Gonzo,
Aside from your PowerBook 520c, what O.S. are you using on the other Macs?
Another member here recently described the issue in detail (maybe you missed
it?), but starting with some sub-version of Mac OS8, it stopped supporting
the 800K format. So, I'm guessing that if you're using OS8.1 or later, the
Operating System doesn't have the ability to read 800K disks, and it's not
the fault of the drives (which, under System 7.6 and earlier, can read 800K
disks just fine - all of mine do).
I'm sure someone here will step up with more information, but that's a
start. :-)
Bob
----- Original Message -----
From: "H.S. Thompson" <[email protected]>
To: "Vintage Macs" <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2009 11:17 PM
Subject: Re: 800k 3.5" disk drive for PowerMac 7100
Hey guys,
Sorry it took me so long to reply to a thread I started! Haha,
I've been really busy lately.
Anyway, here's my issue. I have quite a few 800k (and a few 400k)
original disks for commercial software items. I collect vintage Mac
and PC (Win 3.1) software, I buy a lot from people here actually, so I
am always getting these disks in. Now I'm sure some of them really do
not work, due to age, magnetic exposure, etc. but we all know that
every single 800k disk I have (over 100) is not bad. So, all the disks
I'm talking about are the original disks for this commercial software.
A good example of an 800k I am having trouble with now is Symantec
Suitcase. I always make DiskCopy images of all the disks of software
that I get, first thing. Since it's all vintage software, a good
portion of it is on 800k disks. I have several Macs and PowerMacs, all
of which are in pristine condition. I keep all my vintage stuff really
clean, including internal components, such a disk drives. I have had
this issue for a really long time, I've tried every machine I have,
and none will read 800k disks, except one! My PowerBook 520c will read
just about any disk I throw at it, including SimAnt I mentioned
earlier. So for most of my disks, I create the images using my trusty
520c (internal drive), then put them on my external HD.
Now I am almost positive that I have read somewhere that this is a
common issue, but maybe I'm just dreaming. I am not talking about
making 800k disks HD and vise versa and so-forth. I know about all
that. I've been using Macs for many, many years. But to be honest, I
can't remember if "back in the day" I had this issue. I think that, on
the rare occasion I used a floppy (due to reliability issues), it
would have been HD anyway.
What you guys are saying makes complete sense. The drives should /
could / would need to read 800k disks, but none of my machines will.
When you insert the disk, it says Initialize floppy. All these
machines read 1.44Mb floppies fine. By the way, the drive in my newest
and primary vintage Mac is a 2.88 Sony. The machine is a PM 7100/80. I
think this may be an aftermarket drive?
So do you think I should just get a new Mac floppy drive? Try and
clean it better? Or just forget it?
This is really frustrating because it really doesn't make sense. I've
seen computers do some crazy things, but I can always fix it,
understand it once I investigate. But this one, it boggles my mind.
Thanks for your help everyone!
- gonzo
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