My Old Mac SE Super Drive

[jcj]

I pulled my old Mac SE Superdrive with the 9" screen out of the basement today. I haven't turned it on in about 15 years. It powers up, but the little Mac happy-face icon flashes for a few minutes, then a floppy disk with a question mark on it flashes repeatedly. It does not seem to be reading the hard drive.

It has not been physically damaged - just hasn't been turned on in over a decade. It worked fine when I put it in the box in the basement. Any ideas about how to get this up and running again?

Thanks!

JCJ

 

[David Schmidt]

It powers up, but the little Mac happy-face icon flashes for a few minutes, then a floppy disk with a question mark on it flashes repeatedly. It does not seem to be reading the hard drive.

The hard drive probably isn't spinning up any more - a common occurrence when old ones sit for extended periods. I've pulled drives out and rotated them sharply along the axis of the spindle to get them unstuck, but it'll tend to do that the next time you shut it off again. Now might be the time to start looking into solid state solutions.

 

[rdowns]

Now might be the time to start looking into solid state solutions.

For a Mac SE? LOLz.

 

[David Schmidt]

For a Mac SE?

http://68kmla.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=12050

 

[viggen61]

The hard drive probably isn't spinning up any more - a common occurrence when old ones sit for extended periods. I've pulled drives out and rotated them sharply along the axis of the spindle to get them unstuck, but it'll tend to do that the next time you shut it off again. Now might be the time to start looking into solid state solutions.

Heh - I used to "kick start" the SE's around my office 15 years back, when the 20 and 40 MB drives would get sticky. Just carefully lift the SE by its handle, and rotate it by twisting your wrist back & forth a couple times. Just watch for the wires, and anything nearby. Doesn't take a huge motion to get them unstuck.

Used to work on the 6 & 7 year old ones way back then...

Much better lubricants on the drive spindles these days...