Macintosh Centris 650 software/hard drive problem?

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Mac Plus, IIcx, IIci, Centris 650, Supermac s900, Beige G3 minitower, iMac, eMac, iBook, BlackBook
Sorry, this isn't about an eMac. This computer is a little out of date but I hope someone can help me out...

Ok... this is a big one so I appreciate those of you who can help me. I have a 1991-93 Macintosh Centris 650. It hasn't ever had any problems before, and has been running on Mac OS 7.1.x and I decided it was time to update it. As some of you may know, Apple made OS 7.5.3 available for free on their website. So I downloaded it from here: Index of /Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/System/Older_System/System_7.5_Version_7.5.3 My Centris can't take internet, so I downloaded it onto my Imac and put the files on a ZIP drive, not floppy. I took this and downloaded it onto the Centris. It opened up a 'drive' and I went through the instructions until it told me to restart my computer. I did this, and it booted up in the newer OS 7.5.3 form. While it was booting, a screen came up and said 'rebuilding desktop file'. (Here is a website describing this, Mac OS: Rebuilding Desktop File and Icon Recovery ) After a long time it seemed to me that it had frozen, and I hit the 'restart' button. THIS is where trouble started happening. When it was restarting an Icon came up similar to the 'sad mac'. It was a floppy disk with a flashing question mark in the middle of it. Here is a website describing this situation: Solving Startup Problems on Your Mac I had found another website that said to unplug all of your extra hardware accessories and THEN boot it. So I did that. I unplugged my keyboard, mouse, printer, Zip Drive, and modem and it booted up just fine. I think the problem was the computer was trying to boot the computer FROM the zip drive, [because i had downloaded OS 7.5.3 from that] so when I unplugged it it loaded from the hard drive. Anyway, 2 messages popped up when it was done booting. 1: Iomega Zip Drive cannot be located. (Remember, I had unplugged it) 2: Rebuilding Desktop file was interrupted, some messages could not be popped up, or something along those lines. I hit 'ok' and the 'rebuilding desktop file' window came up again. THIS time, it didn't have a loading bar on the bottom of it, and the mouse had the 'watch' icon. For about four/five days it has been like this. I occasionally hear sounds from the computer which I believe to be coming from the hard drive, so is it possible that it still is trying to rebuild the desktop? How can I tell? I don't know what to do; is it possibly frozen again? Should I try restarting it again? Should I re-install the OS 7.5.3 update? Can anyone explain what happened? Basically I want to know how I can fix this. I know this is a bit confusing, so if you have any questions for me just post them and I'll answer them the best I can. I really appreciate anyone's help, thanks.
 
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Mac Mini Core i7 2012 | White 2009 MacBook 2 Ghz | 733 Mhz G4 Quicksilver
Not that many people here have much experience with such an old mac

Can you start up with all extensions off (shift key on startup I think)
If you can boot her up, try copying the updates to the desktop from the ZIP drive, disconnecting the Zip drive and running the 7.5 update again

Sounds like something went wrong with the update

where are you by the way
 

rman


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How much memory do you have on this system because I did see the not enough memory to rebuild under your link "Mac OS: Rebuilding desktop File and Icon Recovery".

Also the last version of 7.5 is 7.5.5. So you may want to upgrade to it once your system is up and running.

Have you tried booting your system with the extension off (reboot and hold down the shift while the system boots)?
 
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phalanx
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Mac Plus, IIcx, IIci, Centris 650, Supermac s900, Beige G3 minitower, iMac, eMac, iBook, BlackBook
Wow, I restarted my computer and it is showing the icon of the floppy and the flashing question mark again. I tried rebooting with shift, and I even tried zapping the pram. Any other ideas? :Shouting:
Btw I'm in Michigan, and as for the memory do you mean 'ram' memory or hard disk memory.
 

cwa107


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14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
Wow, I restarted my computer and it is showing the icon of the floppy and the flashing question mark again. I tried rebooting with shift, and I even tried zapping the pram. Any other ideas? :Shouting:
Btw I'm in Michigan, and as for the memory do you mean 'ram' memory or hard disk memory.

Hard Disks have 'storage capacity', not memory. This is a common misconception. An easy way to remember the difference is that RAM stands for "Random Access Memory".
 
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The flashing ? means system not found. You need to reinstall the original OS
and then the update again. Theres nothing wrong when it says rebuilding desktop,some how the new system folder was not blessed.
 
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phalanx
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Mac Plus, IIcx, IIci, Centris 650, Supermac s900, Beige G3 minitower, iMac, eMac, iBook, BlackBook
Ok, I went deep into some boxes and found a copy of os 7.1. I tried it and it booted up, but for some reason the system asked me to initialize it because it couldn't be read. I hit cancel and the computer wouldn't read the hard drive. Therefore, I somehow need to obtain another 'real' copy of os 7.1, reinstall the update, and take it from there. I'll keep you guys posted thanks so much for the help.
 
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phalanx
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Ok, I went deep into some boxes and found a copy of os 7.1. I tried it and it booted up, but for some reason the system asked me to initialize it because it couldn't be read. I hit cancel and the computer wouldn't read the hard drive. Therefore, I somehow need to obtain another 'real' copy of os 7.1, reinstall the update, and take it from there. I'll keep you guys posted thanks so much for the help.

Btw, if I successfully install the update and possibly 'bless' it, is it possible to choose OS 7.1 or 7.5.3 on startup?
 
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When you upgrade from 7.1 to 7.5 the system is now 7.5. In the control panel in the
startup disk panel, select Hard Drive.
 

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