Q: can i install system 7 on a zip drive?
Hi
I own a Mac plus and i'd like to connect it to the internet. I had a look at a few web browsers, like MacWWW "Samba" but it isn't great. I'd like to try out MacWeb, but it requires system 7. It appears I need to install system 7 on a hard disk to do so. Problem is, I don't have any SCSI hard disk... and they are quite expensive on ebay. So I was wondering, is it possible to install it on a zip drive? They are quite inexpensive and I already have zip disks at home.
I've never hooked one up to a "classic" Mac, so I hope the os recognises it as a drive and not as a floppy. If not, I'm afraid this won't work...
Thanks,
Bad Gold Eagle
PS: My Mac has 1Mb of RAM, I've got a copy of 7.1. Is 1Mb enough for the early version of MacWeb (1.1.1E)?
Posted on Jul 11, 2014 12:45 PM
>if it is possible to write files on my intel mac using a usb zip? (i'd have to buy 2 zip drives that is...)
In principle, it is possible to write files to a Mac-formatted Zip disk via a USB Zip drive connected to a modern Mac (or even a PC, with an appropriate utility for the handling of Mac disks). These files could then be read on an older Mac through a SCSI Zip drive. However, in reality it is much more difficult. For example, Mac OS X 10.6 and later cannot write plain HFS (Mac OS Standard), only HFS+ (Mac OS Extended). Plain HFS is needed for machines prior to Mac OS 8.1. You could possibly use a Windows PC with something like TransMac for plain file transfers on a Zip disk, but it is not possible to run Mac programs there or mount a slef-mounting image.
The best way would really be to look for an inexpensive (System 7.5.3 or later) pre-1997 desktop Mac with Ethernet and a CD-ROM drive. That would allow you to decode MacBinary and BinHex files, decompress StuffIt archives, mount .smi files, move files from 1.44 MB to 800K Mac floppies, modify floppy disks, et cetera. Have a look at the models at, for example, lowendmac.com to begin with.
Jan
Posted on Jul 14, 2014 8:43 AM