Resuerecting my 5300 - PCMCIA card with Firewire or Flash Card Adapter

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Resuerecting my 5300 - PCMCIA card with Firewire or Flash Card Adapter

I have an old 5300 which I trashed (removed everything including the OS) and then took to the bin and was about to toss it when I had second thoughts.

10 years on and I want to try and resurect it so my kids can use it (they are 2 and 4 so it doesn't matter about speed etc).

I have my original OS and so on but they are all on CD (I also have my original Tools Disk so I can switch it back on.

If I purchase a PCMCIA card with the Firewire port (such as this http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=3 50175885661), can I then network it with my newer iMac and use the CD-Rom on it to reinstall the OS??

What do I need to know about getting the PCMCIA card? Will they all work?

Many thanks for your thoughts and advice. I have looked at getting a CD-ROM drive SCSI but it is getting a little hard.

5300, Mac OS 8.6 or Earlier

Posted on Mar 13, 2009 9:13 PM

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Answer 1

Jun 13, 2017 5:40 PM in response to Community User

Wow Jan, thanks for that - the things you learn.

However, it has not worked. I know he can do it as I heard the start-up beep when I plugged in the power plug last night. Will keep trying though! Have nothing else to loose.

The keypad doesn't appear to work as it makes no sound - the on button sounds the same as every other.

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Answer 2

Jan Hedlund

Level 7

24,235 points

Mar 14, 2009 8:14 AM in response to Community User

Hi,

Unfortunately, CardBus cards are not compatible with the PC Card slots in the PowerBook 5300. You will need a standard (16-bit) PCMCIA card. This means that the FireWire card in question is not going to work. As far as I know, there are no FireWire cards available as 16-bit PCMCIA.

However, you could use a (Mac-reformatted) CompactFlash card in an inexpensive PC Card adapter for CompactFlash. With a multi-card adapter, even SD and other flash memory cards can be used (but CF is often a better solution). If an external USB card reader is connected to the iMac, you would be able to transfer files.

If, for some reason, there is a problem using a CD, you could download a full System 7.5.3 from Apple (e.g., the International English version here). Once decoded, the (twenty International) files constitute one large disk image, which can be launched from the PowerBook's hard disk (or possibly from the aforementioned CF card).

If you wish to free the floppy drive for file transfers, you could try to drag-copy the system folder of the (Disk Tools) startup floppy to the empty hard disk. This will create a temporary operating system. Remember that System 7.5.3 needs a hard disk formatted Standard (HFS); Extended (HFS+) will not work with that version.

Jan

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Answer 3

Jun 13, 2017 5:40 PM in response to Community User

Thanks so much for the advice! After powering up the notebook all night I went to turn it on and it isn't doing anything! Maybe I should just let this poor little thing go 😟

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Answer 4

Jan Hedlund

Level 7

24,235 points

Mar 14, 2009 9:40 PM in response to Community User

Have you tried to reset the Power Manager?

Jan

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