Mac Plus floppy drive or disk issues

[mR_Slug]

I've got a pair of Mac Pluses with what I think are floppy drive issues.

I have a couple of floppy disks. One is a game called Gauntlet, the other is a disk someones written "Mac startup disk". The problem is neither of the Macs will boot from the disks. I could have sworn that Gauntlet would just boot up but I may be misremembering.

One of the Macs has an internal HDD. That will boot into system 7.1 where I can read both the disks. But the "Mac startup disk" is empty and Gauntlet doesn't have a system folder.

I've been under the impression that to make a boot disk you just format the disk and copy the system folder across from the HDD. But it's like 5MB, so how do you do this?

Also any tips to solve stiction on an Rodime RO652 type 20A? I tried to lube the motor shaft but there is a huge flywheel on the bottom.

 

[Chuck(G)]

If it's really stiction (heads sticking to the platter), lube won't help. If it's just dry bearings, you might try running the drive upside down for a couple of days (i.e. 48-72 hours straight operation without powering off). Sometimes that will redistribute what lubrication remains.

 

[DFinnigan]

I've been under the impression that to make a boot disk you just format the disk and copy the system folder across from the HDD. But it's like 5MB, so how do you do this?

That's correct. In the Finder, when you copy the System file from a disk that has boot blocks, the target disk receiving the System file also gets the boot blocks. Same for hard disks.

 

[mR_Slug]

The problem is, is that the system folder is too big. I had thought that perhaps the folder dragging was supposed to interpret this as a special action. I.e. It just copies the system files necessary. However it tries to copy everything like a regular folder. I think I may need a system folder for a floppy.

@Dave_M (i think, post was deleted in the forum outage)
Been thru the floppy maintenance procedure. The video you linked to was probably the best at actually showing what to do, but holy crap that's a lot of lithium paste!

@Chuck(G)
I am going on the assumption it's just the bearings at the moment, they are certainty noisy. I will have to find time to run it.

 

[DFinnigan]

The problem is, is that the system folder is too big. I had thought that perhaps the folder dragging was supposed to interpret this as a special action. I.e. It just copies the system files necessary. However it tries to copy everything like a regular folder. I think I may need a system folder for a floppy.

For your Mac Plus to boot, all you need on the disk are: 1.) boot blocks in sectors 0 and 1, System file, Finder file.
These two files don't need to be in a folder; they can be in the root directory.

So you can just copy those two files, and if the disk boots, then you can copy more files as you want, and make a System Folder, etc.

 

[mR_Slug]

The system file alone is over 800K. I'm not sure how MacOS works. Is the system file like the Linux kernel where there are different versions compiled for different uses? There doesn't seem to be a way to split it up.

 

[DFinnigan]

The system file alone is over 800K.

When you boot the Mac with System 7.1 and open the System file in the Finder, do you see a number of files in it, Fonts or Desk Accessories? That could be part of what's making it so large.

I'm not sure how MacOS works. Is the system file like the Linux kernel where there are different versions compiled for different uses? There doesn't seem to be a way to split it up.

The System file is actually the system resource file, containing resources that were not put in the Macintosh ROM, either because they contained localizable text, or they wouldn't fit in limited ROM space, or they needed to be changed. So you'll find things such as icons, windows, cursors, dialogs, strings, patches to the ROM, just to name a few examples. Old versions of the Macintosh system before version 7 also put Desk Accessories and Fonts in the System file, which would greatly increase its size. There is some executable code in the System file, but not much. The bulk of the Macintosh operating system is in ROM, and the Finder file is the graphical shell to the OS. You technically don't need a Finder file on a startup disk; you can set a disk to boot into any application you want that's on the disk.