I have a Macintosh 512k. The floppy drive has the yellow plastic disk-shaped piece inserted in the floppy drive. After turning it on, I see the disk icon with the question mark and it sounds like the floppy drive is trying to read the 'disk'. The icon then changes to a disk with an 'x' and the drive never ejects the plastic insert. The sound of the drive never changes. The sound is constant.

1. Putting A Manual Eject Floppy In A Mac Se Computer
2. Putting A Manual Eject Floppy In A Mac Serial

SE miscellaneous problems. When I put a floppy disk in my Mac SE's drive, nothing happens. It is even possible to eject the floppy disk without responding to.

I try to manually eject the plastic insert using a paper clip inserted in the hole next to the disk slot. I am unable to manually eject the plastic insert.

I have read on this forum that sometimes the drive needs lubricating or that a gear in the drive mechanism becomes stripped.

1. Aug 16, 2015  This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.
2. It needs to be an 'auto insert' drive, the kind that grabs the disk from you when you put it in the slot, not a 'manual insert' one. Your SE has two floppy disk drives and no hard drive. There is a 'boot disk' in one of the drives, but it is a 1.4MB disk and your SE's floppy drive can only read 800k disks.
3. You can use a SuperDrive with Mac mini (late 2009) and later, MacBook Pro with Retina Display, MacBook Air, iMac (Late 2012) and later, and Mac Pro (Late 2013) computers. Note that there is no eject button on these models to eject a disc. In order to eject you can Control-click or right-click the disc icon and choose Eject from the menu that.
4. If your computer has an eject key on the keyboard, restart the computer again, this time holding the eject key. Open a Terminal window and type in drutil tray eject. If neither of the above work to eject the CD, MacRumors has additional information on how to Force Eject a Stuck CD or DVD.
5. The drive was fitted in every desktop Mac from its introduction and was eliminated with the introduction of the iMac in 1998. PowerPC Macs dropped the original auto-inject Sony drives and went to a manual inject mechanism. Macintosh HDI-20 External 1.4MB Floppy Disk Drive.

I popped the case, but the drive is inaccessible.

Any ideas on 1) How to get the plastic insert out, and 2) Whether it is likely the drive would be able to read an actual disk.

Thanks

null-OTHER, Mac OS 8.6 or Earlier, Macintosh 512k

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Access Your Floppy Disks with a Vintage Apple Computer Drive

Floppy disks were a common method of storing data on some vintage Apple computers. These disks can be read by most original Apple floppy disk drive models. If you have floppy disks that you would like to read or edit, understanding what drives from this company are available to you, how they work, and what functions you can perform may help you find the model of Apple drive that suits your needs and preferences.

Computer drives that accept floppy disks are usually named for the size of the disks that they can read. A 3.5-inch floppy drive can read disks that have 3.5-inch dimensions. They may be formatted for a PC or for an Apple computer but cannot be read by both. The actual dimensions of the original drives are slightly different from their designations. You can see the manufacturer's site for details. Some common dimensions of these products include:

• 8.0 - This form factor is 4.6 inches high and 9.5 inches wide. It may be used for larger floppy disks.
• Full - Original full-sized floppy disk computer bays are 3.25 inches high and 5.75 inches wide. They are named after the 5.25-inch floppy computer disk.
• 3.5 - 3.5-inch computer drive bays are an inch in height and approximately 4 inches wide. You may be able to use an adapter to connect one of these bays to your computer and access your floppy disks.

The precise steps for installing a floppy drive on your Mac can vary depending on the model you own. However, the steps below provide a basic outline that may help you complete the process:

Putting A Manual Eject Floppy In A Mac Se Computer

• Remove the cover - You may need to use a screwdriver to unscrew and remove the front panel from your computer's tower.
• Locate the drive bay - Locate an empty bay that you wish to use for the floppy drive.
• Install the drive - Your vintage drive should have connectors at one end. Push these connectors through the opening in the Mac's drive bay, then insert the drive itself. Connect the drive's power supply and ribbon cable to the motherboard.
• Add the drive - You now need to add the drive so your Mac recognizes it as part of the system. Your computer's BIOS may need an update to do this. You can follow the instructions on the screen to apply the update.

Putting A Manual Eject Floppy In A Mac Serial

You may be able to format a new floppy disk in your Mac computer using the following steps:

• Insert - Place a disk in the drive. Check that it is facing the correct direction.
• Erase - Open the utility tool, select the floppy disk from the menu, and click 'Erase.'
• Format - Select the volume standard you wish to use and click 'Format.'