Can't make 7.5.3 System Disks on Mac OS X 10.7.3

The 1.44 MB floppy disks must be formatted as Mac OS Standard (HFS) and not Mac OS Extended (HFS+), which may not be possible with your modern Mac. For download convenience, each segment of the 19-part OS 7.5.3 download was designed to fit on a floppy disk. Unfortunately, the resulting set of floppy disks doesn't function as an installer set of disks capable of booting the computer, because there isn't a System folder on any of them. The floppy disks were only intended to be used as a means to copy each disk's partial file to the hard drive of the target computer. Once all 19 segments have been copied, the first .smi file is double-clicked to create the disk image of the OS 7.5.3 installer on the desktop. Drag that disk image to the hard drive and the OS 7.5.3 installer folder will be created on it. Your PowerBook 190cs doesn't have a built-in optical drive, so that eliminates booting the computer from a compatible Mac OS installer disk. The set of floppy disks can't boot the computer, so you're left with the OS already installed on the hard drive (assuming that there is any). If the hard drive is blank, there is a SCSI (HDI-30) port on your PowerBook, so with the correct interface adapter, it could be possible to boot the computer from an external SCSI CD-ROM drive. Acquiring one would only add to the expense of this restoration project. Did you check eBay for an original set of the 190cs OS 7.5.2 installer disks?

Hello,

Yes, as Jeff indicated, the idea is to transfer the nineteen files to the hard disk of the PowerBook 190cs, providing that said hard disk already contains a working system. Once the .bin (MacBinary) files have been decoded, one can mount the entire large image by double-clicking on the .smi. It is possible to carry out the installation directly from the thus mounted image.

If the PB 190cs does not have an operating system at all, you could try to drag-copy a system folder from an appropriate Disk Tools floppy to the hard disk as a temporary solution.

With a working (temporary) system, it is normally possible to transfer the nineteen downloaded System 7.5.3 files as they are on 1.44 MB HD floppies. If you have access to a suitable version of StuffIt Expander (4.0.1 or 5.5) on the PB 190cs, do not decode the .bin (MacBinary) until the files are there.

If you think that the operating system on your modern Mac somehow limits the effective floppy size, a floppy-equipped Windows PC could perhaps be an alternativ. A utility such as TransMac should allow plain transfers on Mac-formatted 1.44 MB floppies, if the receiving PB 190cs does not have a PC Exchange control panel installed and active.

One can make a floppy containing a ready-to-use StuffIt Expander (for Macintosh) 4.0.1 installer on a Windows PC (see the link below for details).

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2302647?answerId=10917614022#10917614022

Jan

4. Is the originally downloaded file still in its MacBinary (.bin) state?

I do not know how Mac OS 10.7.3 handles files, but if the PC-formatted (1.44 MB HD) floppy disk is recognised, and if the system allows you to copy a file to this floppy, that method ought to work for transfers. But try to find a way of keeping each downloaded file as .bin (do not decode/decompress any files on the Mac OS 10.7.3 MacBook).

Alternatively, use a Windows PC for downloads. Copy the (unaltered) MacBinary (.bin) files to 1.44 MB PC-formatted HD floppies for transfers to the PowerBook 190cs.

Apparently, the PC Exchange control panel is active on the PB 190cs. Once at the PB 190cs, use StuffIt Expander to decode the .bin (drag the file onto the StuffIt Expander program icon, or open it from inside the utility; do not double-click on the file).

Remember, all nineteen decoded files (one .smi and eighteen .part) have to be present in one single folder on the PB 190cs hard disk before you can mount the entire large disk image.

In order to test if the transfer procedure works, it is easier to use any small application from Apple's software archive. For example, try to download and transfer Disk First Aid 7.2.2. If everything is OK, you should be able to launch that program on the PB 190cs.

http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English -North_American/Macintosh/Utilities/Disk_First_Aid/

Jan

1. Fine. So, all nineteen files were copied, in as many operations. Did you keep the files as MacBinary? If so, each downloaded and copied file should still have a .bin suffix in its name (after the .smi or the .part).

2. Good. Are all nineteen files still MacBinary (.bin), or have you at this point used StuffIt Expander at the PB 190cs in order to decode the files?

3. I am a bit confused here; see my questions above regarding the .bin. The result after a StuffIt Expander decoding (see my earlier message) should be one .smi and eighteen .part. These nineteen decoded (no more .bin now) files are the ones that constitute the total large disk image.

4. Do not worry about file associations et cetera.

5. In the common folder: All eighteen .part files are probably going to look like generic documents. The .smi file is really an application, and should have a special program icon. If not, try to drag the .smi file out of the folder, close the folder, and then drag the file back in. Alternatively, rebuild the Desktop.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2344

You are not supposed to drag any files onto the PC Exchange control panel. PC Exchange has already done its work when you can see the PC-formatted disk and copy files to the hard disk. Are you thinking about StuffIt Expander? As indicated earlier, you need a working copy of StuffIt Expander at the PB 190cs in order to decode .bin.

Jan

The truncated example seems to indicate that there was a .bin suffix. That is, the files were not decoded on the MacBook. Correct? The idea with keeping the MacBinary encoding until on the PB 190cs is to protect the contained Mac files.

After each StuffIt Expander decoding of unaltered (even with truncated names) .bin files at the PB 190cs, the result should be a "normal" Mac file (.smi or .part).

StuffIt Expander is a separate decoding/decompression utility. You may have StuffIt Expander 4.0.1 or 5.5 for Macintosh somewhere already. If not, and with access to a Windows PC with a built-in floppy drive, see the link in my first message above for how to create a Mac(!) disk with a working installer.

Jan

Hello again,

Would it be correct to assume that the MacDisk mentioned in your reply is the utility used on Windows computers to handle Mac disks, not the MACDISK.EXE file that was referred to under the old discussion?

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2302647?answerId=10917614022#10917614022

The MACDISK.EXE file was a very small DOS application that would run on a PC. Once launched, the application would allow you to create a 1.44 MB floppy disk (which automatically changed from PC format to Mac format during the process) holding a ready-to-use StuffIt Expander installer for Macintosh. Typically, that MACDISK.EXE file was used directly on a PC with a built-in floppy drive (I do not know whether the application could be used under a virtual machine and/or with an external USB floppy drive). The thus created floppy disk was moved to a Macintosh computer, where StuffIt Expander then was installed.

Jan

Addendum

Since floppy disks are slow and have limited capacity, an alternative method can be used. A CompactFlash memory card works fine for transfers. A (Mac-reformatted) CompactFlash card with an appropriate system folder can even be used as a startup disk in many PowerBook models.

In order to use the CF card in one of the PC Card slots of a PowerBook 190cs, a PC Card (PCMCIA) adapter for CompactFlash is required. These adapters are not expensive (try an Internet search). Of course, a suitable card reader (USB or other) is needed at the other computer as well.

The CompactFlash card will act as a removable hard disk. One can easily drag and drop files onto the card.

Jan

Addendum II

If in fact, somehow, the MACDISK.EXE file was downloaded via the German web page, the DOS program launched, and a floppy disk successfully created, that diskette (one is sufficient) would appear as a Macintosh disk once moved to the PowerBook 190cs. It should then be possible to open the disk in question and locate the StuffIt Expander installer. Install StuffIt Expander on the PowerBook 190cs.

With the utility on the PowerBook 190cs, you can drag MacBinary (.bin) files onto the StuffIt Expander icon, or open .bin files from inside the StuffIt Expander program, in order to decode them.

Once all nineteen downloaded System 7.5.3 .bin files have been decoded on the PowerBook 190cs, the result should be one .smi and eighteen .part files. Place all these decoded files in one common folder. If necessary, rebuild the Desktop. Double-click on the first file = the .smi. This will mount the entire disk image. The System 7.5.3 installer will be found in the mounted image.

Jan

"I wanted to format the Powerbook 190 HD and do a fresh install of 7.5.3 (to protect privacy and delete data from previous owner). Is there much more to do to accomplish this?"

In order to reformat/erase the internal hard drive, you need to boot the PowerBook from an Apple "Disk Tools" floppy having the formatting utility - either "HD SC Setup" or "Drive Setup." The problem is that after you've reformatted it, you won't have a bootable OS on the PowerBook's hard drive, enabling you to transfer the contents of the 19 disks via the floppy drive. Removing the hard drive and connecting it to another (old) SCSI-based Mac for reformatting would be another option.