Welcome! This page
contains information about the Shiva/Kinetics FastPath 4 & 5
AppleTalk to Ethernet router/bridge hardware.
While
major updates to this page continue as new information
and software are discovered, a lot (still) remains to be done here. Though our focus is on the FastPath 4 and 5
hardware, information
and resources for the FastPath II and III hardware should probably be
preserved and would also be much appreciated. (Was there a FastPath I?)
Yes, there are still people using FastPath hardware to this very day. In July 2018, Tim Colegrove of Boston sent in a picture (larger,
warning 2+ MB!) of his Macintosh Performa 6220CD connected to the
Internet with FastPath hardware.
One piece of
information that has yet to be posted concerns the creation of
customized FastPath 5 ROM images for use in a FastPath 4. The author
describes this as making a sort of "FastPath 4+".
Should you have corrections, contributions or just wish to get
in touch for whatever reason, you can always send
e-mail. Unlike some, I try not to be difficult to reach.
WARNING:
All information on this page is provided for use on an "at your own
risk"
basis. I cannot and will not be held responsible for any results that
come from your doing anything that is mentioned or inferred from this
page!
Frequently Asked Questions
Take It Apart & Put It Back Together
Configuration And Setup (Quick and
Dirty, but better than nothing!)
Software You Need (for FastPath 5)
Software and Resources (for FastPath 4)
Pictures Of
FastPath 4 and
FastPath 5R
Hardware, inside and out
(
not suitable for low
bandwidth or heavily metered connections!)
Further
Reading (mostly via Google Books)
- Mention
of a Shiva FastPath 5R (with prices, whee!) in Computerworld's June 22,
1992 issue.
- Shiva Corporation announces
bundling of various software packages with FastPath 5 hardware in the
December 9th, 1991 issue of InfoWorld magazine. For what the FastPath
cost when it was new, I'd certainly hope so...
- FastPath 5R hardware is again
mentioned
(with prices for single and dual unit models!) in Network World's May
18th, 1992 issue. Network World claims that the FastPath family
hardware (maybe a FastPath 4?) is "notorious for cluttering wiring
closets and overheating when stacked"
- "Kinetics
FastPath 4 gateway ties LocalTalk, Ethernets" by Laura DiDio in the
July 18th, 1988 issue of Network World.
- "Support
for the Shiva FastPath",
now seemingly unavailable at its original host for whatever reason. I
couldn't find any way of contacting the author to ask why the original
link gives a "forbidden" message. The download links at this page most
probably weren't preserved when the Internet Archive captured it, but
you can try them as the directory listing does show up. You can
probably find all the files that were available at this page via the
link below.
- FastPath 4 & 5 related
files via Phil Budne's archive (FTP).
(With nearly all modern browsers having dropped FTP protocol support,
you'll likely need a separate FTP client to visit this link. Filezilla is free and works reasonably well. WinSCP is another option.)
- FastPath 5 Announcement Letter
- FastPath 4 Advertisement
- FastPath II and III models were mentioned
as being available for purchase (hopefully it's obvious that such is no
longer the case in the present day) in the July 1988 issue of "U-M
Computer News". A FastPath II was priced at 1,625ドル when equipped for
use with an Ethernet transceiver ("AUI") cable. FastPath III models set
up for use with "thin" (10base2, coaxial) Ethernet were priced at
1,787ドル.50. Also mentioned are Kinetics IP and Columbia Appletalk
software packages.
- The Computer History Museum
has a FastPath 4 Administrator's Guide in their collection.
Unfortunately, it does not appear to be available for download or checkout on the
page where it is mentioned.
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Last Updated: 12/09/2024. Previously
Updated: 09/03/2018, 11/20/2017, 06/03/2015, 02/03/2015, 12/20/2014, 09/10/2013, 02/16/2004. Copyright ゥ
2003-2024 by Walsh Computer Technology and contributors. Some Rights Reserved.
