AT LAST! THE FINAL WORD
Whatever further testing reveals, my previous posting DOES IN FACT WORK on other Macs and is reproducible through easy documented steps:
1. Start with Clean 1.1/1.1g System (possibly skip this step)
2. Use 2.0/4.1 Updater (possibly start with clean 2.0/4.1 System & skip step 1)
3. Use 3.2/5/3 Printer Installer (v1.1) to add AT ImageWriter (v2.3) ONLY
4. Add HD20 INIT
I can tell you for certain that the HD20 1.0 INIT DOES WORK in addition to the 1.1 INIT.
I would now like to know if you can skip the system 1.1 step and just start with a clean copy of 2.0/4.1. Also, there was a previous version of the AT ImageWrier installer (v1.0) that appeared on the System 3.1/5.2 Installer disks. I would be curious to know if this works as well, though I understand 3.1/5/2 contains a serious bug which might be conveyed in the system resources it updates. Likewise, I would like to know whether the AT Imagewriter installer will work on System 1.1 w/HD20 INIT, though I don't suspect it will since 1.1 pre-dates Apple's introduction of AppleTalk applications. But you never know.
As a separate experiment, anyone with an HD20 willing to reformat under this system, it would be fun to learn if an HD20 can be run under this system as well as be formatted MFS ONLY. Perhaps it would run better! Seriously, I have often wondered about MFS & HFS. From its release the Macintosh was criticized for not having a hard drive. So, when did Apple actually start thinking about moving to HFS vs. when they started thinking about adding a hard drive to the Mac. If the HD came first, it may have been planned as an MFS drive from day one.
Finally I want to give a HUGE nod to Eric Rasmussen and his Apple Macintosh before System 7 site, where you will find all of the necessary files (except System 1.1) to make the modified System 2.0. I consulted with Eric for several months a few years ago and I hold his information as the most comprehensive and accurate posted anywhere on the net. All of which was thoroughly documented through not only reconciling available resources, but from actually assembling complete systems and software packages. It is an invaluable resource for those of us who are trying to piece together the past in an effort to keep our old Macs alive and productive.
For those of you who have visited my dedicated 128K site, you'll know the reason why this system and 800K MFS is important to me is because it is vital to maintaining and transferring files to my 128K. Since the 128K can't use HFS disks or AppleTalk or TCP/IP, with an external 800K MFS drive I can easily transfer virtually any file from my OS X Intel MacBook directly to it and keep archives of files that way. It also allows me to keep large documents, applications, fonts and systems all on the same disk. For a 128K user, 800K MFS disks are an invaluable tool. It's too bad Apple did not try to assist the 128K user in this regard, but just as I discovered swapping disks yesterday it probably would have resulted in twice as many nightmares as Apple already had upon switching to HFS. I also have a sneaking suspicion that Apple or Jobs, or both, wanted to distance themselves from the 128K "mistake" (that most literature indicates blame for which was placed squarely on Jobs and his dictates) as quickly as possible.
Thanks to JDW and for everyone who participated in the resolution of this issue.
Whatever further testing reveals, my previous posting DOES IN FACT WORK on other Macs and is reproducible through easy documented steps:
1. Start with Clean 1.1/1.1g System (possibly skip this step)
2. Use 2.0/4.1 Updater (possibly start with clean 2.0/4.1 System & skip step 1)
3. Use 3.2/5/3 Printer Installer (v1.1) to add AT ImageWriter (v2.3) ONLY
4. Add HD20 INIT
I can tell you for certain that the HD20 1.0 INIT DOES WORK in addition to the 1.1 INIT.
I would now like to know if you can skip the system 1.1 step and just start with a clean copy of 2.0/4.1. Also, there was a previous version of the AT ImageWrier installer (v1.0) that appeared on the System 3.1/5.2 Installer disks. I would be curious to know if this works as well, though I understand 3.1/5/2 contains a serious bug which might be conveyed in the system resources it updates. Likewise, I would like to know whether the AT Imagewriter installer will work on System 1.1 w/HD20 INIT, though I don't suspect it will since 1.1 pre-dates Apple's introduction of AppleTalk applications. But you never know.
As a separate experiment, anyone with an HD20 willing to reformat under this system, it would be fun to learn if an HD20 can be run under this system as well as be formatted MFS ONLY. Perhaps it would run better! Seriously, I have often wondered about MFS & HFS. From its release the Macintosh was criticized for not having a hard drive. So, when did Apple actually start thinking about moving to HFS vs. when they started thinking about adding a hard drive to the Mac. If the HD came first, it may have been planned as an MFS drive from day one.
Finally I want to give a HUGE nod to Eric Rasmussen and his Apple Macintosh before System 7 site, where you will find all of the necessary files (except System 1.1) to make the modified System 2.0. I consulted with Eric for several months a few years ago and I hold his information as the most comprehensive and accurate posted anywhere on the net. All of which was thoroughly documented through not only reconciling available resources, but from actually assembling complete systems and software packages. It is an invaluable resource for those of us who are trying to piece together the past in an effort to keep our old Macs alive and productive.
For those of you who have visited my dedicated 128K site, you'll know the reason why this system and 800K MFS is important to me is because it is vital to maintaining and transferring files to my 128K. Since the 128K can't use HFS disks or AppleTalk or TCP/IP, with an external 800K MFS drive I can easily transfer virtually any file from my OS X Intel MacBook directly to it and keep archives of files that way. It also allows me to keep large documents, applications, fonts and systems all on the same disk. For a 128K user, 800K MFS disks are an invaluable tool. It's too bad Apple did not try to assist the 128K user in this regard, but just as I discovered swapping disks yesterday it probably would have resulted in twice as many nightmares as Apple already had upon switching to HFS. I also have a sneaking suspicion that Apple or Jobs, or both, wanted to distance themselves from the 128K "mistake" (that most literature indicates blame for which was placed squarely on Jobs and his dictates) as quickly as possible.
Thanks to JDW and for everyone who participated in the resolution of this issue.