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Is this normal or bad?

My Mac Plus that I got a little more than a month ago has always lagged at startup. Well, The display shows the alternating pixel "fake gray" for a few seconds, then I get the ? floppy, I insert my boot disk, and it boots like normal. Mac Pluses in youtube videos seem to do the same thing, but I just want to make sure... :-/

 
That's normal for a Plus. The video circuits spew out whatever's in DRAM until it gets into the boot sequence a bit. The pattern can change, depending on what was last displayed, and how recently it was displayed. As long as it proceeds to asking for a boot disk, and then boots properly, I wouldn't worry about it.

And if you want to speed up booting, you can bypass the memory test by holding the mouse button down on power up. Release after it starts the normal boot sequence.

 
Ah, that make me feel better. Thanks for the tip on the mouse button. Even from zip disks, this mac really screams with speed. (Try System 4.1) ;)

EDIT: the pattern doesn't alter, BTW, it's always the "fake" gray.

 
And if you want to speed up booting, you can bypass the memory test by holding the mouse button down on power up. Release after it starts the normal boot sequence.
OMG, how did I just learn about this?! *That* would have been very useful to know about 20 years ago. :p

 
Ah, that make me feel better. Thanks for the tip on the mouse button. Even from zip disks, this mac really screams with speed. (Try System 4.1) ;)
EDIT: the pattern doesn't alter, BTW, it's always the "fake" gray.
If you mean a uniform gray pattern, then that's very normal (that's what the screen is supposed to display during the memory test). If you are booting from a cold start, the crt will probably be dark during the interval when some other garbage might be visible. However, if you have a crash, for example, and hit the reset button, you may very well see some interesting frames before normal boot takes over.

And it is amazing that an 8MHz computer can feel peppy. It's a real testament to the craftsmanship of the Mac team. From cold start to editing text in under 20 seconds is easily within grasp for the Plus, but a stretch for my multi-GHz Windows box...

 
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