[mkuehn]

So I pick up this Performa 630 20/250/no CD yesterday, I get it home and I want to partition the drive into a system partition with just the System Folder and a couple of utilities on it and another partition for apps, etc. So I try to start up with a 7.0.1 floppy; no dice. "Get a newer version," it says. So I check the tech specs and sure enough, it's gotta be 7.1. OK, so I make a 7.1 startup floppy. Again, no good. I look at the specs again...oh, I see. It has to be 7.1P (which I assume stands for Performa). Well, I don't have the startup disks for the Performa, so I'm stuck.

So I grab the Zip drive and the 7.6 installer and give it a try. The Zip disk won't mount. I tried a bunch of mounting utilities, none of which worked, until I thought to try Mt. Everything, which, like always, worked fine. So I got 7.6 installed, but now I'm stuck. Here's the problem:

I don't know how to startup this Mac so that I can reformat and partition the hard drive.

Problem 1) The external SCSI Zip drive isn't recognized at startup, so I can't boot from that. (The Iomega Driver never loads at startup, either.)

Problem 2) I don't have the original system disks, so I can't boot from them. I can't find system 7.1P on the 'net anywhere, so I can't make new disks from which to boot.

Problem 3) I don't have a CD-ROM drive on that machine, so I can't boot from a CD.

Problem 4) I don't have another machine that supports IDE, so I can't yank the drive and format on another machine.

Problem 5) I suppose I could hook up an external SCSI HD and try to boot from that, but I just thought of that right now, and maybe you have a better idea?

Thanks folks, and let me know if you know of somewhere cheap I can pick up one of those TV cards for this machine (other than eBay).

Matthew

[This message has been edited by mkuehn (edited 05-11-2000).]

[Damien]

Yup, external SCSI device (HD or CD-ROM) is your best bet.

[MacOS761]

To start, I'm using a Performa 630CD right now (now, isn't that special?) that my dad bought new in '94. It came with OS 7.1.2P, one of the crappiest versions ever. Now it runs 7.6.1 (hence the username), and it's great. But enough of that... I do have a few questions.
First, how is the integrity of your Zip drive? It's very odd that it isn't recognized at startup and won't mount or load the driver. You've tried Iomega Guest?
Next, what were you going to use to partition the drive? Actually, I think your best option would be to get a 2 or 4x CD for the thing. Then you could startup from CDs, like FWB's HD toolkit and do the whole thing at once. Your computer is practically lost on a desert island w/o CD, right?
I also wonder about the SCSI bus, and whether or not it's any good. If you have to go thru all that to mount a Zip, maybe the bus has a problem.
BTW, I have a TV tuner card that would work for you in my 5200, but I'm not sure I can part with it just yet... good luck!

The internal CD-ROM drives in the Performa 630's are SCSI drives, and the mear absence of the internal CD-ROM drive may be causeing difficulties with your SCSI bus as a whole.

I had this problem with my 7100 when I was takeing it apart once and didn't have the CD drive pluged in.

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-Eliott Wolfe
Winnetka, Calif

[MacOS761]

Good thought, but there are two versions of P630's - mine is the 630CD which came with a built in CD drive, but mkuehn's is the model that didn't have one... it was designed that way. So I don't think that could be the problem.

one question about the zip disk. you already installed os 7.whatever on it, right? if so, heres how to make the zip disk mount. before you turn on the mac, turn on the zip drive and put in the zip. then turn on the mac. try it, it may even work.

dabradda

[l008com]

You can download a 3.5" floppy image from apple's web site, called Network Access. It can boot ANY computer from the Plus up to anything that can run 7.5. Just toss all teh networkign stuffon tehre and through Drive setup on, you should be all set.

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I see dead people.