Macintosh II minimum OS?

[Rasmus]

Someone has contacted me to tell me System 4.0 Finder 5.4 does not work on his Macintosh II (i.e., the 68020 machine). At least, he says it won't boot from an 800K disk with 4.0/5.4 on it. Does this sound right? I mean, it contradicts the table presented in the System 6 user guide (Figure A-1, see here), which shows 4.0/5.4 as the minimum for the II.

Although the SE and the II were announced at the same time (March 1987), in reality the II was not actually shipped until April 1987. I found this in the April 1987 (which went to press in March 1987) MacWorld: "... A new version of the System file is now being shipped with the Macintosh SE, and an even newer version will be distributed when the Macintosh II is shipped. ..."

Thus, I believe System 4.0 shipped with the SE in March and System 4.1 shipped with the II in April. Is there anyone here with an original II who can confirm that 4.0 does not run on it?

 

[PowerPup]

Well, looking at apple-history.com and everymac.com... None of the sites are consistent.

apple-history.com says minimum OS is System 3.0/Finder 5.1, and everymac.com says System 2.0. So... Sounds like System 4 should work fine.

 

[Scott Baret]

You'll want to use 4.1, which included AppleShare 1.1 for networking the Mac II. (Source: http://www.mackido.com/History/EarlyMacOS.html).

4.0 should run fine. I seem to remember the guided tour disk for the II using 4.0. I don't have an original II to test, but I'd be wary of the pre-1987 versions since the II has many internal differences when compared to the compact line. They may work, but I think someone with a II and any system from 1.0 through 3.3 should try to see what works, what doesn't, etc.

 

[Rasmus]

My question could probably be easily resolved with the 4.0/5.4 "Macintosh System Tools 1.0" disk. The 4.1/5.5 "Macintosh System Tools 2.0.1" disk includes an installer script for the II. Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of the 4.0/5.4 System Tools disk -- I only have the 4.0/5.4 "Macintosh Utilities 1.0" disk.

Anyhow, if the 4.0/5.4 System Tools disk (which I do not have) has an installer script for the II, that would answer my question. But my correspondent seems to know what he is doing, so I tend to think it's possible that 4.0/5.4 won't boot the II. I think it might have something to do with the differences in how the ROM is used between the SE (and earlier machines) and the II.