tanaquil
Well-known member
This topic came up in a thread that started as a conquest two years ago (I was crowing about finding a 128K mac in good shape that I was having trouble starting from the floppy drive) and turned into a longish thread on floppy drive compatibility. As I just posted in an update to that thread, I think I finally tracked down the problem, with the help of advice from @BadGoldEagle that I should have paid closer attention to in the first place. I wanted to provide a few links for anyone who might be struggling with this problem and searching for an answer.
tl;dr version: I finally worked out that the floppy drive which came to me installed inside the otherwise untouched 128K with Version A ROMs is an incompatible type that only works with Version B ROMs or later. (This thread has more extensive discussion of this type of problem and links - the whole thread is relevant but scroll down a bit for the incompatible floppy drive discussion.) The symptom of the incompatibility is that the drive seems to work occasionally but throws all manner of mysterious errors and sad mac codes. Mysteriously, the drive chassis has a February 1984 sticker. All I can think is that someone tried to replace the stepper motor at some point and didn't realize that they type they were using was incompatible. I didn't think the new stepper motor was used until at least summer 1984.
Here is the start of the 128K saga in my longer hoard thread. (I need to make some additions to the hoard, I have a Wallstreet now...)
I guess I could fix my own problem by upgrading to a later version of 64K ROM but I kind of like my original ROMs. I'll have to quest for an early compatible 400K drive with the round sticker.
Hope this helps someone!
tl;dr version: I finally worked out that the floppy drive which came to me installed inside the otherwise untouched 128K with Version A ROMs is an incompatible type that only works with Version B ROMs or later. (This thread has more extensive discussion of this type of problem and links - the whole thread is relevant but scroll down a bit for the incompatible floppy drive discussion.) The symptom of the incompatibility is that the drive seems to work occasionally but throws all manner of mysterious errors and sad mac codes. Mysteriously, the drive chassis has a February 1984 sticker. All I can think is that someone tried to replace the stepper motor at some point and didn't realize that they type they were using was incompatible. I didn't think the new stepper motor was used until at least summer 1984.
Here is the start of the 128K saga in my longer hoard thread. (I need to make some additions to the hoard, I have a Wallstreet now...)
I guess I could fix my own problem by upgrading to a later version of 64K ROM but I kind of like my original ROMs. I'll have to quest for an early compatible 400K drive with the round sticker.
Hope this helps someone!