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| How to put programs on a floppy? |
Posted by: Macintoshguy1984 on 2016-05-10 14:48:06
I have recently bought a external floppy drive for my new mac. How could i put a game from the internet on a floppy and have it work with my 1984 macintosh
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Posted by: IPalindromeI on 2016-05-10 16:53:32
A Mac 128k only has a 400K drive, which uses a different encoding than PC-like encoded floppies that Macs with 1.44MB drives use. You need a "bridge" Mac - one old enough that it can write 400K disks, but still transfer files with newer systems somehow. (like 1.44MB disks or the network.)
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Posted by: tanaquil on 2016-05-10 17:03:27
Alternatively, you could look at a Floppy EMU. Once you move some disk images from a modern computer over to the microSD card and use them to boot up the 512, you'd be able to write any 400K disks you wanted on the 512K's own internal drive. Floppy EMU even sells an inexpensive SD card pre-loaded with images of various sizes.
If you do go this route, just make sure that any images you try to move over are 400K images - the 512 won't recognize anything higher.
(I use a combination of bridge mac - IIsi and/or Plus - and Floppy EMU myself. I honestly don't know if there is any Windows/Linux route that will produce the 400K images you need.)
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Posted by: Macintoshguy1984 on 2016-05-10 17:19:47
What type of older apple computer should i get
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Posted by: olePigeon on 2016-05-10 19:06:43
Hmm. My goto vintage Mac would be a Macintosh IIci because you could really utilize both of those machines. The Mac 128k could run original Macintosh software that only works on the original machine, and the IIci could pretty much run everything else.
However, if you want to simply download software and just make floppies for your original Macintosh, then perhaps a nice PowerMac G3 or G4. While the PowerMac may be too fast or incompatible with quite a few older bits of software and games (but not too many), it will certainly make creating floppies a breeze. It'll have an ethernet card built in, it'll be able to run Classilla which will get you onto Macintosh Garden to download the software, and it can run Disk Copy which will let you make the floppies.
Unfortunately, it looks like eBay has gone insane with prices. And I mean more than normal. I would recommend checking out your local Craigslist. Do a search for Macintosh or PowerMac, hopefully you can find something for under $50.
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Posted by: tanaquil on 2016-05-10 19:14:41
Can the G3 write 400K floppies? My G4 can't even mount them.
A G3 is certainly useful in many other respects. I have my G4 MDD sitting next to my IIsi, and they trade off many bridge-type tasks.
An SE might be another decent option - they seem to be the most plentiful and cheap machines on ebay. Definitely check craigslist, local machines are almost always cheapest and easiest if you can find them. Alas, I don't get many in my area, though I have picked up a few nice finds.
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Posted by: Macintoshguy1984 on 2016-05-10 20:04:32
Do you think a ibook or ibook clamshell would work?
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Posted by: Macintoshguy1984 on 2016-05-10 20:09:29
Hmm. My goto vintage Mac would be a Macintosh IIci because you could really utilize both of those machines. The Mac 128k could run original Macintosh software that only works on the original machine, and the IIci could pretty much run everything else.
However, if you want to simply download software and just make floppies for your original Macintosh, then perhaps a nice PowerMac G3 or G4. While the PowerMac may be too fast or incompatible with quite a few older bits of software and games (but not too many), it will certainly make creating floppies a breeze. It'll have an ethernet card built in, it'll be able to run Classilla which will get you onto Macintosh Garden to download the software, and it can run Disk Copy which will let you make the floppies.
Unfortunately, it looks like eBay has gone insane with prices. And I mean more than normal. I would recommend checking out your local Craigslist. Do a search for Macintosh or PowerMac, hopefully you can find something for under $50.
Can the G3 write 400K floppies? My G4 can't even mount them.
A G3 is certainly useful in many other respects. I have my G4 MDD sitting next to my IIsi, and they trade off many bridge-type tasks.
An SE might be another decent option - they seem to be the most plentiful and cheap machines on ebay. Definitely check craigslist, local machines are almost always cheapest and easiest if you can find them. Alas, I don't get many in my area, though I have picked up a few nice finds. So if i get a g3 it should be able to read/write files that are able to be used with the macintosh 512k
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Posted by: rsolberg on 2016-05-10 20:10:30
The beige Power Mac G3 is the latest machine that can read and write 400k and 800k floppies. The blue and white G3 and all G4s lack a built in floppy drive. Add-on drives don't support the requisite variable spindle speed for these disk formats. Software-wise, Mac OS 9.X or earlier must be used as Mac OS X cannot access the built in floppy drive in any Mac. I've found this a helpful guide for making 400k and 800k floppies: http://siber-sonic.com/mac/newmillfloppy.html
Edit: Do note that Mac OS 8 and later cannot write data to or read data from 400k disks in the Finder. You can't simply drag and drop individual programs or files on or off the disks. You can write disk image files to floppy from Disk Copy though. If you want full read and write support, you'll want a Mac that supports Mac OS 7.6.1 or earlier. I use my Performa 6360 as a go-between.
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Posted by: Scott Baret on 2016-05-10 20:34:16
If you aren't ready to deal with capacitors and other age-related problems, your best bet is a Mac SE SuperDrive. The Quadra 700 is a good runner-up (mostly because it's harder to find). Neither have the bad caps on their logic boards.
A re-capped Classic is also a viable option, especially since you can run it without a hard drive thanks to its internal ROM disk.
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Posted by: Macintoshguy1984 on 2016-05-10 21:23:04
The beige Power Mac G3 is the latest machine that can read and write 400k and 800k floppies. The blue and white G3 and all G4s lack a built in floppy drive. Add-on drives don't support the requisite variable spindle speed for these disk formats. Software-wise, Mac OS 9.X or earlier must be used as Mac OS X cannot access the built in floppy drive in any Mac. I've found this a helpful guide for making 400k and 800k floppies: http://siber-sonic.com/mac/newmillfloppy.html
Edit: Do note that Mac OS 8 and later cannot write data to or read data from 400k disks in the Finder. You can't simply drag and drop individual programs or files on or off the disks. You can write disk image files to floppy from Disk Copy though. If you want full read and write support, you'll want a Mac that supports Mac OS 7.6.1 or earlier. I use my Performa 6360 as a go-between. is there any other cheaper alteritives
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Posted by: IPalindromeI on 2016-05-11 03:42:36
Just get a Floppy Emu and you can mount any 400K/800K/whatever image you like. Put them on an SD card, it'll work.
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Posted by: olePigeon on 2016-05-11 08:45:55
FloppyEmu, while ridiculously cool and useful, would most certainly be more expensive than a used Mac.
Macintoshguy1984, seriously, look on Craigslist. Do a search for Macintosh or PowerMac in the computer section. Find the cheapest, working Mac, and you should be all set.
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Posted by: Macintoshguy1984 on 2016-05-11 15:47:57
ok thanks
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Posted by: Macintoshguy1984 on 2016-05-11 15:51:03
FloppyEmu, while ridiculously cool and useful, would most certainly be more expensive than a used Mac.
Macintoshguy1984, seriously, look on Craigslist. Do a search for Macintosh or PowerMac in the computer section. Find the cheapest, working Mac, and you should be all set. So as long as it has a built in floppy drive it should work, so whould A G3 with built in floppy work
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Posted by: rsolberg on 2016-05-11 17:49:22
A G3 with built-in floppy would let you write disk images onto floppies, but you wouldn't be able to transfer individual files or programs to/from floppy on the G3 as the oldest Mac OS you can run is 8.0, which can't access 400k floppies in the Finder. The newest Macs that can run Mac OS 7.6.1 and thereby allow you to access 400k floppies in the Finder are the Power Mac 5400, 6500, 7600, 8600, and 9600. Earlier models of each of those series will allow you to do the same. Do bear in mind that these Macs (along with the beige G3 series) will need an ADB keyboard and mouse, and will need a Mac DA-15 to VGA adapter to plug into a VGA monitor unless an aftermarket graphics card with VGA connector is already installed.
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Posted by: Macintoshguy1984 on 2016-05-11 19:55:30
So what computer should i get??
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Posted by: bigmessowires on 2016-05-11 20:07:16
Floppy Emu Model A is $79, and does everything you'll need for Macintosh disk transfers and disk drive emulation. I'm not sure what type of bridge Mac you're considering, but the cost may not be so different, and this would also save you from needing to hunt down a bunch of double-density floppies. Typical high density 3 1/2 floppies won't work as 400K disks, unfortunately.
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Posted by: Macintoshguy1984 on 2016-05-11 20:12:58
I also have a macintosh plus. Is there a way i could hook a usb flash drive into then put it on the floppy disk??
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