Would these Floppy Disks work on a Macintosh SE/30?

[HeartletTullius]

Hey everyone!

I'm very new to vintage Macintosh. I got my first vintage Mac (an SE/30) after years of wanting one last months, so I apologise if my questions are stupid! I have suspicions the internal hard drive on my Macintosh SE/30 is beginning to die after ~30 years. I want to save all the apps, files, and other things that are currently stored on the computer. I intend on getting an SCSI2SD drive for it soon, but for the time being, I’d just like to save the stuff on the computer as quickly as I can.

So I was just wondering if I would be able to put all my apps (specifically MacWrite II and MacPaint) and some files (simple word files) on to these floppy disks from eBay in order to save them from a potentially failing hard drive? Would these floppy disks be alright?

I was told on Reddit that it would be better if I got unformatted 1.44MB disks, so would these ones be okay for my Macintosh SE/30? This is purely to copy the files stored on the Hard Drive and paste them onto the Floppy Disk. There are so many disks, I have no idea where to begin, so all help is greatly valued. 

Alongside that, there's a PRAM battery inside that's30 years old and I'm going to get it out as quickly as I can. Would these Torx tools be okay to open the case alongside this Spudger?

On an unrelated note, I intend to get an SCSI2SD hard drive for it very soon, so would anyone have an tips on how to make the change? This is my first vintage Mac and I’m quite inexperienced in this field. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

I've been told that when I change the Hard Drive for an SCSI2SD drive, I will need to reinstall all the system files. Would this floppy disk be able to do that also, or do I need a special disk/equipment to that? I have a 2018 MacBook Pro and I am getting a USB-to-Floppy Disk drive soon.

Thanks everyone!

 

[bibilit]

Both 1.44 and 800k disks are ok, but the bigger the better. 

You won’t be able to save all the files from your hard disk using floppies, and probably most of them are too big in size. 

The screwdrivers are ok, no spudger required. 

If you are able to copy all the files from you drive to the scsi2sd, you will be ok. 

 

[MOS8_030]

Howdy! I believe those Atari disks are only 800K. They should work, but new HD disks would be better.

New floppy disks are available much cheaper from places like Amazon or other retailers.

 

[dochilli]

I would buy a SCSI2SD as soon as possible. Connect it to the external SCSI. I think the 5.1 has the option for an external connector (DB25). Format the drive,  then you can copy your files. Or buy an external SCSI case and install the SCSI2SD inside. Then you have the chance to change the sd card and use the case with different macs.

For fomatting scsi disks you can use Lido. May be good to have this on a bootable floppy disk with system 6.0.8 or 7.1.

Here is a description, how to install a SCSI2SD:

 

[dochilli]

If you are interested in generating floppy disks by yourself, here you can find some useful links:

http://spt0010a.sport.uni-oldenburg.de/bycmac/index-Dateien/Page661.htm

 

[HeartletTullius]

@dochilli Hey there! This is brilliant information and a great help to a classic Mac noob such as me! I'll be buying a v5.1 from here! Does this look alright to you? I only have one Macintosh, so I won't be swapping drives or anything like that. I have 10 unformatted floppy disks on their way, so I'll get them formatted and working also! Thank you for all your help and patience!

 

[dochilli]

I would take SCSI2SD with the 25 pin connector. Then you have all options to use it as an external hdd too.

 

[HeartletTullius]

Hey @dochilli. I’ll be getting it with the 25-pin connector installed. Another user told me that I would need a male 25 to 25 pin adapter as the 25 pin connector installed on the board is a female connector, which won’t work. Is that correct? Would one like this one work? Thanks!

 

[dochilli]

The easiest way is to use a D sub 25pin male to D sub 25pin male cable. It must be a 1:1 straight through cable. 

I have this one:

https://www.reichelt.de/d-sub-kabel-1-1-25-pol-stecker-stecker-1-8m-ak-401-p3996.html?&trstct=pol_0

An adapter is not necessary.

 

[HeartletTullius]

@dochilli Great, thank you very much! I’ll get that one!