Hi everyone...
I'm trying to perform a clean reinstallation of the system software on my Color Classic (it's full of junk from the previous owners), but I'm having all sorts of problems... all relating to floppy disks!
The two routes I am considering are System 7.1 (from ftp://ftp.ucalgary.ca/pub/micros/mac/system/System_7.1.x/) and System 7.5.3 (from http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/System/Older_System/System_7.5_Version_7.5.3/).
The only other computers I have available are my MacBook (running Tiger and equipped with a USB floppy drive that I bought just for this), and two Windows XP laptops with internal floppy drives. I don't have any other classic Macs.
The only way I have to transfer files to and from the Color Classic is by using floppies.
Problem #1: The Color Classic is almost never able to initialize disks, whether they are initially formatted for PC OR for Mac. The drive churns for perhaps a minute or two, and then it spits the disk back out with the message "Initialization failed!" And on the rare occasions when it does succeed, the MacBook is unable to copy files onto the newly initialized disk - "The Finder cannot complete the operation because some data in [...] could not be read or written. (Error code -36)."
Problem #2: I can't copy files from floppies onto the Color Classic's hard drive. When I use the MacBook to format a floppy as "Mac OS Standard" and copy a file onto it, an attempt to copy the file from the floppy onto the Color Classic's hard drive results in "The file [...] couldn't be read, because a disk error occurred. Do you want to continue copying?"
Problem #3: The first and most important of the System 7.5.3 ".bin" files does not fit on a floppy disk. (It didn't even fit when I zipped it - though if that had worked, unzipping it on the Color Classic would have been another adventure...)
Problem #4: I simply cannot figure out how to make disks from the System 7.1 ".image" files. Windows applications (WinISO, WinImage, RawWrite) don't recognize the format, and when I use Disk Utility to "Restore" a mounted .image onto a floppy (I've tried PC formatted and Mac formatted, "Erase Destination" checked and unchecked), I get errors such as "An error (1) occurred while copying. (Operation not permitted)", "An error (19) occurred while copying. (Operation not supported by device)", and several others which I can't be bothered to remember or replicate at the moment.
The one time Disk Utility DID successfully restore a ".image" file onto a floppy ("At Ease Installer.image"), I stuck it in the Color Classic with high hopes... only to get "This is not a Macintosh disk: Do you want to initialize it?" Amazingly, this also happened to be one of the few times initialization on the Color Classic succeeded - but that still didn't help (see Problem #1).
I've read that dust can cause problems with floppy drives, but I don't see much dust in this one.
Can anyone help me...? (Should I just replace the drive?)
Thanks!
I'm trying to perform a clean reinstallation of the system software on my Color Classic (it's full of junk from the previous owners), but I'm having all sorts of problems... all relating to floppy disks!
The two routes I am considering are System 7.1 (from ftp://ftp.ucalgary.ca/pub/micros/mac/system/System_7.1.x/) and System 7.5.3 (from http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/System/Older_System/System_7.5_Version_7.5.3/).
The only other computers I have available are my MacBook (running Tiger and equipped with a USB floppy drive that I bought just for this), and two Windows XP laptops with internal floppy drives. I don't have any other classic Macs.
The only way I have to transfer files to and from the Color Classic is by using floppies.
Problem #1: The Color Classic is almost never able to initialize disks, whether they are initially formatted for PC OR for Mac. The drive churns for perhaps a minute or two, and then it spits the disk back out with the message "Initialization failed!" And on the rare occasions when it does succeed, the MacBook is unable to copy files onto the newly initialized disk - "The Finder cannot complete the operation because some data in [...] could not be read or written. (Error code -36)."
Problem #2: I can't copy files from floppies onto the Color Classic's hard drive. When I use the MacBook to format a floppy as "Mac OS Standard" and copy a file onto it, an attempt to copy the file from the floppy onto the Color Classic's hard drive results in "The file [...] couldn't be read, because a disk error occurred. Do you want to continue copying?"
Problem #3: The first and most important of the System 7.5.3 ".bin" files does not fit on a floppy disk. (It didn't even fit when I zipped it - though if that had worked, unzipping it on the Color Classic would have been another adventure...)
Problem #4: I simply cannot figure out how to make disks from the System 7.1 ".image" files. Windows applications (WinISO, WinImage, RawWrite) don't recognize the format, and when I use Disk Utility to "Restore" a mounted .image onto a floppy (I've tried PC formatted and Mac formatted, "Erase Destination" checked and unchecked), I get errors such as "An error (1) occurred while copying. (Operation not permitted)", "An error (19) occurred while copying. (Operation not supported by device)", and several others which I can't be bothered to remember or replicate at the moment.
The one time Disk Utility DID successfully restore a ".image" file onto a floppy ("At Ease Installer.image"), I stuck it in the Color Classic with high hopes... only to get "This is not a Macintosh disk: Do you want to initialize it?" Amazingly, this also happened to be one of the few times initialization on the Color Classic succeeded - but that still didn't help (see Problem #1).
I've read that dust can cause problems with floppy drives, but I don't see much dust in this one.
Can anyone help me...? (Should I just replace the drive?)
Thanks!
