5300ce ... install OS 8.1 from PCMCIA/flash?

[FacnyFreddy]

Is it possible to install OS 8.1 from a CF<->PCMCIA card on a 5300 series?

 

[Byrd]

If you can boot from the CF card, yes.  But IIRC you need to install OS 8.0 first, then update to 8.1.  8.1 has HFS+ support which I'd recommend reformatting the HD to utilise.

JB

 

[spaceinvader12]

I installed 8.1 via CF on my 5300cs, and it worked fine. I used linux's standard formatting utility to write the iso to it and it just worked fine. Later I reformatted it with 0s to get the capacity back. You shouldn't run into any trouble.

 

[FacnyFreddy]

So if I "dd" the ISO to a CF, I can boot from it, correct?

 

[Rajel]

So if I "dd" the ISO to a CF, I can boot from it, correct?

If that works, I'd be surprised and also pissed at myself for not trying it earlier.

There are a couple of ways to do this.

This is the method I recommend if dd doesn't work. It involves booting a Disk Tools floppy on the Powerbook and using that to partition and format the CF card, and then moving to a modern system for the rest of the preparation.

Things you'll need:

• USB CF card reader
• Linux/OSX (I'm more familiar with Linux for this, and you can do this with Linux in a Virtualbox VM if you're on Windows)
• Mac OS 8.0/8.1 iso
• Disk Tools floppy+floppy image
• Working BasiliskII setup on Linux/OSX - I assume valid boot ROM and system configuration. I recommend using the 5300 rom, in your case.

Things nice to have:

• USB floppy drive (or real floppy drive.. USB works just as well in my experience)

Procedure:

1. Format the CF card with Disk Utility floppy on the 5300
2. Use a USB card reader to plug the CF card into a modern Linux/OSX machine.
3. Start up BasiliskII
4. First disk you add should be the Disk Tools disk image. 
5. Add the CF card directly*. Just type the path /dev/whateverthecardis into the filename field. Raw block device, not partition.
6. Add the OS 8.0/8.1 ISO as a disk. 
7. Make sure the Disk Tools image is FIRST in the list.
8. Start BasiliskII, it should boot the Disk Tools image.
9. When the virtual Mac boots, it should mount the CF card and OS8.x ISO
10. Install OS8 to the CF card.

The resulting CF card should be bootable via PCMCIA.

I've done a lot of this lately between SCSI2SD for the PB160 and CF/PCMCIA/2.5" adapters on my 190cs, and this is generally the easiest method to use. If you can't boot a floppy for some reason, it gets a lot more complicated.

Note that if you create more than one partition on a CF card, only the first will be visible in BasiliskII when using the USB CF adapter. The rest should show up when you boot in the 5300.

* diskutil list I think on Mac to discover the drive naming, if on linux I just use dmesg and look for the drive mount messages (or run mount to see what just got automounted). You'll want the raw block device, not the partition (e.g. in Linux it'd be /dev/sdb or so, not /dev/sdb1 or sdb2, etc. MacOSX it'll be /dev/disk2 or some such, not disk2s1 or disk2s2 and so on).

 

[Rajel]

But hey, if dd works then totally just use that and save yourself the trouble. "Properly" preparing a card is a PITA.

 

[Cory5412]

To follow up with my post here, it'll be easiest if you can install 8.0 or 8.1 directly to the PCMCIA storage device, from, say, a CD or when booted on another Mac, then copy the installer files over.

You mentioned in the other post having a CD-drive, as I mentioned there, I recommend getting started that way, as unless you plan on regularly reformatting it, you aren't saving an awful lot of time or creating a very huge convenience for only one or two laptops (really, for anything fewer than ten or so) by using a pcmcia/CF installation drive.

Even then, depending on what hardware you have available, it's almost more worth your time to boot the 7.5 Network Access Disk or 8.0 Disk Tools + appletalk/chooser and use localtalk to do the installs.

 

[spaceinvader12]

When I did this on my 5300CS I just used linux's standard is writer to the card through a USB reader. It worked right off the bat for me, although for any custom file transfers I used sheepshaver to emulate a ppc and use a similar method to what Rajel said although I just unstuff .Sit and move those files on to keep the resource fork intact.

But, I think Rajel's method is better than writing the iso. Using an emulator and an iso on a modern PC will mean installation is much, much faster, so that's probably superior for ease of use. However, just wanted to say that simply writing the iso to the card works fine. After you install, you just need to write over the card again to get full capacity back.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Alternately, just buy a SCSI disk mode cable or configurable port adapter, every PB collector needs one anyway. That'll set the 5300ce up as a an external SCSI HDD so your install can be done from CD or mounted image in another SCSI equipped Mac or PowerBook.

 

[Rajel]

When I did this on my 5300CS I just used linux's standard is writer to the card through a USB reader. It worked right off the bat for me, although for any custom file transfers I used sheepshaver to emulate a ppc and use a similar method to what Rajel said although I just unstuff .Sit and move those files on to keep the resource fork intact.

But, I think Rajel's method is better than writing the iso. Using an emulator and an iso on a modern PC will mean installation is much, much faster, so that's probably superior for ease of use. However, just wanted to say that simply writing the iso to the card works fine. After you install, you just need to write over the card again to get full capacity back.

Those bloody resource forks make transfers a pain.

A lot of stuff I've found on macintoshgarden is missing them, or otherwise corrupt.