[laughd]

My wife was using the Macintosh and left it for a little while and when she came back all the screen on the monitor shows is a dull grey with a picture of a floppy disk showing with a flashing question mark symbol showing. Turning it off and back on does not help and it will only recognize a Norton Utilities floppy disk. The reply from it is the startup disk is full so will not store the disk report when I quit. Then it says the clock of the Macintosh is set to an invalid date. In fixing the date and clock dates and time it does not stay because when you run it again the date and time is incorrect again. The monitor has to be good or the Norton Disk Doctor would not be showing. Would the battery in the computer unit be causing the problem???? Or does some one else have a simple solution. I am unable to get to any of the files on the computer.
Thank You

[Serge_N_Gin]

Originally Posted by laughd

My wife was using the Macintosh and left it for a little while and when she came back all the screen on the monitor shows is a dull grey with a picture of a floppy disk showing with a flashing question mark symbol showing. Turning it off and back on does not help and it will only recognize a Norton Utilities floppy disk. The reply from it is the startup disk is full so will not store the disk report when I quit. Then it says the clock of the Macintosh is set to an invalid date. In fixing the date and clock dates and time it does not stay because when you run it again the date and time is incorrect again. The monitor has to be good or the Norton Disk Doctor would not be showing. Would the battery in the computer unit be causing the problem???? Or does some one else have a simple solution. I am unable to get to any of the files on the computer.
Thank You

Hi laughd,

The problem could be caused by the PRAM battery that powers a memory chip that stores the computer setup information (PRAM - parameter random access memory). The Battery can last as long as 7 years and as short as 3 years. You could try taking the LC III to an AppleStore and ask them to check the voltage on the PRAM battery, or you could just buy a replacement and fit it yourself.

First though, you can try resetting the Parameter RAM (PRAM) by restarting the computer while holding down the Command-Option-P-R keys - OR use Techtool to ZAP all the PRAM, saving the settings before the ZAP.

The floppy with the flashing question mark means the Mac is searching for an available OS disc to boot from, whether internal or one in the floppy/CD drive.

I'm not sure about the Startup Disc Full error or where it fits in here .... anyway, I found a thread here on TSG that you should read ...

Macintosh LC III Model M1254 computer