5 ms·

This is great because I have a Mac SE/30 with a 800K drive and no way to create 800K disks for it using images off the Internet. Which means a lot to me.

peterburkimsher 6y ago
In my case, I used a Mac LC as the 800k floppy <-> SCSI interface, because I already had one in the collection. It's more bulky than the FluxEngine adaptor though! The full route from Internet to Mac SE 800k floppies was: WiFi -> MacBook Pro 2014 -> USB-PATA hard drive -> PowerBook G3 Wallstreet (screwdrivers) -> SCSI HDI-30 to DB-25 adaptor -> SCSI hard drive -> Mac LC -> 800k floppy -> Mac SE. The SCSI drive had to be formatted Mac OS Standard (HFS) not Mac OS Extended (HFS+) if I remember right. Copying data each way took half an hour, so the FluxEngine would be a lot smaller and quicker.
- toast0 6y ago
  No ethernet or appletalk or serial? First transfer might still need all that machinery, but after that, a lot less work.
betamaxthetape 6y ago
This is why I was so excited when I heard about this. I have a Mac Classic II in the role of "transfer station" - it has a SuperDrive (the floppy drive, not the CD/DVD drive), so can read both standard IBM 1.44MB disks as well as the Mac 800K ones. But it's been getting a bit temperamental recently, mainly due to failing capacitors and an old SCSI hard drive. FluxEngine completely eliminates the need for it - I can download a 800k system disk image, write it to a physical floppy disk, and use that. What's more, transferring individual files is easy now too: I can read back the physical disk to a DiskCopy image, and either mount that in an emulator such as Mini vMac, or convert[1] it to a raw disk image and mount it with hmount[2]. (The reverse process is similar). [1] https://www.bigmessowires.com/2013/12/16/macintosh-diskcopy-4-2-floppy-image-converter/ https://www.bigmessowires.com/2013/12/16/macintosh-diskcopy-... [2] https://linux.die.net/man/1/hfsutils https://linux.die.net/man/1/hfsutils
Lammy 6y ago
> I have a Mac SE/30 with a 800K drive An SE/30 should have a SuperDrive[0] so at the very least you should be able to write a 1.44MB floppy with a Disk Copy 4.2 image file, then restore the image to a 800K GCR diskette from the SE/30. [0] The combo 400K/800K GCR & 1.44MB MFM 3.5" floppy drive, not the combo DVD/CD-RW drive when they recycled the name a decade later: https://www.siber-sonic.com/mac/superfloppy.html https://www.siber-sonic.com/mac/superfloppy.html
- gamache 6y ago
  Some SE/30's are upgraded SE's; these typically feature the original HD and floppy drive. I own one of these, though I upgraded those components in the late 90's.
- cable2600 6y ago
  It is an upgraded SE with the logic board replaced. Same 800K floppy drive internal as an SE.
  - Lammy 6y ago
    Ah I see. You may be able to swap in a SuperDrive still since the SE/30 ROM supports it. I have a dual-800k SE without the FDHD ROM upgrade, so I feel your pain :)
snvzz 6y ago
If your Mac does boot, you can use the mac itself. With a little serial port help, to get the data into it.

peterburkimsher 6y ago

In my case, I used a Mac LC as the 800k floppy <-> SCSI interface, because I already had one in the collection. It's more bulky than the FluxEngine adaptor though! The full route from Internet to Mac SE 800k floppies was: WiFi -> MacBook Pro 2014 -> USB-PATA hard drive -> PowerBook G3 Wallstreet (screwdrivers) -> SCSI HDI-30 to DB-25 adaptor -> SCSI hard drive -> Mac LC -> 800k floppy -> Mac SE. The SCSI drive had to be formatted Mac OS Standard (HFS) not Mac OS Extended (HFS+) if I remember right. Copying data each way took half an hour, so the FluxEngine would be a lot smaller and quicker.

toast0 6y ago
No ethernet or appletalk or serial? First transfer might still need all that machinery, but after that, a lot less work.

betamaxthetape 6y ago

This is why I was so excited when I heard about this. I have a Mac Classic II in the role of "transfer station" - it has a SuperDrive (the floppy drive, not the CD/DVD drive), so can read both standard IBM 1.44MB disks as well as the Mac 800K ones. But it's been getting a bit temperamental recently, mainly due to failing capacitors and an old SCSI hard drive. FluxEngine completely eliminates the need for it - I can download a 800k system disk image, write it to a physical floppy disk, and use that. What's more, transferring individual files is easy now too: I can read back the physical disk to a DiskCopy image, and either mount that in an emulator such as Mini vMac, or convert[1] it to a raw disk image and mount it with hmount[2]. (The reverse process is similar). [1] https://www.bigmessowires.com/2013/12/16/macintosh-diskcopy-4-2-floppy-image-converter/ https://www.bigmessowires.com/2013/12/16/macintosh-diskcopy-... [2] https://linux.die.net/man/1/hfsutils https://linux.die.net/man/1/hfsutils

Lammy 6y ago

> I have a Mac SE/30 with a 800K drive An SE/30 should have a SuperDrive[0] so at the very least you should be able to write a 1.44MB floppy with a Disk Copy 4.2 image file, then restore the image to a 800K GCR diskette from the SE/30. [0] The combo 400K/800K GCR & 1.44MB MFM 3.5" floppy drive, not the combo DVD/CD-RW drive when they recycled the name a decade later: https://www.siber-sonic.com/mac/superfloppy.html https://www.siber-sonic.com/mac/superfloppy.html

gamache 6y ago
Some SE/30's are upgraded SE's; these typically feature the original HD and floppy drive. I own one of these, though I upgraded those components in the late 90's.
cable2600 6y ago
It is an upgraded SE with the logic board replaced. Same 800K floppy drive internal as an SE.
- Lammy 6y ago
  Ah I see. You may be able to swap in a SuperDrive still since the SE/30 ROM supports it. I have a dual-800k SE without the FDHD ROM upgrade, so I feel your pain :)

snvzz 6y ago

If your Mac does boot, you can use the mac itself. With a little serial port help, to get the data into it.