I've managed to get my Powerbook 170 to boot (Currently under 1.4.1, might
keep "nudging" until I find the version that stops working) NetBSD. I'm
setting things up. Got rc.conf edited, made myself a couple "other than
root" usernames, set up the "mydomain/myhost" settings, and I'm feeling my
way around the system - sorta "dipping my toes" you might say.

Now I think I'm ready to jump off into the great unknown of trying to get
this thing talking to the internet again.

My LAN is set up like so:


                       My ISP
                          |
         Dial-up modem on the PM7500's modem port.
                          |
                          |   PM7500 is running IPNetRouter for
                          |          NAT/connection sharing as
                          |          well as MacDNS as the LAN's
                          |          name server.
                  PowerMac 7500/G3
                          |     <-- This link is thin-coax ethernet
                          |
                          |         IIci is running Localtalk Bridge
                          |
LCII    Performa 637CD  IIci  HP Deskwriter
  |           |           |         |
  |           |           |         |
  +-----------+-----+-----+---------+ <-- this "backbone" is Localtalk
                    |
                    |
               PowerBook 170 PowerBook WAS happily running 7.5.5, and
                             talked to the internet quite nicely. Now
                             that I've got NetBSD installed, it doesn't
                             know the internet (or even the rest of my
                             LAN) exists.


So... Is there a way, short of writing my own localtalk driver (a rather
daunting task...) for me to get the PowerBook back to being able to see the
'net? As of right now, the only information I've been able to find
regarding networking has been ethernet based. With this old monstrosity,
that's not really a viable option (or is it? SCSI<-->Ethernet, perhaps? but
that runs into $$ I don't have to spare...)

So far, my first few attmepts have rewarded me with nothing more impressive
than "Host unreachable" at boot-time. Clearly, the beast isn't speaking to
the printer port properly to get the TCP/IP-on-LocalTalk packets shipped
off to the 7500. I'm left wondering how (or if it's even possible) to make
it happen. Anybody?

Before you ask why I don't just Localtalk the 7500 and IIci together, it's
actually quite simple: I'm out of serial connections. The printer port of
the 7500 is occupied (and frequently used) by the Imagewriter II I use for
draft printing. The modem port is occupied by (surprise...) the modem. The
only way I've got left to network the beast is to use the Ethernet
connection to the IIci. A bit of a headache, but now that I've got
everything configured, it all (other than the PowerBook, which used to)
works happily, which is all I expect.



Don Bruder -  dakidd@sonic.net      <--- Preferred Email - unmunged
I will choose a path that's clear: I will choose Free Will! - N. Peart