Color Classic - Want to boot off a zip drive, but there's a hitch

It is probably not going to be easy to obtain an appropriate and working system folder on a ZIP disk through a modern Mac and a USB drive. Difficulties with the boot blocks will have to be expected. You could possibly download a full System 7.5.3 (e.g. British and US) and make an attempt to create a system folder (for all Macintosh computers) via the Custom Install option, but this is more likely to work on a semi-old machine (where you could use the SCSI ZIP drive directly instead, or create a startup floppy from the Network Access Disk 7.5 download).

If absolutely necessary, using a special technique, it is also possible to make a bootable floppy on a PC.

Could you be a bit more specific about the hard drive problem? Any error messages? Has the internal computer battery been checked or replaced?

Jan

Do you only hear the clicking sound, not any sound of the hard drive motor spinning? The question-mark indicates that the computer cannot find a valid system folder.

This is a general web page about logic board batteries. Normally, it is slightly more difficult to open a compact Mac than another desktop model, and since the former can hold high-voltage charges even after it has been switched off, such work should be carried out by an expert only. However, the main board of a Colo(u)r Classic can be accessed in a more convenient way, so changing the battery might be easier in this case (I have not tested that).

To begin with you may want to try a PRAM reset.

Jan

Gregory,

I did not see this post before commenting here. Looks like the drive may be the worst for wear after all.

You stated:

"have a working system folder on a SCSI ZIP drive and boot up with it"

If you install a new hard drive, you can just make a finder copy from the Zip drive to get you started. Having two partitions on the drive would be better so you can boot from one and install to the second.

Years ago a lady brought a laptop into the store for repairs. Turns out the laptop was damp inside. The water drained out of the hard drive when it was opened. The technician was able to copy data off of the hard drive after draining it and letting it dry out. However, you cannot trust a drive once it has been opened.

Ji˜m

It really sound as if the hard drive has been damaged. In an attempt to save data, it might be possible to open the drive, as Jim has indicated, but buying a new unit is probably going to be unavoidable.

Separate image files are normally used to create individual floppy disks, via a suitable disk image program (such as Disk Copy 4.2 or 6.3.3 on older Macs). The downloadable System 7.5.3 on the other hand has 19 parts, forming one large disk image (Disk Copy is not required here). Just copying image files to a ZIP disk is not going to help. You will have to either (via an installer) install a minimal or full system onto the ZIP disk, or drag-copy an existing (and appropriate) system folder to the ZIP disk. The problem is that the ZIP disk, with the thus installed or transferred system, might not become bootable unless another older Mac is used.

The best solution at this point is to ask someone with such an older Mac for assistance. The first step could then be to create a bootable floppy (e.g. the Network Access disk mentioned earlier, or a full set of system floppies from disk image files). Please note the Color Classic operating system requirements (see the technical specifications here). Check whether you can start the computer from a floppy. If necessary, replace the internal hard drive and install a fresh operating system.

You can connect the Color Classic to another old Mac via a plain Macintosh serial printer cable (MiniDIN-8M to MiniDIN 8-M). If the Color Classic has been started from a Network Access floppy, files on the other machine can be shared via AppleTalk.

Jan

Jan,

I am waiting for confirmation of just how much of a system he has on the zip disk. I got the impression that the system on the zip disk was bootable but maybe not fully loaded. For years I used a zip drive as my emergency boot device until finding the four bay external SCSI tower.

A USB zip would let him move downloads from a newer Mac to the Classic.

Jim

Bad news disk sounds:

I once bought a drive on ebay and UPS bashed the top in shipment. It seemed unlikely that the platters could spin, but I needed to determine the extent of the damage, so I powered it up.

When it tried to start, it made a loud, somewhat high pitched, almost musical sound for on the order of 10 seconds, then stopped. It tried again once or twice, then gave up. I had never heard anything like it before.

The other telling sound was from a crashed Syquest disk. It make a very disturbing sound that was a cross between fingernails on slate blackboard and streetcar making the Boylston Street turn in Boston (thought to be the toughest turn in any streetcar or subway system in the US). I know that it was crashed because I could look in the access door and see that the dark brown oxide was completely gouged off the metal substrate in several places.