On Jun 29, 2011, at 6:25 AM, Iamanamma wrote: > Peter, without knowing what this Mac is used for and why I need it, on > what premise do you base your advice that "it's time to upgrade to at > least a Digital Audio?"
The premise is that it would be a much newer computer than the ones you're using, newer hardware, fewer random failures. Since you did NOT mention that running 8.6 is a requirement, only classic, we didn't go there. At this point I'd start looking to invest in a stock of first-gen iMacs and B&W G3's, they came with and will run 8.6; if you need a serial port, you can get usb-serial converters for 'em or the Gee-three stealth serial ports if you look hard, maybe PCI cards for a B&W tower. Beyond that I'd consider looking for outside the box ideas: what OEM controllers are in the machines; perhaps other software has been written (or could be written) to control them. How do they connect to the Mac? If it's a rs422 or rs232 serial, there's ways to convert that to USB, and if you know what the underlying electronics are you may well find someone who can write some sort of interfacing program and/or build hardware to suit, that will run on more modern equipment. $250K to convert to PC control would be probably be considerably more than funding a DIY replacement (which you could then sell to other folks in your predicament.) In the end CNC is just a matter of taking bits in and sending bits out. Even big versus little endian issues are relatively simple to deal with (a friend wrote a lot of code doing just that for the Mars Phoenix lander mission, because some instruments were x86-based, and others were 68K based; plus there's issues like this making sure that the data sent back over the millions of miles separating the sender and receiver lands here in usable fashion, not hopelessly mangled.) There's a ton of open-source work that has been done to control CNC things like laser cutters and such. You might even find some engineering majors looking for a project if you're near a university with an engineering school. Something to think about....because in the end, relying on antique hardware increasingly renders the business liable to unexpected and costly shutdowns. -- Bruce Johnson University of Arizona College of Pharmacy Information Technology Group Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
