An SE FDHD is arriving tomorrow. Questions for you

[Yesitsme]

Hello!

I have an SE FDHD that looks like it's good and working that's coming in on Friday. (Sad thing is I'm leaving on a plane tomorrow, so gotta wait to play with it)  My goal this week was to get a brand new Mac Mini (the top configuration at the brick-and-mortar Apple store) and a retro Mac SE.   I grew up on Macs, and my family owned just about every Mac imaginable. I recall having a Plus, LC, SE30, IIsi, etc, but never an SE FDHD.  I love the appeal of the Plus, but wanted the 1.44mb floppy capability for use with the BMOW emulator.  

I purchased the floppy emulator sold at Big Mess of Wires with all the extras.  Looks like that's coming in tomorrow as well.  

I have OS X Yosemite on my new Mini.  I want to be able to sneaker-net files to and from the SE.   Any good way of doing that?  

Also, I would really like to have a good working hard drive on the SE so I can load up all this awesome software for it in one place.  Is there a go-to drive that people are using?  I'd rather not open the case if I don't have to.  

Is there anything I need to watch out for?  The seller indicated no screen flicker, and it looks like it has 4mb of RAM and was booted in the pictures to System 7 with no floppy inserted.  

Thanks!

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

Just clean it out, check the capacitors on the analog board (carefully, don't kill yourself) for leaks.

There aren't a lot of good miniscribe HD's for these anymore, but the FloppyEMU can also function as an HD-20 so you don't need a hard drive. Otherwise, you can look at SCSI2SD.

 

[tanuki65]

Buy a USB floppy drive.

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

Buy a USB floppy drive.

Useless on newer Macs. He'll need Windows on his Mac or an older one running something like Tiger (or 9.2!)

 

[Yesitsme]

Just clean it out, check the capacitors on the analog board (carefully, don't kill yourself) for leaks.

There aren't a lot of good miniscribe HD's for these anymore, but the FloppyEMU can also function as an HD-20 so you don't need a hard drive. Otherwise, you can look at SCSI2SD.

How trustworthy is a hard drive from one of these?  It looks like it boots.  Should I consider it not worth using?

 

[tanuki65]

Works with OS X Yosemite

 

[Elfen]

A miniscribe from that time would be in a dying condition. If it works, back it up immediately. But expect it to die soon; like a car of that age, its not just the engine or interior but also the wheel bearings and other small things that can make or break the car. For the Miniscribe - its bearing should be failing soon.

And its hard or expensive to find a SCSI drive for it. SCSI2SD would be a great option, I say.

 

[3583Bytes]

I think the best way is to use the Floppy Emu like a hard drive and just mount the hard disk image in an emulator on your Mac or PC to copy games.

Else you need a bridge machine like an old PC with USB and a floppy drive would do.

 

[Yesitsme]

:O  It arrived.  It arrived all smashed to bits though.  They packed it so poorly.  Very sad.  

I gotta find another SE FDHD and get a refund too.   [!] !]'>

 

[unity]

That sucks

 

[uniserver]

yup that is why when i make sure to have shit professionally packed…   people have to understand that once that package leave your hands … literally nobody cares.  they will kick your box… they will throw your box….. They kick-slide your box right out the ass of the truck.  and the more it makes the sound of broken mess inside the more it makes them smile.  UPS-FEDEX-USPS they are all equally as bad.  

and if you have things packed up by places like Kinkos/Fedex  and they say ok have a nice day….UH uh…  buddie.  you stand there and watch them pack it before you leave. i dropped of 6 compacts at the fedex office in flordia to have sent to me.  

1 classic

2 FDHD

3 se

4 -128k

5 -128k

6 -128k

they literally put them into a cardboard box with no packing at all… (2) 128k i got were blasted into pieces.

the rest of them were ok…   the last 128k that made it alive, that one ended up going to CC-333.  

 

[uniserver]

otherwise… i am sure your AB/ MB/ HD/ FDD PSU,   maybe even CRT should still be good.

if your hd is one of those miniscribe HD's , they have kind of a cult following, they make a really cool sound when they seek.

maybe it still works… many of those 20mb mini scribes do still work.  sometimes they need a little bump of the seek head actuator. 

even though it says do no touch.  sometimes you need to open them up and give the platter a little spin, sometimes the platter likes to stick and not spin.

 

[unity]

^ You are not making me feel good about that Color Classic I just sent you....

 

[uniserver]

this is what they say at the fedex office…  if the package cannot survive a 5 foot fall onto concreate, then its not properly packed.

that might be a little overkill though…  with compacts if you at least give them about 4" inches of bubble wrap, 360 degrees. then you should be just fine. double boxing helps too but, only if you but some peanuts in-between the first and second box.  its ok unity… you sent that off with my acct… if its busted up when it gets here i will just deal with it.

 

[uniserver]

one more thing…  UPS and FEDEX seem to like bigger packages… like lets say 10 pounds+…  I say " like " only because of their pricing structure… USPS hates boxes that are bigger.  

And you will notice this in their pricing structure. I always hear the postal workers belly aches,  at My Home, My Work and my office. 

USPS likes MFR /  LFR,  and that is about it….   boxes you pack your self,   especially ones with a compact mac in it… they really don't like. The postal worker does not want to do ANYTHING more then what is absolutely necessary.  they are more geared to shove junk mail and letters in your post box.

UPS and FEDEX all they do is packages…  and ones that are bigger.

unless you are talking about EXPRESS, they do envelopes too… but all that stuff is big bucks…   they will have like 3 prices for that… like NEXT Day,  for a 12Oz letter,  BY: (9am $63.50), (12am $44.70)

, (3pm $22.60) -- if its just 2 or 3 states away from you. Obviously this pricing is just an example.

But mainly UPS and FEDEX ground are geared for just packages and are the best deal for larger ones.

Also for international, there are some exceptions… like if you are in US and you are sending something to person in canada. then the only choice is USPS. there is really no other choice, even if you send it as a gift, through UPS or fedex they still will have to pay a brokerage fee in order to pick up their parcel that is being held hostage.  so even if USPS is more…  its still worth it because it will still be less then what ever it cost to ship UPS/FEDEX, + brokerage fees.

otherwise if you are sending something from Cali to NY,  and lets say its 20 pounds… or 30 pounds…  in a box that might be a 15x15x15,  if you don't use fedex, for that…  and go with like USPS… you will pay almost double.     for example $44.50 USPS,  VS 25 or 26 dollars FEDEX…. its very easy to get a FEDEX account anyone can walk in and get one.  you just hand them your LIC and CC…

 If you had an account with FEDEX with your discount that same 25/26 bucks would be like $22.35 or something like that.

And like wise if you go to send something small that is 3-10 pounds or something that is already in a MFR or LFR,  well LFR is right on the teader point….    but lets say MFR,  it will cost you 75 cents or even a buck and a half more if you send it through fedex instead of USPS. and that is even with your account.

but sometimes i am lazy and don't feel like making out labels, and bring all my packages to fedex and have them make labels and tape all my boxes haha.  they really don't like to do that. but so what, they might push you off and help everyone in the line first… if you don't mind the wait, it's no big deal.   for me its just a good feeling that at least i know my packages are out and on the way.

 

[massiverobot]

Here in Philly- after receiving thousands of packages in my life, from every shipper I think this about covers it:

UPS is total crap. They are jerks, they don't knock, they lie and destroy almost everything they touch.

Fedex is the complete opposite, they are reliable and I've never had any issue with shipping or receiving from them.

USPS - just ship little things or you will be sorry.

I'm sure it different in various areas of the country, or even in different cities. But here in Philly please ship to me Fedex!

 

[olePigeon]

I had 1 of my SE/30s arrive at its destination with a broken bezel.  There was a hole in the box, too, so my guess is something poked through the box and smashed it.

I now buy those foam pool noodles, cut a 90 degree section out of them, then use them as foam bumpers along the edges of the computer.  I then fill the rest with packing peanuts.

So far, so good.  I've shipped them to Germany, China, and now Japan.

Hope I didn't just jinx myself.

 

[Elfen]

I remember about 10 years ago, one of the schools I worked for needed a iMac replaced and fast, so I got it for them from Sun Remarketing (don't know if they are still in business, but I doubt it). They sent in the iMac wrapped in a clamshell - plastic bubble, but the bubble was filled with Home insulating foam - the type that expands when you pump it in and it dries. It was really odd how they did it but the iMac survived, considering how beaten up the box was when it arrived!

 

[Yesitsme]

Wow so many sad shipping experiences.   Now I need to find a working SE with a superdrive.