mkunka

Q: Mac 128K - boot problems flashing x disk icon

I just recently purchased a Mac 128K off of eBay and was very excited to see that it actually worked!  Unfortunately i had to shut off my Mac 128K with ghosted icons and now when i try to reboot from the system disk all I get is the flashing X disk icon. 

 

This happened once before but some combination of resets, unplugs, key combos did bring to it back to life, but now it doesn't seem to work.

 

Any suggestions on what I should try?

 

Thank you,

 

Matt

Posted on Nov 24, 2011 8:05 AM

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Q: Mac 128K - boot problems flashing x disk icon

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  • by Niteshooter,

    Niteshooter Niteshooter Nov 24, 2011 4:49 PM in response to mkunka
    Level 2 (454 points)
    Nov 24, 2011 4:49 PM in response to mkunka

    Ghosted icons? Did you remove the floppy disk before you shut the Mac down?

     

    A flashing X on the disk icon could mean a corrupted floppy disk, those things are probably old and susceptible to failure. The key combination you might be referring to is cmd + option + P + R though I don't remember if that worked with the 128K. Does with latter Macs.

     

    My best guess is to try another boot floppy. The heads on the floppy drive could also be dirty which might cause a problem reading the disk as well. Only other thing that comes to mind, if you do find a disk image the 128k used a 400k floppy (could be wrong) so you need to build it on a single sided floppy and not an HD floppy.

  • by Schilling,

    Schilling Schilling Sep 10, 2013 1:59 PM in response to mkunka
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 10, 2013 1:59 PM in response to mkunka

    Mkunka,

     

    Were you ever able to figure out a solution? I recently aquired a 512k and the floppies work in another computer, but when I insert them into the 512k it spits them out and gives me the X disk icon.

     

    Hoping you had more success than I am having!

  • by JustSomeGuy,

    JustSomeGuy JustSomeGuy Sep 10, 2013 2:09 PM in response to Schilling
    Level 3 (586 points)
    Sep 10, 2013 2:09 PM in response to Schilling

    The 512k will require some very particular disks by today's standards.  When you say your floppies "work in another computer..." do you mean another classic Mac with an 800k disk drive?  Are you certain they are low density, and formatted for the Mac?

  • by Niteshooter,

    Niteshooter Niteshooter Sep 10, 2013 2:11 PM in response to Schilling
    Level 2 (454 points)
    Sep 10, 2013 2:11 PM in response to Schilling

    The 512K also used smaller capacity floppies then 'newer' versions of the compact Macs. The SE was the first to start using the HD floppies which were the ones used in subsequent compacts such as the SE30, Classic, Classic II, Color Classic so if you used the floppies and they worked in a newer Mac they probably won't work in the 512k. If I recall they used the same low density floppies that the 128k used.

  • by Schilling,

    Schilling Schilling Sep 10, 2013 2:21 PM in response to JustSomeGuy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 10, 2013 2:21 PM in response to JustSomeGuy

    I know older macs use 400k DD floppies and you can format a 800k DD one sided to act as a 400k.

     

    I have the 6 original apple disks that came with the computer (1- System Disk. 2- Guided tour of Macintosh. 3- Guided tour macwrite and macpaint. 4- macwrite. 5- macpaint. 6) System and macwrite and macpaint back up)

     

    I inserted macpaint/macwrite into an old powerbook 150 and I was able to see the old files. Wouldn't open because it says it needed more space on the disk.

     

    The 512k I have was made the 38th week of 1984 and it appears to have never been opened (from the tamper sticker still being intact) so it could just need a good cleaning. But from what I can tell, the X icon is usually a more serious issue. .

  • by Schilling,

    Schilling Schilling Sep 10, 2013 2:40 PM in response to Schilling
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 10, 2013 2:40 PM in response to Schilling

    Also, the programmers switch is attatched on the left side. Not sure if that is important. .

  • by Niteshooter,

    Niteshooter Niteshooter Sep 10, 2013 2:45 PM in response to Schilling
    Level 2 (454 points)
    Sep 10, 2013 2:45 PM in response to Schilling

    The newer Macs will read the older floppies. This feels like a bad floppy drive, or dirty heads on the floppy drive. Back before the turn of the century (man I love using that line) you could buy floppy drive head cleaners. Just a disk case with a piece of material you dropped some cleaning solution onto and stuffed it into the drive. My off the top guess without seeing the unit is that it is full of dust bunnies as they liked to settle into the drives.

  • by Schilling,

    Schilling Schilling Sep 10, 2013 2:58 PM in response to Niteshooter
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 10, 2013 2:58 PM in response to Niteshooter

    Thanks for the info!

     

    I found some webpages that show you how to clean the floppy drive. Would that be worth trying? It appears I have one of the first 512ks made (Sep 1984) so I don't want to take it apart and mess it up. But I do want it working!

  • by Niteshooter,

    Niteshooter Niteshooter Sep 10, 2013 3:20 PM in response to Schilling
    Level 2 (454 points)
    Sep 10, 2013 3:20 PM in response to Schilling

    If you don't want to take the Mac apart a cleaning disk is your safest bet. If for some crazy reason you are in Toronto stop by the paper and I will clean it for you.

     

    Otherwise you should be able to find one of these.

     

    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=12820 60

  • by stevena1,

    stevena1 stevena1 Sep 10, 2013 4:56 PM in response to mkunka
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Sep 10, 2013 4:56 PM in response to mkunka

    Maybe the disk got reformatted? Someone could've just took the labeled "startup disk" and reformatted it and used for something other than a boot disk?

     

    On a side note, I'm surprised you didn't get the Sad Mac after pressing every button.

  • by Schilling,

    Schilling Schilling Sep 13, 2013 12:27 PM in response to Niteshooter
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 13, 2013 12:27 PM in response to Niteshooter

    Niteshooter,

     

    I was able to get a floppy drive cleaner (I'm in Tennessee) but it didn't do the trick. I was able to check all the disks in another computer and they were not reformatted. . . Looks like my only option is to take it apart and clean the drive. Or possibly replace it?

     

    Anyone know a good cleaning method that works?