Berenod's conquests and collection

[Berenod]

Since I seem to be running into lots of interesting stuff recently, better to continue in one single thread, stole the title from @Durosity

So, new one just came in, a laptop once touted to be the fastest in the world (however briefly).

Meet the Powerbook 3400C:
Fitting for the Easter weekend, it was packed just like you would pack Easter eggs




Some accesories:



And the actual laptop:

 

[Berenod]

And since the title also states "collection", some pics from the new shelves I assembled (which I by now can do in record time, eat this Ikea).
Lots of stuf which was in sort of "permanent storage" will become much more accesible to play with, and keep in shape, this way!

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Get the PRAM battery out of that 3400c! They leak 100% of the time, and will destroy the logic board.
Here's a video tutorial I made, it's really easy to remove:

 

[Berenod]

Get the PRAM battery out of that 3400c! They leak 100% of the time, and will destroy the logic board.
Here's a video tutorial I made, it's really easy to remove:

Will get onto it asap!

 

[Berenod]

Get the PRAM battery out of that 3400c! They leak 100% of the time, and will destroy the logic board.
Here's a video tutorial I made, it's really easy to remove

And done!

Looks like it didn't leak, actually, the battery looks brand spanking new!




There is however some corrosion, though not directly underneath the battery, most seems to concentrate on de power connector.
Gotta clean that up to stop it deteriorating further.



So, the area underneath the battery looked clean enough to feel comortable attempting to power the machine on.
Do note, I bought it (very) cheap as seller stated it used to work, but a while back it did not anymore after which he stored it for a few months until finally deciding to get rid of it.

So first go, dead as a dodo.
Now I know those powerbricks are pretty weak, at least I had several dying on me, not to mention their Rifa's trying to poison everybody in my household going up in a puff of horribly stinking smoke!

So took a known working powerbrick out of one of my cardboard boxes, and lo and behold:



Even wanted to connect to the 90's internet

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Awesome, great find there
Take a peek in the battery connector pins though, I’ll bet you’ll see green corrosion, something like this

 

[Berenod]

Awesome, great find there
Take a peek in the battery connector pins though, I’ll bet you’ll see green corrosion, something like this

I'd say you're right on the money on that one!

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Yup. Never seen one in any laptop that wasn’t doing that

 

[Durosity]

Ya know I never realised until seeing the PCMCIA card that not all 3400s had Ethernet ports.. and even more shockingly my 3400 doesn’t have one!

Also nice collection! Quite similar to my own.. just.. yours is organised!

 

[Berenod]

And after another run to our Norhterly neighbour the Netherlands:

A big welcome to my very first Apple ][ series computer.
It's a c, apparently not so popular due to the fact there is no expandibility, but most you need is already in!

I do not have any floppies for it, so if anybody European based has some floppies with software on it (or can stick some on empty ones), give me a shout and maybe we can arrange something.

Am new to the ][ world, so have to read up a bit first!

The ctrl+reset (after the tapping sound of the drive searching a floppy, followed by the check disk message) drops me into basic, that seem to work as expected.
A ?peek (64447) shows there is a 255 rom present, (the oldest I guess), so maybe something to upgrade?

Pretty nice keyboard as well, has a nice feel to it and works perfect!

Pics wordt more then a 1000 words, so here goes:







And next to my other "portable" computer:

 

[Berenod]

The new shelves populated pretty quick...

 

[Berenod]

Ya know I never realised until seeing the PCMCIA card that not all 3400s had Ethernet ports.. and even more shockingly my 3400 doesn’t have one!

Also nice collection! Quite similar to my own.. just.. yours is organised!

I think it's the 180Mhz/.1.3GB HDD "basic" version we have, those came without the ethernet port...

Have to run system profiler to see what version mine actually is, but bets on the 180Mhz...

 

[Durosity]

Yep mine is a 180 too! I just assumed they all had Ethernet.. I’d never actually checked!

Not yet got an Apple II myself.. looks like a good find!

 

[Berenod]

just picked up 2 Mac Plus machines, with some accesories:

• Mac Plus 1
• Mac Plus 2
• Micronet SC20 external hard diks
• Apple Tape Back Up 40SC (M2640)
• Filthy as sh*t keyboard.

Gambled a bit, there were no cables at all, so totally untested, paid 200€ for the lot (Plusses are normally easily repaird, no leaking smd caps, the battery is in a position where pretty much the worst damage inflicted if it leaks is an eaten away powerswitch.
Most issues if I am not mistaken are heat related, cracked solder joints etc...

 

[Berenod]

After opening them up for a quick inspection, looking for out of whack stuff, everything looked surprisingly clean (compared to the outside of the machines) so decided to have a go with them.

The first one doesn't do anything at all, no noise, beep, totally zilch. Bummer...
Next one, looks more promising, beeps, and boots right up to the question mark floppy.

The Micronet drive, when powered up makes all the correct noises, so whipped out a SCSI cable and hooked it up to the Plus which gave sign of life, and yup, we have a working machine!
Image is a bit small, so will need some work!

 

[Berenod]

So, now I gotta find one of those spiral cords for the keyboard (after I properly clean and disinfect it), and see if that one is good...
Also need to find me some DC2000 QIC mini-cartridges and see if the tape back-up can be brought to life...

Also rummage tthrough my memory simm's, should have a few 1mb ones, cause now there are two 1mb and two 256kb simms in the machine, making up the 2,560K reported in the machine...

And have a thourough read of the thread in the compact Mac section about BluSCSI issues, as this plus refuses to boot a 6.08 image (which works perfectly fine on my other compact Mac's).

It acts rather strange when trying to boot from the BlueSCSI, it looks like it's getting of to a normal start, then suddenly vertical bars...
Tried the external harddrive after, and still boots normal.

 

[Durosity]

Also need to find me some DC2000 QIC mini-cartridges and see if the tape back-up can be brought to life...

The rubber rollers in these drives have mostly expired, so I’d suggest getting them sorted first before sacrificing any tapes to its gaping maw!

Also I seem to recall issues with modern SCSI devices on the plus.. termination power or something? That may explain the weird behaviour?

Nice find though!!

 

[Berenod]

The rubber rollers in these drives have mostly expired, so I’d suggest getting them sorted first before sacrificing any tapes to its gaping maw!

Also I seem to recall issues with modern SCSI devices on the plus.. termination power or something? That may explain the weird behaviour?

Nice find though!!

Don't you tell me!
The rollers disintegrated into small orange bits, and some of the pieces fell onto the floor while handling the unit, without me noticing until I stepped in them.
Bloody sticky gluey stuff it is
Luckily it's a tiled floor, but still took me a bunch of IPA to clean the floor before the missus came home

In French (which I luckily speak fluently) , but with Google translate could be useful for others:

http://gpbmaccollection.online.fr/TapeBackup1.html

 

[CC_333]

That Micronet drive bears a striking resemblance to the Apple HD 20SC!

c

 

[Berenod]

Not a "conquest" per se, but sure going to come in handy!