How to set up a Macintosh for use with Idiom

Reading Material

There is a book that covers pretty much everything a Macintosh user needs to know to use the a UNIX shell account, PPP, and the Internet. The book costs $30 and includes all the software you need on a diskette. Get Internet Starter Kit for Macintosh by Adam C. Engst, ISBN 1-56830-111-1.

If you don't want to get the book, you'll need to collect the software you need from other sources.

Required Software

Recent versions of MacOS come with the software you need to connect your Macintosh to the Internet. If you have an older Macintosh, MacTCP and MacPPP (FreePPP) are the best way to connect an older Macintosh to Idiom. MacTCP is proprietary to Apple, but it is included in System 7.5 and can be acquired from other sources. FreePPP can be downloaded from http://www.rockstar.com/ppp.shtml.

Get a mail reading software. Eudora works well and can be fetched from ftp://ftp.qualcomm.com/eudora/eudoralight/mac/.

Get a Web browser. Netscape is the current best. Get it from http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/download.jsp.

If you want to use the Shell, you need a telnet or rlogin program. NCSA telnet works well. Get it from http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Software/Brochure/MacSoftDesc.html.

If you don't already have it, Stuffit Expander is a really useful tool: it automatically unpacks the files you download. Get it from: http://www.stuffit.com/cgi-bin/stuffit_loginpage.cgi?standardmacexp.

MacTCP notes

MacTCP is kinda cranky: whenever you change your TCP configuration, you must remove your MacTCP Prep and MacTCP DNR files and then reboot.

Detailed Instructions

We have written detailed instructions for configuring MacTCP and MacPPP for use with Idiom.

Modem setup

If you are having trouble figuring out a modem initialization string, Adam Engst made a collection.