Hello, I have a Powerbook 1400c with no operating system. I would like to install the free system 7.5.3, but I need the Powerbook 1400 system enabler to do so. The system enabler is not on the apple site, believe me I've checked everywhere. If someone has a copy they can email me I would be very grateful.
Thanks!
Although there is no surprise in the fact that Apple's article 11491: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=11491 does not mention a System Enabler for the 1400s—it was written a few years before the 1400s were released—I could find no enabler on the install CD of System 7.5 Update 2, alias System 7.5.3 (although I did not mount the disk images to fossick through them), or the PB 1400-specific CD of OS 7.6.1. The later article 21176: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=21176 paints a gloomy picture, but when you consider that the first of the 1400s supported System 7.5.3 at minimum, and the later enhanced 1400s were shipped with OS 7.6.1, the suspicion is that there are crossed lines in the information. You will not be able to update from 7.5.3:
http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/System/Older_System/System_7.5_Version_7.5.3/
to System 7.5.5, as a Read Me on the download page explains:
http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/System/System_7.5.5_Update/
If you have RAM and hard drive space enough, it is worth planning to go straight to OS 8.5.1 or 8.6 fom the outset. OS 8.6 is far and away the best and most stable OS for the 1400s. I use it even on Sonnet-upgraded 1400s (400MHz). The catch is that you must begin with the reference release OS 8.5, which was not and is not free, but which you will find cheaply if you prowl in the right alleys.