Old Macintosh Startup Error \ VOGONS

Old Macintosh Startup Error

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First post, by glitch10000

Posted on 2019-04-08, 23:52

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Howdy,

I have a Macintosh LC520 that I turned on for the first time today (First time for me at least - Finding an ADB keyboard for cheap was tough for me). Initially everything booted up fine - I was greeted with the desktop and a file explorer of sorts. However, after a minute of startup time, The system clicked off. I reset the psu and turned it on, and i was greeted with a little floppy icon with a question mark symbol in it.

From what I guessed, and what I found online, is that it can't read the OS on the HDD (It boots from the HDD, not a boot floppy).

It was just reading it a minute before, and now even after a few reboots and a HDD reseat it still can't find it. So, what the heck? is there a recovery place i can get to on startup, or did I see the HDD die a minute after waking up from its sleep? Anyone have any insight into this kind of problem? Thanks in advance.

Also, If the drive is dead, how am I going to get a new copy of the OS to shove on a new drive?

PS, The HDD was being noticeably clicky while it worked, but I wasn't sure if that was just due to it being old, or if that's just how the old IDE drives sounded (ill assume its IDE)

Reply 1 of 7, by JonathonWyble

Posted on 2019-04-09, 00:13

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Is its operating system missing? Was there a valid floppy disk inserted? I'm no expert, but sometimes, with machines as old as that one, its operating system can sometimes become damaged, buggy, or corrupt after years of inactivity. I could be wrong, though.

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Reply 2 of 7, by glitch10000

Posted on 2019-04-09, 00:39

glitch10000 Offline

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JonathonWyble wrote:
Is its operating system missing? Was there a valid floppy disk inserted? I'm no expert, but sometimes, with machines as old as that one, its operating system can sometimes become damaged, buggy, or corrupt after years of inactivity. I could be wrong, though.

I had the OS working just fine the first time I turned it on. The desktop and whatnot was there, and the file explorer showed the root directory. There is not a floppy disk in the system, but since it booted the OS from the HDD, there is no need for a floppy

Reply 3 of 7, by Windows9566

Posted on 2019-04-09, 01:36

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those quantum prodrives (if you have one in your old mac) are prone to failure, the rubber stopper inside turns to goo from age and causes the head mechanism to stick, leading to issues. Too bad those old SCSI drives are hard to find and are pricey. There is SCSI2SD as a alternative.

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Reply 4 of 7, by glitch10000

Posted on 2019-04-09, 02:24

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Windows9566 wrote:
those quantum prodrives (if you have one in your old mac) are prone to failure, the rubber stopper inside turns to goo from age and causes the head mechanism to stick, leading to issues. Too bad those old SCSI drives are hard to find and are pricey. There is SCSI2SD as a alternative.

As a matter of fact, mine is indeed a quantum prodrive, and I did find that issue solved in a youtube video, and i popped mine open, and sure enough, that rubber was 100% goo. I'll try to replace it with something and see what happens when I get the chance

Reply 5 of 7, by retardware

Posted on 2019-04-09, 02:26

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Windows9566 wrote:
those quantum prodrives (if you have one in your old mac) are prone to failure, the rubber stopper inside turns to goo from age and causes the head mechanism to stick, leading to issues. Too bad those old SCSI drives are hard to find and are pricey. There is SCSI2SD as a alternative.

Maybe try giving the drive a rotation impulse in the moment you turn on the computer.
This was a common [temporary] fix with Seagate drives too back then, just to get the data backed up.
Some had to be "started" this way always, others started fine by themselves for a while until the heads again sticked.

Reply 6 of 7, by Byrd

Posted on 2019-04-09, 03:23

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Unusual that it worked OK when you tried it but crashed/stuck heads after that. The fact your machine shut down suggests a marginal PSU.

Reply 7 of 7, by Jo22

Posted on 2019-04-09, 03:35

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As much as I like old HHDs, I have to agree. Old HDDs often have the highest power draw, expecially the power surge during start-up/spin-up phase.
Some of them even exceed the PSU ratings by default (for a short moment, which new PSUs can handle, but aged ones not so anymore).
So if someone has an aged PSU and can't replace, fix or "refurbish" it, changing the HDD to something less energy-hungry cn help.

Edit: About that rubber/goo thing.. So THAT's why they called them "fixed" disks. 😉

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