PPC & 68K floppy issue

[reddrag0n]

I acquired a crap-ton of floppies and the majority of them are 1.4 floppies, but the 800k ones i can format in OS 9, but as soon as i put them into a Mac Classic running system 7.0.1 it demands to format them. Same goes if i format on System 7, putting into OS 9 demands to format them in DOS 720k mode. If i do the same with the 1.4 disks, both machines read and write them just fine and i can transfer files back and forth no problem.

Is there an extension or some software i can put on either or machine to read those 800k disks without the other trying to format them?


The Mac Classic has an internal superdrive while the OS 9 is using a USB iMation Drive

 

[repairedCheese]

Looks like there's no way to use 800k floppy disks properly on anything other than real Apple floppy drives. Seems to be a hardware limitation, not a software one, so there's no workaround.

 

[Nermal]

Yep, 800k disks work by spinning at different speeds, whereas USB drives all spin at a constant speed as they do the bare minimum and that's all that's needed for DOS disks. The short version is "don't use 800k disks on a Mac without an internal drive".

 

[reddrag0n]

Ok, so how do i add a floppy drive if i need those types of disks on an MDD?

 

[repairedCheese]

Ok, so how do i add a floppy drive if i need those types of disks on an MDD?

That's the thing, you don't. Incompatibility with old hardware just comes with the territory, and I had completely forgotten that Apple used their own unique floppy hardware.

If you really need to get data off a 400k or 800k disk, you need what's generally known as a bridge Mac. A system with both AppleTalk and Ethernet would be able to do the job, and most systems from the mid 90's did have both, but that tends to get into territory that goes beyond the ground this forum usually covers. It's a late 68k/early PPC Mac solution.

 

[reddrag0n]

I have a pm 7500 i could use as a bridge if i really need to. Like i said, i got a crap ton of floppies and those were the ones that didn't want to play nice. Other than those few, i really don't use the mac classic for anything. It just sits in the corner and its kinda nice to look at

 

[repairedCheese]

Oh yeah, that would work perfectly. And, it can even use the 800k floppies properly. If there's anything you need to get off any of those, that would be the machine to use.

 

[reddrag0n]

they are all blank. in those pics are all the floppies, my zip disk collection and a s***load of macaddict cd's

 

[repairedCheese]

In your case, I can't see the 800k floppies being good for much. You do have a Mac that can write to them, and access a modern network, so there's that, but it sounds like even your oldest supports 1.44 mb disks, which sort of defeats the need for them.

Of course, if you got your hands on an older system, that would be a different matter, older Macs couldn't access 1.44 mb disks, and the original Macintosh couldn't use anything larger than 400k disks.

Mind you, I have a box full of old VHS tapes, so I could never part with any part of those boxes full of old disks like that.

 

[reddrag0n]

Oldest mac i have is the mac classic, then from there is the 7500, it goes to G3’s and up after that

 

[weckart]

Ok, so how do i add a floppy drive if i need those types of disks on an MDD?

You need an interface like a Kryoflux but those are quite expensive and are mostly for bit by bit archival duties.

 

[thenebular]

My experience dealing with 800k disks in later computers was to write an image to the HD, work with the image, then write it back to the disk. The LS-120 drive you're using is probably the best floppy drive you can use without going the kryoflux route. It will write images all the way down to 400k and read disks you thought were done for. It's still an extra step, but it's easier than using a whole computer intermediary.

 

[galgot]

they are all blank. in those pics are all the floppies, my zip disk collection and a s***load of macaddict cd's

Ahhh... I not the only one keeping shoe boxes for these...

 

[DearthnVader]

No one will ever need more than 400k of disk space.?

Funny how fast things change in computers, if only we could get a fab facility cranking out cheaper and better Congressmen every six months.?