On occasion I come across 128K and 512K (original, not the 512Ke) Macintosh systems. In order to use them I need to create system floppies. I have the various (1.1, 2.0, 3.2, and 4.1) system images along with complimentary software (Paint, Write, Backup, etc.).
In order to create this media I have used my Macintosh IIci (with Super Drive) running System 7.1, Disk Copy 4.2, and the respective disk images. This has worked flawlessly and reliably. However from time to time I have a need to write different floppies for which the software is not yet on the IIci. The problem with using the IIci for this is how do I get the software onto its hard drive. It does not have an ethernet card nor does it have a built in CD drive. I do have an external AppleCD 300 drive which is what I have used in the past. However it's cumbersome as I have to download an image, move it into a disk image with the HFS (not HFS+) filesystem (as System 7.1 cannot read HFS+), burn it to disc, then insert the disc on the IIci. It's not bad but requires me to burn a CD each time I want to move something to the IIci.
In order to improve the process I decided to purchase a PowerMac 7300 which has built in ethernet, an optical drive, and the all important floppy drive (Super Drive). This allows me to download images on a modern system, FTP (using Fetch) them to the 7300, then write them directly to floppy. Or so I thought. Doing the same procedure on the 7300 fails to create a bootable floppy for these older Macs. The 7300 is running System 7.5.5 (the original version which shipped with this system) and, like the IIci, I am using Disk Copy 4.2 to write the images. I use the exact same floppy (not the same kind, the exact same floppy), Disk Copy shows the exact same checksums (Tag and Data), and successfully writes the image to floppy. However when I go to boot the 128K / 512K systems it doesn't recognize the disk and ejects it.
So, I'm wondering what the issue may be. I may upgrade the IIci to System 7.5.5 to determine if the OS version is the issue. However, during my research, I haven't come across anything which would indicate System 7.5.5 could not be used to write Macintosh File System (MFS) images. Perhaps the difference in drives is the issue (they're both Super Drives but different models).
Anyone have any experience and / or thoughts about this? It's not really an issue as I can move the images between the 7300 and IIci on floppy but it would be nice to be able to make floppies directly on the 7300 itself.
In order to create this media I have used my Macintosh IIci (with Super Drive) running System 7.1, Disk Copy 4.2, and the respective disk images. This has worked flawlessly and reliably. However from time to time I have a need to write different floppies for which the software is not yet on the IIci. The problem with using the IIci for this is how do I get the software onto its hard drive. It does not have an ethernet card nor does it have a built in CD drive. I do have an external AppleCD 300 drive which is what I have used in the past. However it's cumbersome as I have to download an image, move it into a disk image with the HFS (not HFS+) filesystem (as System 7.1 cannot read HFS+), burn it to disc, then insert the disc on the IIci. It's not bad but requires me to burn a CD each time I want to move something to the IIci.
In order to improve the process I decided to purchase a PowerMac 7300 which has built in ethernet, an optical drive, and the all important floppy drive (Super Drive). This allows me to download images on a modern system, FTP (using Fetch) them to the 7300, then write them directly to floppy. Or so I thought. Doing the same procedure on the 7300 fails to create a bootable floppy for these older Macs. The 7300 is running System 7.5.5 (the original version which shipped with this system) and, like the IIci, I am using Disk Copy 4.2 to write the images. I use the exact same floppy (not the same kind, the exact same floppy), Disk Copy shows the exact same checksums (Tag and Data), and successfully writes the image to floppy. However when I go to boot the 128K / 512K systems it doesn't recognize the disk and ejects it.
So, I'm wondering what the issue may be. I may upgrade the IIci to System 7.5.5 to determine if the OS version is the issue. However, during my research, I haven't come across anything which would indicate System 7.5.5 could not be used to write Macintosh File System (MFS) images. Perhaps the difference in drives is the issue (they're both Super Drives but different models).
Anyone have any experience and / or thoughts about this? It's not really an issue as I can move the images between the 7300 and IIci on floppy but it would be nice to be able to make floppies directly on the 7300 itself.