Mac SE FDHD asks for floppy disk to boot

The Macintosh SE FDHD should work with any system between 6.0.3 and 7.5.5 (see https://support.apple.com/en-us/112181).

You mentioned creating a floppy on an old Mac. Was that the PowerBook 150? Any other Macintosh models available?

The Network Access Disk 7.5 is just one possible startup floppy. Apple's Disk Copy 4.2 can be used for making a properly sector-copied floppy from a disk image.

(download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/Utilities/Network_Access_Disk_7.5.txt)

(download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/Utilities/Disk_Copy/Disk_Copy_4.2.txt)

Disk Copy 4.2 is very reliable when used with internal floppy drives in Macintosh computers (the Make A Copy button after an image file has been loaded). If you encounter a problem with Disk Copy 4.2 when experimenting with a USB floppy drive, you could perhaps try Disk Copy 6.3.3 as an alternative.

download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/Utilities/Disk_Copy/Disk_Copy_6.3.3.smi.bin

Under Disk Copy 6.3.3, insert an empty 1.4 MB floppy into the USB drive before checking whether a Make a Floppy command has been made available in the menu.

Thank you for the information.

Are you possibly running Mac OS 8.6 or 9.x on the iMac G3? If so, would it be correct to assume that you have a working and appropriate version of StuffIt Expander on that computer? In that case you may want to check whether a properly sector-copied Network Access 1.4 MB floppy can be created in the (USB) floppy drive connected to the iMac. Look upon this as an experiment, since the Power Macintosh 7200 with a built-in floppy drive is not working.

You would need to locate Disk Copy 4.2 and Network Access 7.5 files to do that. Earlier, these were downloadable here:

download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/Utilities/Disk_Copy/Disk_Copy_4.2.sea.bin

download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/Utilities/Network_Access_Disk_7.5.sea.bin

If you download MacBinary (.bin) files on another computer for transfer to the iMac G3, make sure that nothing is decoded/decompressed until on this iMac. The .bin is for protection, so do not alter anything earlier. Once on the iMac G3, drag the .bin files onto the StuffIt Expander icon for decoding. After decoding and decompression, a Network Access image file should be the result. Via the Disk Copy 4.2 utility, it is then possible to create a floppy from that image file.

FranOS9 (author)

Perhaps the unit requires a newer type floppy and also systems

files for that specific unit. Since I've repaired donated traded: 500+

older Apple and earlier Mac systems, with vintage SW versions.

There used to be many sources; now I see most that were common

condensed to other sources. OWC and Fixit are two among several

with ideas. To make this simple for me, & I've offline chores to do..

Note the FDHD was an upgrade to use higher capacity floppies

while the official disk was made for that model; a disk utility on

a floppy also exists..

.Here's a search result from browser DDG with most details too.

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ftsa&q=Mac+SE+FDHD+boot+system+version+on+floppy&ia=web

Macintosh SE - Wikipedia

Macintosh SE FDHD OS | Vintage Computer Federation Forums

SOLVED: Startup problem with floppy? blinking - Macintosh SE FDHD

How to make Macintosh SE FDHD boot from external floppy ... - Reddit

-- I'm out of time, have an appointment; and Wx chances of freezing

rain/ice fog; plus snow is also working its way, again to sea-level here.

FranOS9 (author)

This link works when 'dragged & dropped' into an empty browser window & then a download..

download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/Utilities/Disk_Copy/Disk_Copy_4.2.sea.bin

..goes into your (computer or device) 'downloads' folder. This works here with three web

browsers in Mac mini 2012. Firefox ESR; Brave (& vintage Safari v 13.1.2 macOS10.13.6)

[So the other link should also. I'd use this as tool, to get the best one first.]

+= edited 2x =+

You would use an empty double-sided high density (often called 2HD or just HD) diskette. This could be a Mac-formatted 1.4 MB floppy, perhaps re-formatted via Erase Disk under Mac OS 8.6 or 9.x. However, the exact first formatting may not matter that much since a Disk Copy utility should write over earlier floppy contents with the disk image (a Mac disk), so even originally DOS/PC-formatted HD diskettes ought to work. When a USB drive is used (instead of an internal Macintosh floppy drive), the situation is a bit special, so you would just have to carry out a few experiments.

Hello,

Thank you for your reply, I have an old not working 7200 need a new power brick that cost... The powerbook only reads one of the floppy and crashes after I checked what's inside

Since I have an external Floppy reader/writer I rarely used when I bought my iMac G3 as CDs came fast, I tried to create floppies on the iMac following a tube video yet I have files that fill up the floppy but unreadable by the Macintosh so there might be something to do I don't really get..

I have all the system 7 floppies and are all ejected like they can't be read (I don't know)

I bought a few supposed to be 6 but it's impossible to tell which system is on those . After 20 years I started the powerbook that worked fine and asked me a floppy as the battery was kind of dying once I took it out the computer started again.

I'm wondering if that might be the issue for the Macintosh, MY iMac G3 works without battery..

I have downloaded many images of the OS that takes more than one floppy yet I would need to get a way to recreated a disk.

Thanks again for all the information

Hello

Thank you for your informations, yeah internet links have sometimes died or moved, it's a long search but with all the users in the community I thought I could have some hints I may have lost

cheers

Hello,

Thank you for the links and informations, I'll try this.

I missed that disk copy when I made the floppies, so I hope this will give me a clue on what's happening. Glad to know apple keeps those links as someone sent me text files about it but no link.

regards

Thank you for the info, I'm going to check that. Was just wondering of the format to use with the floppy. I try the dos since it"s an old Mac and other formats as I have no clue which one would work. It changed with the m series from the ppc n intel..

FranOS9

non sequitur /nŏn sĕk′wĭ-tər, -too͝r″/

A conversational literary device, often used for comedic purposes.

It is something said that, because of its apparent lack of meaning

relative to what preceded it, seems absurd to the point of being

humorous or confusing -continued in wikipedia version 1.

-continued in Wikipedia version 2.

.Most of your back & forth seems akin to this type of inquiry.

Sorry if English is not your primary focus in communication.

Hello, I don't understand this message. I always copy and paste on safari and it downloads straight away. You may have seen a post that is not mine...