My Power Macintosh 7200/90 CD drive problem

Hello,

Which format did you use when burning the CD (in the MacBook Pro)?

Generally speaking, a Macintosh computer using a system before Mac OS 8.1 cannot read disks/discs in Mac OS Extended (HFS+). Mac OS Standard (HFS) is needed.

A CD made from an iso disk image would also be OK, providing that the ISO 9660 File Access helper file is in place in the System 7.5.2 Extensions folder. This makes it possible to burn a readable CD on a Windows or Linux PC. As always, keep any downloaded Mac application files as they are (.bin, .hqx or .sit). Do not decode until on the Power Macintosh 7200/90 (drag the files onto the StuffIt Expander program icon, or open them from within the utility).

Try to use a CD-R (not CD-RW). Burn at a low speed (such as 2X).

Jan

>I wrote the CD with Nero 10

I thought Nero was Windows only. Did you use that program under Windows on the MacBook Pro?

>used normal data Mac/pc format

Not being familiar with Nero, I do not know exactly what this means. Could you not try to compile the files to an iso image (an option like ISO 9660 only) instead, and then burn a CD-R at a low speed from this iso image?

I have used an iso method via a burning application on a Linux PC. It was then possible to read downloaded Mac files (encoded .bin et cetera) on a System 7.5.3 PowerBook 540 with an (external) AppleCD 600e without a problem.

Jan

Stelios,

Did you write the CD from an iso disk image?

Is it a CD-R (not a CD-RW)? Writing speed used?

Is the ISO 9660 File Access file in the Extensions folder?

Does the CD appear at all on the Desktop of the Power Macintosh 7200/90?

Jan

Stelios,

Sorry, since I do not have access to Toast, it is difficult to offer good advice.

You said that the CD appears on the Desktop. If I understand this correctly, nothing at all can be seen when you (double-click to) open the CD icon. The CD window is empty, right?

If you select the CD icon (click once) and then choose Get Info from the File menu, what does it say? Is anything shown under Size?

You may have to double-check and possibly alter the iso project configuration (try simple settings, without long file names etc).

If nothing else works, you may have to carry out a simple experiment by downloading an existing .iso file from the Internet. This could possibly be something like the small precise-5.7.1-retro.iso PuppyLinux (web search). I am not suggesting that you should use the distribution (you could on an old PC). However, if you burn the downloaded iso file to a CD on your MacBook Pro, you would have another test disc for the CD-ROM drive in the 7200/90. The mentioned disc should become visible, and you should see a number of files inside. You cannot do anything with them, but you would at least know that the 7200/90 CD-ROM drive, the 7.5.2 system and the helper files are OK.

Jan

>made all the files copy in a new folder at deskop

Or could files in fact be seen in the CD window and be copied to the Desktop of the 7200/90 computer (but was it then somehow not possible to process them?)?

Hi,

I see. A message like that could appear if you just double-click on a file.

You will need an appropriate version (4.0.1 should be OK to begin with) of StuffIt Expander for Macintosh on the 7200/90. If you do not have it:

With access to a Windows PC (capable of running a DOS program) with a floppy drive, try the following. Go to http://rrzs42.uni-regensburg.de/Macintosh/files/macftp.html and download the MACDISK.EXE file. Then, prepare an empty 1.44 MB PC-formatted floppy via the FORMAT A: command under DOS or the full formatting option under Windows (do this even if the diskette is new and empty). Run the MACDISK.EXE DOS program on the PC. Follow the instructions on screen. The result will automatically be a Mac-formatted (sic!) floppy, complete with a ready-to-use StuffIt Expander 4.0.1 installer for Macintosh. That floppy can be used to install the utility on the 7200/90.

The above PC workaround is necessary because StuffIt Expander files on the Internet are encoded, and a working StuffIt Expander is used to decode them...

Now, with StuffIt Expander installed, drag a transferred (.bin, .hqx or .sit) file onto the utility's program icon (or open it via the File menu when StuffIt Expander has been launched).

Also, you may have to rebuild the Desktop.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2344

Jan

Stelios,

In principle, it would be possible to move an internal hard drive between two computers. However, this may be unnecessarily difficult here. The system version on the 7200/90 could be OK for the Classic per se, but it has been adapted to the requirements of the 7200/90 during installation. So, you would normally need a custom installed universal (for all Macintosh computers) system to begin with. Furthermore, any volume size limitation must be observed.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TA28860

Moving files between the computers would be much easier with an extra hard drive placed in an external SCSI case, to be connected to the external SCSI ports.

You do not really have to carry out transfers to the Classic using a hard drive at all. Once the CD transfer to the 7200/90 is working, you could simply set up a network connection between the 7200/90 and the Classic. All you need for this is a plain Macintosh MiniDIN-8M to MiniDIN 8-M printer cable between the printer ports of the two machines. Correctly configured, file sharing can then be used to transfer files. If necessary, a Network Access floppy can be used in the Classic.

Jan

Addendum

A Macintosh (MiniDIN-8M to MiniDIN-8M) printer cable is quite different from a PC printer cable.

Please note that a SCSI cable is NOT the same as a PC printer cable or a PC serial cable (although they sometimes use the same kind of plug). The wiring is entirely different. Do NOT try to connect a PC printer cable or a PC serial cable to a SCSI port (this will damage your computer and/or the connected SCSI equipment).

http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/0/MA737/en_US/0340012APM7200UGRV2.pdf