Internet and Printing

Ethernet

If your Starmax came with an ethernet card originally, it was probably a ZNYX brand. It may also have been a Sonic brand.

Current Znyx driver software: www.znyx.com.
Originals from the Starmax CD:
With Manual [730k].
Installer alone .sit [70k].
Installer alone .hqx [96k].

If you're looking for a card, check out Farallon or MacSense.

If you want an inexpensive 10bT card, look at Dayna cards at SmallDog. Last I checked, a Dayna PCI 10bT/thin card was $6. Note that Dayna is out of business, but the line is now owned by Intel who is honoring Dayna's lifetime warranty.

You can also use certain SMC cards (including a very cheap 10/100 card!) that don't come with Mac drivers but for which Mac drivers exist on the SMC site. I am currently using an SMZ EZ 10/100 card. These are available at CompUSA for about $15.

LocalTalk

Can't say that I use this much anymore. However, I do have an Imagewriter II with Appletalk option, which I was able to put on ethernet using a Dayna EtherPrint-T. These EtherPrints (and the equivalent Asante product, the AsantePrint) convert localtalk to ethernet. For the ImageWriter, I had to find the AppleTalk ImageWriter driver from OS 7.1, but it works wonderfully with OS 9.04 (!) whenever I need dot-matrix printing. The need for carbons is getting pretty rare, though.

USB

Look for a USB card which is OHCI compliant. Just remember "Open Host" and look for the first two initials. Many of the cheap PC USB cards are not OHCI, and they won't work in a Mac. I've got a MacAlly card (made for Mac). There were no drivers in the box, just a small manual with a reference to Apple's website for the "USB Card Support" files! Amazing how things change.

Of the general PC USB cards, the SIIG brand seems to be OHCI and should work. On the other hand, some PCI USB manufacturers are apparently making cards that will not work with the older PCI Macs including the Starmax. Allegedly the Belkin 4-port card is one of these even though it is "OHCI" compliant.

FireWire

I haven't put a firewire card in the Starmax yet, so I don't have personal experience with one. The info I have is that the Western Digital brand doesn't use the same firewire chipset as the Mac logic boards with built-in firewire, and so tends to run slower than other firewire cards that do use the same chipset. And one of the combo firewire/USB cards allegedly has problems with some USB cameras (ie, the firewire works but not the USB). Note that MacGurus has or had some Apple OEM firewire cards (Solectron) intended for the beige G3 desktops, priced at $55. There are some other PCI firewire cards available online for about $50.

Last Updated 01/11/01

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws