macintosh se/30

Joined
Jan 11, 2012
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Points
1
i recently picked up a couple of se/30 and one se, when i turn on the se a disk with a question mark flashes this is also the case for one of the se/30's. i know that i need to insert a disc but i dont know what disk or where to get it...any suggestions or anything i could maybe do??
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
i recently picked up a couple of se/30 and one se, when i turn on the se a disk with a question mark flashes this is also the case for one of the se/30's. i know that i need to insert a disc but i dont know what disk or where to get it...any suggestions or anything i could maybe do??

In case you didn't know...the SE and SE/30 are Apple computer models from the late 1980's. So we're dealing with 20+ year-old computers here.

Even though these computers are 20+ years old...the "flashing ?" question is still asked very very often! The SE/30 came with a hard drive & floppy drive...the SE had two versions...one with a hard drive & a floppy drive...and a model with two floppy drives.

If these computers have a hard drive...then the flashing ? means that either there is no OS on the HD...or the HD is dead. If the computer(s) have two floppy drives (no HD)...then you need a "floppy boot disk" to get it going.

Old OS's for these OLD computers are available on the internet for free...you can download them...and then get them onto floppy disks. The problem is you need a computer that is new enough to get on the internet...AND has an internal floppy drive (that's working)..or be able to plug an external floppy drive into it...in order to format the disks and copy the OS files to.

This is not an easy project...since you may need a couple different computers (of various vintages) to get it done.

- Nick
 

dtravis7


Retired Staff
Joined
Jan 4, 2005
Messages
30,133
Reaction score
703
Points
113
Location
Modesto, Ca.
Your Mac's Specs
MacMini M-1 MacOS Monterey, iMac 2010 27"Quad I7 , MBPLate2011, iPad Pro10.5", iPhoneSE
I will do some looking and see what I can find OS wise. I am running System 7 on my SE. Some question that but it works great with 4-MB of RAM on both my Plus and SE. The SE-30 might have more RAM and I know the CPU is a bit faster. Been ages.

Anyway will see what I can find. I wonder if the hard drives in the SE-30 are alive and not dead? :D

Like Nick said though you will need another Mac with a floppy to make any OS disks for it. If you are serious about messing with them, I could mail you a floppy with the OS on it since it's not sold anymore and should be legal.
 
OP
H
Joined
Jan 11, 2012
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Points
1
thanks for the replies! i have an external floppy drive that i hook into my pc downloaded system 6 on two 1.4mb mac formatted floppies. as soon as i inserted disk 1 into my classic II a prompt came up asking to format and erase all data. i dont have a newer mac, but my dad has a black macbook im wondering if i could hook up the external drive and download from there? as for dtravis i would love a copy in the mail i will pm you with my details! :D
 
Joined
Nov 28, 2007
Messages
25,564
Reaction score
486
Points
83
Location
Blue Mountains NSW Australia
Your Mac's Specs
Silver M1 iMac 512/16/8/8 macOS 11.6
OP
H
Joined
Jan 11, 2012
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Points
1
cool thanks harryb2448!! now i just need to find 15 floppies and i'll be set!! would it be best to transfer these from a older macbook via external floppy drive?
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
would it be best to transfer these from a older macbook via external floppy drive?

This would REALLY be a mix of old & new technologies...but according to this product:

Slim External USB 3.5" inch 1.44MB Floppy Drive for MacBook Apple iMac Air White | eBay

...it seems like it could be done.

Some of the old floppy drives on SE's (and Maybe early SE/30's) had an 800k floppy drive...and some had 1.44meg floppy drives. The external floppy drive linked above says it does 1.44meg floppies..so if you need the ability to format & read 800k floppy disks...you would want to verify that it can format & read both 800k and 1.44meg floppies.

I will also throw this little "tidbit" your way. In my experience...the read/write mechanisms in floppy drives tend to "migrate" as they get older & more worn. What this means is...a floppy disk formatted in an older more used computer may or may not be readable in a newer less worn floppy drive (and vice-versa).

So what I'm trying to say is...disks formatted in a brand new floppy drive (linked above)...may or may not be readable in a older more worn floppy drive in the old Mac computers you're working with. Everything may be fine...I'm just throwing it out there as a possibility.:)

- Nick
 
Joined
Oct 20, 2006
Messages
1,517
Reaction score
34
Points
48
The thing is the floppies have to be old Mac formatted. You could use an external SCSI CD box and 7.5 on a CD. To boot from a SCSI you hold down the Apple+Shift+Option+Del keys at start up.
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
The question is where to acquire a scsi cd box, any suggestions??

Check e-Bay (but they may not always be available). And in case there is any confusion...a SCSI CD-box is just an external SCSI CD drive.

If you want to get creative...you could make your own external SCSI CD drive:

Make Your Own External SCSI CD Rom Drive

- Nick

p.s. Remember...you're going to need the correct SCSI cable as well.
 
OP
H
Joined
Jan 11, 2012
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I checked out the link you provided and it seems like fun project! My only concern is will a power Mac 6200 work as the test subject? And if it does how does one go about getting the software and successfully booting a se/30?
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
I checked out the link you provided and it seems like fun project! My only concern is will a power Mac 6200 work as the test subject? And if it does how does one go about getting the software and successfully booting a se/30?

Here's what you need (Mac OS 7.5.3 floppy install disks):

Lot of Mac OS 7.5 Version 7.5.3 Floppy Disks!

...problem solved!:)

- Nick

p.s. Of course these disks are probably over 20 years old...so they may or may not work. But I have gotten some old OS install floppy's...and they worked fine.:)
 
Joined
Oct 20, 2006
Messages
1,517
Reaction score
34
Points
48
Check e-Bay (but they may not always be available). And in case there is any confusion...a SCSI CD-box is just an external SCSI CD drive.

If you want to get creative...you could make your own external SCSI CD drive:

Make Your Own External SCSI CD Rom Drive

- Nick

p.s. Remember...you're going to need the correct SCSI cable as well.

Yes you can make a box from a Tavern Tape SCSI Drive box. Just replace with a SCSI CD Rom Drive. Use an Apple drive...has the logo on the top..already has the apple firmware on the drive and will boot with no problem. Yes you will need a SCSI cable. DB-25 to 50 centronics.

If you lived next door to me.. we would already have that puppy going.
 
OP
H
Joined
Jan 11, 2012
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Points
1
i pulled the cd drive out of the performa 6200, it reads AppleCD 600i firmware and it is made by sony model CDU75S-25. if i have a db-25 to 50 centronics cable could i get these fellas runnin?
 
OP
H
Joined
Jan 11, 2012
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Points
1
if i can, do i then burn the software onto a cd and try and run it that way?? would the se/30 and se even be able to recognize that??
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
if i can, do i then burn the software onto a cd and try and run it that way?? would the se/30 and se even be able to recognize that??

To be honest...I'm really not 100% sure plugging an external CD drive into a "bare" (no OS installed) SE/30 will work. CD drives were not even around when the SE/30 was developed & launched in January, 1989...and the SE/30 (when released)...came with OS 6.0.5. So the "stock" SE/30 has no ROM instructions to even recognize an external CD drive if it were plugged in.

The only way plugging an external CD drive into an SE/30 will work (maybe)...is if the SE/30's internal hard drive had a newer OS version installed on it first (like OS 7.5.5). Then this newer OS version would have the drivers to recognize an external CD drive...but the computer would still need to be "booted" from the internal hard drive.

Since this SE/30's internal HD is either "dead" or has no bootable OS on it (two probable reasons for the flashing "?")...then trying to boot this SE/30 from an external CD drive just won't work.

This is why I said this is what you need (above):

Mac OS 7.5.3 Install Floppy's

Unless you can get (have the correct equipment/hardware at your disposal)...to download the free OLD OS files from the internet...AND make bootable 3.5" floppy disks from these files...THEN you NEED to get/find a set of these OS install floppies (which is what I linked above).

- Nick
 
Joined
Nov 28, 2007
Messages
25,564
Reaction score
486
Points
83
Location
Blue Mountains NSW Australia
Your Mac's Specs
Silver M1 iMac 512/16/8/8 macOS 11.6
To back up what Nick says, having been an all-in-one Performa fan, the very first model to have a CD drive fitted as standard was the Performa 550, and it came with the all new operating system 7.6.1, so perhaps the external CD player would not work with earlier operating systems.

Suggest purchasing the floppy set as linked would be the best option and seeing if they will work with the SE. SE 30's did have the 1.4MB floppy drive and that is what is in Nick's link.
 
Joined
Oct 20, 2006
Messages
1,517
Reaction score
34
Points
48
The SCSI port is looking for a SCSI device. Thats why you have to use the Apple brand CD drive, It has the Apple native firmware built into the drive. You must use the key strokes Apple+Shift+Option+Del at start up. This bypass the internal hard disc and will boot from the cd. It might work or may not if someone has upgraded the machines firmware in the past. Easier than making floppies. As Im like the only one who still has OS floppies. {From The Macintosh Bible 6th edition 1996}
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top