Where I can find further information on PowerBook 1400cs?

Welcome!

The Mactracker database has a lot of details on older Macs but needs a newer Mac to run.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mactracker/id430255202?mt=12

This site is one of the best resources for history and articles about Macs with long, grey beards:

https://lowendmac.com

You may also wish to web search by the true model name, "PowerBook 1400cs," but omitting the processor speed. Sometimes you can find fan-sites that are true jewels of old Mac knowledge.

The highest macOS that model can run is OS 9.1. Did it come with its original system install/restore floppies? If not, you will need to find a genuine retail install set—not copies—and the floppy versions are scarcer than snakes on an iceberg.

Hi,

The following links could perhaps be of interest to you:

Macintosh PowerBook 1400cs/166: Technical Specifications

http://manuals.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Manuals/powerbooks/0340232APB1400TI.PDF

http://manuals.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Manuals/powerbooks/0340070APB1400UMRV.PDF

PC Card slots can be very useful. With an inexpensive PC Card adapter for CompactFlash, it would be possible to use CompactFlash memory cards (for example, 512 MB to 2 GB) for file transfers or as startup disks.

802.11b Wi-Fi PCMCIA cards (such as early Orinoco Silver or Gold models with a slab-shaped antenna) would even allow wireless connections (albeit at a low speed and for old security standards only).

You will find a Mac OS 8.6 update here:

Mac OS 8.6 Update: Document and Software

Please note that there are other language versions, including British English and International English, as multipart downloads at the end of the page.

The 8.6 update was from the normal Apple - Support - Downloads (the macOS section). However, only very few downloads for older systems are still available here, if you repeatedly (many, many times) click on the Load more results button when you browse some of the areas.

Otherwise, you would have to know the exact link to a certain file. Are you looking for something special?

An HDI-20 floppy drive was used with a PowerBook Duo via a special adapter/dock.

The HDI-30 port on the PowerBook 1400 is SCSI, for use with external hard drives or CD-ROM drives.

For the PowerBook 1400, there is a choice between floppy disk and CD-ROM drive expansion modules.

See page 31ff in the user's manual.

http://manuals.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Manuals/powerbooks/0340070APB1400UMRV.PDF

See also the technical information, page 1.

http://manuals.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Manuals/powerbooks/0340232APB1400TI.PDF

"Removable 1.44 MB floppy disk drive (in the expansion bay or packed

separately if a CD-ROM drive is installed in the expansion bay) reads and

writes Macintosh 1.4 MB floppy disks, as well as Windows, DOS, and OS/2

720K and 1.44 MB floppy disks; reads Macintosh 800K disks

Removable 8x-speed (or faster) CD-ROM drive (in the expansion bay if

included; optional on some models)"

See also, for example, https://lowendmac.com/2018/low-end-macs-geoport-guide/.

I should add that the adapter in question would not be of interest for your PowerBook 1400. If you wish to add a modem, you could do this by either using a PCMCIA modem in one of the PC Card slots, or by connecting a standard (external, serial) modem to the Printer/Modem port. See p 37ff and p 49 in the PB 1400 user's manual (http://manuals.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Manuals/powerbooks/0340070APB1400UMRV.PDF).

...so i don't know if the CD Rom is functional or not. .

Optical drives get filthy and can stop responding, but are otherwise OK.

I used an inexpensive drive-cleaning disk on three early Macbook Pros whose optical drives had been pronounced dead and requiring replacement by Apple Authorized Service Providers at a cost in the early 2000's of about US$150 parts and labor.

I know the optical drives were still working in two of them when their owners finally retired the computers, because I helped them prep for recycling.

At a cost of US$5-15, the cleaning disks are a cheap fix if it works and, if it doesn't fix the PB, can be used on other devices with optical drives like older car stereos and DVD players.

I'd hold off on adding RAM until you know the thing is going to work. My usual RAM vendor—Other World Computing— no longer lists RAM for that model, and a search showed few sources for those odd modules:

Addendum

Regarding Internet use:

Web browsers compatible with Mac OS 8.x or 9.x will not work with modern (secure, https) web sites. Therefore, the computer would be limited to use with plain http pages (knubbelmac.de is one example). Old email clients may not be able to handle the authentication required by service providers today for sending mail. Normal FTP should work (but is probably better suited for local connections).

Thank you.

Any difficulties with the date settings?

Unless the computer is connected to a time server, you may see the wrong date and day of the week

(try to show info for a New Folder). The program in the following link can be very useful.

https://lowendmac.com/2019/the-looming-y2k20-bug-and-how-to-protect-your-system/

In the meantime, if you need to install software downloaded from the Internet, the easiest way (without a working CD-ROM drive) would be to buy a PC Card Adapter for CompactFlash and a CompactFlash card.

For transfers, the CF card can remain PC-formatted, since the operating system on your 1400cs should be able to read PC disks as well. You could then download files on another computer (Mac or PC) and copy them to the CF card. Keep all Mac application files encoded (MacBinary=.bin or BinHex=.hqx) until on the 1400cs. Do not try to open or decode/decompress anything on the other computer.

Once on the 1400cs, you would need StuffIt Expander for the decoding. Check whether this utility is already installed.

You could also try another CF card as a system backup. It should even work as a startup disk. For this purpose, that CF card must be reformatted to Mac (Mac OS Extended = HFS+) on the 1400cs. Once ready, you could then drag copy the existing System Folder and other files to the now Mac-formatted CF card.