Hello everyone,
I have a PowerBook 145b with System 7 in German, and I would like to reinstall it in French. Unfortunately, I don't have the official installation floppy disks.
However, I have an external USB floppy drive and 3.5" floppy disks with a capacity of 1.4 Mb. Could someone tell me how to create new installation diskettes and how to install System 7 in French?
Thank you for your help.
Best regards,
Tolga
Not quite. Please look upon the 19 (.smi and .part) files as one unit. They belong together, and can only be used once all of them are placed on the PB 145B hard disk. But this is later. For now, the 19 files have nothing to do with booting or erasure. The hard disk will be erased via an NAD 7.5 floppy.
There are a few variants of the procedure, but I would suggest that you try to do it exactly as I describe.
Having bootable disks is very important if anything goes wrong. You must have a way to start up the PB 145B in such a case.
It may be possible to create the bootable NAD 7.5 disks already on the Mac OS 9 PD G4 Ti using a USB floppy drive. It depends a bit on the USB drive. Basically, you will need the Disk Copy 4.2 utility and the NAD 7.5 disk image (links earlier in this thread). You know the procedure. Decode the .bin and decompress the .sea (self-expanding archive). Begin by making one plain NAD 7.5 floppy (and an extra one as a backup). Use the Make A Copy button in the Disk Copy 4.2 utility in order to create a sector-copied disk from the NAD 7.5 .image file.
If not possible to successfully create the NAD 7.5 floppy on the Mac OS 9 PowerBook G4 Ti, you will have to make the floppy using Disk Copy 4.2 under the existing old system on the PB 145B. A built-in floppy drive is often more reliable for something like this.
Check that the NAD 7.5 floppies work (can be used to boot the PB 145B). Please post back when you have at least one working NAD 7.5 floppy.
The System 7.5.3 download (such as the French version under the link in my first reply above, when it was directly accessible earlier) was different. One would just use 1.44 MB diskettes to transfer the .bin files (17 for the French version) as they are to a PB 145B. Once there, one would drag each .bin file onto the StuffIt Expander icon for decoding. The resulting files would be one .smi and the others .part. All these (17) files should be placed in one folder on the PB 145B. If you double-click on the first file (the .smi), which is a self-mounting image, a large image will be mounted. No need to use Disk Copy in this very case. You could then try to run the installer directly from the mounted image, or copy the mounted image to the PB 145B hard disk (which should be at least approx. 80 MB) and run the installer from there.
Regarding the PowerBook G4 Titanium running Mac OS 9: You could try to use Mac OS 9 to decode the .bin (using the StuffIt Expander version available there), but do not go further. If you connect the USB floppy drive to the PB G4 Ti, it should also be possible to reformat any empty 1.44 MB floppies to Mac (plain HFS, not HFS+), and use these Mac floppies for transfers of the one .smi and the other .part files to the PB 145B. This may save you the trouble handling PC-formatted floppies (and .bin files) on the PB 145B. Do not do this under Mac OS X on a PB G4 Ti, though. The remaining steps would be carried out on the PB 145B.
HFS = Mac OS Standard (HFS+ = Mac OS Extended).
Hello Tolga,
As mentioned in my previous message, System 7.1 was the original for the PowerBook 145B and would be the first supported version.
However, an old Version Matrix, System 6.0.x to 7.0.1 from Apple appears to indicate that even the earlier System 7.0.1 may work (but not a plain System 7 = 7.0), but that should be looked upon as an experiment.
http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/French/Macintosh/System/Full_Installs/System_7.0.1/ (the link is not directly accessible any more).
The supported versions in the technical specifications for the PowerBook 145B above are:
7.1
7.5
7.1.1 (Pro)
7.5.1
7.5.3
7.5.5
7.6
7.6.1
I do not know anything about the files that you mentioned.
Normally, a system software download from Apple would have been encoded in a MacBinary format (.bin) for protection.
Generally speaking, one would use an appropriate version of StuffIt Expander (such as 4.0.1) for the decoding, but only when the .bin file has been transferred to the old Macintosh computer (which must already have a working operating system). Do not decode or decompress on a modern computer (Mac or PC). Any downloaded .bin file must be transferred unaltered to the old Macintosh.
The transfer of the .bin file from a modern computer could take place on a PC-formatted 1.44 MB floppy, provided that the receiving old Mac (such as a PowerBook 145B) has a File Exchange utility or PC Exchange. Otherwise, the transfer would have to be done on a Mac-formatted 1.44 MB floppy (plain HFS, not HFS+).
Once decoded (and possibly decompressed) via StuffIt Expander on the old Mac, the resulting files may be in an image format. In order to create bootable floppies from .image files on the old Macintosh computer, a Disk Copy 4.2 utility can be used (the Make A Copy button).
Later .img files require Disk Copy 6.3.3 (the Make a Floppy command).
Disk Copy 6.3.3: Document and Software
There are also self-mounting image files (.smi), sometimes with several parts (.part).
OK.
One more thing: I guess that you have StuffIt Expander on the PB G4 Ti only, not on the PB 145B. If so, decode the NAD 7.5 .bin file by dragging it onto the StuffIt Expander icon. The intermediate file is the .sea (self-expanding archive). Transfer this .sea file on a 1.44 MB Mac-(re)formatted floppy to the PB 145B. You may have to change the StuffIt Expander preferences.
Do not try to drag-copy the image file to a floppy for the transfer from the Mac OS 9 PB G4 Ti to the PB 145B. It will be too large.
When double-clicking on the .sea on the PB 145B, the archive will expand and show the image file, which then can be used to create a real NAD 7.5 floppy via the Make A Copy button in Disk Copy 4.2.
Please disregard this if you have an appropriate version of StuffIt Expander, such as 4.0.1, on the PB 145B. You could then just transfer the NAD 7.5 .bin file and carry out the decoding et cetera on the PB 145B.
Good. I assume that it worked fine booting the PB 145B.
Next, I would suggest that you try to modify one of the floppies to hold HD SC Setup.
You can do this on the PB 145B running from the old system.
Insert the Network Access floppy.
Check the available space on the floppy, should be 10K (too little for HD SC Setup).
Some not needed files must be removed in order to make room.
Open the System Folder.
In turn, open the Apple Menu Items, Control Panels and Extensions folders.
Move all files inside these three folder to the Trash (Papierkorb or something similar in German).
Select Empty Trash (entleeren or similar) from the Special (Spezial or similar) menu. Important!
This should have resulted in enough space for the HD SC Setup 7.3.5.
Eject the NAD 7.5 floppy (drag it to the Trash).
Decode the Apple HD SC Setup 7.3.5 .bin file and move the HD SC Setup utility to the PB 145B hard disk.
Insert the modified NAD 7.5 floppy.
Copy the HD SC Setup utility (program only) to the base level of the NAD 7.5 floppy.
Check that you have at least something like 10-20K free on the floppy after this.
Eject the floppy.
Shut down from the Special menu.
Test that you can still boot from the modified floppy.
Shut down from the Special menu.
Post back for further steps.
Hello Tolga,
When you double-click on the .smi, a "CD" image will mount. You can then launch the Installer from the mounted image. Once there, you can choose an easy or customised installation. The best way may (later) be to erase the hard disk before the installation. But do not proceed yet. You can wait with the transfer of the 7.5.3 files to the PB 145B. You will need additional tools.
If you have transferred the 7.5.3 files to the PB 145B already, please post back.
To begin with, if possible or necessary, I suggest that you try to make backup copies of any existing, important (floppy-sized) files on the hard disk.
Then, use the old system on the PB 145B to create a bootable Network Access Disk 7.5 floppy (see the link in my earlier reply). You will need Disk Copy 4.2 for this (the Make A Copy button). You could also try to create the NAD 7.5 floppy on the Mac OS 9 PB G4 Ti with the USB floppy drive.
Also, it would be wise to have Disk First Aid 7.2.2 and Apple HD SC Setup 7.3.5.
You could create a modified NAD 7.5 with either utility, to be used as a disk tools disk. Post back for instructions once you have at least one working "normal" NAD 7.5.
[This is a Direct Download Link]
The way I would do this, is to create a tools disk from an NAD 7.5 floppy and the HD SC Setup 7.3.5. One would modify the normal NAD 7.5 by removing a few files in order to make space (post back for instructions later), and then copy the HD SC Setup utility to the base level of the NAD 7.5 floppy. A similar tools floppy can be modified to hold Disk First Aid. Together with one plain NAD 7.5 disk, you have a few bootable floppies that can be used for emergency startup purposes.
Again, check whether there are files from the existing PB 145B installation that you want to save on empty Mac-(re)formatted 1.44 MB floppies. This could be, for example, a StuffIt Expander utility or a PC Exchange file, if applicable.
Then you could boot the PB 145B using the NAD 7.5 tools disk containing HD SC Setup, and initialise (erase/format) the SCSI hard drive. The hard disk will be empty after this, and have an appropriate disk driver. The free space should now be near 80 MB (or more). In case a third-party utility has been used earlier to reformat the hard disk, HD SC Setup may not be able to bypass the existing driver, and special measures may be needed.
Next, boot the PB 145B from a plain NAD 7.5 floppy. A temporary system can be installed on the PB 145B hard disk by drag-copying the System Folder from the NAD 7.5 to the hard disk. When you choose to restart, the PB 145B should start up from the temporary system on the hard disk.
Since you have decoded all 7.5.3 .bin files on the PB G4 Ti under Mac OS 9, the .smi and .part files are ready for transfer. Drag-copy these one by one onto an empty Mac-formatted 1.44 MB floppy and transfer them to the PB 145B hard disk.
Once all 7.5.3 files have been copied to a new folder on the PB 145B, choose to shut down (the Special menu). Now, boot from a plain NAD 7.5 floppy. Move the temporary System Folder on the hard disk to the Trash and Empty the Trash (the Special menu). The PB 145B is now running from the NAD 7.5 floppy in the floppy drive.
Finally, double-click the .smi in order to mount the "CD". Launch the System 7.5 Installer from the mounted image and install a system (probably the easy installation).
Will the computer start up from the internal hard disk without a problem?
If so, check the hard disk size and the available empty space. You will need approx. 25 MB just for the 19 files in one folder. Maybe you could move various items on the hard disk to the Trash, and empty the Trash. Keep the System Folder intact for now.
Also, have a look at About This... under the Apple menu. How much total installed memory (RAM)?
If you do not have a working version of the StuffIt Expander utility on the old PowerBook, the problem is that downloads on the Internet are encoded/compressed, and you would need StuffIt Expander for the decoding/decompression... Someone you know may be able to help you find a ready-to-use installer, for example, on an old Mac magazine CD, and transfer this file to a floppy. Earlier, there was a German article (rrzs42.uni-regensburg.de/Macintosh/files/macftp.html) about this subject (with a solution involving a PC), but it does not appear to be available any more. Old links may or may not be found via an Internet archive service.
Hi,
According to the technical specifications, the original operating system version for the PowerBook 145B was 7.1. This means that System 7.1 or higher will be needed (up to System 7.6.1). System 7.1 was not free, and was not made available for download from Apple.
Macintosh PowerBook 145B: Technical Specifications
There was a System 7.5.3 download. The French version could once be found at http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/French/Macintosh/System/Full_Installs/System_7.5_Version_7.5.3/ , but that link is not directly accessible any more.
Okay, I see.
1) I download the OS available in 19 parts (the first file is a .smi which will launch the installation)
2) I convert the .bin files from OS 9 using StuffIt Expander 7.0.3
3) I format the floppy disks in HFS format and copy the 19 files
4) I copy the 19 files into a folder on the PowerBook 145B and launch the .smi file.
Correct?
Disk First Aid is used for checking/verifying and reparing the file system. Not used for erasing.
HD SC Setup is the utility you would use for initialising/reformatting/erasing.
To begin with, create one NAD 7.5 floppy (and one extra as backup) without any modifications. Check that the created floppies work as startup disks for the PB 145B.
Later, I can show how to modify an NAD 7.5 to hold Apple HD SC Setup or Disk First Aid. For space reasons, it may be necessary to use two separate NAD 7.5 floppies for this.
OK.
Double.check that both floppies are bootable.
One of them should contain HD SC Setup.
Check that you have copied all important files from the PB 145B hard disk to diskettes, if necessary.
It is now time to erase the hard disk.
Boot the PB 145B from the NAD 7.5 floppy containing HD SC Setup.
Launch the HD SC Setup application.
Check whether the hard disk can be detected.
If so, choose to initialise the hard disk (this should erase everything).
If successful, quit HD SC Setup and shut down.
Post back for further steps.
Also, for a new startup floppy test, you may want to try holding down the four keys Command(Apple) + Option(Alt) + Shift + Delete(Backspace) immediately after the startup sound and during startup. This may prevent a bad hard disk driver from affecting booting.
You could also try to reset the PRAM by pressing and holding the four keys Command(Apple) + Option(Alt) + P + R at startup. Hold down until the startup sound has been heard a second time.
If possible, try to launch HD SC Setup on the NAD 7.5 floppy after having started with the four keys depressed.
Again, check whether the utility can locate the hard drive.
If so, you may want to either update the hard disk driver or initialise the hard disk.
Since the SCSI hard drive apparently has a problem, you may need additional tools.
If you have one extra (unmodified) NAD 7.5 floppy, it may be a good idea to lock that diskette.
Can you use the Mac OS 9 PB G4 Ti and its external USB floppy disk drive to create more copies of NAD 7.5? Disk Copy 4.2 (the Make A Copy button) or Disk Copy 6.3.3 (the Make a Floppy command) can be used. In this case, also other utility disks for SCSI hard drives could be made.
Install System 7 on PowerBook 145b
