarily (which is what I do at the
> moment).

EXTERNAL drive. It plugs into the *parallel* port. I don't know what kind of Aussie PCs you folks have but in North America PC's parallel ports are all on the outside, don't require cracking the case. Backpack was a popular parallel port external hard drive, there are also Zip drives and others of that ilk that connect via the parallel port.

Another way using the parallel port to connect to the server would be with a parallel-port-to-Ethernet adapter. They're not as common as they used to be but they're still around and with a bootdisk or driver disk one would be connected in a manner native to your Windows apps.

Finally if you really are determined to terminal in and (t)ftp your files across look up Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP). This is what we used back before PPP and it still works just dandy. Or for more speed we're back to my favorite port with Parallel Line Internet Protocol (PLIP). Both fit fine on a bootdisk and let you connect as any other random TCP/IP device.

For any of these just Google, I came up with a dozen good hits for each suggestion.

[Ray Mitchell]

Dear Troy
What about Windows 95 own serial and parallel port DUN connection ability. You could plug the PC being repaired into another Windows PC on your network and use Windows networking to get to your shares or alternatively just copy from sme to workstation, then workstation to repaired PC. I have used the serial and parallel ports quite effectively to get old Win95 PC's to network to my Windows and sme network.
I think it may have been part of MS Plus for Win 95, I have actually forgotten what it was called now, have not used it for over a year.
The serial port was a bit slow, but the parallel port speed was satisfactory for small jobs.
I think the cable connections were described in Micosoft's Resource Kit but something that is similar to the old Laplink cables works OK (Standard parallel or serial cables do not work). I think a null modem serial cable was OK.
Anyone else remember.
Regards
Ray Mitchell

[Ray Mitchell]

Ah, just found it in the resource kit, under Communications, Dial Up Networking, called Direct Cable Connection.
It was fussy about protocols
ie
The host computer can act as a gateway to an IPX/SPX or NetBEUI network, but not to a TCP/IP network.

So you might need to add the IPX/SPX or NetBui protocol to another Win PC

Note  After the host connects to the network, it can access shared resources on the guest computer.

To install Direct Cable Connection during Windows 95 Setup, you must choose Custom or Portable as the setup type. You can also install it after installing Windows 95.

 To install Direct Cable Connection after Windows 95 installation

1.   In the Add/Remove Programs icon in Control Panel, click the Windows Setup tab.
   2.   In the Components list, click Communications, and then click the Details button.
   3.   In the Communications dialog box, click Direct Cable Connection, and then click OK.

Windows 95 provides a Direct Cable Connection wizard for establishing the connection between two computers. The wizard runs when you open Direct Cable Connection for the first time. It allows you to designate one computer as the guest and the other as a host. Before you run the wizard, you need to install Direct Cable Connection on each computer and connect them with a null-modem serial or parallel cable.
For more information about setting up Direct Cable Connection, see online Help.


Windows 95 supports a serial null-modem standard (RS-232) cable and the following parallel cables:

·   Standard or Basic 4-bit cable, including LapLink and InterLink cables available before 1992.
·   Extended Capabilities Port (ECP) cable. This type of cable works on a computer with ECP-enabled parallel ports, which must be enabled in BIOS. This kind of parallel cable allows data to be transferred more quickly than a standard cable.
·   Universal Cable Module (UCM) cable. This cable supports connecting different types of parallel ports. Using this cable between two ECP-enabled ports allows the fastest possible data transfer between two computers.

Parallel cables transmit data simultaneously over multiple lines, making it the faster of the two connection methods. Serial cables transmit data sequentially over one pair of wires, and are slower than parallel cables. Use a serial cable only if a parallel port is unavailable.


Regards
Ray Mitchell