Hello from an enthusiast that's getting back into vintage Macs

[sixsevenco]

Hi Everyone,

I hope this post isn't against forum rules.  For the past few months, I've been restoring and playing with my very first computer, a Texas Instruments TI-99/4a. Now that it's fully operational and I've played around with coding in BASIC, I've decided to move on to collecting some other of the other computers from my past.  My good friends in the TI forums on AtariAge said THIS was the place to be for vintage Mac info. 

I've been looking for an Apple IIc, Macintosh Classic II, and a PowerMac 7500.  I just happened to find a Classic II in its original box with system disks, manuals, etc. for $125.  I think it was a fair price, but maybe not.  It powers on, but it doesn't boot.  I imagine that it will need to be recapped, maybe some other stuff too.  I also plan on retrobrighting it. As I go through my restoration process, I'll do my best to search for answers, but I'm sure I'll have some questions for you all.   

I'm still waiting for my Classic II to arrive, but I have some initial questions. 

1. I've read through the forum here a bit on retrobrighting.  What is the preferred/recommended method for 2018?  It appears that the answer to this question is submersion in a water bath containing hydrogen peroxide and oxi in sunlight.  Am I correct?
   
2. I am guessing that my Classic II will not have 10MB RAM.  What is the best place to buy 2x 4MB RAM?  Looking for a balance of cost and quality.  A web search pointed me to WeLoveMacs.com.  Any reason they should be avoided?  Any other recommendations?
   
3. I have some old floppy disks in storage.  I am hoping to find some of my college papers, and maybe a copy of my first resume!    So, I'm probably going to want to move files to/from the Classic II.  I read through the link in the stickied post "The Definitive Guide to Connecting your SE/30".  It seems I may have a bit of a learning curve in front of me.  (I used to know all of this stuff!)  Any recommendations on the path of least resistance in moving files to/from my windows PC?  (I don't own a modern Mac.)  Would using a terminal program be easier than setting up appletalk? Alternatively, is there software that will allow my PC to read my old Mac disks natively? 
   

Thanks to anyone that responds.  And thanks for everyone that has posted before me; I'll be searching through your posts for helpful tidbits of information!

Cheers,

sixsevenco

 

[nglevin]

For number 2, I tend to go with eBay sellers.

WeLoveMacs.com is always more expensive and I seem to recall they have trouble finding the products they openly report as selling in stock. Actually tried buying a rare component from them, think it was a battery, had it cancelled and money refunded without much of an explanation.

Number 3, you could dump floppies with a USB floppy drive on a modern-ish computer via a tool that can do raw byte-for-byte dumps like dd on Linux and save them as .dsk files to be read via the BMOW FloppyEmu, which you can connect to the external floppy drive port on the back of the Classic II. That's what I'd do. But there are of course other ways!

I keep my beiges at a toasty Italian Same, so can't help out on the Retrobrighting front, I'm afraid!

 

[ben68]

I understand the inclination towards retro-brighting, but I think a day will come when there is a demand for original "patina"

 

[Dog Cow]

1. I am guessing that my Classic II will not have 10MB RAM.  What is the best place to buy 2x 4MB RAM?  Looking for a balance of cost and quality.  A web search pointed me to WeLoveMacs.com.  Any reason they should be avoided?  Any other recommendations?
   

I would ask around this site first. I used to have a baggie or two of 30-pin SIMMs, but I gave them all away a few years ago. Chances are, there are several other members here with SIMMS that you could have.

For getting your files, this can be easy or hard as you want to make it.  A USB floppy drive for your PC is the easiest method I can think of, and it's what I use in these scenarios (except that I have a modern Mac with OS X, not a PC). 

Your Classic II can read/write High-Density disks, so get a USB floppy drive for your PC and a program like HFV Explorer that can read HFS disks, and you should be able to copy the files straight off. Bonus points if they are Word documents; you'll be able to open those just fine.

 

[sixsevenco]

Thanks to everyone that has responded! 

I would ask around this site first. I used to have a baggie or two of 30-pin SIMMs, but I gave them all away a few years ago. Chances are, there are several other members here with SIMMS that you could have.

Your Classic II can read/write High-Density disks, so get a USB floppy drive for your PC and a program like HFV Explorer that can read HFS disks, and you should be able to copy the files straight off. Bonus points if they are Word documents; you'll be able to open those just fine.

Thanks for the advice on RAM.  I'll see if I can figure out where to post this...  Also, HFV Explorer is exactly what I was looking for.  I'll have to dust off an old-ish PC with a floppy and give it a go.  Then after that, maybe I'll get a zip disk drive and see what I have save on those...

Number 3, you could dump floppies with a USB floppy drive on a modern-ish computer via a tool that can do raw byte-for-byte dumps like dd on Linux and save them as .dsk files to be read via the BMOW FloppyEmu, which you can connect to the external floppy drive port on the back of the Classic II. That's what I'd do. But there are of course other ways!

That FloppyEmu seems very interesting.  That may be a phase 2 of my restoration project here.  It seems like it would make getting software to/from the mac very easy, without having to worry about networking. 

 

[Dog Cow]

Also, HFV Explorer is exactly what I was looking for.  I'll have to dust off an old-ish PC with a floppy and give it a go.  Then after that, maybe I'll get a zip disk drive and see what I have save on those...

Yeah, Zip disk is good too. If you install PC Exchange on the Mac, you can format the 3.5" or Zip disk in your PC, then use it on the Mac. So you wouldn't need an HFS program on your PC.