Resolved Dumb stoopid newbie Question

[magilla]

After toiling away for years using a PM8600 (aftermarket G4 processor upgrade) running a photo business using Photoshop and generating 1,000s of JPEG & TIFF files under OS 9, I now have been dragged into the world of OS X using the following 2 setups:

iMac G5 (1.8 GHz/2GB/768GB HD) running 10.5.8 and
iMac Core Duo (2 GHz/2GB/1TB HD) running (soon) 10.6.3

Both were relative gifts (the iMac G5 cost me $25 and the Core Duo was a neighbor's garbage day pick up).

What's the easiest, most direct way of getting all my old JPEGs & TIFFs onto either one of these two machines?

And by easiest, I mean EASIEST. Can I simply use an Ethernet cable between the PM & either of the iMacs?

Thanks.

 

[Intell]

Because Snow Leopard and Classic Mac can't share files due to how Apple changed the Apple File Sharing protocol, you'll have to use the 10.5.8 machine. The 8600's built-in Ethernet is T-10, so transferring files over it will go at about 500-800 kilobytes per second and that's really slow. If you are able to, use a USB PCI card in it. That'll make transfers go faster at about 1.5 megabytes per second. If you have a T-100 Ethernet PCI card in it, use that for best results.

PS: If you ever want to get rid of that 8600, please let me know. I'll come by or meet you somewhere to pick it up. Those are amazing machines.

 

[magilla]

Because Snow Leopard and Classic Mac can't share files due to how Apple changed the Apple File Sharing protocol, you'll have to use the 10.5.8 machine. The 8600's built-in Ethernet is T-10, so transferring files over it will go at about 500-800 kilobytes per second and that's really slow. If you are able to, use a USB PCI card in it. That'll make transfers go faster at about 1.5 megabytes per second. If you have a T-100 Ethernet PCI card in it, use that for best results.

PS: If you ever want to get rid of that 8600, please let me know. I'll come by or meet you somewhere to pick it up. Those are amazing machines.

Never thought of the PCI/USB card - I have one already installed for an external USB card reader from Olympus. Didn't think I could use one of the USB ports to connect to the iMac G5.

Also never thought of looking for another PCI card (still have two slots available) for a PCI/Ethernet card - probably will have to look in a computer junk store for one of those.

This poor old guy (who still runs like a champ) has a 799Mhz G4 card from Sonnet Technologies in it plus, (in addition to the original tiny 2GB HD) 2 small HDs - 40GB & 60GB. The original floppy drive hasn't worked in several years (big deal) but the internal Zip drive still works (yet another big deal). Ram is maxed out @ 512.

The real reason I still have it is that I use it's SCSI port to drive a piece of photo processing equipment I have in my darkroom whose only connection to the external world is through a SCSI port. If there ever were such a thing as a USB->SCSI adapter, I'd probably retire the old guy and use one of these old iMacs to run it.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Intell]

You'd have to use a USB hard drive to transfer all of the data between the two machines. If you do go the PCI Ethernet card route, make sure you get a Classic Mac OS compatible one before spending money on it. Are you sure the RAM is maxed? 8600's can up to 1GB of it. The fancier 9600's can take up to 1.5GB.

There was a SCSI to USB adapter. It was make by Belkin or Griffin I think. It only sold for a few years and now gets a very high price. Not sure how well they worked or what they devices they worked with. You'd probably have an easier time buying a new processing machine then finding one of those adapters.

 

[magilla]

You'd have to use a USB hard drive to transfer all of the data between the two machines. If you do go the PCI Ethernet card route, make sure you get a Classic Mac OS compatible one before spending money on it. Are you sure the RAM is maxed? 8600's can up to 1GB of it. The fancier 9600's can take up to 1.5GB.

There was a SCSI to USB adapter. It was make by Belkin or Griffin I think. It only sold for a few years and now gets a very high price. Not sure how well they worked or what they devices they worked with. You'd probably have an easier time buying a new processing machine then finding one of those adapters.

Well, I thought it WAS maxed out @ 512 (although there's room for more and i DO have some extra old 256 memory cards still sitting around.) Was under the impression that the machine wouldn't support the extra 512 and that it would cause system problems.

A thought DID occur though. I also have one of Sonnett's USB/FireWire PCI cards installed (used the USB but never the FireWire) connections. Could I use the FireWire port(s) to connect the two? I know the FW on the old machine could only be 400, maybe even possibly 200, but wouldn't that be faster than an Ethernet transfer?

Bill

 

[Intell]

Apple states it's max memory at 512MB because at the time, the biggest sticks were 64MB. The industry eventually came out with 128MB sticks which work fine in that old machine. They never made a 256MB stick, a pity. I'm not sure how much experience you have with 8600's and memory. They can be picky and stubborn when their ram is altered. If it's working fine as it is, I suggest not bothering it.

You could connect the two, but I don't think Firewire file sharing/networking can to Mac OS until 10.3. I could be wrong about that though. Wouldn't hurt anything to try it. The speeds would be much faster than Ethernet (10T or 100T) and USB 1/2. You could get 10.3, even 10.5, running on that machine, but it wouldn't be worth the hassle and the SCSI port only works in 7.5.5-9.2.2. (I don't think the built in SCSI port works on old world Macs and OS X.)

 

[Swampus]

Couldn't OP boot either iMac in Target Disk Mode and then mount that disk in OS 9 on the 8600 and then transfer files that way.

 

[Intell]

Couldn't OP boot either iMac in Target Disk Mode and then mount that disk in OS 9 on the 8600 and then transfer files that way.

That could work.

 

[magilla]

Couldn't OP boot either iMac in Target Disk Mode and then mount that disk in OS 9 on the 8600 and then transfer files that way.

That's something I hadn't considered. I just figured the easiest way was a direct Ethernet connection. What I was looking at was a kind of "plug-'n-play" scenario.

Since I came by both of these iMacs by a rather circuitous route, no manuals but I have been able to pick up a copy of Pogue's original "OS X Leopard - the Missing Manual" so I'll give it a bit more in-depth scan to see what he says. Thanks for the idea!

Bill

 

[MysticCow]

iPhoto rescues me so much for this kind of thing. What you will do is (provided everything is imported into iPhoto) you will copy the entire iPhoto library to an external. Most of the time, a large flash drive is more than enough.

It is usually located at /Users/YourUserName/Pictures/iPhoto Library (copy the folder and everything in it, or the entire package for newer versions of iPhoto)

Now that it's on the flash drive, plug it into the new Mac. Then take what you copied and place it into the exact same spot on the new Mac (/Users/YourUserName/Pictures) BEFORE RUNNING IPHOTO FOR THE FIRST TIME. That last part is very important.

When iPhoto comes up, it will search for a library at that exact location and find what you just placed. If the photo database needs upgraded/updated, it will let you know and it's all right to say yes. You're done.

 

[magilla]

iPhoto rescues me so much for this kind of thing. What you will do is (provided everything is imported into iPhoto) you will copy the entire iPhoto library to an external. Most of the time, a large flash drive is more than enough.

It is usually located at /Users/YourUserName/Pictures/iPhoto Library (copy the folder and everything in it, or the entire package for newer versions of iPhoto)

Now that it's on the flash drive, plug it into the new Mac. Then take what you copied and place it into the exact same spot on the new Mac (/Users/YourUserName/Pictures) BEFORE RUNNING IPHOTO FOR THE FIRST TIME. That last part is very important.

When iPhoto comes up, it will search for a library at that exact location and find what you just placed. If the photo database needs upgraded/updated, it will let you know and it's all right to say yes. You're done.

iPhoto doesn't have anything to do with it. ALL my old files are on a PM8600/G4 done in PornoShop under OS 9.2. TTHAT'S the machine I want to transfer them FROM to the (relatively) newer iMacs. But thanks for the input.

 

[MysticCow]

iPhoto doesn't have anything to do with it. ALL my old files are on a PM8600/G4 done in PornoShop under OS 9.2. TTHAT'S the machine I want to transfer them FROM to the (relatively) newer iMacs. But thanks for the input.

Sorry about that! Sometimes, my brain forgets that we're not all under OS X, lol. Those Macs can actually boot into OS X, and then work iPhoto, if you use XPostFacto. That might be a little more work than what it's worth to transfer the photos, though.

 

[magilla]

Apple states it's max memory at 512MB because at the time, the biggest sticks were 64MB. The industry eventually came out with 128MB sticks which work fine in that old machine. They never made a 256MB stick, a pity. I'm not sure how much experience you have with 8600's and memory. They can be picky and stubborn when their ram is altered. If it's working fine as it is, I suggest not bothering it.

You could connect the two, but I don't think Firewire file sharing/networking can to Mac OS until 10.3. I could be wrong about that though. Wouldn't hurt anything to try it. The speeds would be much faster than Ethernet (10T or 100T) and USB 1/2. You could get 10.3, even 10.5, running on that machine, but it wouldn't be worth the hassle and the SCSI port only works in 7.5.5-9.2.2. (I don't think the built in SCSI port works on old world Macs and OS X.)

Just so that you know/inquiring minds wanna know - I stopped by my local Apple retailer here in Pittsburgh today (NOT an Apple store in one of the malls) and spoke to the "most senior, knowledgeable" member of staff (about 30 yr. old) about transferring files from my old PM 8600 to either the iMac G5 or the newer iMac Core i3 machine and he said "Oh, that's simple. Just take this (on sale) LaCie 500 GB USB drive and plug it into the PCI USB/FW expansion card slots on the PM 8600 and drag your files to it, THEN plug the LaCie drive into either of the two iMacs and drag your files to them."

Only trouble is the "genius" never told me the new LaCie USB 2/3 drive is 10.6.8 and higher compatible ONLY and won't function under OS 9.2.

Even though the drive was on "sale" ($59.99 from $69.99) and is convenient enough, I'm going to return it tomorrow. Store receipt says there's a "10% restocking fee" on any item returned - opened or unopened - they're gonna eat that - their fault instead of mine.

So much for the "genius" end of it.

 

[Intell]

Strange that the LaCie drive doesn't work right with your 8600. My guess it that it doesn't like the USB 3. Does it work with the iMac G5 running 10.5.8? Is it formatted correctly? I don't think OS 9 has support for NTFS disks.

Have you tried the Target Disk Mode suggestion made by Swampus? That might be best. And may I be as bold as to ask the name of this magically awful Apple retail store so that I may not visit it?

 

[magilla]

Strange that the LaCie drive doesn't work right with your 8600. My guess it that it doesn't like the USB 3. Does it work with the iMac G5 running 10.5.8? Is it formatted correctly? I don't think OS 9 has support for NTFS disks.

Have you tried the Target Disk Mode suggestion made by Swampus? That might be best. And may I be as bold as to ask the name of this magically awful Apple retail store so that I may not visit it?

USB 3/2 didn't have anything to do with it. Turns out that the old G4's aftermarket installed PCI expansion card is so old it's a USB 2/1 version, but the USB 3/2 drives work just fine on it anyway. Read on!!

Went back to the Apple retailer (MacOutfitters, Cranberry, PA) with the drive. Box does say OS X10.6.8 and up (Intel) but, when pointed out to the store salesperson (who happened to be the "store manager" - less than 30yrs. old) his reply was "Oh that... yeah that means that the included software for formatting the drive plus drive utilities wouldn't run on anything older than 10.6.8." I said really???? You mean to tell me that i drove back out here (after having called the store yesterday about this and was told to return it) - about a 25 minute drive - only to be told that it really wasn't an issue after all?

Whole thing is kind of funny/stoopid/moot point anyway. This Apple retailer's store sits RIGHT NEXT to a mall that has a BestBuy in it and I had stopped in THERE first before returning the LaCie to the Apple retailer to see what was available.

Lo and behold, they had Western Digital 1TB Passport drives on sale for $69.95 ($10 more than what I had paid the previous day for only a 500GB drive from the Apple store that was advertised as on sale from $69.99 to $59.99).

A quick call to WD while in BestBuy verified that this Passport could in fact be formatted under OS 9, have the files transferred to it and then re-transferred to my newer iMacs.

1TB for $69.95 vs. 500GB for $59.99/$69.99??? NO BRAINER!

In the meanwhile, since I started this thread, I've successfully networked the old PM8600/G4 to the iMac via an Ethernet cable and even THAT works like a champ now using the old G4 as a server. THAT G4 still has 2 more drive bays in it that could take older (but still large) hard drives for an additional RAID storage array - I HATE throwing out things that are still working perfectly even though they're just "older" than what's on the market now.

But as for this MacOutfitters retailer, if I need anything from them in the future I'll still take whatever they say with a grain of salt. It's obvious that all they're interested in doing is pushing product out the door.

Bill

 

[Swampus]

Sounds like an annoying experience.

For future reference, the folks at OWC are really good to deal with. They know Macs inside and out and have been around for a very long time. They had the same quality service back when Apple was selling for $12/share as they do today. They're solid through the good times and bad times.

 

[magilla]

Sounds like an annoying experience.

For future reference, the folks at OWC are really good to deal with. They know Macs inside and out and have been around for a very long time. They had the same quality service back when Apple was selling for $12/share as they do today. They're solid through the good times and bad times.

The REALLY quirky part of the HD purchase was that the guy @ BestBuy seemed to agree that the WD wouldn't give me any problems -- he's the one who placed the call to their 800# & handed the phone to me. Funny the guy at the Store didn't seem the least bit concerned. A real LAZY-FARE attitude as my dad used to say.