:-( Color Classic has gone unbootable.

[Anonymous Freak]

I had *JUST* gotten my CC2 all 'perfectly set up', (got an LC PDS Ethernet card functioning, web browser installed, max RAM, even a VRAM upgrade, and working with my PowerCD, lots of good software loaded,) and literally the next reboot after I considered it "done," the hard drive decided to crap out, and the floppy drive stopped working.

It powers on, it will boot from CD, but the hard drive spins up/down/up/down/up/down, and the floppy drive seems to have no power at all.  (Disk will inject, but it doesn't even try to spin it or do any reading, nor does it recognize a disk was inserted in the booted OS, and I have to "Mactool" eject.)

:O

What the crap happened?!?

 

[bibilit]

looks like you have an issue with power supply, try to disconnect the hard drive for a test.

 

[EvilCapitalist]

It's not uncommon for hard drives of this age to just up and die.  If it's a Quantum drive (which it likely is) the spinning up, then down again sounds like stiction.  Even though it's possible to fix it (there's a thread about it around here somewhere), I've found it's just easier to replace the drive or go to SCSI2SD.  I've gone the "replace it with another drive" route so far just because I like the sound an older HD makes, even though I know replacing one old drive with a similarly old drive only resets the clock a bit.

As for the floppy drive, it could just need a good cleaning/re-greasing.  On the other hand, if it's truly dead replacements are (relatively) cheap and plentiful.

Not to mention, if you haven't already done so, a recap is in order.  Original caps in that machine are a ticking time bomb.

 

[techknight]

the analog boards are a known trouble point in the CC and LC5XX series with caps. 

 

[Anonymous Freak]

And recovered it.  Somehow, the hard drive going bad made it unbootable even from floppy.  Swapped in a new(er) hard drive, and we're good to go.

Floppy drive works fine with a new hard drive in it.  Odd.

 

[bdurbrow]

IIRC, these used to load a driver from the first few blocks of the drive... and then execute it. So, my guess is that that driver got corrupted; and was causing the machine to misbehave.

I think that clearing the PRAM may cause the machine to boot up off of the floppy before attempting to load the drivers from any hard disks, but I might be mistaken...

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Well, it doesn't have a PRAM battery, so…

 

[tjjq44]

Maybe your faulty HD had something shorted in and drew too much power to let your floppy drive do its job?

 

[Anonymous Freak]

That's my assumption.  It was strange, it wouldn't boot from a correct disk, but if I put in, say, a Mac OS 8 Disk Tools disk, it would get farther in the boot process (far enough to get to "this boot disk won't work with this Mac" and eject.)

 

[Anonymous Freak]

And just after I get it working again - it goes down hard.  In getting my compacts all lined up for a "family photo" I went to power it on, and "crackle, crackle" - OH CRAP, OZONE!  UNPLUG, UNPLUG!!!  > <

 

[techknight]

Anonymous Freak, on 26 Aug 2016 - 10:54 AM, said:
And recovered it.  Somehow, the hard drive going bad made it unbootable even from floppy.  Swapped in a new(er) hard drive, and we're good to go.

Floppy drive works fine with a new hard drive in it.  Odd.

Whatever was starting to give out beforehand finally failed. When I see the word "Somehow", that scares me. And well, you see the final result