Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
Hello, I recently purchased an old Macintosh SE (with hard drive) and it came with the previous user’s data and name on the “BLANK’S Mac” drive. How do I set this Macintosh up as an out of the box machine? Thanks.
Finder version 6.1.7
System 6.0.7
Model Number M5011
To begin with, I assume that this is the normal Macintosh SE (with an 800K floppy drive), not the FDHD variant.
The diskettes in this case must be 2DD (DSDD), not HD. The magnetic material is not the same. HD floppies have an HD mark and an extra (square) hole.
As a very temporary workaround, if no 2DD (DSDD) diskettes are available, one can cover the extra hole in an HD floppy with a piece of tape (in order to make it appear like a DD disk to floppy drives that can recognise/handle both types). However, this is not a stable solution (and may not always work), and it is not recommended.
An existing 2DD diskette can be erased/reformatted to the 800K Mac format in the Macintosh SE.
Look for a "System Folder" on the hard disk. If that folder is smaller than 800K, try to drag (copy) it to an empty 800K floppy. That should provide you with a basic startup floppy.
Can any disk utility be seen on the hard disk?
If you somehow could gain access to an approx. 1992-1997 Macintosh computer, it would be possible to create a set of System 6.0.8 (800K) floppies. Disk test and formatting utilities are included.
One would need an appropriate version of StuffIt Expander (such as 4.0.1 or 5.5) for the .bin (MacBinary) decoding. Furthermore, Disk Copy 4.2 (the Make A Copy button) is used to create floppies from the disk images.
A PowerBook 3400c (with a floppy drive module) would not be a bad candidate.
Macintosh PowerBook 3400c/180: Technical Specifications
Macintosh PowerBook 3400c/200: Technical Specifications
Macintosh PowerBook 3400c/240: Technical Specifications
The PB 3400c should work fine with both 800K (2DD/DSDD) and 1.44 MB (HD) floppies
http://lowendmac.com/2016/floppy-disk-compatibility-and-incompatibility-in-the-m ac-world/
Some 3400c computers have an internal Ethernet or Ethernet/modem card (page 175 in the manual).
https://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/0/MA650/en_US/PowerBook_3400series_UserGu ide.pdf
The PB 3400c can be used as an external hard drive in SCSI disk mode (page 63 in the manual). Can be quite useful for file transfers to older Macintosh desktop computers.
The PC Card slots (page 50 in the manual) can, for example, be used with a PC Card adapter for CompactFlash and a CompactFlash memory card. This creates a removable "hard drive" that will work for file transfers from/to a more modern computer (with a USB CF card reader).
The Printer/External modem port (page 4 in the manual) would allow you to set up a LocalTalk network.
All in all a flexible machine. One of the earlier systems may make things a bit easier, and the computer may run faster (but as far as connectivity is concerned, all supported versions ought to be OK).
Generally speaking, a high-level erasure of the internal hard disk drive can often be carried out via an Erase Disk option in the Special menu (when starting up from a boot floppy with a suitable system). However, a complete reformatting of the SCSI disk is typically done by using a special utility (called Apple HD SC Setup or something similar, depending upon the exact version). An appropriate third-party formatting application like Lido 7.5.6 can also be used.
Normally, a Macintosh SE has an 800K floppy drive (only the Macintosh SE FDHD model had a drive for both 800K and 1.44 MB).
Do you have a startup floppy with a disk utility? If not, it would be possible to create at least a boot disk by drag-copying a system folder from the hard disk to a Mac-formatted 2DD diskette. Also, do you have access to an approx. 1992-1997 Macintosh computer (with a floppy drive for both 800K and 1.44 MB) to be used as an intermediate machine for downloads and the creation of floppy disks, if necessary?
Thank you so much for this information. I don’t have the OS disk, however I have plenty of floppy disks that I suppose I could try use as a boot disk. You said to drag a file from a system folder. Where/which file should I copy, or should I find out a way to create the disk utility floppy?
Disk First Aid is used to verify/repair (the file system on) the hard disk. Any HD Setup or similar?
Unfortunately, a modern USB floppy drive cannot handle the special 800K Mac format, which requires a variable speed drive (which can be found in pre-1998 Macintosh computers only). This is why an intermediate Mac (with a floppy drive for both 800K and 1.44 MB would be of interest). If that semi-old (approx. 1992-1997) Mac is not capable of directly accessing the Internet, one could carry out downloads on a more modern Mac (with a USB floppy drive attached), and copy downloaded files (unaltered) to 1.44 MB floppies. These floppies could then be moved to the intermediate Mac, where the StuffIt Expander decoding and the Disk Copy disk image handling is done. The latter resulting in real 800K floppy disks (using 2DD/DSDD diskettes).
Is there by any chance a terminal emulation (communications) program (or ClarisWorks, the communications section) on the Macintosh SE hard disk ? If so, a direct file transfer to the SE through a null-modem cable, or a normal serial modem, would be possible.
That makes perfect sense. What would be an example of a computer around that time that would work? I could try to pick up a PowerBook 3400, with a floppy drive for this and for ollection sake. Is this a good candidate or would something else work better? Does the OS need to be under a certain number?
Thanks
You are correct about the 800k. I can find a disk first aid, is this correct? And can I use a modern day Mac with a USB floppy drive to create the System floppies?
How to set up Macintosh SE as new machine?
