Hi Matt - sorry for not following up in so long... I wasn't on here for a few days.
More precise info as to when exactly the issue happens would have been useful. Something like powered on, display turns on and counts through memory, lists installed hardware, but as soon as "xyz" happens, the following error appears: "error message."
The info you shared was really just "we have problems from the beginning, but don't want to erase the harddrive" - not much useful info here.
Anyway, like David, I also suspect that you either aren't using the floppy discs in the intended way, or are trying some sort of workaround that clearly doesn’t give the wanted results.
Here are a few things to be aware of, that many seem to stumble over, when trying to do a fresh install of the Mackie OS (I mentioned some of this further above, but repeating to have it all in one place):
1. The D8B requires a custom boot sector to be written, that CANNOT be written in the necessary way, if trying to format the harddrive (or CF card) that is to be installed in the D8B, from a Mac or PC. Yes, the file format is FAT (FAT16, afaik), but while the BIOS will find a PC/Mac formatted drive that the D8B operating system files were copied onto, the Mackie Operating system will NOT BOOT from a drive that was formatted that way. Unless you know how to copy the boot sector from the original drive to the new drive, any such “copy” attempt will not work (...and this isn't based on an EFI that can simply be copied... it's a physical boot sector on the physical drive). (Cloning is an option, though - more on that later).
2. The only way I’m aware of, how this required “custom” boot sector can be written to a new hard drive or CF card, is via the Mackie OS installer, that exists on the first of the 3 installation floppy drives (it was 3 floppies for OS 5.1, right? I forget if it was two for the HDR and 3 for the D8B or the other way around. It's the 1st floppy either way, though).
3. If you need to create a new set of D8B installation floppy disks, there is a VERY common pitfall. The way to create the floppy disks is NOT to download the zip files from the database, and then copy the downloaded/extracted files to the floppy disk. That’s wrong and will fail (but is a very popular approach, haha). Most likely, you’ll get an error, that at least one of the 3 floppies is “full” and that not all the files can be copied over there. If you get that error, you’re doing it wrong.
What you should do INSTEAD, is to a) download and extract those zip files on a PC computer that has an actual, physical floppy drive in it. b) Once extracted, put an empty floppy disk in the floppy drive, then run the application that got extracted from the zip file and follow the instructions… this app will write a stored “Floppy Disk Image” to the actual floppy disk. If done this way, you shouldn’t get any “not enough space” errors.
With all 3 floppy disks having been created without errors, put the first floppy disk back in and find the file “tools.ini” on it. Open the file with either Text Edit or Word Pad (or a proper Editor like BBEdit or something, to avoid having formatting garbage being added into the file), then ADD A NEW LINE after the last line in the file, that says “format:on” (no quotes, all lower case, no spaces anywhere). Then save the tools.ini file with the changes back to the floppy drive (make sure the extension is still .ini - and not something like .txt etc.).
4. If the floppy disks were created like this (and not some obscure workaround because you don’t have a floppy drive or something), put the first floppy disk in the D8B’s floppy drive and power it on (make sure that the BIOS has the floppy drive activated, and that the boot order is set so it boots from the floppy drive, first). The floppy drive should get read, and shortly after, you should get a prompt if you want to format the hard drive and lose all the files. Confirm (I think you have to press “Y” - don’t remember). If you still need the files, make a backup first (but as Crash already pointed out… there are no audio files on the drive. Nothing is “recorded” onto the D8B. It’s a mixer, not a recorder. Mackie made a thing called the HDR for that purpose, to go with the D8B).
If you do not get the format prompt, please take notes what exactly happened up to this point, what went wrong, and if there were any error messages, etc. Generally, this is the “original” approach to re-install the OS on a D8B.
(I know that some who may be reading along might want to suggest to forgo the whole floppy drive situation, and get a floppy emulator, instead. That's all good and makes sense... as long as you can extrapolate what ADDITIONAL steps you have to take to get "virtual" floppy disks with the same information on them happening. Since this adds another layer of necessary knowledge and more steps where something can go wrong, I don't really like to bring up the floppy emulator idea. And personally don't use one... I need the floppy disks SO rarely, that I don't see a justification in the expense. To each their own, of course).
If you DO NOT have a PC with a floppy drive in it, you can also restore a “clone” of the Mackie OS 5.1 harddrive, via (a trial version of) Macrium Reflect. I usually hesitate to suggest to do this to less technically minded users, since there’s a chance to erase your Windows computers’s hard drive… but if you’re the “Computer guy” then you’re probably comfortable with cloning a drive, without erasing your system drive?
If so, I found an old post of mine, where I also talked about the floppy process, but then about the clone process via Macrium Reflect, and linked to the instructions for that:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2613&p=19951&hilit=Macrium#p19951Also, Anders (arjepsen) was being awesome as usual, and shared a hard drive image/clone of the Mackie OS 5.1 for Macrium Reflect, in the 5th post from the top on the following page:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1634&p=14186&hilit=reflect#p14186This disk image includes the needed “custom” boot sector. If you can restore this image to a new drive, you should be able to boot the D8B with it, after installing it.
You will still need to either enter the original serial numbers for the Mackie OS and plug-ins, after booting up - if you have them. But if not, it would make sense to apply a fairly simple hack while you have the drive connected to your PC, that will unlock the OS and all available plug-ins.
For this, download the file that is attached to this post:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1634&p=15134&hilit=MackieOS.exe#p15134In order to be able to undo this, I’d first find the original “MackieOS.exe” on the hard drive you just installed or cloned, and rename it to something like MackieOS_old.exe. Then extract the zip file you just downloaded, and copy the file with the same name, to where the original MackieOS.exe was located on the hard drive. That’s it.
Now install the hard drive into the D8B rack computer, make sure the BFC connector and the 25 pin “Data” connector is on, and power it on (…and make sure that the BIOS is set per what’s listed in the database. “Load Optimal Defaults” is guaranteed to NOT work with the D8B and cause you lots of trouble).
Alright - I hope this helps. You have to have a little bit of patience with this process, even if you’re an experienced “computer guy”. While it’s “almost the same” as installing a PC from the 90s, it’s the small little differences that make this seemingly impossible, for some of the folks on here who have attempted this
Best of luck in the meantime! Sorry if I don’t respond quickly, sometimes. Like everyone else, I’m pretty busy in the days leading up to the holidays.
Speaking of which - happy holidays to everyone who reads this! May your D8B have a long and trouble-free life (or miraculously come back from the dead… but I’ll save that post for Easter, hahaha).
