Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!spool.mu.edu!cs.umn.edu!aslakson From: aslakson@cs.umn.edu (Brian Aslakson) Newsgroups: comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d Subject: Re: File Transfer Possible Between Mac and PC Using Diskettes? Message-ID: <1991Mar24.031201.9862@cs.umn.edu> Date: 24 Mar 91 03:12:01 GMT References: <1991Mar21.144311.1@vaxr.llnl.gov> Organization: :noitazinagrO Lines: 31 In one o' the Mac groups, noring@vaxr.llnl.gov writes: >I have a need at work to be able to transfer binary and ascii files back >and forth between my Macintosh and my ibm-pc. The only way I can think of >(short of hooking the pc into the Internet, as the Mac now is) is to write >the files onto 1.2 Mbyte 3-1/2" diskettes using appropriate software >(I'm assuming that the diskettes themselves are compatible between machines, >which I'm not sure about). 1.44 Meg. 1.2 is 5 1/4 HD MS-DOS format. I transferred files from an MS-DOS 360K floppy using an Apple 5 1/4" floppy drive attached to a Mac, used NCSA Telnet to upload to the mainframe, used Telnet again to transfer to a Mac with a SuperDrive, transferred the files to a 720K MS-DOS floppy, tested it on a clone, and it worked fine. Binaries and everything. If you want binaries to work on both the Mac and PC, you'll need to get "SoftPC" which is a Macintosh software program that will emulate a PC in software (you can even run Windows!). There are also some cards that fit into Macs that have a PC on them. The Mac program that does the translation is Apple File Exchange. There are init's available that will mount the MS-DOS formatted floppy and you can directly use compat- ible formats (Excel on a Mac will read PC Excel, all Lotus formats....). I'm gonna move the 5 1/4" drive soon.... -- Brian Aslakson brian@cs.umn.edu (mail) aslakson@cs.umn.edu (talk) mac-admin@cs.umn.edu (Eric gets this too)