68kMLA Classic Interface

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Sweet IIfx
Posted by: cofford on 2021-02-05 13:47:16 This was my dream computer when I was a kid, though I never thought I’d actually own one. It’s still a beast!
Posted by: TimHD on 2021-02-06 06:01:07 Nice, is that Unix or something else running (or just z-term or something to one)?
Posted by: cofford on 2021-02-06 06:42:18 I run Linux (Ubuntu 20.04, Raspberry Pi OS) on pretty much everything I can. I set up one machine with a telnet server that is only visible to my internal network (in my case it’s a Core2 iMac, running Linux). Then, I can use a telnet client on my 68k Macs to telnet in, then SSH anywhere from there. Works well, and it gives me something to do with the old machines. BetterTelnet even runs on 8mhz Compact Macs.
Posted by: AndiS on 2021-02-06 07:07:28 This is a valid setup for sure. Altough would not recommend using telnet even in an internal network! Usually there are many non-trusted devices on the network, that are able to see your unencrypted passwords. Think about Smartphones, TVs etc... 68040 Macs can connect to modern SSH servers using ssheven - you could easily skip the telnet step. For older 68k CPUs I would recommend using a real serial connection to the Linux Bridge. You need an USB-Serial converter and ZTerm on the Mac - no unencrypted network traffic. I really like the IIfx setup you have there!
Posted by: LaPorta on 2021-02-06 07:29:12 Very, very nice. I have been meaning to set up my IIfx similarly, but I just don't have the space.
Posted by: cofford on 2021-02-06 16:08:25 I think (and I could very well be wrong) that network traffic with both hosts on the same switch doesn't go beyond said switch. In that case, telnet is acceptable. I've got all the Macs and the Linux box on the same switch, so traffic doesn't make it past the switch unless it is broadcast. I checked this with Wireshark from a different machine not on the switch, and I only saw the broadcast packets.
Posted by: joshc on 2021-02-06 20:11:04 Nice, maxed out RAM too! These are still very capable machines to this day. I never thought I would own a IIfx either but I managed to find a IIx with a IIfx board inside, I don't use mine much (its currently in a cupboard) but I have a few things I need to do to it. It's my noisiest Mac by far - the IIx power supply does not have an auto adjusting fan, so its always on full speed and its *loud* so I would like to fix that. Sound doesn't work on mine at the moment, but the board has the factory tantalums and sound from the headphone jack works - so I think its either a dead speaker, or the axials need replacing.
Posted by: AndiS on 2021-02-06 22:05:08 @cofford It is true, Switches provide some degree if isolation and may prevent casual listeners. If there is anything out in your network actively sniffing passwords, then Switch isolation does not prevent anything. For example - saturating the Switches throughput might just let it fall back to operating as a Hub. It might also accept SNMP commands and let anyone set up a port as a monitor port and so on... The problem is, there could just be a device in your network that is already infected with crypto malware and is now looking for the keys to your backup server. It could then not only nuke infected devices, but your backups too. Unfortunately these things are currently happening but depending on your setup it might not be a problem at all. If you never log in into anything important from the Linux-Bridge you can just as well continue using it as is. I'm more a the Belt and Suspenders and then some more foam padding guy and isolate EVERYTHING ;-)
Posted by: cheesestraws on 2021-02-06 22:40:42 It's pretty easy to break a switch to get it to send you someone else's traffic if you try. Or even if you don't, honestly. The isolation provided by switches is much more about bandwidth use than it is, strictly speaking, about security. Simplest case: under normal conditions, a switch will blindly trust anything plugged in to tell it what it is; and if you tell it that you're another device, bingo, you'll get all that device's traffic until that device reasserts itself. That said, you have to decide your own risk profile. If this is literally just an addendum to the Mac, and you're not really using it for anything else, telnetting into it is probably fine. If you're also using it for other stuff, or reusing passwords, you might want to be a bit more careful. (edit: meant to say, I am agreeing to a great extent with @AndiS here, although the idea of someone having a switch that accidentally has an SNMP implementation that actually works made me snigger)
Posted by: demik on 2021-02-07 20:10:40 68040 Macs can connect to modern SSH servers using ssheven - you could easily skip the telnet step. Didn't know about ssheven. This is awesome 🙂 Thanks !
Posted by: BacioiuC on 2021-02-07 22:02:52 68040 Macs can connect to modern SSH servers using ssheven - you could easily skip the telnet step. MacSSH works on my 030 se/30 pretty decently so that’s also an option! Been running a blog from it so you can do a lot with ssh from classic macs still.
Posted by: AndiS on 2021-02-08 03:22:00 The last version of MacSSH can connect over the SSH2 protocol which is more or less mandatory today. But it does not support current strong cyphers like ed25519. While this is still way more secure than telnet, I could not connect to any of my Linux machines with it. As I said - Belt suspenders and lots of foam padding ;-)
Posted by: Arisotura on 2021-02-08 04:05:49 Nice! You're lucky to have the full 128MB, too -- these RAM sticks are rare af these days. My IIfx came with basically 17MB in unusable mismatched sticks (what the...???), so I only get a usable 4MB, but I'll try to cook up something 🙂
Posted by: olePigeon on 2021-02-08 05:41:30 @Arisotura Just incase you weren't aware, @hyperneogeo has made new RAM sticks for the IIfx. It'd be worth sending him a PM. He also has eBay listings so you can check them out: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Macintosh-IIfx-128MB-memory-set-16MB-x8-New-ram/233716790486 I bought a full set of 128MB for my IIfx. They're sweet! What I really need now is a new case. Mine is literally melted.
Posted by: olePigeon on 2021-02-08 05:43:19 Forgot to mention that the RAM is of limited supply since it uses genuine new-old-stock parts that are no longer manufactured. Probably a good idea to grab just a couple sticks, even if you don't want to spend the money on a full 128 MBs. 32 MBs is still a very respectable amount of memory on a System 6/7 machine.
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