PowerBook 145B shows pic of floppy disk with flashing question mark

Question

Level 1

0 points

PowerBook 145B shows pic of floppy disk with flashing question mark

I recently discovered a PowerBook 145B in my garage. When I turn it on, it makes the start-up sound but then goes to a blank screen with a picture of a floppy disk with a flashing question mark.

I don't have any of the original floppies that would have come with it. Is there anything I can do to make it work?

PowerBook 145B, Mac OS 8.6 or Earlier

Posted on May 2, 2010 5:05 PM

Reply

Answer 1

May 2, 2010 6:32 PM in response to sadpie

The blinking ? means the Mac can't find a system file to boot from. Could be there's no system installed, the files on the hard drive are corrupted, or the hard drive has failed.

Another possibility. Some older PowerBooks will not boot if the internal PRAM battery has failed. Since the PB has not been operated with its power adapter for a long time, the battery has discharged. You might try a PRAM reset at startup - depress the Command Option+PR keys at startup.

 Cheers, Tom 😉

Reply

Answer 2

Jan Hedlund

Level 7

24,337 points

May 2, 2010 7:50 PM in response to sadpie

Hi,

The technical specifications for the PowerBook 145B can be found here.

Although the original operating system was 7.1 (not free), you could try System 7.0.1 instead (see KB article TA33972) instead. System 7.0.1 is available for download from Apple (for example, US and British versions). Access to another older Macintosh computer (with a built-in floppy drive) would normally be required in order to create properly sector-copied floppies from disk images. If absolutely necessary, the British version (which is provided as individual images) can even be used to produce the system disks on a PC (using a special technique).

System 7.5.3 is also available (e.g., US and British), but may not be ideal for a computer with a small hard drive and limited RAM. A boot floppy (use the Network Access Disk 7.5 here) is not included in the 7.5.3 download.

Jan

Reply