I need help guyz...

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coius's picture
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I need help guyz...

A friend of mine handed me a Macintosh. The original Macintosh. The problem... I have no system for it and no mouse/keyboard. I want to boot an os and am, haivng trouble b/c I only have a PC and an ibook, but I DO have a 400K floppy. I have looked on Gamba's page and only found the System 1.0

I need to get System 1.0/3.0 onto a 400KB floppy (i can use dos if i have to) and get the machine to boot. After that, i will go from there.
Please help guys. I would love to see if this thing boots

coius's picture
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looking around...

I found out that nothing i can try will work. If i were to say... have a dontation and suddenly have a 400k floppy with Sys 1.0/3.3...
please contact me
pledoux@gmail.com

I am still trying to find a mouse and keyboard.

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What Model Mac, 128 or 512??

I have a few external floppy drives for the mac and a OS for the Apple II GS (system 5 upgrade from 3.0). I may be able to help you if I knew what model Mac you have

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This is a 128

but it was made before they put "128" or "512" on the back of the macs, so this is THE original Macintosh

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Early Mac

OK that helps, I may still have a keyboard and single button mouse for your computer. I recently sold all my early mac stuff cause I moved however I came across a box full that some how escaped the sale. Let me look and see if I have what you need. I'm not making any promises but keep your fingers crossed. There may be an early OS also.

Being the early Mac yours has no hard drive, floppy only. It should have a built in floppy drive, yes??

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thx

yes I have a built-in floppy drive. It is only the 400k one. Thx so much for your help. I have always dreamed of having one of these.

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System disk

Hi "Coius". What`s your real first name, anyway?

OK, so I`m pretty sure I have at least one system disk that should work in an original Mac,
if it/they still work(s) at all. If I have more than one copy, I will part with one in order to help you. Let me know if you still need such a thing.

As for the keyboard and mouse, I suggest you try eBay. Believe it or not, I have seen original Mac mice offerred for sale in _new_ condition - sometimes even still wrapped in the (allegedly original) plastic! As for the keyboard, that is much harder, but I have recently seen an _original_ Mac keyboard (main typing area only - no numeric keypad)
up for sale on eBay. Do several different searches; don`t give up if you don`t find what you`re looking for from your first search. Get creative with the keywords.

BTW, if I will give you a system disk, I expect something for the community in return:
lots of pictures of the machine, preferably working!

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Almost forgot to ask...

Does the unit power on and show a disk with a blinking question mark in the middle,
on a grey (checkerboard pattern) screen?

If not, then it might be dead beyond repair, unless you or someone you know has good analog repair skills. The power supply and the analog board tend to go first.

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first of all...

My name is Pete LeDoux.
Second, yes it does power up to a blinking question mark. I am really interested in getting it up and seeing if it will use the floppy drive, or if the floppy is toast. I had a MacPaint 400k floppy disk that would've worked, but i found out that "somebody" had formated it.
My friend is still trying to scrape up a keyboard and mouse. If you want to send me the disk, PM Me and we will work out a deal on the OS.

I will be posting as much as I can once i get it up. I will also take pics of any easter eggs that i find in it, and will write an extensive report on it.

Cheers!
Coius
a.k.a... Pete LeDoux

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Not Too Many Easter Eggs

The 128k doesn't have a lot of hidden items (not much room on that original ROM and 400k floppy!). BUT, I have been looking for a way to get things in and out of my 128k for some time now and have had to face the facts that you need a bigger machine that is more compatible. If your iBook can boot from OS 9.2 (OSX is incompatible with pre OS8 Apple Talk), you can buy a Mac Plus on eBay for very little and Apple Talk it to the iBook via Ethernet and transfer files into the Plus that way onto 400k disks and then into the 128k. That's what I do with my 512k. Software is readily available on the internet but unless you have a way to get them into your 128k it's pointless. If you can't run OS 9.2, then you have only one option. Buy a Mac SE FDHD or Classic (not a Classic II) -- these are pretty inexpensive on ebay and can read and write 400k, 800k and 1.44MB floppies (using System 6 or less, NOT 7). Then you can get an external 1.44 MB floppy on your iBook and transfer that way. The 128k is the hardest Mac to get up and running because of the double whammy of the 400k and limited memory. I finally bit the bullet and bought a Mac 512k logic board for the 128k, which costs even less than a Mac Plus (not to mention shipping). It is basically identical to the 128k except it has more memory in order to support Apple Talk and 800k external floppy disks. FYI, when Steve Jobs introduced the Mac in January 1984, he used a 512k Mac because the 128k RAM couldn't support the demos. Your big problem is the iBook and 1.44 MB floppies (assuming you can't run OS9.2) which means you must have an intermediary machine that can read and write 400k & 1.44MB disks. If you can boot under OS9.2 then upgrade your 128k to a 512k and Apple Talk your files. You'll still need someone to give you that first disk with the AppleTalk and HD20 INIT in order to do that though. Oh, you'll also need a DB-9 Local Talk connector to phone net (easy & cheap to find) and an Apple Talk to Ethernet bridge to get into your iBook -- that will be the most expensive thing, but they are relatively easy to find and not that expenbsive used on ebay. FYI, there are ways to do this on a PC, but if this is going to be a long term thing for you, better to set it up right now. Good luck.

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