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NeXTStation restoration notes
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notes.md

NeXTStation

Model N1100. Bought around 2000-2001 from UI Surplus.

See other documents in ../../NeXTStation.

There's an upgrade manual on the shelf in my office by the laptops. There's another manual I own but not sure where it is.

RAM was upgraded to 32MB, which is the max.

The LACIE SCSI drive has a disk with some documents and programs, but may be failing.

CDs are in the Laserline case in my closet.

Log in with root and no password.

Hardware service manual is on Dropbox.

NeXT emulator http://previous.alternative-system.com/

Restoration video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFEUi6JDne4

Black Hole, Inc. sells parts http://www.store.blackholeinc.com/

Article on restoration https://www.jonandnic.com/2020/08/21/nextstation/ with onedrive link https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=d4c0af674c4148fe&id=D4C0AF674C4148FE%21183&authkey=%21AAEpXm3b2OWkfA8

Forum: http://www.nextcomputers.org/forums/index.php

Tools

  • Tiny screwdriver for monitor calibration
  • 3mm hex driver for monitor screws

TODO

  • Get network working
  • Get SMB/AppleTalk/NFS working to connect to Mac
  • Calibrate monitor
  • Replace internal SCSI disk with SD card
  • Back up old school documents
  • Get mouse working well
  • Replace battery
  • Get missing monitor screw and bottom pad
  • Get software from all archives installed
  • Have backup image for SD card
  • Disable boot diagnostics

Network setup

See TjLs_Cable_Modem_Guide.pdf for network setup.

Set IP to 192.168.7.201.

put 192.168.4.1 in /etc/resolv.conf

I can ping it from the mac, but can't ping anything from the NeXT.

I might actually need to connect a switch instead of directly connecting to eero.

Posted on forum: http://www.nextcomputers.org/forums/index.php?topic=4661.0

Got it working by connecting a linksys router in between. It was probably because the eero doesn't support 10MB/s ethernet.

Hard drive

SD card HDD replacement tutorial article https://ctrl-alt-rees.com/2018-09-19-nextstation-easy-scsi2sd-setup.html

Forum post with lots of details http://www.nextcomputers.org/forums/index.php?topic=4622.0

Installing on VirtualBox

See http://stuffjasondoes.com/2018/07/25/installing-nextstep-os-openstep-on-virtualbox-in-2018/

Was not able to get through this, got the errors:

Load of /etc/mach_init failed, errno 2, trying /etc/init
Load of /etc/init failed, errno 2

Got the virtual appliance from the archive working.

Monitor

Small screwdriver in kit can adjust the monitor when the back panel is removed.

One hex screw is missing (I think it was missing when I bought it.) One of the bottom pads is missing.

Messing with H HOLD or WIDTH makes it shut off so I'm not messing with those.

At this time (20210831) it's calibrated well enough for me.

NFS

Followed this tutorial for setting up NFS on mac: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/search-result/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Enabling-network-NFS-shares-in-Mac-OS-X.html

Used the NFSManager.app to set up the share but not getting anything showing up.

This blog post https://www.jonandnic.com/2020/08/28/nextstep-openstep-nfs-file-share-with-a-raspberry-pi/ might help me make it work.

Got stuck so I wrote a forum post where it got answered:

http://www.nextcomputers.org/forums/index.php?topic=4662.0

Putting the response here in its entirety:

NOTE: This procedure has been tested using NeXTstep 1.0a and 3.3 as client and Mac OS X v10.9 as server.

  This procedure is only valid when using SLiRP as networking
  interface.

  For this procedure to work networking must be setup first
  (see networking.howto.txt for details).
  To edit files inside /etc you need super user privileges.

  X.X.X.X = Your host system's IP-Address (e.g. 192.168.0.1)
  serverhostname = Your host system's hostname
  clienthostname = Your NeXTstep hostname (see networking.howto)

Howto: Setup NFS file sharing under Mac OS X:

  1. Create the folder you want to share and change permissions using this command from the command line: chmod 777 /Path/To/Shared/Folder

  2. Add the folder you want to share to /etc/exports by adding this line to the end of the file: /Path/To/Shared/Folder -maproot=nobody

  3. Load the edited file using these commands from the command line: sudo nfsd checkexports sudo nfsd enable sudo nfsd stop sudo nfsd -N

  4. You can confirm that the operation was successful using this command: showmount -e

NOTE: Step 3 needs to be repeated after every reboot of the host system because nfsd -N is not permanent.

Howto: Setup NFS file sharing under NeXTstep 3.3:

  1. Edit the file "/etc/hosts" by adding your host system to the last line of the file (host system IP-Address followed by hostname of file server): 10.0.2.15 clienthostname X.X.X.X serverhostname

  2. Edit the file "/etc/fstab" by adding the shared filesystem. Add this line at the end of the file: serverhostname:/Path/To/Shared/Folder /Net nfs rw,net 0 0

  3. Load the edited files using these commands from the command line: su niload hosts / < /etc/hosts niload fstab / < /etc/fstab

  4. Reboot. The shared folder should be accessible from /Net directory. You can confirm that the operation was successful using this command: /usr/etc/showmount -e serverhostname

Howto: Open the above files using root privileges (NeXTstep 3.3): a Open the /etc directory with this command in Terminal: "open /etc" b Select the file to open and from Workspace select Services > Open Sesame > Open As Root.

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