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Mac Forum / General / Hardware / September 2004Sharing data between Macs and PCs on diskettes
Anyone know of any methods that files can be shared on diskettes between an older Mac (without USB) and a new PC (running Windows 2000)? Both have internal diskette drives. > Anyone know of any methods that files can be shared on diskettes > between an older Mac (without USB) and a new PC (running Windows > 2000)? Both have internal diskette drives. No problem. Just format the diskette on the Windows machine. The Mac will be able to read a PC-formatted diskette, but Windows does not read Mac-formatted diskettes without extra software.  SignatureJohan W. Elzenga johan<<at>>johanfoto.nl Editor / Photographer http://www.johanfoto.nl/ > No problem. Just format the diskette on the Windows machine. The Mac > will be able to read a PC-formatted diskette, but Windows does not read > Mac-formatted diskettes without extra software. Johan, thanks for your reply. But we had tried that, and the Mac could not read the diskette. Is it possible that this particular Mac (a Performa 6214) is too old, i.e., was Windows compatibility introduced later in the Mac line? Anyone know the details (names, Web sites) of the Windows software for reading Mac-formatted diskettes? > > No problem. Just format the diskette on the Windows machine. The Mac > > will be able to read a PC-formatted diskette, but Windows does not read [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > (a Performa 6214) is too old, i.e., was Windows compatibility > introduced later in the Mac line? No, Windows compatibility should be present on this machine. It has the 'superdrive' (1.44 Mb diskette drive) needed for that. If it doesn't work, it may be that you did not install the system software properly. There are a few extensions needed for Windows compatibility. SignatureJohan W. Elzenga johan<<at>>johanfoto.nl Editor / Photographer http://www.johanfoto.nl/ > No, Windows compatibility should be present on this machine. It has the > 'superdrive' (1.44 Mb diskette drive) needed for that. If it doesn't > work, it may be that you did not install the system software properly. > There are a few extensions needed for Windows compatibility. Yup. Some of them may be in a folder labeled "Extensions (disabled)" or something similar, so with some luck a complete reinstall won't be necessary. SignatureMathias Rongved www.rongved.com Are you using single-density or double-density disks? > Are you using single-density or double-density disks? Double-density diskettes. Does it make a difference? At first I assumed their Mac was so old as to only be using 1D, but it turns out to be 2D. > > No problem. Just format the diskette on the Windows machine. The Mac > > will be able to read a PC-formatted diskette, but Windows does not read [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > (a Performa 6214) is too old, i.e., was Windows compatibility > introduced later in the Mac line? The ability to read DOS diskettes has been part of the stock OS install on a Mac since at least 1988. One of the problems with floppies is that heads drift and over time it's entirely possible for the head drift on two drives to result in a situation where they can't read each others' data. Another possibility occurs: Apple is fussy about doing HD if and only if the floppy is HD media. Windows machines, in my experience, have been less picky. Is it possible you've got a DD disk formatted HD or vice-versa? G SignatureStandard output is like your butt. Everyone has one. When using a bathroom, they all default to going into a toilet. However, a person can redirect his "standard output" to somewhere else, if he so chooses. - Jeremy Nixon Thanks for the replies! No, I'm pretty sure the diskettes are formatted correctly. The free space indicated is ~ 1.4 MB. As a test (when I see my folks next), I'm going to give them a PC diskette with a binary file that the Mac should recognize (e.g., a JPEG? or a GIF?), and let them try to see the file when the diskette is in the Mac. Also, have them give me a diskette (verified to have 1.4+ MB free) with a binary file, and see if my PC (using TransMac v6.1 (http://www.asy.com/)) can see the file. Any thoughts on that approach? > Thanks for the replies! No, I'm pretty sure the diskettes are > formatted correctly. The free space indicated is ~ 1.4 MB. That may be a problem. In another post, you wrote: > > Are you using single-density or double-density disks? > > Double-density diskettes. Does it make a difference? At first I > assumed their Mac was so old as to only be using 1D, but it turns out > to be 2D. Double-density is 1MB unformatted; 800k for Macs (assuming double-sided) and 720k for DOS/Windows (and 880k for Amiga, for the sake of completeness). A double-density diskette formatted as if it's HD and then put into an HD drive on a Mac will fail. Historical info: Stock Mac drives were SSDD in early 1984, DSDD in late 1985 and DSHD in, IIRC, late 1989. G SignatureStandard output is like your butt. Everyone has one. When using a bathroom, they all default to going into a toilet. However, a person can redirect his "standard output" to somewhere else, if he so chooses. - Jeremy Nixon > Double-density is 1MB unformatted; 800k for Macs (assuming double-sided) > and 720k for DOS/Windows (and 880k for Amiga, for the sake of > completeness). A double-density diskette formatted as if it's HD and > then put into an HD drive on a Mac will fail. Sorry, my mistake. I read 'double-density' and was thinking '2HD'. I believe they are DSHD; will confirm. (That's a problem with being family tech support out-of-state! :) I found a couple of Windows apps that supposedly can read Mac diskettes (e.g., TransMac), so that might work. >> Double-density is 1MB unformatted; 800k for Macs (assuming >> double-sided) and 720k for DOS/Windows (and 880k for Amiga, for the >> sake of completeness). A double-density diskette formatted as if >> it's HD and then put into an HD drive on a Mac will fail. ... unless you punch a media-sense hole in the plastic at just the right place. Then a normal HD drive will recognize it as an HD disk. AFAIK, the only HD drives that would use the HD format without a media-sense hole in the disk were the ones IBM put in their PS/2 systems. Every other 1.44M drive I've ever seen uses the hole to determine the format that will be used and won't let software override that choice. > Sorry, my mistake. I read 'double-density' and was thinking '2HD'. > I believe they are DSHD; will confirm. (That's a problem with being > family tech support out-of-state! :) > > I found a couple of Windows apps that supposedly can read Mac > diskettes (e.g., TransMac), so that might work. A PC can read 1.44M Mac disks. The method for encoding disk blocks is the same, so you only need file system support. Most Linux distributions include Mac HFS file system support. And as you've discovered, there are Windows programs that will also do it. -- David |
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