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    Great Puma (Level 12) c0ldb33r's Avatar
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    Default quick Macintosh question

    I got a free Macintosh not long ago. It came with an external FDD. I didn't test it until last weekend.

    I turned it on and it made a mice little noise, the screen came on and it showed a little floppy with a ? mark.

    I don't have any discs for it, nor do I have a keyboard or mouse. I was going to check ebay for this stuff, but before I do that, is there anything special that I should know?

    the mouse looks like a normal serial mouse and the keyboard port looks like a modem port. Weird. was this proprietary to appe or were there 3rd party ones?

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    Cherry (Level 1) phreakindee's Avatar
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    The '?' floppy is asking for the OS disk. You'll need one in order to use it. Judging by the type of machine you have (128/512/Plus/SE/etc) you'll need to choose an appropriate OS and either make a copy of the disk with another Mac or just go the ebay or collector's forum route (I recommend 68kMLA for all your old Mac needs)

    The mouse and keyboard are both proprietary. There were third-party devices for later Macs that used ADB ports, but it doesn't sound like yours is one of those. You'll likely need something like the M0110 for the keyboard and M0100 mouse. There are many variations and depending on your model you may want/need otherwise.
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    Great Puma (Level 12) c0ldb33r's Avatar
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    Default

    So if it says ? does that mean it works?

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    Red (Level 21) Jorpho's Avatar
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    Weren't you just posting about this six weeks ago?
    http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137158

    I shall re-iterate my point that you really can't do anything particularly useful with this Macintosh and would be much better served by pretty much any later model.

    It is impossible to say much about the computer's functionality without a boot disk, and even if you can find an appropriate download, it is impossible to make a boot disk yourself without a second functional Macintosh with a floppy drive.
    "There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." --Bertrand Russel (attributed)

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    Default

    How odd this topic shows up, I just got an iMac G3/350 today with the same error, and as here, it means it needs a system disc/disk.

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    Great Puma (Level 12) c0ldb33r's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jorpho View Post
    Weren't you just posting about this six weeks ago?
    http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137158

    I shall re-iterate my point that you really can't do anything particularly useful with this Macintosh and would be much better served by pretty much any later model.
    Yeah I know.

    Until recently I didn't know that the system would even boot. I was originally going to destroy it and just use the case for some fun modification, a new PC, etc... but knowing that it might work changes things. I just can't kill the retro computer.

    Maybe I'll see if I can give it away.

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    Alex (Level 15) boatofcar's Avatar
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    Your biggest obstacle is going to be finding the system boot disks. I did some searching on ebay and came up with nothing.

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    Red (Level 21) Jorpho's Avatar
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by c0ldb33r View Post
    Until recently I didn't know that the system would even boot.
    Did you do something to it that changed this behavior? See, now that you mention it, it's possible that the BIOS battery is dead. I've seen Macs that get real finicky when the battery dies, but I don't know if it's a problem with the ancient, original model Macs.
    "There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." --Bertrand Russel (attributed)

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