I just got a mac classic from a rummage sale, free! Any way I turn it on and all I get is the mouse and a floppy disk icon with a flashing question mark. Anybody know how I can get this baby to work?
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do you have the keyboard if so try starting it up while holding the Command (apple key), option, X, and O keys
Sounds like it may not have a harddrive. Maybe the previous owner removed it before he gave it away.
but the guy i go it from said that just one day it started doing this.
Ok so i got it to boot from the rom, but now what do i do? how do i get the computer to work from normal start up?
I have always wanted one of those. in fact, I'm getting one tommarow for free (system 7.0, 4096k ram). I love the fact you can boot from rom.
if you want a SSW on the hard drive, first, go to http://www.info.apple.com/support/oldersoftwarelist.html
click down to the System Software Downloads area, and choose your poisin. the Classic can use anything from 6.0.8-7.5.5. Actully, to use system 6, it needs a special version, called 6.0.8L, which can be gotten here.
actually, the SSW in rom is 6.0.3, but it is a special version that is made only for the Classic. if you want, you can copy it to a floppy, and use that as your regular SSW.
so, what you need to do, is when booted from rom, click on the apple menu and select "About this macintosh". look at the entry that says "Built in Memory". this can be 1,024K, 2,048K, 3,072K or 4,096k. if you find out this, I can figure out the optimal SSW for you, but it will usually 7.0.1-7.1.
so, go download one of those system sets. they are usually on 1-4 floppy images. once they are downloaded, use Disc Copy to mount them, and then copy the contents over to a real floppy. Then, boot off the floppy that you copied the contents from the "disk tools" image, and format the hard drive using Drive Setup.
then, restart, and boot off the "install" or "install 1" disk, and install your software. follow the directions, and you should be o.k.
hope this helps. -digital
First things first: find out if it even HAS a harddrive. One realatively easy way to do that is to listen for the whine/whir it would make as it spins up. If it's the stock old Quantum that those shipped with, it may have suffered "sticktion" and may need to be removed from the Mac and jostled a bit to get it to break free and spin up. My Classic suffered just this problem.
The Classic shipped in two varieties, the 1MB with the 1.44MB SuperDrive, and the 2MB with the 40MB SCSI HDD. Hope and pray that you have a 2MB version. Boot from ROm and check "About This Mac" to see how muc RAM you have. If it is a 2MB then it includes the RAM expansion card allowing a further 2MB to be added for a total of 4MB. It also means you should have a HDD in there. If it's only got 1MB you most likely don't have a HDD, and you would also be missing the RAM board.
Like I mentioned above, hope and pray it's a 2 megger, as that will ease much suffering from a bare, low spec Classic.