Apple Floppy Drive Cardboard Insert for 128k Computer?

[Mac128]

Is there any mention of a disk drive preserver on the 128K packing list -- from memory, I think not.

Have you actually seen a packing list? Did one come with your fine example?

The description of 3.5" drive packing materials for shipping is in the service manual copy that I sent you a few months ago, Mac128 ;-)

Oh, I really must get scanning.

UPDATE:

The Dec 88 service manual indicates a "packing disk" for transporting an 800K drive. The 400K drive notes indicates nothing of the kind. Therefore, I'm inclined to think there was not one, though this is not conclusive since the manual is not specific on a number of details regarding the 400K drive in preference to the 800K drive.

 

[Charlieman]

No, Mac128, I have never knowingly seen a packing list (anywhere outside my box, too) -- and I have just been delving in the Picasso box for one. I believe that I am only missing the MacWorld promotional flier.

But Eric Rasmussen commented here recently...

 

[Rasmus]

I've never seen a "packing list" either -- I believe the photo and list in the Getting Started pamphlet was meant to serve that purpose.

One note on that list -- it exposes one of the problematic details on my site. The list shows just one blank disk with the sticker attached. I believe that by May 1984 (i.e., in the Finder 1.1 boxes) they were packing two blank disks with labels unattached -- that's my memory from late Summer or early Fall 1984 when I bought my first computer (a 128K Macintosh in Bozeman, Montana) and I've seen enough corroborating evidence to confirm that. BUT, the early, January-April, boxes might well have had only one blank disk, with or without its label attached...

So on the site I contradict the pamphlet and say two blank disks were included. But that could be wrong for early packages, or not -- obviously the photo and the list were put together well before any actual boxes were packed. It's not hard to imagine them putting two blank disks in from the beginning -- providing only one is kind of lame.

 

[Mac128]

It's not hard to imagine them putting two blank disks in from the beginning -- providing only one is kind of lame.

Then again, selling the 128K with a single disk drive is kind of lame too. :beige:

 

[JDW]

I recently spotted this Mac 128k auction, listed by the original owner. What captured my interest was the yellow plastic drive insert which we are discussing in this thread. I wrote the seller and asked about its origins. I told him that his external drive appears to be an 800k model, which implies his ROMs may have been upgraded at some point. I then asked if the yellow insert was found inside his internal 400k drive in 1984 or in the external. He replied to me today as follows:

Hi James,I wish I could tell you about the drive insert, but this stuff has been covered and stored for over 20yrs and I just don't remember it's origin. Regarding the ROMs: There was a local engineer and member of the Portland Mac User's Group that made some extra money upgrading ROMs and RAM. I recall that he may have upgraded the ROM while upgrading the RAM.

Thanks for your interest.

Alas, he cannot remember. Therefore, it is highly likely the insert was used in that external drive. But it's impossible to know for sure.

DISCLAIMER: My intentions toward this seller are 100% neutral. I am mentioning this auction merely to discuss the origins of Macintosh floppy drive inserts, which is the topic of this "innocent" and non-libelous thread.

 

[Scott Baret]

I get the feeling they started using the yellow disk at one of the following points in time:

1. When the black label Sony drives were introduced in place of the red label drives (800K drives had two label colors)

2. When the Apple 3.5" external drive was introduced alongside the Apple IIGS (since it was a different design)

3. When the SE, II, and platinum Plus and 512Ke came out in March 1987

 

[shred]

shred & macgreg speak of damage to the floppy drive in cases where the yellow "cheese" is used.

The damage I referred to only occurred if the yellow transport sheet was used in a drive that it was never designed for: the 1.4MB drive. I've never heard of it damaging the 800k drives it was designed to go in to.

 

[JDW]

shred, I appreciate your reply. But why would the yellow disk not damage an 800k drive but damage a 1.4MB Superdrive? Is the head placement that much different between the two drive types? Regardless, 800k floppies are exactly the same shape as 1.4MB floppies! Or is it that 1.4MB heads are more delicate and easily damaged due to scratches induced by the yellow plastic inserts?

 

[Mac128]

I get the feeling they started using the yellow disk at one of the following points in time:

There were two different drives. The UniDisk which came out in sept. '85 indicates to remove the shipping insert and discard. If it were the yellow disk, one would expect instructions to retain for future use. However, the 800k external drive, a different mechanism, which came out in early '86, did have the yellow disk. This means that the Sept. 86 3.5 drive, the same mech as the UniDisk, shipped with the yellow insert. So clearly the insert started shipping at some point between Sept. 85 and Sept. 86. Did the Mac Plus ship with the insert from the beginning? If not I would think it began shipping with one at the same time the 800k external drive did.

 

[shred]

shredBut why would the yellow disk not damage an 800k drive but damage a 1.4MB Superdrive?

You raise a good point and I don't know why it was unsuitable for the 1.4MB drives.

I always assumed that it was damage to the head gimbal due to the heads catching on the transport sheet as it was inserted or removed, but this was only an educated guess.

 

[JDW]

This Mac 128k auction has a photo that shows the yellow plastic insert sitting inside the Mac, apparently being used in the stock 400k drive. Of course, this is by no means "evidence" of the yellow disk having been used in 1984. If fact, I cannot imagine the yellow insert could have been used then. Because if you take a look at one, isn't there a curved section for the head on both sides? Why make such a thing in 1984 (or actually, in 1983) before 800k double sided drives even existed?

 

[~Coxy]

I'm re-reading my 3rd Edition Mac Bible (1990) and they make mention of the yellow plastic protector. They specifically say not to use it on SuperDrives, which park their heads when there's no disk inside.

Do SuperDrives have their heads "sticking out" when there's a disk inside, even if turned off? That could be why you're not meant to move the drive with the yellow disk (or any disk) inside it.

 

[Mac128]

This Mac 128k auction has a photo that shows the yellow plastic insert sitting inside the Mac, apparently being used in the stock 400k drive. Of course, this is by no means "evidence" of the yellow disk having been used in 1984.

Yes, cuchi6869 also breaks the current record for a BIN price of $1,684.09. However, it is a nice example for a collector and seems to be complete. Also (and perhaps more importantly) it is an auction that will allow the market to set the price. I will be watching closely to see how high the reserve is set though.

You will note that he actually answered the floppy disk question: "All the early Macs shipped with this yellow floppy-drive protector. This one is likely not original to this specific Mac." Ah such honesty is refreshing on eBay.

 

[JDW]

By logical deduction, I must conclude that the original Mac 128k did not ship with that yellow disk. My reasoning is that the yellow disk has a slightly "curved" area on both sides where the curved head is suppose to go. The very fact that this is "curved" presents a problem. For on the 400k drives, there is a single head on one end and on the opposite side there is a "flat" felt pad. Did Apple really make that yellow insert for such a single sided drive, where the flat felt pad would ram up against a curved surface?

For that reason alone, I think it is just not possible that this yellow insert was used on the 128k. But the other consideration is, 800k double-sided 3.5" drives didn't exist in 1983 when Apple was preparing to launch the Mac (to ship in January 1984 would mean anything included with the Mac would have had to have been prepared in 1983). So the fact that the yellow disk is specifically made for drives with 2 heads also proves the point in my mind.

By the question I have is, what kind of insert did Apple use for the 128k. Or did they at all?

UPDATE: The yellow plastic disk is mentioned about 40% of the way through RetroMacCast Episode 102. The guest appearing on this episode says he recalls being told by his Apple dealer that using the disk would damage the heads on SuperDrives (as we mention here in this thread). Unfortunately, no additional information is revealed.

 

[Mac128]

And this is how this kind of confusion gets perpetrated. A presumed "expert" lists an Auction on eBay for 128K, 512K & Plus, Yellow Floppy Disk insert as a "400K and 800K Disk Drive Protector/Transport Disk". Notice he fails to include the SE & Mac II which also shipped with 800K drives. Though the 128K NEVER did (but the mere mention of the name sure brings in the dollars). At least he doesn't use the work "rare". :beige:

But damn if danapplemacman doesn't take gorgeous pictures of even a sterile floppy disk insert! LOL

 

[H3NRY]

FWIW - It's been a long time and memory isn't infallible, but I don't remember any shipping insert in the Apple 400K floppy drives. There WAS a cardboard insert in one of my 3rd party 800K drives. There was a yellow insert in the Apple II 800K Unidisk, and of course in Macs when they began shipping with 800K drives.

 

[JDW]

Here we go again with another seller (influential, and with "top rated" badge no less) claiming the drive protector was used on the 128k to protect the drive during shipping:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Original-Macintosh-128K-512K-Disk-Drive-Protector-/200503520307?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eaef0ec33#ht_1847wt_1139

 

[Mac128]

I've noticed an increase in sellers using "128K" and "512K" in the title of listings even when the item had nothing to do with them, or wasn't really intended for use with one. I think many sellers have figured out that by adding it to the listing title it brings higher bids. The floppy disk listing could be ignorance, or it could be something else. Technically speaking, if your 128K was an upgraded 512K with the 800K disk drive upgrade, you WOULD need that yellow disk insert. So the ad's not technically wrong.

 

[JDW]

...if your 128K was an upgraded... the ad's not technically wrong.

Ah yes... IF...

By within the EBAY listing that the link in my previous post leads to, my eyes were focused exclusively upon the white-on-black text that reads, "Protected the 400K..." And that is precisely what this thread was about, to determine IF indeed the Macintosh 128k in 1984 did in fact come with that exact yellow plastic protective insert. My memory says no, it was not that exact plastic yellow disk-like insert. HENRY seems to agree. But of course, the hard evidence would come from someone who still happens to have a never-opened Mac 128k in their possession.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

If you see an auction improperly using a keyword, use the "report this auction" for keyword spamming! (I don't recall the exact eBay term, but it's something like that.)