Finally got a Macintosh II!

[PB145B]

I have been thinking about getting one for several years now and I finally decided it was time, I bought myself an original Mac II! Should have done it years ago, I LOVE this thing!

Here's a pic of the Mac II right after I had gotten it fully working but before I cleaned it.


You may notice those little labels next to each disk drive slot, this is one of the reasons I bought this machine! The "FDHD" label told me this machine more than likely had the FDHD upgrade, which it did thankfully! For some reason someone had pulled the FDHD drive so it was missing. I had a broken one on hand I was able to actually fix though so I got that installed and it's working great now. The original 800k drive on the right was still present and cleaned up well.

Here's some internal shots.



Still has the original 5.25" Quantum 40MB drive! More on that later...

Also, this has the earlier revision motherboard, which is another reason I wanted it. No nasty SMD caps here! Has all axials like the SE. I added those two CR2032 battery holders which are working great so far.

And it came with an Apple High Resolution Video Card, which needed recapping badly. I managed to scrounge up enough caps to get that done, but it still showed lines on the display afterwards. It otherwise worked though. Turns out there was one bad trace going from the F521DW to one of the VRAM chips. Once I patched that, it was working perfectly with no lines!


Before this machine arrived I also ordered one of the original "Toby" video cards too just in case I wasn't able to fix this one, which is actually installed in the machine now. I didn't think to get a pic of it!

So back to the hard drive. It was working fine but these drive have a known issue where the rubber bumpers inside melt and allow the heads to smash into the spindle when they park, which will eventually cause one or more heads to come detached from the arm! Of course the drive is done for at that point, so it needs to be fixed before that happens. So I had to pop the drive open even though I really didn't want too...


What a pretty drive on the inside though! The bumpers in these drives are an odd design unlike any other Quantum drive. It has this nylon piece with rubber behind it. When the rubber melts and shrinks it causes the nylon bumper to recede further and further until it starts to cause issues. I ended up fixing it with a cut-up drinking straw, which is kind of hard to explain and I once again did not think to get a pic of this repair! The drive still worked fine after reassembly and I let it run for several hours just to make sure it was all good. This was a week ago and it's still running great!

Now, 40MB is pretty small for everything I want to put on this machine and I have already almost completely filled it, so I will be looking at upgrading the drive. Since this is going to be one of my main classic Macs now I want it to have a bit more internal storage at least. I want to find another 5.25" SCSI drive of a larger capacity for it, because the whole idea of an internal 5.25" hard drive in a Mac is just so cool to me! And the sound is awesome. There is an 80MB version of this Quantum drive which would be a decent upgrade. Not sure exactly what I'm going to get yet.

I had been using an LCD monitor with this machine, which actually worked really good, but as of yesterday that changed!

I actually got my High Res RGB monitor working and adjusted properly! I have had this monitor in storage for over ten years and thought was in bad shape and needed serious work, but it actually didn't! These monitors have tons of adjustments on the back and more inside. After fiddling with several of those I'm getting a very good image out of it now! The next even bigger issue it had was an electrical arching sound and ozone smell. I did some diagnosis and it turned out the sound was coming from under the annode cap, which gave me hope that it might actually be a really easy fix, and it WAS! I discharged the CRT, removed the annode cap, cleaned it, applied new dielectric grease, and no more arching sounds or ozone smell! I'm kind of embarrassed I have had this monitor for so long and thought it was junk, when it needed some very simple maintenace done, but hey, at least it's fixed now! Glad I never got rid of it. It's the later M1297 version and was made in 1992, so it was probably used with a IIci or something back in the day.

And yes, it's a lot more yellow than the Mac II unfortunately, but I'm not too bothered by it honestly. The camera flash made it look worse than it does in real life too!

Oh, and I also already had an Apple Extended Keyboard I found at Goodwill many years ago! I have the Extended Keyboard II also, but the original is what's correct for the original Mac II. I have the smaller Apple Standard Keyboard as well, but I use that for my SE.

I did upgrade the memory also. It had 5MB when I got it and I upgraded it to 8MB, which is the highest you can easily go in these. I hope someone will eventually offer reproduction PAL SIMMs for these! I would love to get it up to 32MB someday.

So there is my Macintosh II! I love my compacts but I have really been wanting a good color 68k Mac lately. I've had some LCs and even a IIsi, but never really got into them. But this Mac II is a whole different story! THIS is what I have been after as far as "look and feel" and everything like that. It looks so damn cool! I love that's it's pretty much the same form factor/size as a typical IBM or compatible PC of the era. And it's very heavy and built like a tank. Such a well designed machine.

I will definitely be making some more posts here about this machine!

 

[David Cook]

Great write up!

I assume this is a 820-0163-03 board. I can't quite see what it says in the upper-left of the board.

Good fix on the video board.

 

[ClassicGuyPhilly]

Congratulations looking great!

 

[Franklinstein]

My first Mac II also had the FDHD upgrade. I think it had an upgraded hard drive though, which is too bad because I really like the 5.25" Quantum drives. At least it was better than the Sony SRD-2040 that some models came with (these drives were notorious for stiction).

Eventually I found a 68851 for mine, so it'll run A/UX.

 

[adespoton]

Those 20 and 40MB 5.25" Quantum drives were beasts! Unfortunately, they were also slow. I replaced one with a smaller (physically) 80MB Quantum drive, and the performance increase was very noticeable.

 

[PB145B]

Great write up!

I assume this is a 820-0163-03 board. I can't quite see what it says in the upper-left of the board.

Good fix on the video board.

Thanks! Darn, I swear I had more close-ups of the board, but I can't find them! I'll check it again next time I'm in there for the part number.

Congratulations looking great!

Thank you!

My first Mac II also had the FDHD upgrade. I think it had an upgraded hard drive though, which is too bad because I really like the 5.25" Quantum drives. At least it was better than the Sony SRD-2040 that some models came with (these drives were notorious for stiction).

Eventually I found a 68851 for mine, so it'll run A/UX.

The FDHD upgrade is so handy to have. I mean, I could live without it but it sure makes things more convenient being able to copy small files over with a modern computer and USB floppy drive. Yeah the Quantum 5.25" drives are really unique. The chunky read/write sound reminds me quite a bit of a Syquest 44MB drive actually. Really like it! And yeah, those Sony 40MB hard drives were JUNK! Funny, because their floppy drives were the polar opposite.

Oh man, I'd love a 68851 for mine at some point. Probably not for the hundreds of dollars someone would likely ask for it though. If I could find one in the $50 to $75 range though I'd probably grab it!

Those 20 and 40MB 5.25" Quantum drives were beasts! Unfortunately, they were also slow. I replaced one with a smaller (physically) 80MB Quantum drive, and the performance increase was very noticeable.

The drive does feel a bit slow for sure, but honestly I find it worth it for the sounds it makes. And besides, I mess with 8088 PCs with MFM hard drives on a regular basis so I'm used to slow drives and machines at this point!

 

[PB145B]

Completely forgot to mention the software I'm running on here! System 7.1 with the update 3.0 of course. Runs very good on here! I'm used to 7.1 on an SE so this thing feels blazing fast to me!

And, I'm using my external BlueSCSI with WiFi currently for network access! I want to get a proper NuBus Ethernet card at some point though but for now the BlueSCSI is working very well.

Here's Netscape 2.02 running. I have it setup with the Protoweb proxy so it even loads the Netscape homepage just like the old days!

Web browsing on a 1987 '020 based Mac is quite slow I must say and it will crash sometimes, but I think it's so cool to play with still. I always like getting my old machines on the net.

Oh and even though the installer says it "requires a 68030 or later," Internet Explorer 3.01 runs great on here! Maybe some of the optional extras require an '030 but the basic browser runs fine on an '020.



And because of its incredible historical significance, NCSA Mosaic is a must! I currently have version 2.0.0a6 on here. Not the most compatible browser ever but man it's fun to mess with. And what a cool logo they had!

I actually have this on the Protoweb proxy too, even though it says NCSA Mosaic 2.x isn't compatible but so far it's been working fine. Some pages don't load quite right but for the most part it works through the proxy fine. The NCSA homepage loads without issues as you can see.

All of these cool old browsers is one of the reasons my poor 40MB drive is almost full.

For anyone wondering (because I know I would be) why these photos have a sort of "retro" look to them because I'm using my trusty Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W80 camera to take them! I personally love the old but still very crisp look of the pics it takes. After many years of not using it it has once again became my go-to camera for taking pics of my old computers. I got it many years ago back when I was first really getting into vintage computers pretty heavily so it's quite nostalgic for me as well! And it does a much better job at photographing CRTs than my iPhone does as also!

 

[Snial]

I have been thinking about getting one for several years now and I finally decided it was time, I bought myself an original Mac II! Should have done it years ago, I LOVE this thing!

So there is my Macintosh II! I love my compacts but I have really been wanting a good color 68k Mac lately. I've had some LCs and even a IIsi, but never really got into them. But this Mac II is a whole different story! THIS is what I have been after as far as "look and feel" and everything like that. It looks so damn cool! I love that's it's pretty much the same form factor/size as a typical IBM or compatible PC of the era. And it's very heavy and built like a tank. Such a well designed machine.

I will definitely be making some more posts here about this machine!

I guess many people on the 68KMLA haven't even used the Mac II. I first heard about it through Personal Computer World (UK) in April 1987:


The artist took a ray-traced image and extended it to the edges of the magazine. Then PCW also packed an A2-sized poster (folded 4x) in the magazine with that cover image, which I stuck to the wall of my room at Uni. the uni (UEA) then bought a whole lab's worth of Mac IIs (with FPU) for research and 3rd year graphics classes, so we got to use them the next year. And they were amazing! They would probably have had a 2MB configuration + 40MB HD. They had an 8bpp x 640x480 video card. We wrote MPW Pascal apps on it (getting used to MPW was a bit of a jump from MacPascal).

 

[PB145B]

I guess many people on the 68KMLA haven't even used the Mac II. I first heard about it through Personal Computer World (UK) in April 1987:
View attachment 88436

The artist took a ray-traced image and extended it to the edges of the magazine. Then PCW also packed an A2-sized poster (folded 4x) in the magazine with that cover image, which I stuck to the wall of my room at Uni. the uni (UEA) then bought a whole lab's worth of Mac IIs (with FPU) for research and 3rd year graphics classes, so we got to use them the next year. And they were amazing! They would probably have had a 2MB configuration + 40MB HD. They had an 8bpp x 640x480 video card. We wrote MPW Pascal apps on it (getting used to MPW was a bit of a jump from MacPascal).

Yeah, the original Mac II doesn't seem to get much love compared to the later machines, which I think is unfortunate. But, that means they are still quite affordable today, so that's a plus!

Oh man I'd love to have that poster today! So cool you got to use a Mac II back in the day! I wasn't even born until 2001 so by the time I was old enough to comprehend these machine were pretty ancient in the tech world. But I'm glad they were built well enough there are still plenty of surviving examples so I can still enjoy them well over 3 decades later!

 

[Mk.558]

I've been fortunate to handle an unused FDHD Upgrade, stickers and all. If you look in the Working with Disk Images section in the link below, you'll find it there.

 

[Snial]

Yeah, the original Mac II doesn't seem to get much love <snip>

I didn't know that, but if it's the case, then I guess it's because it only has a 68020. But that can be fixed by adding the MMU, right?

Oh man I'd love to have that poster today!

I may still have it at my Dad's house somewhere.

So cool you got to use a Mac II back in the day!

We thought it was special. The layout of the labs was:

----+----------+---------------+----------+---
... |Mac II Lab|Mac Lab. |Sun 3 Lab |...
|≈8 Mac IIs|≈12 Mac 512Ke's|≈6 Sun 3s |
----+------ +----------- +--- ---+---
\ \ \
\ \ \

Hmm, I should draw a better picture.

I wasn't even born until 2001 so by the time I was old enough to comprehend these machine were pretty ancient in the tech world. But I'm glad they were built well enough there are still plenty of surviving examples so I can still enjoy them well over 3 decades later!

Yes, that's good. I guess it's fairly hard to convey the sense of how much computing was leaping forward though the 1970s and 1980s.

So, in my childhood in the 1970s, we went from having to do all calculations by hand (30s/mult) to electronic calculators (5s/mult, including typing). We had typewriters. Information access was limited to encyclopaedias and perhaps a weekly visit to a public library.

When 8-bit computers became accessible to people in the 1980s it was a leap from 5s/mult to about 1ms/mult: about 5000x the computing power in one step! And being able to automate calculations at all was phenomenal. At the same time, learning to program was a real challenge, because hardly anyone knew how, so most of it was pretty ad-hoc: magazine type-ins; BASIC manuals. I guess you've played with 8-bit emulated computers (maybe you have a few).

In that era we were aware of more powerful computers, like pdp-11s. A friend of mine's dad was a Metallurgist at British Rail Engineering Limited in Derby where they had a pdp-11/34, which could be programmed in Fortran IV. And that seemed serious stuff. So, when we got to Uni we were bowled over by the computing facilities there: a VAX-11/780 serving dozens of users at the same time. The Mac 512Ke's seemed like a step into the space-age, a bit like going from a combustion car to an EV: you don't really get it until you experience it. Like, beforehand all computer interaction was 100% keyboard-driven. And the most effective UIs were hierarchical menu-driven things where you would descend a tree of single-letter commands until you got to a specific action. Then you'd escape all the way out to the top (or there might be a 'home' key) and repeat the process. Or you'd be using some kind of DOS-type command line interface. There was no concept of point-and-click, selecting something and then choosing a menu option.

So, the Mac was a real eye-opener. And the Mac 512Ke's were slow, we could see windows and menus being drawn in real-time even though we knew the 68000 was several times faster than the computers we had at home (or in our University accommodation). The Sun-3 workstations were even more laggy ( we had Sun 3/50s or 3/60s).

The Mac IIs were the first Macs that actually felt fast: menus popping up faster than you could see them; window outlines moving in realtime; realistic colours at a decent resolution. The sense of sitting before a really powerful computer was truly exciting.

 

[ObeyDaleks]

Yeah, the original Mac II doesn't seem to get much love compared to the later machines, which I think is unfortunate. But, that means they are still quite affordable today, so that's a plus!

There’s just much more of them out there for sale than the IIx and IIfx. They are quite common on eBay, and many of them are still in working condition, especially the earlier models without surface-mount electrolytics. The OG Mac II is a great machine to own. The only downside IMHO is the insanely loud PSU - especially the Sony. I replaced all of mine with the IIfx PSUs.

 

[4seasonphoto]

Fun memories! My last semester of college was about to end, and I was worried that I'd no longer be able to get student pricing on the just-announced Mac II, but I just made it, though there was initially a question as to whether such a high-end machine would be offered to students. Even so, the bare 1/0 configuration with monochrome monitor and 640x480 video card was $$. But at the time, I had little fear of debt. . As I recall, I quickly maxed out the memory on the video card, added the 68851, even though it wasn't clear what I'd use it for (virtual memory came a bit later as I recall). And I had that exact same massive "Enterprise" keyboard. Think I ultimately had it configured with a pair of Toby video cards, an Apple RGB monitor in addition to my monochrome monitor, 2 megabytes of RAM, and maybe a 100 megabyte hard drive. I think initially the only piece of software which had a substantial amount of color was Cricket Draw, which made use of the limited color palate of the original QuickDraw. At some point Connetix(?) delivered an extension which enabled virtual memory, so finally my 68851 saw some use.

 

[PB145B]

I've been fortunate to handle an unused FDHD Upgrade, stickers and all. If you look in the Working with Disk Images section in the link below, you'll find it there.

Oh man, that's super cool! I'd love to find a new FDHD kit for my main SE (which is an early 1987 version).

I didn't know that, but if it's the case, then I guess it's because it only has a 68020. But that can be fixed by adding the MMU, right?

Yeah it may be because it's an '020. But there's still so much cool stuff you can do with it! But the original LC is also an '020 and seems to get far more love than the Mac II so I don't know. The 68851 MMU is VERY hard to find unfortunately and I can imagine the asking price nowadays if you could even find one would be more than an entire Mac II.

So, the Mac was a real eye-opener. And the Mac 512Ke's were slow, we could see windows and menus being drawn in real-time even though we knew the 68000 was several times faster than the computers we had at home (or in our University accommodation). The Sun-3 workstations were even more laggy ( we had Sun 3/50s or 3/60s).

The Mac IIs were the first Macs that actually felt fast: menus popping up faster than you could see them; window outlines moving in realtime; realistic colours at a decent resolution. The sense of sitting before a really powerful computer was truly exciting.

Yeah, as someone who primarily uses compact Macs for my vintage Macintosh activities, it is insane how fast the Macintosh II feels in comparison! I can't even imagine how fast it must have felt in 1987!

There’s just much more of them out there for sale than the IIx and IIfx. They are quite common on eBay, and many of them are still in working condition, especially the earlier models without surface-mount electrolytics. The OG Mac II is a great machine to own. The only downside IMHO is the insanely loud PSU - especially the Sony. I replaced all of mine with the IIfx PSUs.

Yes they do seem quite common! The IIfx doesn't seem super rare either, just VERY expensive. But the IIx sure seems rare in comparison. I just don't see many IIx's on eBay.

But yeah the Mac II seems like a very reliable machine, another reason I wanted one. Maybe I'm crazy, but I actually kind of love the loud Sony PSU! The loud fan noise to me just makes it feel like a very serious piece of equipment, which it IS!

Fun memories! My last semester of college was about to end, and I was worried that I'd no longer be able to get student pricing on the just-announced Mac II, but I just made it, though there was initially a question as to whether such a high-end machine would be offered to students. Even so, the bare 1/0 configuration with monochrome monitor and 640x480 video card was $$. But at the time, I had little fear of debt. . As I recall, I quickly maxed out the memory on the video card, added the 68851, even though it wasn't clear what I'd use it for (virtual memory came a bit later as I recall). And I had that exact same massive "Enterprise" keyboard. Think I ultimately had it configured with a pair of Toby video cards, an Apple RGB monitor in addition to my monochrome monitor, 2 megabytes of RAM, and maybe a 100 megabyte hard drive. I think initially the only piece of software which had a substantial amount of color was Cricket Draw, which made use of the limited color palate of the original QuickDraw. At some point Connetix(?) delivered an extension which enabled virtual memory, so finally my 68851 saw some use.

Oh man, that's awesome! Very nice that you were able to get the student discount on yours! Cool that had the extended keyboard! I really like it and it's nice that the layout matches a PC enhanced keyboard exactly.

I was actually thinking awhile back how cool it would be to install two video cards and run a color and monochrome monitor at the same time! So cool that you actually had that setup back then. If I ever find a monochrome monitor I definitely want to do that with mine!

 

[joshc]

The IIfx doesn't seem super rare either, just VERY expensive. But the IIx sure seems rare in comparison. I just don't see many IIx's on eBay.

Yep, the IIx is the less common one. A lot
of IIs were upgraded into IIx or IIfx as customers would opt for a logicboard upgrade, it was a cost effective option vs buying a new Mac. So an original II upgraded to a IIx is easier to find.

 

[ESM-NL]

Oh and even though the installer says it "requires a 68030 or later," Internet Explorer 3.01 runs great on here! Maybe some of the optional extras require an '030 but the basic browser runs fine on an '020.

You have in your Macintosh II the PMMU upgrade build in. It's the black processor right next to the 68020 (B738A - VH783 - 3 4 3-0001-2). That makes it technically a 68030. Without this PMMU upgrade, Internet Explorer 3.01 wont run.

 

[ESM-NL]

I dove a little deeper into Macintosh II upgrades and I think you have them all. Even the FDHD and 800K labels are original Apple. They are mentioned in the upgrade guide. With all these upgrade, you have technically a Macintosh IIx.

 

[ObeyDaleks]

Yes they do seem quite common! The IIfx doesn't seem super rare either, just VERY expensive. But the IIx sure seems rare in comparison. I just don't see many IIx's on eBay.

Agreed. The IIx appears to be the rarest of the three. I suspect the reason is that when it was released, most people, businesses, and universities already bought the Mac II and weren’t ready to put down that kind of money for a relatively minor upgrade. The IIfx was a different story.

The IIfx is definitely more desirable, and they are becoming more rare due to vast quantities of them succumbing to battery-bomb destruction. They are also by far the hardest to repair since the logic board is 6 layers with a massive number of uncapped vias that are prone to corrosion. I actually see more eBay listings for battery bombed IIfxs than working ones.

 

[s_pupp]

Well done!

I remember the first time I saw a Macintosh II. They had just been released, and my college's computer center had a few. I was in awe at the color picture, the expansion slots, and the sheer size of the thing; it was so very different a machine in appearance and abilities from my Mac Plus that I found it difficult to lump the two under the same "Macintosh" brand. I knew I'd never be able to afford one, but a mere 18 years later, I picked up a fully functioning IIfx for $5. Those were in the days of old Macs being thought of as e-waste.

 

[Franklinstein]

Most of my 68k collection came from working at a recycling center about 20 years ago. Instead of cash, I'd get my pick of computer equipment (within reason). Nobody cared about RISC workstations, 68k, or beige PPC stuff, just the relatively modern consumer systems that they could easily resell like G3s and Pentium III boxes, so I basically took whatever I wanted of the older machines. I wish I had grabbed some of the SGI stuff too, but I digress.
One day I grabbed a IIx and took it home. It didn't boot. Bummer.
I saw another IIx later so I also grabbed that one. It didn't boot. Dammit.
So I got a third IIx. It burned down, fell over, and then sank into the swamp, er, didn't boot.
Eventually I gave up. All 3 of these just sat in storage. Maybe I'd try to fix them one day.

Turns out, the IIx (and I think the rest of the big II models) won't boot with dead batteries. So it's likely that all 3 of mine will boot if I dig them out of storage and put in new batteries (I did remove them before they went in storage so they aren't bombed).

It's likely that a lot of the big II models got scrapped or sold for parts due to a no-boot situation caused by those dead batteries.

Also, the IIcx, as the name implies, is a compact IIx, so it has all the performance with half the expansion slots and only one internal floppy drive. Many people probably didn't see the need for 6 NuBus slots or an extra floppy drive so the IIcx was a better deal than a IIx (in addition to taking up much less desk space).