[SOLVED] Need help with Mac Classic SCSI2SD setup

[RetroNinja]

Any Mac people here? I wound up with a Mac Classic model 1420. I think it has a bad/dead hard drive. I would like to install a SCSI2SD but I have questions.

It seems I need to

1. get a patched installer disk
2. configure SD with an old Mac 'approved' settings for HDD
3. initialize the system with the patched installer disk
4. install the OS

Or, can I use the Mac 7.0.1 image from Archive.org (https://archive.org/details/AppleMacintoshSystem701) and just write that image to SD partition? The image is a 10MB drive. Would I create a partition that size? Can I put it on a larger partition (900MB) then expand from 10 to 900MB?

If the first batch of steps, is there an easy way to get a patched installer (HDD partitioning/formatting) floppy disk(image?)? I have no other Macs so even if I do download an installer I'm not sure how to get it to a FDD. Does this become a rabbit hole? >>> install a gotek, add the installer to there, add the SCSI2SD, use that to format, then perform an OS install?

Lastly, I haven't checked yet, is there a sister-site named MacBay?

 

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Have you made any progress with this?

I may be able to help. I have not tried any of this but do have a number of older Macs.

Let me know, I am intrigued with the idea of replacing the SCSI drive. I have several but know that they will not last forever.

 

[RetroNinja]

I wound up finding an image of a basic Mac 7.5 OS partition online. From there I wrote it to the SD card. It boots fine now. Here's some notes from that project...

• see --- https://www.savagetaylor.com/2018/0...lassic-68k-macintosh-using-a-scsi2sd-adapter/
• from the link above I found a basic 7.5.5 OS image; I used Disks to write the image to a 4GB SD card; inserted the SCSI2SD into the Mac and it booted; YAY! it generate an error about Adobe Type Manager not installable (didn't care)
• I tried just copying the 7.0.1 OS image from archive.org to the SD card, no go; I wasn't sure if the SCSI2SD was smart enough to just read the compressed image or if it had to be extracted; think of the way some apps/OS can read a ZIP file without formally extracting it or the way FlashFloppy can read+write to an Amiga ADF file

NOTE I was thinking I would need to program the SCSI2SD card with proper settings for it to read the image written on the SD card, nope, it worked auto-magically

NOTE: in a Mac Classic the SCSI cable provides power for the SCSI2SD, you DO NOT need a berg power cable



I use LinuxMInt as my daily driver, that is for reference to the tool 'Disks'. I *think* I used https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4732699 as the SCSI2SD to 3.5 adapter plate. As I recall the partition wrote out as to 2GB even though the SD card is 4GB. I read some things about 2GB being the max a base Mac OS could see. And, I didn't care about wasting 2GB of space on the card.

 

[RetroNinja]

Have you made any progress with this?

I may be able to help. I have not tried any of this but do have a number of older Macs.

Let me know, I am intrigued with the idea of replacing the SCSI drive. I have several but know that they will not last forever.

Can you attach the SCSI2SD and the SCSI drive to the same bus in a Mac Classic? I would imagine so. Ideally you could copy the 'old' HDD to the 'new ' SD card. I'm not sure how you initialize/prep a drive to make it bootable for Mac though.

For me, every time I've attached a HDD and a SCSI2SD on the same bus I would HAVE to plug in power to the SCSI2SD card. It seems like power through the SCSI cable is fine if you only have a SCSI2SD but not enough if there are multiple devices on the SCSI bus.

 

[microcode]

You should be able to connect both to the same bus. Just need to make sure they have different SCSI ID's and that the last device in the physical chain has the SCSI terminator installed. Power should not be an issue as the power is supplied through the large 4 pin molex connectors.