Author: Bill Davies, MacNexus MUG
Date: December 1989
Keywords: write protection startup disk disks
Text: Does anyone know of a chastity belt for floppies? The only sure-fire protection I've found from Apple's system software is the write-protect tab. Here's what I wrote in my column for the October issue of MacNexus Interface: "This month's pet peeve is startup disks. As I sit here in my silicon castle, completely detached from anything that is not a silicon molecule, I ponder why Apple can't make us a decent startup disk in under 800k. "And it is not only the lack of a startup disk, but the fact that under System 6.0.3, they've become volatile. What works as a startup disk on Tuesday may not boot my computer on Wednesday. In fact, I just ruined two startup floppies that I had on hand trying to install SUM II. The resource handling scheme obviously confused other information on the disk, since the next time I used those floppies, my computer spit them out and booted from the hard drive instead. "I consider this an intrusion and a waste of my time. Back with System 4.2, a startup disk was a startup disk was a startup disk. There is too much going on behind the scenes now, and no one is willing to answer any questions, much less provide a simple solution. The only way I can get a boot floppy these days is to make a sector copy of the original Apple System 6.0.3 disk and then delete the files that I do not want from the copy. "Even using Apple's installer won't get me a disk that will start my computer. To those who share my frustration with this (you'd have to have a temperamental hard drive like me to understand what I go through), let me know who you are and we'll put our molecules together in search of a solution." Any clues on this issue would be much appreciated.
Copyright © December 1989 by Bill Davies, MacNexus MUG