How to boot up an old Mac?

sameguy · Post by **sameguy** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:12 pm

Ok here it is, I have an old 1985 mac plus sitting in my room that I haven't even turned on in like 6 years.
I finally get around too hooking it up, and when it turns on it has the dreaded floppy disc and question mark.

Now I am not a very Mac savvy guy but I have been told that it needs a boot disk, and they haven't been produced in a while. now i know most of your advice would be to junk it because it is old and obsolite but I have veary fond memories of this old computer and I would like to see it like I did o so many years ago, now for my question.

Is there anyway I could make my own boot disk or is there just a plain and simple way around this, now if i have asked a stupid question that is an easy fix that I should have known about, please dont point it out.
I just want help on how to get it working again, and like I said above im not to mac savy because this was the only apple computer to make it past my front door ever.

edit by mod: please put linebreaks in so we can read your post : )

atari2600a · Post by **atari2600a** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:17 pm

Try to dig up that external hard disk you most likely have & plug it in.

(Or write some new 400K OS disks)

sameguy · Post by **sameguy** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:20 pm

If you mean the hyper drive yes it is plugged in, but you must know more about this than I could you post a couple remedies and explain them please

Indigno · Post by **Indigno** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:20 pm

I'm guessing that because of the age it takes 5 1/2 inch disks. So, you may need to dig one of those up for your PC. Then you will have to have one for the mac (unless it's built in, I don't know too much about macs). And then you'll need to look around online for guides on how to boot old macs... You may have to write one with your new, state of the edge 5 1/2 floppy drive.

Or alternatively, you could look for a boot disk on ebay.

vb_master · Post by **vb_master** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:24 pm

Heres how you can make a Mac System 7.5 boot disc with Windows.

usbcd36 · Post by **usbcd36** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:28 pm

First of all, from your description, it seems that you have a Mac, not an Apple. The first Mac (and all subsequent ones) had 3.5" floppy drives, so you need not mess with 5.25" disks.

As for a boot disk, Apple offers System 7.5.5 and earlier on its website, including boot disks. All you need is a computer that can produce a Mac floppy.

I also have an ample supply of older Macs, so if you want, I could send you a boot disk (and even a set of OS install disks) if you want. For a small fee of courseâ€¦

Also, it's not obsolete, it's vintage. Vintage overrides obsolescence.

Edit: if you post the exact model name from the computer (check the big sticker on the back), I can help you with much more. For example, if you have a VERY early Mac that had an 800k (or worse, 400k) floppy drive, you won't be able to read the disk produced with the tutorial vb_master posted. In that case, you'll have to look VERY hard for an OS disk because all I can make are 800k and HD disks.

sameguy · Post by **sameguy** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:31 pm

Oh that would help sooo much .. how could I get them from you ? And then for the enevitable ? how much ?

usbcd36 · Post by **usbcd36** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:40 pm

Edit: ok, read the first post again, and I'm dumbâ€¦

Ok, the reason you can't boot from the hard disk is because the Plus predated hard disks. You need a special disk that redirects the computer to the external drive for system software. I can make you a System 6.0.8 disk, but as for booting from the external drive, I don't knowâ€¦

atari2600a · Post by **atari2600a** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:47 pm

Mac Plus's use 400K drives.

By the way, the only GUI-based Apple to use 5 1/4" disks was the Lisa 1. (The Lisa II/Mac XL used 3 1/2" drives)

sameguy · Post by **sameguy** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:50 pm

Oh, im sry well here is the modle number and such. Macintosh plus 1mb , hyperdrive fx40 model number m0001a, there you go i hope it helps

sameguy · Post by **sameguy** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:51 pm

And I did mean sorry... Im trying hard to stop , really I am

usbcd36 · Post by **usbcd36** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:56 pm

According to Mactracker, they use 800k drives.

I would check the SCSI terminator on the drive as well (it should have a thing plugged into the other port, or a switch that activates termination). If there is no terminator, you can't use the drive (or you could buy one on eBay).

Make sure the ID number isn't set to 7 (I don't think you can do that, but checkâ€¦), and turn on the drive at least 10 seconds before you try powering up the Mac. If that doesn't work, then maybe I was right the first time about needing a special boot floppy (though many other sites say you don'tâ€¦).

Post by **bicostp** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 6:09 pm

Apple has a bunch of disk images of old Mac system software on their website.

http://www.info.apple.com/support/older ... elist.html

It's a really long list. Use your browser's page search function (press slash in Firefox, it's a menu command in IE) to find stuff. Look for system 6.0.8, the newest version of System 6. (System 7 needs a hard drive to boot from)

If you want I can make you a disk image with System 6.0.8. (You will have to write it with RAWRITE, I'll get a copy of that.) If you're good I'll throw in some shareware.

atari2600a wrote:Mac Plus's use 400K drives.

No. The Plus, Early SEs, early Mac IIs, and the 512ke came with 800k floppy drives. The 128 and original 512k came with the 400k drives.

usbcd36 wrote:Edit: ok, read the first post again, and I'm dumbâ€¦

Ok, the reason you can't boot from the hard disk is because the Plus predated hard disks. You need a special disk that redirects the computer to the external drive for system software. I can make you a System 6.0.8 disk, but as for booting from the external drive, I don't knowâ€¦

I'm pretty sure the Plus could boot directly off the hard disk. (So long as it is terminated correctly... finicky SCSI...) And it came with SCSI, which was used for the Apple HD20SC (20 meg SCSI HD) and various other peripherals. The Plus was designed to accomodate a non-serial hard drive.

warmachine · Post by **warmachine** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:16 pm

If the boot disk fails (and you've made sure it's a working bootdisk), you may need to clean the motherboard. All you need to do is open the case (the hardest part, you'll need a looong hex driver) pull out the logic board, pop it in the dishwasher, and let it go - just be sure to thoroughly clean and dry it before you put it back in the case and reconnect it. Look up any Classic Mac site and they'll tell you it's perfectly fine to do this.

What happens is, sometimes (more often than not) the capacitors on the logic board leak after a while and short the board, so, just wash it in the dishwasher and the board will be good as new.

----

Wow, I just realized I've been registered here a little over a year now.

sameguy · Post by **sameguy** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 8:46 pm

really i could do that .. is that common practice ?

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How to boot up an old Mac?

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