Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
LC/Performa Hard Drive Issues
- Thread starter 1slickvdc
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Hmmm. Not sure how technical I can get, but the reality is that other than POST, The onboard ROM (bios to translate) gets the device, the driver on the device, the partition map, then looks at the header of the "volume" partition which must two characters (forget what they are) which denotes a Mac HFS volume. Next, it looks for the "System Folder Pointer" which tells it where the System Suitcase is (that's the file called "System" in the "System Folder").
However, if you've "initialized" the disk, it should be blank and everything that needs to be in place should be in place.
Maybe try initializing the HD again.
Yeah, cuz when I boot off of "disk tools 1" I can check the HD and I see a bunch of stuff, but when I boot with no disk, I get can't boot error "The System file on this startup device does not contain the resources necessary to boot this Macintosh. Please use the Installer to update the System file."
That might be it.
Also, checking on the installer Application's error messages, it states:
The System file itself contains "resources" and the installer is adding & removing "resources" to and from that file, hence the Res(ource)Error. (I hope).
Try booting the install 1 disk while holding down the shift key (usually not required if the install disk is 'clean').
There is also a way to get the installer to install a clean system even if one already exists. When the installer window opens, simultaneously press "Shift" "Apple" "K" and a box will appear asking if you want to "Update Existing System Folder" or "Install New System Folder". Select Install New.
If that works, look for a folder called "Previous System Folder". It could be anywhere. If you have initialized the drive there should be no reason to keep it.
I'll be offline for a while now. Hope it works.
I'll give that a shot, when you return, another thought came to mind, what if due to exposure to who knows what, some of the disks got messed up? Is there a way to boot off the external CD-ROM drive I've got? I downloaded System 7 installation CD images.
Depends
CD images will not be bootable.
A apple cd drive will be bootable, with a blessed system on CD.
Gonna have to have someone make you one. I think most of the system software is free to download right from apple so just do a search. But if you don't have a mac with OS 9 or older then you will be pretty well stuck.
I suggest finding someone close with an old mac as it will help you out.
CD images will not be bootable.
A apple cd drive will be bootable, with a blessed system on CD.
Gonna have to have someone make you one. I think most of the system software is free to download right from apple so just do a search. But if you don't have a mac with OS 9 or older then you will be pretty well stuck.
I suggest finding someone close with an old mac as it will help you out.
Images not bootable? Wrong filesystem or what? Maybe those can still be burned with proper file system. The stuff from Apple comes on floppy images, and I don't have enough spare disks to do all that. Can't find the damn things anywhere anymore.
I did hear though that there were ways to have bootable CDs, just had to be burned the right way.
Images
Image files usually have to be burned in toast and blocked checked to make bootable.
PC's were never made to copy mac software. So a burning utility is gonna just spit you out an incorrect format.
If the external SCSI drive is not apple brand then it will need an extension at load. Some third party drives are bootable but you would have to do a search or just pull out your hair trying.
PM me I will see if I can help more.
Image files usually have to be burned in toast and blocked checked to make bootable.
PC's were never made to copy mac software. So a burning utility is gonna just spit you out an incorrect format.
If the external SCSI drive is not apple brand then it will need an extension at load. Some third party drives are bootable but you would have to do a search or just pull out your hair trying.
PM me I will see if I can help more.
I've got OSX 10.8.5 running in a VM and it can have direct hardware access, so burning with Mac only software isn't a huge issue. I've also got Debian 7.6 running on a different SSD and in a VM.
Windows only... lol never.
On a serious note, I'd rather leave the discussion public, so others may find it if they're having the same questions.
This Mac's CDROM drive is a Micronet brand, don't know if that helps much, if at all.
Windows only... lol never.
On a serious note, I'd rather leave the discussion public, so others may find it if they're having the same questions.
This Mac's CDROM drive is a Micronet brand, don't know if that helps much, if at all.
Well
If you have a copy of toast and an image of 7.5 (as I don't think anything older came out on CD) you should be able to burn a CD at a slow speed mind you as old cd drives don't like fast burned CDs I have found. In the burning options of any version of toast (4 or 5) should have a block to make bootable. Choose MFS if its available and burn.
After burned hold the C key with disk in drive on boot and it should check the CD drive first and away you should go.
If you have a copy of toast and an image of 7.5 (as I don't think anything older came out on CD) you should be able to burn a CD at a slow speed mind you as old cd drives don't like fast burned CDs I have found. In the burning options of any version of toast (4 or 5) should have a block to make bootable. Choose MFS if its available and burn.
After burned hold the C key with disk in drive on boot and it should check the CD drive first and away you should go.