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Run Powerbook 540c from Floppy
- Thread starter agg23
- Start date
beachycove
Well-known member
It may not be quite the only alternative.
1. You could presumably run it from an external SCSI hard drive.
2. You might, with a little ingenuity, manage to configure and run it temporarily from a ram disk, assuming you have at least 8MB, say, installed in the machine. It is not to be recommended without an actual HD, but it might just work. The trouble would then be that, should the machine lose power, you'd have to start again from scratch. Hardly worth the effort.
3. It might be possible to rehabilitate a HD. Possible problems include: stiction, incorrect formatting or missing driver. There is also the question of the accompanying hardware in the PowerBook. Is the cable sound, for instance? Is power getting to the drive? (E.g., I have a 280c that seems to have a fuse blown, because a hard drive just won't turn in it.) Unless you know what you are doing (many here do not; and I mostly do not when it comes to fuses and such), it would be worth describing exactly what you have done with the drives, and what happens when you try to boot from each, including, e.g., what you hear when you turn on the machine. Happily, such testing is very easy to accomplish with a 540c, given the location of the drive.
4. Equill is arguably the resident expert on drive rehabilitation methods here; send him a PM if he does not appear. He also has a clear interest in the 540c.
You do really need a hard drive in any machine that requires System 7 to run, although you might JUST manage to run something like Nisus Compact or Write Now from a floppy that also contains an absolutely minimal system install. It will, however, be wasted on the king of the 68k powerbooks, the 540c, as operation from a floppy will be dead slow.
A replacement 2.5" scsi would not be that hard to find. They still populate most of the 68k powerbooks for sale/ trade in the usual places, and this, I suspect, would be your best bet. Alternatively, post a WTB a 2.5" scsi HD here in the appropriate forum; though one suspects that most of us want to hold onto as many as possible of those precious little objects that we have as spares, there are others who are wanting to get rid of things and you never know your luck.
1. You could presumably run it from an external SCSI hard drive.
2. You might, with a little ingenuity, manage to configure and run it temporarily from a ram disk, assuming you have at least 8MB, say, installed in the machine. It is not to be recommended without an actual HD, but it might just work. The trouble would then be that, should the machine lose power, you'd have to start again from scratch. Hardly worth the effort.
3. It might be possible to rehabilitate a HD. Possible problems include: stiction, incorrect formatting or missing driver. There is also the question of the accompanying hardware in the PowerBook. Is the cable sound, for instance? Is power getting to the drive? (E.g., I have a 280c that seems to have a fuse blown, because a hard drive just won't turn in it.) Unless you know what you are doing (many here do not; and I mostly do not when it comes to fuses and such), it would be worth describing exactly what you have done with the drives, and what happens when you try to boot from each, including, e.g., what you hear when you turn on the machine. Happily, such testing is very easy to accomplish with a 540c, given the location of the drive.
4. Equill is arguably the resident expert on drive rehabilitation methods here; send him a PM if he does not appear. He also has a clear interest in the 540c.
You do really need a hard drive in any machine that requires System 7 to run, although you might JUST manage to run something like Nisus Compact or Write Now from a floppy that also contains an absolutely minimal system install. It will, however, be wasted on the king of the 68k powerbooks, the 540c, as operation from a floppy will be dead slow.
A replacement 2.5" scsi would not be that hard to find. They still populate most of the 68k powerbooks for sale/ trade in the usual places, and this, I suspect, would be your best bet. Alternatively, post a WTB a 2.5" scsi HD here in the appropriate forum; though one suspects that most of us want to hold onto as many as possible of those precious little objects that we have as spares, there are others who are wanting to get rid of things and you never know your luck.
agg23
Well-known member
I have made a boot disk with a minimal system and RamDisk+. I startup from the floppy and run it from the RAM disk. The only thing is the battery will not show though it did (sometimes) show up with a full install. I'll record and upload the sounds that my HD makes.
Also, my power supply heats up quite a bit while plugged in, along with the RAM while the computer is running from a RAM disk.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
agg23
Also, my power supply heats up quite a bit while plugged in, along with the RAM while the computer is running from a RAM disk.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
agg23
beachycove
Well-known member
The 5xx series PS does get good and toasty in my experience. Not sure about the ram, as I have never checked. I can't see what effect a ram disk would have on its operating temperature, though, all the same. Is the heatsink for the 68LC040 in place?
You obviously need a hard drive to get the benefit of the machine. If you really wanted to go to town, take a peek at the "Power Monster" scsi-CF card converter being sold from Japan on eBay. Or you could just buy a used netbook for much the same price....
Batteries, for their part, are notoriously finicky on the 540c, but there are some utilities that make reviving them possible: do a search of the fora and you will find what you need to look for. Someone can LEGALLY send you the three options, in fact, as they were freeware. My battery was genuinely toast, so I repacked with tabbed AA cells, but if doing it again I would just use 10 x 1000mA NiMh AAA cells in standard Radio Shack battery holders/trays, recycling the fuses etc. in the arrangement as needed. It might just work, and you'd be able to say, "Look, Ma, (almost) no soldering!" I don't think you get the benefit of higher capacity NiMhs in these old machines, frankly.
I have taken to cracking my old battery plastics apart with careful use of a broad chisel, smacked lightly with a wooden carving mallet. This approach may not be for the timerous, but I have pretty good amateur woodworking skills, and these are happily transferable to the problem in hand. I can get a battery pack open in under a minute this way, which is a damn sight better than the hour or so it can take with a utility knife, and a great deal less hazardous to the hands. (What klutz thought of that method and posted it on the web?)
Anyway, best of luck with it. As I say, there are a few others around who are more knowledgeable than I am and who can help. They have, however, become irregular visitors of late, as the fora can at times be rather juvenile — and that gets a bit wearing to those of us who are getting older.
You obviously need a hard drive to get the benefit of the machine. If you really wanted to go to town, take a peek at the "Power Monster" scsi-CF card converter being sold from Japan on eBay. Or you could just buy a used netbook for much the same price....
Batteries, for their part, are notoriously finicky on the 540c, but there are some utilities that make reviving them possible: do a search of the fora and you will find what you need to look for. Someone can LEGALLY send you the three options, in fact, as they were freeware. My battery was genuinely toast, so I repacked with tabbed AA cells, but if doing it again I would just use 10 x 1000mA NiMh AAA cells in standard Radio Shack battery holders/trays, recycling the fuses etc. in the arrangement as needed. It might just work, and you'd be able to say, "Look, Ma, (almost) no soldering!" I don't think you get the benefit of higher capacity NiMhs in these old machines, frankly.
I have taken to cracking my old battery plastics apart with careful use of a broad chisel, smacked lightly with a wooden carving mallet. This approach may not be for the timerous, but I have pretty good amateur woodworking skills, and these are happily transferable to the problem in hand. I can get a battery pack open in under a minute this way, which is a damn sight better than the hour or so it can take with a utility knife, and a great deal less hazardous to the hands. (What klutz thought of that method and posted it on the web?)
Anyway, best of luck with it. As I say, there are a few others around who are more knowledgeable than I am and who can help. They have, however, become irregular visitors of late, as the fora can at times be rather juvenile — and that gets a bit wearing to those of us who are getting older.
beachycove
Well-known member
I think 10 NiMh AAA batteries (the small ones) might work, but have not tried it — this project is still to come, some dark winter's night. Ten regular AA "button" batteries will not physically fit in the 540c battery case; don't waste your money.
The utilities are, as I recall, 1. Intelligent Battery Recondition (Apple); 2. LIND Battery Utility (called BU500 as i recall); and 3. EMMpathy. EMMpathy is arguably the best, but IBR is also useful in reviving these batteries. Find EMMpathy and you should be OK. But first you'll want a HD.
Search on the forums for "540c battery" and all will be revealed. Nobody is going to repeat it all again.
The utilities are, as I recall, 1. Intelligent Battery Recondition (Apple); 2. LIND Battery Utility (called BU500 as i recall); and 3. EMMpathy. EMMpathy is arguably the best, but IBR is also useful in reviving these batteries. Find EMMpathy and you should be OK. But first you'll want a HD.
Search on the forums for "540c battery" and all will be revealed. Nobody is going to repeat it all again.
beachycove
Well-known member
I am not sure. Some of the battery software is certainly loaded from the full system (e.g., there is a Control Strip module), and so you are not going to get all the bells and whistles from a floppy, but much of it is in the Power Management subsystem that seems to be on the logic board.
agg23
Well-known member
I was going to post my HD sounds but my digital recorder only records in .msv format which is not compatible with macs.
Anyway, I would like to know if it is possible to get my PB online while running off floppy? It would be really cool. :beige:
Also, will a RAM disk stay in RAM as long as the computer has power? So can I shut it down then boot it up with the RAM disk? I know it survives a restart.
Thanks,
agg23
Anyway, I would like to know if it is possible to get my PB online while running off floppy? It would be really cool. :beige:
Also, will a RAM disk stay in RAM as long as the computer has power? So can I shut it down then boot it up with the RAM disk? I know it survives a restart.
Thanks,
agg23
