How can I write to 1.44fd from OS X 10.10.3?

First of all, would it be correct to assume that the Macintosh SE/30 does not contain a working operating system? If so, you would have to to create bootable floppies.

One way could possibly be a workaround via Windows.

If you wish to create bootable (sector-copied from disk images) 1.44 MB Mac floppies on a Windows computer (preferably an old PC with a built-in floppy drive, running something like Windows 95 to XP), there are special techniques using a combination of a PC version of Aladdin/StuffIt Expander and a disk image utility such as WinImage.

If you just want to transfer files to an SE/30 (with a working system) on Mac-formatted 1.44 MB floppies, a Windows utility like MacDrive or TransMac could help (but make sure that it is a version that still supports floppy disks). Alternatively, if the SE/30 contains an operating system with either the Apple File Exchange application (on the System 7.0.1 or 7.1 Tidbits system disk) or the PC Exchange control panel (part of System 7.5.x), plain transfers could take place on PC-formatted 1.44 MB disks.

Are you sure the floppy write protect tab is properly slid to allow writing?

Hello,

This is based upon the assumption that the SE/30 is already running OK with a System 7.1 on the hard disk. If you have the 7.1 system floppies, take a look at one called Tidbits. Inside a folder there, you should find Apple File Exchange. Copy Apple File Exchange to the hard disk. Once there, it would allow the SE/30 to read PC-formatted floppy disks, thus making it possible to transfer files from a computer running Windows to the SE/30.

Downloaded Mac application files are typically encoded MacBinary (.bin) or BinHex (.hqx) for protection. Keep the encoding intact until on the SE/30. On the SE/30, use an appropriate version (4.0.1) of StuffIt Expander to decode the downloaded and transferred file.

Jan

Hi,

What kind of files are you moving now? Are they Macintosh application files downloaded from the Internet? If so, they would be encoded MacBinary (.bin) or BinHex (.hqx) as indicated above. When transferring such files (kept as is) from a PC, one would see generic text-style PC documents on the receiving Mac. I suppose that this is what you get in this case as well. In order to carry out the decoding, one would drag files onto the StuffIt Expander program icon (or open the files from within the utility) on the old Macintosh computer.

Jan

An sea file (not protected by a MacBinary or BinHex encoding) may become damaged in transit, removing the self-expanding properties. The file can normally still be decompressed via StuffIt Expander. It is best to keep all files as .bin or .hqx until on an old Mac (the SE/30 here). This is necessary when a PC is involved, but can also be advantageous whenever old Macintosh application files are handled by a Mac OS X computer.

A way of obtaining a working StuffIt Expander 4.0.1 for the SE/30:

If you have access to, or could borrow, an older Windows PC with a built-in floppy drive (running something like Windows 95, 98 or XP), you may want to try the following procedure.

Prepare an empty PC-formatted 1.44 MB diskette via FORMAT A: in DOS or the "full" formatting option under Windows. Download the MACDISK.EXE file from http://rrzs42.uni-regensburg.de/Macintosh/files/macftp.html . Run this MACDISK.EXE (DOS) program on the Windows PC. Follow the instructions on screen. That automatically results in a Mac-formatted (sic!) floppy complete with software. This floppy could be moved to and used with a Macintosh SE/30. The floppy contains a StuffIt Expander installer. Install the StuffIt Expander utility. Once the program is installed, you can drag .bin, .hqx or .sit files onto the StuffIt Expander icon (or open from the File menu once the utility has been launched) in order to decode and decompress on the SE/30.