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How to transfer files to your old DOS machine - fastlynx?

L

Lectere

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May 19, 2018
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18
Hey guys,

I used to have software like FastLynx, with this you could connect two computers without a network card, and map a drive, to transfer files.

Before networks were common to have at home, I've used this with a parallel cable to connect my two DOS machines to transfer files.

Could something similar be used to transfer files from and to my old DOS computer and my modern PC? How do you guys transfer files to the old PC"s?

Thanks,
 
The simplest solution to transferring files between an old and modern PC, in my opinion, is to install a network card in the old PC. You can then run the TSR packet driver for the card, then use the mTCP suite ( http://www.brutman.com/mTCP/ ) to FTP files to and from a modern system. If the old PC cannot take cards, there is a Xircom parallel-port "PE3" network adapter that works. As for adapter cards, I personally use Intel Etherexpress 8/16 cards, but others (search this forum) have had success using 3com cards and NE2000 cards. Some cards need to be configured as "8-bit" if you are using them in a system with only 8-bit ISA slots, to be mindful of that.

There are other solutions for accessing files from a modern PC via drive letters, but those are more involved. Just file transfer is fairly simple as described above.
 
There are lots of other ways if you can't fit your vintage PC with a NIC. For example, a parallel-port Zip drive will record files from your vintage PC and play them back with a USB-interfaced Zip on your modern PC.

Do you have the capability to write 3.5" floppies on your vintage system? You can read them on a modern PC with a USB floppy drive.

Or use either an XTIDE card or an CF-to-IDE adapter (depending on system) and copy the files there.

Does your vintage machine have a USB controller? (Some 486 and P1 systems do). You can get DOS drivers for that.

I once transferred files from a (non-DOS) machine by tying a photo-transistor to the output of a keyboard LED that I could control. It was slow, but it worked.

Let your imagination roam!
 
Actually, I wonder if a plain old USB-to-serial adapter might not suffice if run at low speeds. I've certainly used one to transfer data to and from MCUs.
 
Ofcourse I have a USB floppy disk, but I have a ibm ps/2, so a normal network card won't work... I need to have the special MCA slot NIC.

And the Xircom parallel-port "PE3" network adapter looks like a nice alternative, but a quick look on ebay proves they are expensive and hard to find...
 
Well, color me confused with the responses.

First, the "modern computer" or its capabilities hasn't been identified
It's been a long time since I've seen a modern PC with a real parallel port, although PCIe add-in parallel ports exist.
The OP says that he has a PS/2 (I assume that it's the "old" one), but somehow a floppy drive won't work, even though he says he has a USB floppy for his modern machine.
Further, he doesn't identify what OS his modern PC is running.
Why a cheap USB-to-serial cable won't work (with a null modem adapter) hasn't been explained.

Too many questions, too few answers.
 
A Panasonic CF-51 supports USB drives under DOS and has true parallel and serial ports. Last one I bought was under $50. I set it up to dual-boot realmode DOS (w98se/Bootgui=0) and XP SP3. Enable USB legacy support in the BIOS, put a USB thumb drive before turning on and booting up- comes up as a DOS drive.

You could use it as an intermediary transfer point.
 
I just use a P1 or 486 notebook with a Win95/98 - put a PCMCIA->CF card in it, which Win9x can "see" and then transfer data by LPT null modem cable, using Norton Commonder 4.0 to all my vintage machines from 8088 to P1. On PII-PIII I use driver that makes Win98SE see a USB stick)
 
q-First, the "modern computer" or its capabilities hasn't been identified
a-Windows 10 PC without any paralel port. It's been a long time since I've seen a modern PC with a real parallel port, although PCIe add-in parallel ports exist.

q-The OP says that he has a PS/2 (I assume that it's the "old" one), but somehow a floppy drive won't work, even though he says he has a USB floppy for his modern machine.
a-maybe I said it wrongly, but the floppy method works, but is a bit annoying because of bigger games/data.

q-Further, he doesn't identify what OS his modern PC is running.
a-win10

q-Why a cheap USB-to-serial cable won't work (with a null modem adapter) hasn't been explained.
a-I don't think I can install fastlynx on my windows 10 PC, or am I missing something?

Too many questions, too few answers.
 
Lectere said:
And the Xircom parallel-port "PE3" network adapter looks like a nice alternative, but a quick look on ebay proves they are expensive and hard to find...
Click to expand...

Because you have a PS/2, this is really the only practical option for something that doesn't transfer very slowly. A XIRCOM PE3-10BT sold last month for $25 so you just have to camp auctions and wait for one to show up at a reasonable price.

Otherwise, you'll have to use USB serial on your Windows 10 system, and serial on your PS/2. That will always work but is really slow.
 
There is another posibility: get one of those cheap Gotek Floppy Emulators and upgrade it with the HxC firmware

http://hxc2001.com/store/index.html

or their OSS alternative FlashFloppy

https://github.com/keirf/FlashFloppy

There are youtube videos that explain how to flash Gotek drives with the FlashFloppy firmware.

Unfortunately, since you have a PS/2 computer you will need to do some extra modding to the Gotek drive to make it work.
 
If your new computer is any of the ones that runs Windows XP to 10, and your old computer runs based on a so called 80386(SX) or newer processor, then give ParCP-USB a try. I use it since years, it works just fine between these systems. And if you have ATARI ST series machines, you have double use as it also accepts this platform as the old one.

https://joy.sophics.cz/parcp/parcpusb.html
 
Trixter said:
Because you have a PS/2, this is really the only practical option for something that doesn't transfer very slowly. A XIRCOM PE3-10BT sold last month for $25 so you just have to camp auctions and wait for one to show up at a reasonable price.
Click to expand...

There is a possible (although not-so-straightforward) alternative. I do not have a PE3 dongle, so I use another (NIC-enabled) computer as a PLIP server to provide connectivity to my NIC-less 8086. It works (but is obviously not very power-efficient). DETAILS HERE
 
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