Retrieve Data from a PowerBook 170

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Level 1

20 points

Retrieve Data from a PowerBook 170

This is a follow-up to my post "Powerbook 145 apparently dead". I elected not to replace the fuse because I feared I wouldn't be able to properly install the new one, or that the problem that caused the fuse to blow will still be there and the new one will blow too.

So, I bought a PowerBook 170 on eBay, swapped its hard disk for my old one, and booted it up. And sure enough, everything was exactly the way I left it 10 years ago. So now I'm wondering how to transfer those documents to my 2009 Mac Pro with OS 10.6 - not an easy tasks, considering these machines have no interfaces in common. Here are what I consider to be my three options (please advise if there are others) -

1) Transfer using floppy disks: I have a working USB floppy drive and a copy of TransMac 9.1 on my Bootcamp Windows 7 installation (since 10.6 no longer reads the HFS disks, only HFS+), so I can transfer via floppy disks. This will be the least convenient but the cheapest since I already have all the equipment (except a stack of floppy disks).

2) Attempt to burn a CD: I don't know of any CD-RW's that would work with the PowerBook 170 running System 7. If anyone does (and it's possible to find it at a reasonable price), please let me know.

3) Attempt to network the PowerBook: I found a third-party SCSI to ethernet adapter that has a driver for System 7 and user testimonials that claim it works with the PowerBook 100 series. That might let the PowerBook onto the internet, but there's no guarantee the Mac Pro will be able to see it on the network. Also, this adapter is exceedingly rare and commands a substantial price on eBay.

So... what should I do?

Thanks in advance!

Mac Pro 8-Core (2x 2.26 GHz Xeon 5500-series), Mac OS X (10.6.4), 10 GB RAM, 2x 750 GB HD, Radeon HD 4870, 24"LED Cinema Display, iPhone 3G S, Nikon D300 w/GPS

Posted on Jun 17, 2010 12:33 PM

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Answer 1

Jun 17, 2010 7:08 PM in response to strickerj

(since 10.6 no longer reads the HFS disks, only HFS+)

Volumes smaller than 32 MB have never been formatted HFS+, they are too small. HFS+ and HFS are not that different. It does not make sense to drop reading of HFS, although support for formatting HFS Hard Drives may have been eliminated.

and a copy of TransMac 9.1 on my Bootcamp Windows 7 installation

Don't do that, it is not necessary. Mac OS X should read HD 1.4MB diskettes just fine as far as I know. Your USB drive will not read 800K diskettes, because no one except Apple used the variable-speed motor used to write 800K onto Diskette 2DD.

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Answer 2

strickerj Author

Level 1

20 points

Jun 17, 2010 7:44 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Well, that's odd... I've popped a few of my (dispensable) Mac 1.4MB floppies into the USB drive, and Snow Leopard told me they were unreadable and prompted me to initialize them. I attempted to initialize one, and it gave me a disk write error. TransMac read the others with no problem.

Does this USB floppy drive require a driver for OS X? Surely not...

Btw, it's a Nippon Labs model USB-FLPPY. (I chose it because a review on Newegg said it worked with his MacBook Pro.) Disk Utility recognizes it as a "TEAC F0000".

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Answer 3

Jun 17, 2010 8:49 PM in response to strickerj

Are those diskette "HD", with an additional punched-out hole opposite the write protect slider?

Do not attempt to use diskettes 2D or 2DD for 1.4 MB, they use a different oxide and the data will decay in a few minutes.

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Answer 4

strickerj Author

Level 1

20 points

Jun 17, 2010 9:12 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Yep, they're all 1.44MB HD discs, with the additional punched hole. They were created by System 7.1 on my PowerBook 145 (back when it was working), so I assume they're HFS formatted. We haven't had diskettes with less than 1.44MB in many, many years. I just can't figure out why this would be - other users report USB floppy drives at least read their old disks under 10.6.

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Answer 5

Jun 18, 2010 6:06 AM in response to strickerj

Hmm starting to wonder if there is a market for data recovery of old data on defunct OS/HW...

The only CD writers would be SCSI and you would need the square 50 pin PowerBook SCSI cord in order to hook up an external SCSI CD writer to your PB170. Not out of the question but might be tough to find and since this is a one time event might not be worth the hassle.

My thought would be to seek out a local Mac user group and see if there is someone like me who collects old hardware and see if they have something that will help you get your data off your PowerBook.

We threw out a box full of Yamaha SCSI writers a few months ago because we no longer had the hardware to hook them up to. Other companies might be the same, perhaps eBay or Craigslist or Kijiji?

Back then those PowerBooks supported SCSI disk mode so if you find someone with an older Mac with CD burner you could possibly hook it up as an external hard drive and copy off the data that way.

The other option is that ethernet adaptor but since you are running a MacPro I'm hesitant to suggest this as I'm not sure you can actually network the two together. Plus the SCSI ethernet adaptors were kind of slow.

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Answer 6

strickerj Author

Level 1

20 points

Jun 18, 2010 7:34 AM in response to Niteshooter

I went to the local independent Apple dealer (Capitol Macintosh in Lansing), and they were quite friendly, but they didn't seem terribly hopeful about this project. He said I'd probably need at least one intermediate machine (i.e. transfer it to a newer Mac via an external SCSI drive and use the newer Mac to burn the data onto a CD). They had some old stuff in the front, but none of it looked helpful (a Mac SE, Performa 400 series, and a 15" AV monitor). He thought they also had a PowerBook 3400 in the back, which might have been useful - he said they'd try to find a way to image the disk if I brought it in but couldn't guarantee results. I didn't particularly want to go that route - I'm knowledgeable enough that I could do it myself if I had the right equipment.

As you said though, since this is a one-time event, I'll sacrifice speed for a low-cost solution, so I think the stack-of-floppy-disks transfer might be my best bet.

By the way, I took a look at your website - you've got some great stuff! I've had a lot of these things too, but I usually sell my old machine when I get a new one. It hadn't occurred to me to try to "retrace my steps" until now. (In fact, a few years ago we sold my SyQuest SCSI disk drive - that could have been useful here!) I kept my PowerBook 145 because it was dead, and I also had a PowerBook 1400c/117 that I gave to my cousin. Last I heard, it wasn't working - next time I find my way to Toronto, I'll see what I can do with it (if they still have it).

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Answer 7

strickerj Author

Level 1

20 points

Jun 25, 2010 9:34 PM in response to strickerj

Update: It was a tedious process, but I have done it. I transferred everything from my PowerBook 145's hard disk using Method 1 as described in my original post. The gist of it is as follows:

1) I saved everything from the old PowerBook to floppy disks, using segmented archives created by ZipIt 1.3.5 where necessary (i.e., a single document or program was larger than a floppy disk's capacity), including third-party system files.

2) I imaged each disk using TransMac 9.1 running in Windows 7 on my Bootcamp installation.

3) I consolidated the contents of all the individual disk images into one image using DiskCopy in Mac OS 9 on Sheepshaver (a very useful, albeit not very stable, PPC emulator, for those of you unfamiliar with it). This was not technically necessary, but it would be convenient when it came time to transfer the data in step 4.

4) I created a disk image in BasiliskII (a 68k Mac emulator with a similar interface to Sheepshaver) and installed System 7.1 on it, which was the OS that my old PowerBook had. Then I transferred the contents of the disk image containing all my transferred files. The end result was a nearly exact (there may have been hidden files that didn't transfer, but otherwise it's complete) clone of my PowerBook's hard disk that's bootable in the emulator, so theoretically it will be forever accessible on my Mac Pro running OS X.

Anyway, hopefully this will help someone who's in the same position. On a side note, I really wanted to go with Method 3, but that SCSI to Ethernet adapter I found on eBay sold for $86 and would probably have necessitated the purchase of an intermediate machine, i.e. an early G3 PowerMac, to complete the process. This wasn't really an option as I'm still a starving grad student.

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Answer 8

Jun 26, 2010 8:36 AM in response to strickerj

It was a tedious process, but I have done it
I'm still a starving grad student

That is a Heroic accomplishment. You have an obvious knack for this kind of work.

If you are studying Computer Science or Computer Engineering, I expect you will have a bright future ahead of you.

If you are studying another Science or Engineering, consider adding a Computer Science course or two if you can. It will make you more useful to any team in any scientific discipline.

If you are studying Art History, Theatre, or Hospitality, you should consider ways to re-direct your career path.

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Answer 9

strickerj Author

Level 1

20 points

Jun 26, 2010 8:48 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thanks! Actually I'm studying mechanical engineering, but working with computers is a bit of a hobby - I guess I have a knack for devising systematic approaches to problem-solving, which is why I chose an engineering discipline. I consider myself pretty experienced with data management applications (my neatly-organized Aperture library of 40,000 photos is testament to that), but unfortunately I have no programming experience, so that might limit my ability to make a career of this. I'll try to start browsing the Apple discussions more often though - I think I at least know enough to be able to help people here.

On a side note, other people have had success with Snow Leopard at least mounting and reading their old Mac disks via an external USB floppy drive - I don't know why mine wouldn't. Having to go through Windows to read those disks definitely slowed me down.

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Answer 10

Jun 26, 2010 9:16 AM in response to strickerj

For mechanical engineering, a useful computer-oriented skill within easy reach may be experience with what used to be called "AirFrame/Network stress analysis" -- working with computer modeling packages where the stress applied to one point is resolved into vectors for adjacent points, and the stresses are propagated throughout the model again and again until they stabilize.

That can be useful for determining the strength required in any mechanical component. It means you do not have to grossly over-specify parts, crucial for airframes, helpful for almost everything else.

It used to be that only huge Mainframe computers had any hope of running these simulations. With advances in desktop compute power, this stuff is now within reach of many desktop systems and small clusters.

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