[Richard Clark]

What have they done?????

My folks got my Mac Classic (4MB RAM, 40 MB HD) back in 1993. 1998 they bought a windows machine and had me transfer some files. Back then 7.5.3 was running fine on it and I had left the system disks.

Well, the Classic wasn't used since. And from I just found out a few minutes ago it has been sitting out in a garage for about three months.

I went to start it up yesterday and the good ol question mark popped it's ugly head out. They brought only a few disks and they are printing. No other system discs. Not even the emergency disk.

I grabbed my 7.5.2 CD from my 7200 and copied it onto a external 1 GB HD. When starting up I got the black screen and sad mac.

Ok, so I grabbed the disk images of the system and put 12 disks together. The classic would not take either the disk tools or install 1 disk which were bootable.

Currently I'm installing 7.5.2 onto a zip and will hook up to the classic that way.

A couple questions:

1. Where can I get a copy of System 7 disks?

2. Is it on-line somewhere? I have look but unable to find any.

3. Would anyone be willing to send the disk images? My e-mail is [email protected]. I can't believe my folks got rid of them but then again they did buy a windows machine.

4. Could the battery have finally gone bad and is causing havok?


5. when trying to install off of a SCSI device do you try to boot with the C key held down like on newer machines. As you can tell it's been ages since I had to work with it.

6. This is a long shot but - was anyone able to every network the classic????

The Classic was my very first Mac. I'm glad my folks brought it back to me. I have a place of honor for it and plan on showing it off more than anything.

Any tips, tricks, ideas or information will be greatly appreciated. I know it's ten years old but she'll work and it would be nice to have her up and running again.

Thanks again!

[iNub]

I'm no expert in these matters, but you can find Rawrite disk images at this site:

ftp://damnhippie.dyndns.org/pub/crossplatform/

I don't use a PC, but from what I understand, you need a program called rawrite.exe (I think they're in the zips) and floppies. They have readme.txt files in them that explain everything you need. I hope this helps. If you need any other help, just start up IRC and join #macintosh on DALnet, and ask for DamnHippie. He made the files, and he will know exactly what you need.

Hope this helps.

[MacMonster]

There is a System 6 in the ROM of the Classic. Try boot from the ROM by holding cmd + opt + X + O(not zero) at startup.

[ 09-09-2001: Message edited by: MacMonster ]

[ae77]

system 7.5.5 is freeware (get 7.5.3 and then the updater)
you can download it from

mac os 7.5.3

good luck

[ 09-09-2001: Message edited by: ae77 ]

[ae77]

system 7.5.5 is freeware (get 7.5.3 and then the updater)
you can download it from

ftp://ftp.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/System/Older_System/System_7.5_Version_7.5.3/

[Richard Clark]

Thanks for the ideas everyone!

Trying to boot from the Zip didn't work.

Also, I tried to start up with the System 6.0 ROM that Mac Monster mentioned and it didn't work.

Could the battery be crippling the machine?

It just doesn't make any sense that it won't boot from anything. From Disk Tools, to Install 1, to external HD or Zip.

I have also made sure that the floppies are locked too. That has always been a thing with Sytem 7 disks that they needed to be locked to work. But the question mark just stays.

I'll make a set of the 7.5.3 disks when the download is complete. And I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again for the help and suggestions everyone!!!

[gumby5647]

here's what i would do. Crack open the machine. (which is a job in itself) and take a look at the inside. Clean that puppy out, wipe it out....blow the dust out etc. stay away from the CRT WHEW!! check all the connections to make sure none of the cables came loose.

Is the hard drive spinning up and doing stuff? You may just need to replace the Hard drive. and if thats the case i have an 80mb one i could sell you for 20 bucks. I could even load it with 7.1 for you to.

as always try zapping the PRAM...


have a nice day!

~gumby~

[Richard Clark]

Thanks for the suggestions Gumby. I've tried Zapping the PRAM but it hasn't worked. Needless to say I've been getting frustrated. I'm also aware of how big a pain in the @ss it is to get into the Classic - but

I GOT HER WORKING!!!

I downloaded the 7.5.3 and tried putting them on disk but that didn't work. To make a long story short I transferred it to my external HD. First I booted 7.5.2 from my 7200 and reformated the external HD. Then installed 7.5.3 and also copied the folder with the install images as well.

When I started up the Classic a smily face came up but stated that it couldn't run the drivers.

I went back to booting on the 7200 with 7.5.2 and updated the drivers on the HD. Then re-instaled 7.5.3 just to be on the safe side. Tried booting from the external HD with the Mac Classic and VIOLA! It worked. It updated the desktop (both drives) and it took a long time. It was kind of weird. Then for kicks and giggles I restarted the Classic without the external HD and sure enough she started up and mounted without any problems.



What a pain in the butt! But I got it running and that's what matters most. Although I doubt it will be used for anything important. Some have written in a different thread to use it for taking messages next to the phone. There are a few games that would be nice to play on there. So we'll see.

And it's running 7.5.5. I didn't have to install the 7.5.3. That was nice.

I'm a little nostalgic with this machine. It was my first mac that my folks got me ten years ago when I was in my second year of college. A huge chunk of my mac knowledge came from that machine. I remember wanting to figure out how to create icons. Now this was before the internet. I stayed up past one in the morning and finally got some created through using MicroSoft Works v.2.5.

My son uses the 7200 and of course I have a G4/450 but there is something neat about the Mac Classic. It wasn't the first Mac I realize but it was getting refined and kind of gave us a glimsp of the future ...sorta. The color classic came out and I wanted one badly but stayed with the Classic for two years. Then graduated to a Performa 450. The Classic and Color Classic were slick because of the size. I have a carrying bag which holds everything. It was quick to load/unload and had enough room to put in a ZFP drive from LaCie when I got one later on. The size and weight was wonderful.

I had a friend that was off camputer and had a II CX, and then later on a Centris 610. It was nice to pack up and head over to his house with my machine and do the work I needed. Updating and modifying.

In all this time there hasn't been anything that I couldn't fix on that machine. (And Hey! I'm a Mac Technician at work - I need to be able to fix any Mac). It's something I've prided myself on. So to for my folks to bring it to me this weekend and have it in the shape of not operating was very disturbing. But thanks to your suggestions I was able to find the software needed and get her running again.

THANK YOU!!!

Have a great week! I'll be on vacation with no access to technology



*gasp*

heh!

Thanks again!!!

[gumby5647]

wow dude, that's a lot of work to get that thing running again.
I probably would have given up, or walked away from it for 3 weeks.