My friend's laptop's hard disk has been acting funny.  I'd like to backup
the hard disk to my desktop's hard disk before anything else goes wrong.
There's plenty of space available on the desktop hard disk and I don't
want to bother transferring everything via floppy.  

The laptop is running DOS 6.0 and the desktop is running DOS 6.22.

I think I'm supposed to be able to get a "multipurpose cable" which will
connect the 25 pin printer ports on the computers to each other.  Then
there's a program that comes with DOS that will help me copy the files
across and I won't have to spend money on something like Laplink.  

Does this make sense to any of you?  Have you done this before?  What's
the name and syntax of the DOS command I'm talking about?  Why would it be
better to get laplink?  

And after there's a backup of the data on the questionable hard disk, what
tools should I use to diagnose and repair it?

Thanks for your help!!

11 responses total.

DOS 6.XX comes with INTERLNK and INTERSVR which allows you copy files
back and forth via a serial port or a printer port.  Before you can
use it, you will have to add the INTERLNK driver to the client system.
You simply load INTERSVR onto the host system and start it.
 
If you use the serial ports, you'll need a nul-modem cable to inter-
connect the systems.  Things go along a lot faster if you use the
printer ports.  You will need a special printer port to printer port
cable.  If you are good with a soldering iron and want to make your
own, I can tell you how to wire it up.  The cables are
less then $20 if you shop around.

INTERLNK and INTERSVR are pretty easy to use once you have the machines
interconnected.  

Yep, I've used interlnk/intersvr on my laptop, using a serial cable.  Not
as zippy as a parallel transfer, but for occasional transfers, it's fast
enough for me.  If I remember correctly, it installs the remote drive as a
logical drive letter, so you can then use commands like xcopy for backup.
I'd definitely give it a try.  The DOS help command gives enough info to
get it working.  My laptop's config.sys has device=c:\dos\interlnk.exe
(commented out when not in use).
 
I think they changed the program a bit from 6.0 to 6.2+, so you might want
to copy the 6.22 versions of the programs to both machines.

        I would be curious how to do this on mac.  I would like to get a larger
internal hard drive on my LCIII running system 7.1.  I was thinking I could
put the new internal drive in a friends mac and copy the files off my hd onto o
the new hd.  Questions: 1)  What software do I need, 2) what cables do I need? 
Many thanks for any help in advance.

Klaus, how is the special printer port to printer port cable different
from the multi-purpose cable for $10 at Best Buy?  Some of the pins
need to be switched?

And why don't they have null modem cables at Best Buy?

No, don't bother with the details of how to make it.  I'll use what I can
buy or borrow.

I'd like to hear the answer...Is it simply a 25 pin straight-through cable?

I backup both a Mac SE running 6.0.8 and a Powerbook running 7.1 to the
same external HD, with a SCSI connection. I just drag and drop the
internal HD icons onto the external icon. There are some details depending
on whether it is Sys 6xy or 7xy, and locked files have to be unlocked, but
otherwise it goes easily. 

That's exactly what I do wih my Macs too Rane.  The Mac SCSI bus supports
a total of 6 external devices as long as they each have unique address.
(1 through 6, device 7 is the Mac itself.)

I can see how someone might be selling a universal serial cable OR a
universal printer cable, but not BOTH in one cable.  The printer port
to printer port cable is NOT straight-through.  I'll elaborate:

Male DB-25     Male DB-25
 Pin No.        Pin No.
   1             N.C. (No Connection)
   2              15
   3              13
   4              12
   5              10
   6              11
   7 to 9        N.C.
  10              5
  11              6
  12              4
  13              3
  14             N.C.
  15              2
  16 to 24       N.C.
  25             25  (Common / Ground)

I have made up two cables following the above wiring and they both work fine.
(I buzzed out a comercial cable to find this information.  It should also
work just fine for the likes of Lap-Link, etc.)

  Re #3, as others have said, since you're dealing with two SCSI drives,
the easiest approach is to hook them up to the same Mac simultaneously,
and drag the icon for your old disk to your new disk.
 
  Since they're both internal disks, connecting them both at once will
probably involve running your Mac with its cover off (unless it has
space for another internal hard drive or CD-ROM that's not being used).
Inside the Mac, hopefully there is a spare power connector for another
drive; if not, you could get a Y adapter to split the one power connector
into two.  Also, you'll need an internal SCSI cable that has connectors
for two devices.  I don't know if the LCIII already has one; most newer
Macs do, as they're designed to house internal CD-ROM drives.  If you're
in A^2 and can't find one, I could loan you mine.  (Btw, if you have a
CD-ROM drive, you can temporarily use its power & SCSI cable with your
new hard drive until you get the files copied over).
 
  Two important details:
 
  (1) The SCSI cable has a red stripe on one edge; that side should be facing
  the side of the hard drive connector that has a "1" by it.  The pins on
  the connector are labeled 1 through 50 (usually in white, on the green
  board in the hard drive), and the red stripe corresponds to pin one.  The
  power connector only fits one way.
 
  (2) Your two SCSI drives have to have different SCSI ID's set.  The SCSI ID
  is usually set with jumpers on internal SCSI drives, and your manual should
  tell you how to do that.
 
  Re #4, Best Buy probably has null modem adapters, which go on the end of
regular modem cables, as they're more versatile than null modem cables.

More versatile - and more varied. There are a number of different wiring
choices for the "null modem", concerned with handshaking mostly.

Even some of the adapters come more varied.  The better nul modem 
cables/adapters will swap RXD and TXD, CTS and RTS, DTR and DSR.
The flunkies will only swap RXD and TXD as a minimum. (GND, SG,
DCD and RI are passed straight through... At least on the good
ones.)

Response not possible - You must register and login before posting.

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss