Power Macintosh Upgrade Card and System 7 Pro (3/95)


I am getting the error "You cannot install PowerTalk software on a hard drive with no System Software" when trying to install System 7 Pro on my Quadra 800 with a Power Macintosh Upgrade Card installed.

The system works perfectly otherwise and I did a "Clean Install" of the system software.


There is no way for the Apple Installer to sense the presence of the Power Macintosh Upgrade Card, unless it is the active processor. Therefore, the Power Macintosh Card Control Panel will never be installed with System Software unless selected via a custom install.


System 7 Pro
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Regarding System 7 Pro, a problem was discovered with the installer script on the PowerTalk For Power Macintosh (1.0.3) Install Me First disk, where it would not install properly on systems with Power Macintosh Upgrade Cards. This problem does not exist on the PowerTalk For Power Macintosh (1.0.2) Install Me First disk. Except for the installer script, the software contained within the 1.0.2 and 1.0.3 Install Me First disks is identical. Apple recommends that customers use the 1.0.2 PowerTalk Install Me First disk when installing PowerTalk on Power Macintosh and Power Macintosh Upgrade Card systems.

NOTE:
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Install the System 7 Pro software prior to installing the Power Macintosh Upgrade Card System Software.  

The only "strange" thing that might happen after the install involves the Alert sound. After starting in 601 mode, the Alert sound only flashes the menu bar as though the volume is set to zero, but the Alert sound setting in the Sound control panel is set to normal. Changing the setting or the sound does not resolve the problem.  

Check the Volumes setting for the built-in speaker to make sure it is not set to zero. Increasing this value brings the sound back. (This relationship is not discussed in the Power Macintosh Upgrade Card manual.)


System 7.5 PowerTalk
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Regarding System 7.5 PowerTalk, there seems to be no restrictions on how it is installed. We installed base System 7.5 on a Centris 610 with a Power Macintosh Upgrade Card present, by selecting custom install to select the Power Macintosh Card Control Panel as well as software for any Macintosh. With that System 7.5, we could run either under the 68040 of the Centris or the 601 of the Power Macintosh Upgrade Card while installing PowerTalk successfully. In either case we got PowerTalk system software that would run on either the 68040 or 601 processor.


Article Change History:
21 Mar 1995 - Added System 7.5 information; clarified reason for error.

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Published Date: Feb 19, 2012