Read/write HFS floppy disks with model macOS to use in Macintosh SE

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Read/write HFS floppy disks with model macOS to use in Macintosh SE

Hi everyone. I am trying to use an external floppy drive to read/write HFS floppy disks. I initially format them with my Macintosh SE, then insert them into the external floppy disk drive connected to a MacBook M2 with Sonoma. I am assuming Macintosh SE formats them as HFS?

Apple dropped support for HFS. I have been trying to use workarounds such as Parallels with Ubuntu ARM and hfsutils to no avail. Ubuntu detects the drive but can't read the format. I have also tried HFS+ Paragon with Windows 11 ARM via Parallels. It doesn't even recognise the external drive in that case.

Any solution to this? Apparently UTM can't handle "real" USBs.

Thanks!

Earlier Mac models

Posted on May 6, 2024 8:29 AM

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Answer 1

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Jan Hedlund

Level 7

22,339 points

May 6, 2024 9:08 AM in response to igneousrock

Hi,

The problem is that a normal Macintosh SE (that is, not an SE FDHD) can handle 800K Mac DD diskettes maximum only. HD diskettes do not work in an SE.

Macintosh SE: Technical Specifications - Apple Support

PC formats do not work in a normal SE.

A USB floppy drive can only handle a 1.44 MB Mac format on HD diskettes. Mac-formatted 800K DD diskettes do not work here.

A DD floppy in a 720K PC format may work in a USB drive, and a 1.44 MB PC-formatted HD diskette will.

A Macintosh SE FDHD model has a 1.44 MB floppy drive, which can handle 800K and 1.44 MB Mac floppies.

Macintosh SE FDHD: Technical Specifications - Apple Support

If your Macintosh is a normal SE, you would have to use an intermediate (approx. 1991-1997) Mac with a built-in floppy drive (for 1.44 MB and 800K) for transfers to a more modern computer (Mac or PC).

There may be other ways to transfer files. Please post back with additional details about what you want to transfer, and what kind of computers you have access to.

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Answer 2

Jan Hedlund

Level 7

22,339 points

May 6, 2024 3:26 PM in response to igneousrock

The following article could perhaps be of interest to you:

https://siber-sonic.com/mac/newmillfloppy.html

Which operating system version is on the beige G3?

You could try to copy downloaded Mac files to a PC-formatted 1.44 MB HD diskette via a USB floppy drive connected to a modern Mac or PC. The downloaded files are typically encoded MacBinary (.bin) or BinHex (.hqx), and must remain encoded (at least until a Mac OS 9 or earlier). This PC-formatted floppy can be read by the (floppy drive in) the beige G3.

Alternatively, you could try to burn an ISO9660 CD-R (not CD-RW) at a low speed, with the encoded .bin or .hqx files that you wish to transfer. It may then be possible to read this CD-R disc on the G3.

The next step would be to, somehow, format an 800K DD Mac floppy on the beige G3. This can be difficult, depending on the G3's operating system.

If necessary, and if the G3 is running Mac OS 9 or earlier, a trick could be to use Disk Copy 4.2 and DC 4.2 disk images.

See this discussion:

Weird System 6 issues - Apple Community

After decoding of the .bin or .hqx on the G3 (use a compatible StuffIt Expander version for this), the Disk Copy utility would create ready-made, sector-copied Mac 800K floppies from the disk images.

The same principle can be used for other files as well.

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Answer 3

igneousrock Author

Level 1

28 points

May 6, 2024 9:27 AM in response to Jan Hedlund

Oh dear. Seems I got myself in a pickle. I'm actually just playing with vintage machines and installing programmes. I'm using diskettes just for the vintage factor and curiosity. So the idea was to:

Format floppy as "one sided" using Macintosh SE M5011
Insert floppy in USB floppy drive connected to my MacBook M2 running Sonoma.
As Apple dropped support for HFS long ago, I tried using Parallels with Ubuntu (ARM v), hfsutils and read/write the diskette that way (this did not work). I also tried Parallels with Windows 11 (ARM v) and Paragon HFS. That did not work either.

In terms of what I have around:

A Macintosh PowerPC Power Macintosh G3 (the yellow one, desktop horizontal version, with monitor on top). It has a floppy drive it seems.
A MacBook i7 13'' 2013

The objective:

Use floppies to load programmes which will be subsequently installed in vintage Macintosh machines and / or create installation floppies for said vintage machines.

Questions:

Perhaps it would be simpler to find an FHDH external floppy drive that connects to the Macintosh SE, so that I can somehow use the diskettes across different devices? However I'm unsure about how to read/write these diskettes with my modern MacBook.

Thanks!

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Answer 4

igneousrock Author

Level 1

28 points

May 6, 2024 1:50 PM in response to BDAqua

It's mostly about getting data into the SE using floppies. Just for the vintage factor. Could I do somehow filesharing between MacBook M2 to the Power Macintosh G3, then move that data into a floppy formatted as HFS, and then insert the floppy into the SE?

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Answer 5

igneousrock Author

Level 1

28 points

May 6, 2024 3:51 PM in response to Jan Hedlund

This is extremely interesting (and complex). I will be physically away from the vintage Macs for a week unfortunately. In the mean time, I will read up as much as I can and try to understand the process you have outlined. Many thanks!

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