Free Mac Plus!

[Audiart]

First post here. Just joined because last night a Macintosh Plus appeared on the "free corner" adjacent to my house. Came with a keyboard and mouse, only missing the AC cable, fortunately I had a compatible one. It does not have the expanded memory addition, just 1MB. One disc was sleeping inside - full of a handful of files that didn't seem to "work" and hadn't been modified since 1993. Surprised and ecstatic the system has lasted this long in good condition!

Honestly haven't used Macintosh since I had a few Apple //e and //c in the early 90s. Getting back into the groove with these great computers should be very satisfying and exciting for me. Haven't a clue where to begin, but am quite willing to learn as I go.

Enough of an introduction - any recommendations as to what I should/can do with my new computer? Favourite programs, games, recommended software/hardware? Any favourite books or websites for Mac Plus beginners?

 

[elbaroni]

Well, for starters you're going to need a way of writing to Mac 800k disks — this pretty much means access to another mac. The Plus can't read high density floppies and nothing but a Mac can (everyone — correct me if I'm wrong) read mac 800k ones.

For system software, system 6 or below is the go. Unless you get a hard drive for it it'll be limited in storage.

You should also track down a copy of Dark Castle. Fits on one floppy and it's *great*.

Congrats — the Plus is a wonderful machine. I use mine every day.

 

[tomlee59]

Elbaroni is correct -- only another Mac can read/write 800K Mac floppies. And only an older Mac. That's the only hitch -- getting over the chicken-and-floppy problem.

Increase the RAM to its 4MB maximum. The Plus uses standard 30-pin SIMMs. Even ones salvaged from PCs of the era will generally work. You'll need to cut two resistors (labeled "one row" and "256k") to enable the Plus to see all 4MB. Then you'll really be in business!

 

[MrMacPlus]

jagshouse.com

lowendmac.com

As for software:

Word 5.1 (Save as RTF with extension .rtf)

MacPaint

Excel 1.5 (still compatible with even Excel 2003, save as SYLK with extension .slk)

But you are going nowhere unless you get an HD floppy drive, or better, a zip drive. Kind souls on this forum will probably donate a 800k disk with Zip software. Then again, though, you will be at a disadvantage unless you run Linux or Mac OS.

Good luck and sweet haul, Mac Plus machine are awesome.

 

[LCGuy]

Problem with getting a HD floppy drive is that the Plus doesn't have the required circuitry to run a HD SuperDrive as a SuperDrive - it has an IWM chip instead of a SWIM chip, and therefore a SuperDrive will only work as an 800k drive. There were some third-party HD floppy drives made that work with the Plus, mostly those by Applied Engineering, but good luck finding one of those. You're better off getting a zip drive for data transfer.

For software, I seriously can't believe nobody's mentioned ClarisWorks yet! I recommend ClarisWorks 2, its a lightweight app that will run rather nicely on a Plus, even in System 6, and does pretty much everything you need - it has a word processor, drawing module, paint module, database module, spreadsheet module and communications module (terminal program), teriffic little app

 

[tomlee59]

LCGuy's absolutely right -- get a Zip drive, as it will open up many more options for data transfer (and you can even run your Plus off of one as the boot volume; it works surprisingly well). And indeed, ClarisWorks is a terrific package. You will want it.

 

[MrMacPlus]

LCGuy's absolutely right -- get a Zip drive, as it will open up many more options for data transfer (and you can even run your Plus off of one as the boot volume; it works surprisingly well). And indeed, ClarisWorks is a terrific package. You will want it.

I run my Plus from a Zip 100 drive. I also recommend getting Backdrop to use for having a picture background (won't work with MacPaint without a hack), but is a great addition to the interface.

 

[elbaroni]

I also run my Plus from a Zip 100. Works like a charm, and it's way quieter than a hard drive.

Where in the world are you located, Audiart?

 

[Audiart]

Thanks for the suggestions! I remember ClarisWorks and that was a great program. What version is best for Mac Plus?

Re: zip drive for the Mac Plus - does it require a certain OS version or no? Are they also compatible with a modern PC? I'm not familiar with them but I'll try to find one.

Can't find any of the older macs. I have Apple //e and //c somewhere, but I remember them only having them having 5 1/4" drives. So as far as writing discs at 800k, guess I'd need an external one or another computer entirely.

Unfortunately all I have in the way of contemporary computers is a PC with WinXP. That's also the only computer connected to the Internet. Fool thing doesn't even have a floppy drive, period! But if a zip drive can pull off the file transfer issue I would be set. Again, not sure much about zip drives...

Could files like games or programs (z-machine or Clarisworks for example) be transferred on a server or network; via internet, ftp, or anything of that nature? Again, I'm not very savvy on the jargon, sorry!

I'm located (for now) in Davis, California, near Sacramento.

-R

 

[MrMacPlus]

Again, not sure much about zip drives...

Here's how I got mine working:

Hooking up the external SCSI drive that came with my Mac Plus to my G4's SCSI bus and copying over formatting software. Use Silverlining by LaCie. Obviously you don't have another Mac with a SCSI Bus, again, somebody on this forum would probably be capable of sending you a disk with aforementioned software, all you have to do is ask around.

After you get the formatting software taken care of: connect the zip drive to your SCSI bus, preferably the last in the chain, so you can enable termination. I also recall that if you put any more than one thing in the bus you need double termination, hopefully this won't be a problem, as you should only have the zip drive in the bus. After you get everything connected, boot the machine, run formatting software, and format the zip disk (DO NOT USE LIDO AS YOUR FORMATTER! If you use Lido, you won't be able to boot from the zip). Then you may install System 6 (or anything else) and have a zip booted Plus.

-tm512

EDIT: I forgot that you had only 1MB of RAM in it. System 7 will refuse to boot, but hopefully you won't want to use it to begin with. My real suggestion is System 3.2, Finder 5.3 for sheer speed, or System 4.x, with Finder 6, I forgot exactly what version was, for max compatibility. Again, ask around for this crap. :b&w: