Macintosh IIci - disk with question mark

offensive_jerk, welcome to Apple Discussions & the Mac community.

The ? means the Mac can't find a valid system to boot to. Either no system is installed on the HD, or it's corrupted.

FYI - Here's the spec sheet on your Mac. http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macii/stats/maciici.html

 Cheers, Tom 😉



You can download system 7.5.3 (free) from Apple at this URL. http://download.info.apple.com/AppleSupport_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/System/Olde r_System/System_7.5_Version7.5.3/

Then you need to install it. Look at this link. http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/t-82278.html

Message was edited by: Texas Mac Man

Hi,

Is there anyway to download the OS from Apple's site to a PC and copy the files to floppies that way?

Normally, it is possible to copy each of the nineteen downloaded System 7.5.3 .bin files to a PC-formatted 1.44 MB diskette, but only providing that the Mac has the ability to read PC disks (the PC Exchange control panel installed and active, or a separate Apple File Exchange program). One does not alter the .bin files in any way until on the Mac (where StuffIt Expander is used for the decoding).

In your case, since the Macintosh IIci does not start up from its hard disk, another method has to be used. Via a Mac disk utility (such as TransMac), a Windows PC would be able to write directly to Mac-formatted 1.44 MB floppies (which can be read in the IIci). Some Mac disk utilities can decode MacBinary (.bin) and/or BinHex (.hqx) internally in connection with the file copying.

I have tried downloading several of those files on my PC, but cannot successfully create disk images that my Mac will read...

Please note that the System 7.5.3 files are not "normal" disk images. The files are to be transferred to the Mac's hard disk (plain copy). Once the .bin has been decoded, each file is part of one large disk image. All decoded files (one .smi and eighteen .part) have to be present in a common folder. Upon double-clicking on the first file (.smi), the image will mount. The installer will be found inside. Disk Copy is not used with these files (nor is any other disk image utility).

It is a good thing to have a sector-copied and bootable Network Access floppy ( here), which (if absolutely necessary) can be created via a PC disk image program.

In order to free the floppy drive for transfers, you could try to drag-copy the system folder of the Disk Tools floppy to the hard disk (for a temporary operating system).

Before doing anything of the above, it might be worth checking (while having started the Mac from the Disk Tools) whether a complete system folder is on the hard disk already (it must contain at least a System suitcase and a Finder file). Also, do try to reset the PRAM.

Jan

Hi again,

Glad to hear that. However, it might not be a bad idea to have the exact (intended) System file/Finder version combination. Have you tried a search for the "old" Finder (could it be somewhere else on the hard disk)? Otherwise, a full System 7.5.3 installation could perhaps be of interest anyway.

Jan

The Desktop appearance is typically controlled by the startup disk (the one top right) used for the session in question. Normally, a Disk Tools floppy contains a System Folder (with a System suitcase, a Finder and maybe some other folders/files).

If in doubt, you should be able to compare Finder file versions via Get Info in the File menu.

System 7.1 is a good operating system. System 7.5.3 has more built-in features, but can also be a bit slower on older machines. If you choose 7.5.3, do carry out a clean installation according to KB article TA44452 (especially steps 6, 7 and 8; disregard the 7.5.5 update for now).

Jan

The Desktop appearance is typically controlled by the startup disk (the one top right) used for the session in question.

Although this is correct for the menu bar items and the placement of the disk icons to the right, I should add that any file previously moved to the Desktop (while the computer was running from the internal hard disk) will be visible also when a floppy is used as a startup disk. This means that if someone had moved the Finder file out of the hard disk's system folder onto the Desktop, that file would still have been there when you later started from the Disk Tools. Moving that Finder back into the hard disk's system folder would have restored the normal booting ability.

Jan