Color Classic Finally up and running (My Experience)

[MacClassic10]

Okay I finally got the Color Classic running after a frustrating experience with the LC 575 motherboard. I bought an LC 550 which I received today with some cracked corners on the case :-/

Anyways, I pulled the LC 550 motherboard out installed the 512k Apple VRAM on the board and swapped the stock motherboard out with it. I then pulled out the 80mb harddrive and put a 2gb hard drive in. Got Mac OS 7.6.1 installed everything worked great.

So I pulled the motherboard out again, and put in the 128mb module I received today. Fits in slot perfect. Turn on computer, screen stays black.... So that failed.. Would I be better off getting a 32mb module here?

http://www.upgradecomputermemory.com/ram.cfm//memory/A/Apple-Mac-Memory/Mac-LC-Memory/LC550/

Tomorrow I'm going to pull out the broken floppy drive and put a new one in, and try todo the 640x480 resedit hack.

Also I tried installing Mac OS 8.1 today, wouldnt install, it said to read the manual. I'm thinking the 8mb isn't enough for Mac OS 8.1 :?:

 

[Mac128]

Also I tried installing Mac OS 8.1 today, wouldnt install, it said to read the manual. I'm thinking the 8mb isn't enough for Mac OS 8.1 :?:

Considering the 550 is a 68030 which only supports 7.6.1 max, I'm not surprised.

If you want to try it, you'll need to follow these instructions.

And yes, 8.1 requires a minimum of 12MB RAM even with the hack. But the 550 only supports 36MB RAM, so the 128MB card you installed is probably incompatible.

 

[MacClassic10]

I put a new floppy drive in the Color Classic and it's still not working. What could be wrong?

 

[Bunsen]

Did you read the reply above? Are you still attempting to boot with the 128MB stick installed?

 

[MacClassic10]

Nope, I pulled the 128mb out.

 

[olePigeon]

It fit fine with the 128MB module? Both of my 128MB modules were too tall, I had to file off the screw peg in order for it to fit. Is the 550 RAM slot located in a different location than the 575?

 

[MacClassic10]

I'd sure like to know where you bought your 128mb module. Mine fit fine, but the computer wouldn't boot, screen stayed black.

I put the ram in the 575 motherboard and the 550 motherboard.

I bought a 32mb(which will bump it to 36mb) module for now, which is guaranteed to work.

 

[beachycove]

If I understand what you have done and are trying to do, the problem is: a) that 8.1 will not run natively on the 550, and B) that, to my knowledge, you cannot use the ResEdit hack with the 550 logic board. Both work with the 575 logic board, but you get a double whammy when you try to use the 550 logic board.

The ResEdit hack does not give you 640x480 resolution on a CC/575 Mystic, but rather, only allows the 575 logic board to run the machine in the CC's native 512x384 resolution. The 550 logic board, on the other hand, will run it at that resolution without any hacking, as the 550 logic board is for all intents and purposes identical with the one a Color Classic II. (There is, as I understand it, one small difference, in that the 550 has 256k more vram than a CCII board, but this does not seem to affect the way the board is recognized in the machine.)

To use the 550 logic board, and assuming it and the other internals of the CC are working, you will need merely to install a fresh and unmodified system 7.x .

 

[MacClassic10]

I've had the 550 board in the Color Classic and it's working fine with it. I installed 512k of vram on the board and it has 8mb of ram so far, with Mac OS 7.6.1 installed.

I bought a new floppy drive for it, but it refuses to work. A 128mb module that I bought fit on the 550 board, but system wouldn't boot with it, computer would chime but screen would stay black.

 

[beachycove]

It is worth trying to clean and lubricate your floppy drive mechanisms, as per instructions that can be found here and there, including from some of our members. I find that my floppy drives (particularly those that are not used regularly) are increasingly needing TLC these days. Most recently in one of mine, the motor driving the gear/spindle at the back that moves the heads had seized up, presumably due to dried up grease inside the motor. A small drop of oil was applied and allowed to penetrate the motor housing at the spindle, and bingo! it sprang into life. This drive was from a Power Macintosh, so it would not be surprising to see a CC-era floppy exhibit these or similar problems.

Sorry for the earlier misunderstanding. As for your troubles, some thoughts: 1) A 575 will accept a 128MB SIMM, and an LCIII will do so as well. What I am not sure has been established is whether a 550/CCII will accept one, but I can't see why not. 2) There is, however, still the question whether the SIMM itself is bad, or 3) whether the one you have in your hands is Mac-compatible. 4) The final thought is that you might need to wait a LONG time before the thing will boot while the RAM is checked, much longer than with the 8MB in there before. I am not sure about this, because I have no 128MB SIMMs, but others might be able to comment on the delay.

As for the fit that has been mentioned, I find that the 32MB SIMM in my CCII/550 is too tall also, and that it therefore needs to be inserted but not locked into place when the logic board is pushed into the machine, owing to the position of the screw receptacle on the CC's case. Once the logic board is in, however, I then use a chopstick or some such tool to snap it into an upright position. Removal is done by reversing this procedure. Very easily done.

 

[MacClassic10]

I took the 550 board out and got the 575 board working without bus errors. I was doing the resedit hack wrong :-/

Overall the computer feels alot faster, I just need to modify the back door now.

 

[MacClassic10]

Also I'll be getting a 32mb module in the mail soon. Hopefully that will work.I'm also in the process of getting my hands on a ppc cpu that I can swap out on the 575 board.

 

[MacClassic10]

Update: 575 board in CC with 37mb on the board with Mac OS 8.1 everything is running great! Now I just have to get the guts todo the 640x480 mod and figure out what's wrong with the floppy drive (Installed new one).