Recent content by Boctor

Yes, I have this issue with my SE/30. I inserted a TwinSpark with a Diimo 030 (IIci cache slot type), then an Asante MacCon on top. The Asante's passthrough connector is just a tad too close to the anode cap and emits quiet, continuous static noises, similar in intensity to running one's hand in...

My IIsi's hard disk (Now in my Color Classic II) had some files from the mid 1990's, suggesting the computer was used at a medical school.

Those pads for C1 aren't looking so good. Reminds me of my first board, which had failed completely in the "death alley" with the four caps near the VRAM chips. If there are bad traces or lifted/destroyed pads anywhere, a jump wire may be an option, depending on what the schematics say the cap...

SE/30 with minimal 7.1 and QuickTime/OpenTransport, used for playing MIDI and MOD tunes. It'll run almost anything made for B&W Macs. It also now has a new CRT, sweep, and logic board with a socketed 68030. There's also the Performa 200 with no yellowing and maximum RAM, but it limits my...

If you can get the patch for Apple's HD SC Setup, it fits on most boot floppies, and it can format or partition most hard disks I know of. From there, use whatever boot floppies. On an SE/30, I'd boot from the fresh system and then use ZTerm to send over anything else needed such as the 7.5.3 or...

I wonder if the computer's name, "Big Bob," was picked in reference to the character from Hey Arnold! That's going to leave me thinking for a while.

Yeah, it's a sad story, the engineers wanted Macintosh to be cheap, so they could use one themselves. But no matter how much they saved on parts and manufacturing, the 1984 ad campaign raised the machine's prices like crazy. Or at least that's what the developers' short stories on Folklore.org say.

Nor did my SE/30 board, in the end. But I expect the fact it was sitting and rotting for a few decades had a hand in this, too. (In the condition it arrived, it's a miracle it ever worked.) I'd agree: Go with a professional if you're not eager to learn any soldering. If you do want to practice...

Discharging the CRT with a flathead screwdriver and alligator clip is not very difficult, but the newer compacts (I know the SE and SE/30 have it, at least) are said to have a bleed resistor for extra safety. I usually discharge it to the ground lug, if I plan to work on the CRT or analog board.

If you're afraid of breaking the CRT's neck, the best advice I can give is to use restraint when pulling connectors from the logic board. I think I yanked too hard and accidentally punched mine by mistake, a few years ago.

I always pushed Cmd+W or Return to close the options windows. Saving the settings is a menu bar option anyway. As long as you can adjust them and then save, it should be fine.

The SE/30 did that to me in Netscape 2.0 and later somehow gave Finder "illegal instruction" errors. I may have fixed it by enabling Mode32 and fixing the folder structure on my HDD with Apple Personal Diagnostics. If you're unsure of your logic board or hard disk, APD is one program that can...

I just used that method on an IIsi, before desoldering the slightly-corroded remains of the capacitors' legs. I forgot where I first heard it from, but it was emphasized to steadily twist left or right on the capacitor without pulling on it. I'm personally afraid to cut many things, at risk of...

10/100 switches' auto-negotiation never worked in my experience. I needed to plug my SE/30 into a Leviton 10BaseT switch before I could assign it an IP on the router. OpenTransport 1.3 seemed to work fine. I also needed an AUI transceiver, though, since the PDS card only had TKN and TN for...

It makes sense that the screen's corners stayed square when the ROM was not reading correctly, I think that's a ROM thing. I'm almost certain that the boot/death sounds reside in there, too.