Installing System 7.1-7.6 without a CD-ROM

[aphetica]

I have been up all night attempting to figure out exactly that.

My machine is a Powerbook 520c with 20mb of ram and a 240mb HDD.

I had OS 8.1 installed on it, but I decided I wanted to wipe the drive, partition it, and dual boot OS 8 and System 7 using the installation files on Apple's site.

It made sense at the time.

It wasn't until after I wiped the drive with disk tools that I realized that the files on Apples site were for the CD version of 7.5.3.

I mean... why have 17 seperate 1.3mb files for a CD version??

So I tried System 7.0, but quickly realized that it wouldn't work either since a 520 refuses anything less than 7.1... Which Apple conveniently decided to skip over in the free releases section. WHY.

So... now I'm stuck and I'm not particularly sure of what to do with an empty hard drive...

I read something about making a "Network Access Disk", which I did; but after booting from it, I had no clue what to do next.

What would you smart people do in this situation? There must be a way of doing this without dumping money on an external optical drive.

 

[Unknown_K]

Can you boot from an external HD or zip drive and install from that?

 

[aphetica]

Can you boot from an external HD or zip drive and install from that?

I don't know how I would do that. I have nothing that will attach to the ports on the back of the 520c other than a printer port cable and ethernet.

 

[equill]

... I mean... why have 17 seperate 1.3mb files for a CD version??

Because the CD was directly derived from the floppy disk images. However, once the images are on the 520's drive in a single folder they will function as if they were one dirty-big floppy disk, or a compact disc.

You had the makings of a network install while there was still a bootable system on the PB. Now that there is not, you have not because your network access floppy cannot access a network without an ethernet connection. (Given a spare week, you could try a LocalTalk connection.) Your options have shrunk to an external SCSI drive to boot and copy from or install from, for which you will need a HDI-29M to CN-50M cable, or a host SCSI Mac and a DB-25M to HDI-30M cable. Failing that, you will need the 19 floppy disks to install System 7.5.3, because the option of taking out your 520's 2.5-in. HDD, and of preparing it in a desktop Mac has also severe physical problems of connection unless you have a very specific adapter.

Your problem is that you removed the means of self-booting from the 520. Ergo, you now have to boot it from an external volume of some kind and transfer the Installer to its hard drive, or connect the passive 520 to something else that will mount its drive in SCSI disk mode and allow the something else to be the source of a System, be that an install CD, install floppies or a copied pre-existing installation of a System.

Do you have an AAUI ethernet adapter? Do you have a LocalTalk (serial) cable? Seemingly you have neither external CD-ROM nor HDD. Without any of these you are in the same cleft stick as you would be in setting out to build a house with no tools other than nail-scissors and a swizzlestick. To be a Mac resurrector is to equip yourself with at least one external drive that can boot a variety of Macs, cables to suit, and enough of Apple's Reference Release Systems to cover your flock: (6.0. 8) , 7.1, 7.5.3 (free), 7.6, 8.1, 8.5, 9.0.4, 9.2.1, from each of which you can update only with a free download. A monetary outlay of some kind stares you in the face at the moment.

de

 

[aphetica]

Well, I kind of went haphazardly into it on purpose, knowing that it would probably end up becoming a learning experience.

I've been working on acquiring system install discs, but most of the ones I have so far are CD-based and not floppies.

I believe I have an AAUI ethernet adapter; as in- it's an adapter that (at one time) allowed me to connect to the internet via ethernet.

I also have a cable with a round connector that plugs into the port with the phone symbol next to it, and it also fits in the one with the printer symbol next to it. It came with a printer that someone gave me. Can I use that for anything? And what is the proper name for it?

I apologize if this is all kind of vague, but I'm really terrible when it comes to configuring anything involving networking.

I did come across some 7.1 floppies, but I would still like to know if there is another way of doing this; for future reference.

 

[equill]

Break the challenge down into its elements. The givens are:

1) a blank, formatted HDD with a driver in the PB. It can receive, but not give.

2) serial (miniDIN- 8) ports x 2, AAUI port, microphone port. The PB has to be 'listening' to these ports, using software that it doesn't have, for LocalTalk or AppleTalk networking. You cannot read a System onto the HDD via microphone.

3) SCSI HDI-30 port. This needs that the HDD spin up and be mounted on the desktop of some other fully sensate Mac, or accessible by a System on an external drive (HDD or CD-ROM).

4) Floppy disk drive. Can be used if you have a System on a bootable floppy disk from which to install System software onto the blank drive.

Thus, if you now possess System 7.1 on floppies, install 7.1 from those floppies onto the HDD, and then boot the PB from the HDD, thereafter you can use the FDD to transfer a complete 7.5.3 to a single folder on the desktop, and install 7.5.3 from that folder. What 'other' is needed? You have a means—not previously mentioned—of getting a bootable System onto the HDD, from which you can upgrade to any other supported System. You should also consider buying some larger hammers for future setup work: external drives, software, et alia.

de

 

[aphetica]

You cannot read a System onto the HDD via microphone.
Thus, if you now possess System 7.1 on floppies, install 7.1 from those floppies onto the HDD, and then boot the PB from the HDD, thereafter you can use the FDD to transfer a complete 7.5.3 to a single folder on the desktop, and install 7.5.3 from that folder. What 'other' is needed?

Well, yeah. I hope you were being sarcastic about the microphone thing.

Also; Yes, I have system 7.1 on floppies and could simply install it the easy way- But what I'm asking about is whether or not I can install anything onto a blank drive via ethernet or appletalk, which I believe you are implying isn't possible with a only a blank drive/network access floppy. Right?

 

[equill]

... Well, yeah. I hope you were being sarcastic about the microphone thing ...

Sarcastic? No. Sarcasm is designed to wound (the flesh). It ain't my style, but irony or even gentle joshing is. Can you translate C or Pascal into English on the fly?

Again, you can get at a blank drive only if you can mount it and address it from an active System. From that all else flows.

Any kind of networking needs a sensate receiver or sender at one end, and a ditto receiver or sender at the other end. Rather like the human condition.

de