Apple Mac Problem LC 630

Brendan552004

I have an Apple Mac LC 630 running on system 7, no DVD drive, 3.5 A drive has packed up, problem is I have a publication on the computer that I have worked 4 months on.

I have no hard disk problem, everything is there, computer does not have internet access, or USB, just serial and parrallel ports, any ideas on how I can get the publication off the computer.

Maybe someone has an old LC 630 or external storage media for same.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Brendan

Richard

Brendan552004 wrote: »

I have an Apple Mac LC 630 running on system 7, no DVD drive, 3.5 A drive has packed up, problem is I have a publication on the computer that I have worked 4 months on.

I have no hard disk problem, everything is there, computer does not have internet access, or USB, just serial and parrallel ports, any ideas on how I can get the publication off the computer.

Maybe someone has an old LC 630 or external storage media for same.

Any help would be much appreciated.

If you can get another old mac you can create a network using a mac printer cable. Alternatively you may be able to network with a current mac or PC with the correct cable.

The drives in old macs are, I seem to remember, relatively easy to replace so you may be able to get a new one and replace it. The difficulty about getting an external CD or Zip drive is that you may need to install a driver from a floppy.

Is the existing floppy definately packed up? Could you try a new floppy? Could you clean the floppy drive of dust?

Brendan552004

Hi Richard,

Thank you for your reply.

That was what I was thinking, I need another old Mac, send to file instead of printer using the parrallel cable, I have tried the networking, all newer Mac's use a USB type connection. I think I may have a problem finding a replacement A drive, a drive cleaner may solve the problem, but where do I get one.

It will initalise and erase the floppy, but at the end it just stops and says that it cannot read the disk. I have tried Mac system floppys which are pre formatted, but they will not work. Is there anywhere in Dublin that specialises in Mac's.

I know I will have to buy a newer Mac and just try and transfer the info, the main two softwares I use are Quark 3.3 and Filemaker Pro.

Brendan

Richard

Brendan552004 wrote: »

Hi Richard,

Thank you for your reply.

That was what I was thinking, I need another old Mac, send to file instead of printer using the parrallel cable, I have tried the networking, all newer Mac's use a USB type connection. I think I may have a problem finding a replacement A drive, a drive cleaner may solve the problem, but where do I get one.

It will initalise and erase the floppy, but at the end it just stops and says that it cannot read the disk. I have tried Mac system floppys which are pre formatted, but they will not work. Is there anywhere in Dublin that specialises in Mac's.

I know I will have to buy a newer Mac and just try and transfer the info, the main two softwares I use are Quark 3.3 and Filemaker Pro.

Brendan

Maybe you could remove the internal disk from the Mac and buy a USB drive enclosure and attach it to a new mac.

Don't know the ins/outs/risks with that, however.

You will need to check whether recent version of Quark and Filemaker can read your old files. I suspect there may be problems with Filemaker. You might want to try emulating a mac running pre-OSX and install the old versions of Quark and Filemaker on it.

To clean a floppy drive you need something like this:

http://www.lindy-usa.com/31-2-floppy-disk-drive-cleaner/40411.html

You may be able to get it in Ireland, not sure.

You may also find useful info here:

http://main.system7today.com/

MunsterCycling

Post up some pictures of the floppy drive, its connections etc as I may have an old mac that can be cannibalised for a part.

MC

Brendan552004

Thank you both for your help

I have found one floppy that works, the A drive reads it. I am trying to break up my database and export it piece by piece to a word file on my PC, it is comma delimited, if it works at least I have an external backup of sorts. I will also have to do the same with my Quark files, I will have to try and convert them to system 10

Brendan

Richard

Brendan552004 wrote: »

Thank you both for your help

I have found one floppy that works, the A drive reads it. I am trying to break up my database and export it piece by piece to a word file on my PC, it is comma delimited, if it works at least I have an external backup of sorts. I will also have to do the same with my Quark files, I will have to try and convert them to system 10

Brendan

Can you use a zip program to compress the files?

Please let us know how you get on. Good luck!

niallb

Hi Brendan,
there's quite a few options.
I think the 630 has a SCSI port on the back?
25 pin port like a PC printer port?

I might have an external ZIP drive in the attic that'd work for it.
If not, I can certainly find an external SCSI hard-drive.

Other options would be a newer mac laptop like a G3 wallstreet
that has SCSI and can be started in Target mode.
That'd let you copy the contents over, and then restart that mac
in more modern OS to transfer.

Be very cautious about removing the internal drive.
It's rather elderly at this stage.

Do you have zterm installed? If not, it'll definitely fit on a floppy,
and you could use it with a serial cable to copy the file to a PC
or mac using minicom, or hyperterm, or a dozen other programs that support zmodem.
Even if you don't have zterm, if the database is a text file - csv - you could still connect the machine to a PC, set the speed the same at both ends and "print" to a capture file
on the other end.

Let me know where you're based, and I'll see if I can help you along.
If you want to drop out to me with the machine,
I can get the file off for you over a coffee some day.
You may be required to take some junk home with you :-)

Brendan552004

Hi Niall,

thank you very much for your kind reply, I have sent you a PM

I have attached illustration from LC 630 Manual

Brendan