So here is the scenario, I have an idea for a project, that project needs a classic Macintosh computer, so I picked a couple 68k compact macs from the local recyclers for a dollar each (ones really dead, atm) the one that functions is a Macintosh SE, with a dead hard disk and a funky 800k floppy disk

With no other working Mac's in the house how do I get this thing to boot??

In the following instructable I will show you how to do it using a apple formatted and apple  firmware installed hard disk, a pc running ubuntu, a pc SCSI card, and a emulator so you can transfer the hard drive to a Macintosh SE and have it boot

This is a narrowly focused instructable that should apply to any classic Macintosh with a SCSI hard disk and that can run system 7.0 but I have no way to test it so run wild with it

Also you can use this information to take a hard disk out of a failed computer and retrieve information off of that disk (as long as the hard disk is still ok)

This instructable also gets sorta complicated, it requires specific things and software, but it is much better than the alternative in this case, which is 800k floppy disk drive (dont have another mac) apple firmware SCSI cd rom (dont have), or have "someone" snail mail me a floppy disk (bah!)

So if you are still with me ... shall we?

Step 1: Requirements

one working HFS or HFS+ formatted SCSI hard disk with apple firmware
one Macintosh computer with a SCSI interface (target) capable of running system 7
one pc with linux installed and SCSI interface (host)

What I used:
80MB hard disk out of my dead performa, it would boot but was just a minimal install to only work on the performa 200 / classic 2, so my SE would halt

Macintosh SE, 800k floppy so I could not just make a boot disk, if your computer has a "super disk" you can just download image files on your pc and make floppy boot disks, 800k disks require a different drive mechinism that IBM heritage pc's do not support

A amd X64 running ubuntu 9.10, and a compaq scsi card, yes you probably can use other flavours of nix, but that is out of the scope of this article


Ubuntu linux www.ubuntu.com/

Basilisk II  (apt - get)

Sytem7.0.smi.bin  download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/System/Older_System/System_7.0.x/

Basilisk II starter disk www.emaculation.com/articles/starterdisk.zip

Basilisk II compatible rom, these rom images can only come from a mac you own, course if you can not boot how can you get them?? I googled some shady looking sites and finally found a rom image for a "performa" which works fine with the emulator

I am going to link it here unless instructables says something, only with the understanding that you are only going to use it to bootstrap your real physical classic Macintosh computer, and not just leech it for emulator usage, if you do its your own butt, I claim no responsibility for the use of this outside of booting your machine

Great guide! Going to try and fix up my old SE, I would have a problem with getting files onto it though after installing system 7, do you know if it is possible to do it through Linux after the install?
yes you can, I dont go though much though, just copying the disk images or archives over to the drive and letting the mac do all the work, option B is what I use all the time, a simple null modem cable, Zterm on the mac, and a terminal program on the PC (like minicom or cute com, anything that supports file transfers). Its slow but its easier than taking the whole thing apart every time I wanna try out a new game
I have a SE/30 how the Heck do you get those things apart because I need to Change out the HardDrive i have another one to change out with another SCSI Drive.
there are 4 screws on the back, they use a T10 (i think) torx driver, 2 of the screws are inside the handle part so you need a screwdriver that can reach a good 6 inches and still have room for your hand...<br><br>I use a bit epoxied into a foot long metal tube...<br><br>Once the screws are out, lay the mac down on its face, put a hand on each side, lightly press in and yank up a time or 2 and the bucket will pop loose. Be careful though there is a CRT neck right next to your hard drive, bump it good enough and you will have a very bad day. Also there is a bleeder for the CRT so if you leave it off and unplugged for a few hours the tube *should* be safe.
I have an SE too, but mine has the dual 800k drives instead of an internal SCSI disk. I did get an external SCSI hard drive though, and I plugged that into my PowerMac G3 All-In-One (the bridge between the older comps and the newer ones) and installed that way (running OS9 on the G3)
How did you get them from the recyclers? Do they sell them? I have a project too and need one of these! Ebay is wayyy tooooo expensive!
The recycler in my town buys and sells to the public, so I just walked in said hey and wandered around for a while Totally depends on the operation, these are a few country boys who only really care about scrap metal from pallettes of pc's, whereas a more professional center may not even let you in the door
ver detailed and well documented! this is some good information, even though i use pc's, this will be some handy info for future reference

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