DOS ain't dead - Networking with MS-DOS 6.21?

CluelessInSeattl

Seattle, USA,
20.01.2013, 15:56

Networking with MS-DOS 6.21? (Users)

As some of you may have read in another thread, I'm trying to back-up the hard drive in a little old hand-me-down Toshiba laptop onto floppies.

I've also got an old 486 PC that a friend gave me a couple of decades ago, and it seems to still work.

I've got MS-DOS 6.21 installed on both machines.

I seem to recall that back in the day you could connect two machines running MS-DOS in what I think they called a peer-to-peer network (using, I if I remember rightly, something called a "crossover" cable).

Are any of you old enough to remember those days, and able to recall what hardware and software were required to set up a two machine network like that?

It would be a real boon to me if I could just back up my laptop HD directly to a partition on the PC's hard drive every now and then, instead of doing the floppy disk shuffle like I'm doing now.

---
Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"
Running MS-DOS 6.21

bocke 20.01.2013, 22:38 @ CluelessInSeattl	Networking with MS-DOS 6.21? Post reply
	You might get a clue (a really bad pun, sorry :)), at FreeDOS wiki: http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/freedos/index.php?title=Networking_FreeDOS It's a pretty detailed and usefull guide.

Arjay 21.01.2013, 00:14 @ CluelessInSeattl	Networking with MS-DOS 6.21? Post reply
	> It would be a real boon to me if I could just back up my laptop HD directly > to a partition on the PC's hard drive every now and then, instead of doing > the floppy disk shuffle like I'm doing now. Old way was to use laplink or other such programs. Now days I'd suggest you buy a harddisk docking station for your main PC as it's quicker/easier and will do what you are wanting easily.

Laaca

Czech republic,
21.01.2013, 09:06

@ CluelessInSeattl

Networking with MS-DOS 6.21?

Post reply

Real peer-to-peer network is maybe a overkill.
Simple FTP server - FTP client connection should be enough.

Download the MTCP package by M.Brutman. It has both needed programs: FTP server and FTP client.

---
DOS-u-akbar!

bocke

21.01.2013, 12:03

@ CluelessInSeattl

Networking with MS-DOS 6.21?

Post reply

I saw something that wasn't addressed completely in the answers.

> I seem to recall that back in the day you could connect two machines
> running MS-DOS in what I think they called a peer-to-peer network (using, I
> if I remember rightly, something called a "crossover" cable).

Physically, you can connect two PCs in several ways. For old computers you have a few choices:

Over serial port (nullmodem)
Over parallel port (laplink)
Over ethernet

For a direct ethernet connection you would need a crossover cable. It's the same (cat5) as a "normal" strait-through ethernet cable, only the wiring differs a bit. So you can make a crossover cable from any strait-through ethernet cable laying around if you have a necessary equipment (crimp tool and RJ45 plugs).

Then read other answers in the thread. ;)

Rugxulo Usono, 21.01.2013, 16:02 @ bocke	Networking with MS-DOS 6.21? Post reply
	"File Maven is a free DOS file manager with high speed PC-to-PC file transfers via serial or parallel cable. The user interface features a dual directory display with pull-down menus, mouse support, hotkeys, 50-line video support, and a choice of 10 predefined color schemes." (Thanks to Eric Auer for the reminder.)

bretjohn

Rio Rancho, NM,
21.01.2013, 17:48

@ CluelessInSeattl

Networking with MS-DOS 6.21?

Post reply

MS-DOS 6.21 I think came with INTERLNK & INTERSVR (I know 6.20 did). They allow you to set up a simple client/server type system using special serial (null modem) or parallel (interllnk or direct connect parallel) cables. If you don't have network (Ethernet) cards with appropriate drivers on both computers, or the computer your backing up doesn't have USB support, serial or parallel is probably your best option.

Parallel is much faster than serial, though not as fast as Ethernet. Back in the days before USB, I used INTERLNK/INTERSVR with special parallel cables all the time for different things. You used to be able to buy interlnk/direct connect parallel cables at most any computer store, though I don't know if that's the case any more. I'm pretty sure you can still find null modem cables, though.