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The Apple Software Recovery CDs, a four volume set, were designed to provide users with a complete and efficient tool for disaster recovery, software installation, and maintenance. I found these CDs, in addition to Apple’s Developer CDs and Apple’s Restoration CDs, to be extremely useful for setting up my 68k Macintosh Systems and you will see them referenced in many of my guides.
Leave a CommentStarting in 1989, following the release of Apple’s first CD-ROM drive in 1988 (the AppleCD SC), Apple began distributing software updates and technical information about it’s products on CD. In addition to downloading these for my own use, I am including links to online sources to make it easier for others to find these CDs and I’ve included links to the relevant Apple Direct/Directions articles that describe the contents of each CD. I have found these CDs incredibly useful for learning about and setting up these old systems.
Leave a CommentAs part of setting up my LC 630 DOS system I wanted to replace the IDE drive with something faster and more reliable. After some experimentation with various SD2IDE adapters, which I could not get to work, I decided to use a CF2IDE adapter. My first try was with a standard consumer CF card, that didn’t work. So I decided to purchase an Industrial CF card, and that has been working perfectly.
Leave a CommentA new, and I think a much easier way to use your SCSI2SD with your Macintosh system. This image file can be used to setup your 32GB card with a FAT32 formatted partition that contains a set of volume files that you can easily mount and edit using Basilisk II, Mini vMac, or some other tool. I created this image file after wondering if I could create something for my SCSI2SD that would be as easy to use as my MacSD. Turns out I could, and then I found out that Andrew over on the MLA beat me to it. This is my version of what he created, his version is formatted exFAT, I decided to use FAT32 and I added more volume files and support for an optional second drive (with 4GB volumes).
28 CommentsA few years ago I created a bootable System 7.5.5 CD-ROM image file by editing the contents of a bootable System 7 CD-ROM I have. I discovered that I could change the contents system folder to 7.5.5 and the disk would still boot. This entry describes how you can use my CD-ROM image file and edit it’s contents.
2 CommentsAbout a year ago I purchased a null modem (serial) cable to let me connect my Apple IIe Card enabled LC 475 to my Apple IIc, and decided I should also test it out as a way to transfer files between my Windows 10 PC (should also work with OSX and Linux) and my Macintosh Plus, it was actually fairly easy. Initially I used it with Zterm, but after a bit of experimentation I got it working with Apple Remote Access Personal Server 2.1 (ARA PS) and can now use Basilisk II to access files using AppleShare and see all the shared devices on my LocalTalk (AppleTalk) network. The speed is still fairly slow, so for larger files I use Basilisk II to edit my drive/volume images, or connect using my Asante SCSI to ethernet adaptor.
1 CommentIn my previous blog entries I mentioned that I could not include the full version of System 7.1.3 (System 7.1 + System Update 3.0) with with my drive images due to copyright restrictions, but you can install the full version of the North American version of 7.1 up to 7.1.3 using Apple’s Legacy Software Recovery CD.
3 CommentsIn my previous blog entries I mentioned that I could not include the full version of System 7.0.1 with my drive images due to copyright restrictions, but you can install the full version of the North American version of 7.0.1 using Apple’s Legacy Software Recovery CD.
2 CommentsOne of the most popular features of my site is my ready made System 6.0.8 or System 7.5.5 bootable images for use with 68k Macintosh systems. This entry describes how you can edit my volume images on Windows 10 using Mini vMac (Mini vMac cannot read or modify drive images). You probably know what Mini vMac is, but if not, a quick summary: Mini vMac is an open source emulator of some 68k-based Macintosh computers that runs on Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, Open Indiana, Microsoft Windows Mobile, and some other platforms. I mainly use Mini vMac for working with System 6.x and earlier Systems that aren’t supported by Basilisk II. Once I have everything setup the way I want on the volume image I can use Basilisk II to copy the contents of the volume image to a drive image if needed.
Leave a CommentI recently purchased a MacSD adapter to try out and see if it’s easier to use than my SCSI2SD adapters, after some experimentation I can say that it is definitely more flexible than the SCSI2SD, specifically the ability to assemble a set of volume images in a directory on your SD card as a drive. You can directly edit the volume files on your SD card using Basilisk II and other emulators and tools for quicker updates. It also allowed me to increase the number of ProDOS volumes for my Apple IIe card, unlike HD SC Setup which limited me to 2 ProDOS portions per drive, I was able to create 6 on a MacSD composite drive (likely more, but 6 is enough for now). You can also use the MacSD with Drive images (similar to SCSI2SD), floppy images and CD-ROM images.
2 CommentsThis entry builds on my entry for how to use Apple Remote Access Personal Server (ARA PS 2.1) to connect Basilisk II to a 68k Macintosh with AppleTalk over a null modem connection. Once that connection has been created between your Macintosh system and modern system running Basilisk II, you can use IPNetRouter to bridge the ARA PS’s AppleTalk connection with Basilisk II’s ethernet connection and surf the web from your Macintosh.
2 CommentsAbout a year ago I purchased a null modem (serial) cable to let me connect my Apple IIe Card enabled LC 475 to my Apple IIc, and decided I should also test it out as a way to transfer files between my Windows 10 PC (should also work with OSX and Linux) and my Macintosh Plus, it was actually fairly easy. Initially I used it with Zterm, but after a bit of experimentation I got it working with Apple Remote Access Personal Server 2.1 (ARA PS) and can now use Basilisk II to access files using AppleShare and see all the shared devices on my LocalTalk (AppleTalk) network. The speed is still fairly slow, so for larger files I use Basilisk II to edit my drive/volume images, or connect using my Asante SCSI to ethernet adaptor.
Leave a CommentThere has been a lot of work in the Apple II community to port Apple DOS games to ProDOS, with the Apple IIe Card‘s ability to support multiple 32Meg partitions (up to 4 at the same time), I wanted to share the steps I use to get the 4am’s Total Replay Collection and the Alex’s ProDOS game bundle on to my LC475 with my Apple IIe card.
3 CommentsAbout a year ago I purchased a null modem (serial) cable to let me connect my Apple IIe Card enabled LC 475 to my Apple IIc, and decided I should also test it out as a way to transfer files between my Windows 10 PC (should also work with OSX and Linux) and my Macintosh Plus, it was actually fairly easy. One of the methods I tried, and the one I use the most, is transferring small files from Basilisk II to my 68k Macintosh. For larger files I use Basilisk II to edit my drive images.
1 CommentYou can use balaenaEtcher to raw-write my drive image files to an SD or Compact Flash Card, and some other USB attached storage. When you raw-write a file it doesn’t simply copy the file to the target storage media/device it writes the file bit-by-bit on to the target storage media/device removing all existing formatting.
2 CommentsAs part of a general cleanup and as something to do on rainy days, I’ve decided to make a version 2 of the drive and…
3 CommentsI’ve finally gotten around to creating drive images for using an Asanté Desktop EN/SC (1996 version), SCSI to Ethernet converter with a Macintosh Plus (once I bought a keyboard from Herb Johnson to replace the ones I had that were lost in a move). I have one of the later versions that draw’s it’s power from the SCSI bus, which caused some issues with the Macintosh Plus.
1 CommentRecently I pickup a few Macintosh Plus systems, so I’ve decided to play around with the FloppyEMU’s HD20 support with the hopes of writing some future blog posts for maxing out a Macintosh Plus. This guide will also work for the SE, Classic, Classic II, Portable, IIci, IIsi, or LC.
2 CommentsFor reference by my future self, and for anyone that might want to duplicate my setup, I’ve documented how I’ve setup the 32GB SD card for my SCSI2SD that I use with my LC 475 with my Apple IIe card. Currently I have my SCSI2SD set up as 3 devices, SCSI 0 to 2, this is for two reasons: so I don’t have to update my SCSI2SD settings when I want to test one of my drive images as device 0, and so I can have 4 ProDOS partitions (limit 2 per drive).
3 CommentsYou likely already know what MAME is, but if not, the simplest description is a multi-purpose emulator. Most people use it to emulate old arcade systems and gaming consoles, but it also provide support for several of the 68k Macintosh Systems (search the page for mac.c). For this blog entry I’m going to walk through setting up MAME to emulate a Macintosh Plus with the assumption your using MAME instead of Basilisk II because you want to initialize and partition an image file that you created from a physical drive, SD card etc.
4 CommentsOne of the most popular features of my site is my ready made System 6.0.8 or System 7.5.5 bootable images for use with 68k Macintosh systems. This entry describes how you can use SoftMac XP 8.2 or 9.0 beta to edit my images and create your own drive and volume images (up to 2.74GB) on Windows 10 (I did experience glitches if you switch from SoftMac to another window and switch back, SoftMac often locks up and has to be killed in task manager)
5 CommentsIn my previous blog entries I mentioned that I could not include the full version of System 7.5.5 with my drive images due to copyright restrictions, but you can install the full version of the North American version of 7.5.5 using Apple’s Legacy Software Recovery CD, if you want to install one of the other versions you need to use either disk images from Apple’s FTP site the Internet Archive, or from Apple’s Developer CDs.
In my previous blog entries I mentioned that I could not include the full version of System 7.5.5 or System 6.0.8 with my drive images due to copyright restrictions, but you could download the full versions from Apple’s FTP site…. that option is gone, and is now replaced with the files being available from the Internet Archive. So if you are using one of the drive image files I created with minimum versions of System 6.0.8 and System 7.5.5 this guide will tell you how to update to the full version of 6.0.8.
2 CommentsOne of the most popular entries on my site is my guide to setting up a SCSI2SD adapter with one of my ready made System 6.0.8 or System 7.5.5 images for use with 68k Macintosh systems. This entry describes the different ways to initialize your drive, or drive image.
With SCSI being essentially obsolete, and the fact that Macintosh systems (since OS X 10.6 I think) can no longer write to HFS formatted disks, the best way to use modern systems when setting up your classic 68k system is to create a bootable drive image using a Macintosh 68k or PowerPC emulator then writing that disk image to a real or emulated disk drive. This guide is written for Disk Duplicator (DD) is a standard application that can be used for imaging hard drives, removable drives, memory cards, usb keys, and CD ROMs.
51 CommentsWhen I first started playing with 68k macintosh systems around 1999/2000 (a Macintosh Plus) I connected an external SCSI drive to my Windows 98 system and was able to use an early version of Basilisk II with SCSI pass-through to format the hard drive. Now 18 years later, SCSI is an obsolete technology, and in general is not supported under the latest versions of Windows and the the Macintosh OS, although I believe Linux still has support.
Luckily a skilled person on the internet has made 64-bit compatible drivers to support some of Adaptec’s cards under Windows 10 (sorry I’ve found nothing for the latest version of the Macintosh OS). I’ve personally tested the Windows 10 driver for Adaptec AHA-29xx cards with an AHA 2940U PCI card. Others have tested additional cards on Windows 10 and Windows 11.
169 CommentsOne of the most popular features of my site is my ready made System 6.0.8 or System 7.5.5 bootable images for use with 68k Macintosh systems. This entry describes how you can edit my images on Windows 10 using Basilisk II. You probably know what Basilisk II is, but if not, a quick summary: Basilisk II (manual) is an open source emulator of 68k-based Macintosh computers that support 32 bit memory (see section 2) that runs on Windows, OS X and Linux (also works on some other platforms).
5 CommentsI recently purchased a SCSI2SD V.5 adaptor (3.5″ and 2.5″) to replace a failing 1980s SCSI HD, and realized once I had it set up I could “image” the Micro-SD card to make boot-able images anyone could use.
95 CommentsThis is a copy of Apple Knowledge Base Article 8647 taken from the internet archive (for some reason it was not included in the TIL…
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I’ve recently been experimenting to see if I could somehow use of my old Iomega Zip drives (a 250MB USB version, and a 100MB SCSI) to move files between my Windows PC and my various 68k Macintosh Systems. After a bit of experimentation I discovered how I could not only move files, but also create a disk image that would allow me to use my Windows PC to make fully bootable Zip disks for use with any of the SCSI capable 68k Macintosh systems.
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Booting your classic 68k Macintosh from a 3.5 inch floppy disk was the most common and the easiest way to get most classic macs working when your starting with a more modern machine (most, but not all, more on that in a bit).
This post focuses on 3.5″ High Density (HD) disks that can be created using modern USB floppy drives.
Leave a CommentAs I mentioned in my Setting up your vintage (classic) 68k Macintosh not every Macintosh System can run every OS, for example System 7.5.5 was the last version to support the original Macintosh Systems with their Motorola 68000 (68k) processors, 7.6 required Systems with a 68030 and 32bit clean ROMs, with support for 68k processors ending with System 8.1. I also include some information about PPC systems, but my main focus for this page is 68k systems.
2 CommentsI’ve been playing around with old Macintosh systems since the late 90s when Mac Plus systems were plentiful and cheap. Over the years I’ve learned, forgotten, and relearned information about these systems, often going months at a time when I do not get to play with these old machines, so I decided to create this site to record the information I found useful, or interesting about my 68k Macintosh systems. Hopefully this information will also be useful to others who are new to setting up, configuring and using these old Macintosh Systems.
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