zefrenchtoon
Well-known member
I guess so but as I never had any of these models in my hands ... I don't want to write something wrong
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Using Magneto Optical drives on vintage 68k Macs
- Thread starter MrFahrenheit
- Start date
zefrenchtoon
Well-known member
Confirmed on this other auction with the same drive in a 840 AV :
MrFahrenheit
Well-known member
Decent price for 50x 640MB disks (just over $3.00 each)
Lot of 50 Imation 3.5inch 640MB R/W MO Magneto Optical Disk Unused Japan F/S | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Lot of 50 Imation 3.5inch 640MB R/W MO Magneto Optical Disk Unused Japan F/S at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com
MrFahrenheit
Well-known member
For anybody looking for the system extension for use with most 3.5" magneto optical drives on System 7-Mac OS 9, I'm uploading it here.
jmacz
Well-known member
@MrFahrenheit @olePigeon which one below is the right 640MB drive for 68K macs?
Fujitsu MCP3064SS
Fujitsu MCC3064SS
Can't tell what the difference is.
Fujitsu MCP3064SS
Fujitsu MCC3064SS
Can't tell what the difference is.
MrFahrenheit
Well-known member
According to the specifications, one notable difference:
The MCM3064SS and MCP3064SS rotate disks at 5,455 revolutions per minute, while the MCC3064 model rotates disks at only 3600 rpm.
MCC3064SS PDF
Part #: MCC3064SS. Description: Magneto-Optical Drives. File Size: 40.24 Kbytes. Manufacturer: Fujitsu Component Limited..
pdf1.alldatasheet.com
Fujitsu MCP3064SS user manual
User manual for the device Fujitsu MCP3064SS. Online user manual database
www.manualsbase.com
Additionally, transfer rates are quoted as 2.3-3.9 MB/s for the MCC model, and 3.52 to 5.87 MB/s for the MCP model.
jmacz
Well-known member
Thanks @MrFahrenheit, guess I will go for the faster one if I choose to get another. Was considering picking up a 640MB for another machine to copy files back and forth.
jmacz
Well-known member
Hmm, having some issues trying to use 2.3GB disks. This is on my Fujitsu MCR-3230SS.
I got a 230 LaserByte, 230 Sony, and 640 Sony from @olePigeon and those work great. No issues.
Picked up five 2.3GB Fujitsu branded disks from eBay. I am having issues with those. When I insert the disk, there's drive activity (LED is lit) and it's doing something for a long time, minutes. It finally gets to an error saying it cannot read the disk and asks me if I want to initialize. I then choose yes, and then it does more stuff for a long time, but then says it cannot initialize the disk and says to try the formatter. The Fujitsu formatter won't even see the disk. The Pinnacle formatter sees the disk and tries to format it. But after it finishes, complains of an error and says the disk is bad. Note even with the Pinnacle formatter, when I insert a disk, it takes a few minutes for the tool to see it. I have tried 2 of the 5 disks and both have the same issue. I guess I can try the other three but thought I'd check here first if I'm missing something.
I've tried the MO Extension from Fujitsu (2.3.8) and the Pinnacle (3.3.0). Also tried the Fujitsu formatter as well as the Pinnacle one.
I got a 230 LaserByte, 230 Sony, and 640 Sony from @olePigeon and those work great. No issues.
Picked up five 2.3GB Fujitsu branded disks from eBay. I am having issues with those. When I insert the disk, there's drive activity (LED is lit) and it's doing something for a long time, minutes. It finally gets to an error saying it cannot read the disk and asks me if I want to initialize. I then choose yes, and then it does more stuff for a long time, but then says it cannot initialize the disk and says to try the formatter. The Fujitsu formatter won't even see the disk. The Pinnacle formatter sees the disk and tries to format it. But after it finishes, complains of an error and says the disk is bad. Note even with the Pinnacle formatter, when I insert a disk, it takes a few minutes for the tool to see it. I have tried 2 of the 5 disks and both have the same issue. I guess I can try the other three but thought I'd check here first if I'm missing something.
I've tried the MO Extension from Fujitsu (2.3.8) and the Pinnacle (3.3.0). Also tried the Fujitsu formatter as well as the Pinnacle one.
zefrenchtoon
Well-known member
Which OS version do you use ?
jmacz
Well-known member
Which OS version do you use ?
Using System 7.5.5. This is on a IIfx. I believe 7.5+ can handle up to 4GB?
zefrenchtoon
Well-known member
Using my BlueSCSI, I had problem while trying initializing a fake 2GB drive. I had to change the size to 2000 MB. If you read a specific doc, it’s written that it supports only 2000 MB.
zefrenchtoon
Well-known member
Check these posts here:
Post in thread '6100/66 DOS resurection'
https://68kmla.org/bb/index.php?threads/6100-66-dos-resurection.40694/post-440463
Post in thread '6100/66 DOS resurection'
https://68kmla.org/bb/index.php?threads/6100-66-dos-resurection.40694/post-440463
jmacz
Well-known member
Hmm, multiple places seem to suggest that 7.5.5 supports 4GB HFS partitions. But also found a couple places that seem to say > 2GB is only supported for 68040 and higher. I was going to try to create a < 2GB partition but I'm having major stability issues when attempting to use this 2.3GB MO disk, I've had a few crashes already and both the Fujitsu and Pinnacle formatters are erroring out. Going to try DDTU next.
If I can't get it working, I'll try the drive on both a IIci and a Quadra 700 to see if perhaps I still have gremlins inside my IIfx that might be causing the issue.
EDIT: can't use DDTU (disk drive tune up) since it requires MacOS 8.
If I can't get it working, I'll try the drive on both a IIci and a Quadra 700 to see if perhaps I still have gremlins inside my IIfx that might be causing the issue.
EDIT: can't use DDTU (disk drive tune up) since it requires MacOS 8.
Last edited:
jmacz
Well-known member
Tried the drive out on my Quadra 800, same issues, same errors, same crashes. It's also running System 7.5.5. Going to try installing Mac OS 8 on the Quadra 800 and see if that helps at all. If not, hmm, maybe I need to buy another brand 2.3GB disk to rule out the disks.
jmacz
Well-known member
No luck with Mac OS 8 either, and no luck with Disk Drive Tune Up. Same error across the board:
Format Error
Sense Key: 3
Sense Code: 49
Additional Sense: 1
(bad disk)
So either my drive has an issue with 2.3GB disks (it's a MCR-3230SS which is a 2.3GB MO Drive) or I have a bad batch of disks.
Format Error
Sense Key: 3
Sense Code: 49
Additional Sense: 1
(bad disk)
So either my drive has an issue with 2.3GB disks (it's a MCR-3230SS which is a 2.3GB MO Drive) or I have a bad batch of disks.
jmacz
Well-known member
@olePigeon hope you recover soon!
Cool, I can drop off these disks with you to try after you get better. thanks!
Cool, I can drop off these disks with you to try after you get better. thanks!
MrFahrenheit
Well-known member
I hope you get better soon @olePigeon !
@jmacz I didn’t have any issues with 2.3GB MO disks in the Fujitsu drive with the 2.3.8 MO Extension.
However I was using a 68040 Mac when I tried them, and perhaps that’s one issue.
System software prior to 7.6 on 68000-68030 Macs require the disk driver and first partition to be WITHIN the first 1.99GB of a disk.
I’ve posted about this before regarding hard drives but it never occurred to me that these MO disks are seen by the system as just another hard drive, but removable.
With hard drives, the trick is to make a small 10MB first partition which holds the hidden disk driver, and then partition(s) for the remaining free space.
Use FWB Hard Disk Toolkit version 3.0.2 with your IIfx on a disk that you tried formatting to see what it can see for how the disk was setup by the tools. FWB will allow you to delete all of the hidden partitions and driver, effectively wiping the disk. You could use it to format the disk, and I’d recommend a 400MB first partition followed by the remaining space as a second. FWB allows you to specify that you’re using a removable disk.
I wouldn’t try any more of the new ones for now just in case something has been messing them up, making it difficult to work around after.
jmacz
Well-known member
@MrFahrenheit ok will try but I had the same issue on a 68040 quadra 800 running macos 8. But perhaps the IIfx already messed them up?
MrFahrenheit
Well-known member
It is possible that partitions got messed up.
You’ll need to use the drive on a 68040 Mac, using FWB HDT 3.0.2 with 7.6.1 if you can, and delete all partitions that were made including any drivers the software installed on the root hidden partition.
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