I got a DUO!!!...but.......

[tomlee59]

Well, at this point you've got little to lose...

I've encountered several Duos (and other models, for that matter) with similar behaviors. If you look closely at your ckt boards, I'm willing to be that you'll see telltale smudges from goop that's leaked out of some electrolytic capacitors. If that's the case, you can revive the 'books by a thorough clean and replacement. Unfortunately, this involves soldering, which you have declared is a non-starter for you. If you're really determined not to solder, there's no harm in putting the logic board through the dishwasher (crazy as it sounds, I'm completely serious). Maybe a clean alone will get it to a functioning state.

 

[The Macster]

There was possibly a very very tiny amount of stuff near the capacitor in the top left under the keyboard (only one I can see in there), though so little it seems unlikely to make a difference - I just wiped it off but that made no difference, still squeaking when pressing the rear power button and just the caps lock light. I don't really see how the board could survive being washed - things like the coils look very delicate, and wouldn't the metal parts go rusty? I know people have done it, but it just seems so impossible!

Well, at this point you've got little to lose...

Thing is, it's now looking like there's not even a hard drive in the 230, so even if it could be brought back from the dead it is still unusable, and there is no way I am going to try busting into the working 210 just to get its hard drive out, as I would probably just end up with two dead Duos instead of just one. So I think the Duo 230 is, very sadly, dead :'(

 

[The Macster]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know anything about the "Apple Express Modem DAA" device that came with this lot of Duo bits? There seems to be very little info about it online, and while I'm unlikely to use it I would still like to know how it works.

I thought that on the Duo the modem is built-in, as there's a place inside for one and a blanked-off port on the back of the Duo, so is this DAA one an alternative to the built-in one or is this like one hlaf of the built-in one, and you have to connect both together for it to function? Neither of my Duos has the built-in one, but on the back of the MiniDock there are two identical ports that it would fit into, one with a picture of an entire telephone and one with just the telephone handset and some dots coming out of it. What is the difference between these two ports, and is the DAA modem meant to be connected to one of those in order to work? It's presumably only for the Duo - other Macs do seem to have the latter port though, but not the former.

 

[wally]

See http://www.linkclub.or.jp/~maakun/EM.html for what appears to be two approaches to modems, one that is US-centric, with built in RJ-11 connection point, and another that pins out to a mini Din-8 and assumes an additional Direct Access Arrangement module that converts electrical signals to conform to the requirements of a specific country's telephone system.

Regarding symbols, the phone with the three dots is usually the label for the serial port that is preferred for serial connected external modems, and has higher interrupt priority than the printer port. These two ports conform to the RS-232/RS-422 standards in which data is communicated by two different levels of voltage to indicate 0/1. This is in contrast to the telephone line modem conventions, which vary widely but generally send 0/1 with different tones, and changes in amplitude and/or phase of tones.

The complete telephone symbol is usually the label for a telephone line connection, possibly through an required additional DAA module. Plugging the DAA module into either serial port would be futile, it goes strictly into the international modem port with the telephone symbol, where, when the correct international modem is installed, there is some elaborate circuitry that converts between computer 0/1 and the appropriate tone signals required for telephone dial up connection.

 

[Bunsen]

The DAA (somfink somfink Adapter) was issued with international (non-US) versions of the Duo. It adapts the internal modem to the line conditions of different countries. That way they could install one modem card in all the export Duos, and just make a different DAA for each country's telecom regulations.

I would HIGHLY encourage you to continue with this project if you are finding it interesting so far. However, if you decide in the future to pack it in and scrap them for parts, would you be so kind as to PM me? [] ]'>

 

[The Macster]

So the little "Express Modem DAA" box is like one half of a modem, and has to be connected to the port with the complete telephone on it to make a complete one? Is the other half of the modem built into the MiniDock, which has a port with that symbol on it, or do you have to have the modem card actually inside the Duo for that port on the MiniDock to be active?

 

[wally]

Have to have the international modem installed in the Duo. It's like the DAA is the country specific 1/10 of a modem, the minidock is just a wiring pass through, and the international modem card contains the 9/10 of the modem function that is country independent.

 

[The Macster]

Ah I see, thanks for the explanation I therefore couldn't use it anyway as neither Duo seems to have the internal bit. The 210 must have done at some stage though because it came with the Express DAA module and also the little blanking square for where the port goes is missing, but I don't know what happened to it!

 

[wally]

It must have been a marvel in its day to travel with such a lightweight laptop and a small collection of DAAs and be able to dialup for email back to corporate headquarters from just about anywhere in the world. [] ]'>

 

[The Macster]

It must have been a marvel in its day to travel with such a lightweight laptop and a small collection of DAAs and be able to dialup for email back to corporate headquarters from just about anywhere in the world. [] ]'>

Yes, the Duos must have been way ahead of their time when new, for many reasons. They just look so much more modern than the PC laptops of the day, and to me at least seem tiny even for a current laptop! Just a shame they don't have a USB port, maybe under the foot where there is a Mac serial port, as that would be an excellent way of getting files in and out of them without needing to have space occupied by drives. The DuoDock is a great idea in that it contains extra Ram and CPU power and everything, and really does give you the benefits of a tiny laptop and a full desktop together!

I would HIGHLY encourage you to continue with this project if you are finding it interesting so far. However, if you decide in the future to pack it in and scrap them for parts, would you be so kind as to PM me? [] ]'>

There's nothing really to continue with really - the 210 is complete and working, so I will set that up with OS 7.6 when I'm at home with my CD drive etc and have a little play with it, as it's such a sweet little Mac so should be plenty of fun (they both have 12 MB of Ram, which is a plus point of course). The power adapters and the MiniDock work, so they will be useful for that. The 230 is dead and missing parts, so will languish in the bottom of a drawer. The DuoDock is dead and is sadly on the way to being binned as no-one seems to want it - tonight I made an eBay listing for it but it probably won't sell. Postage will be around £10-£12 for the weight, and who's going to pay that for something that's dead?

The reason I'm probably going to hang on to the 230 is that I would love to combine the two into a working 230 without the etched-underside base of the 210 - there is no way at all I am busting into a fully working 210 to do that, but I just thought one day there might be a chance I will have built up the requisite knowledge and confidence by playing around with lots of dead laptops. For the cost of shipping to any of this stuff to Australia from here you could probably buy an iBook or something anyway!

 

[Bunsen]

For the want of a tuppence capacitor and two minutes of soldering time, you're going to bin the Dock?? NO says the MLA .... [}] ]'>

Remove the power supply and take printouts of the repair instructions to your local dodgy TV repair guy. He should fix it right up for a few squid, or maybe for free/beer if you're friendly

Then you will know the joy of cheap Nubus cards ...

BTW there's another hack that lets you use the Duo keyboard, trackball and screen while it's in the Dock...

 

[Bunsen]

How bad is the etched underside? Bog, sandpaper and a bit of paint can work wonders...

 

[The Macster]

How bad is the etched underside? Bog, sandpaper and a bit of paint can work wonders...

1, 2 - in two corners of the base, not visible unless you turn it over of course, but the unmolested base of the 230 is nicer for a collector's piece

 

[The Macster]

You'll all be pleased to know that there's a happy ending for the story of the Duo Dock that was heading for the bin: someone put a bid on the eBay listing I made for it, right at the last minute, and paid £0.99 for the Dock and nearly £40 for it to be posted to Portugal (it seems really expensive to post items heavier than 2kg overseas from the UK, for some reason)...must be one of you guys mustn't it, no-one else would be that crazy! ;D It's now on its way in a large box to a new life in sunny Portugal, having come so close to having to be "dragged to the Trash"...



Now to find someone that will combine the two Duos into one working Duo 230 with no base etchings, and take the extra bits for the second Duo off my hands }

 

[heebiejeebies]

Oh my gosh, forty pound? What a tart! 8-o Still, I guess there had to be one rich person with an insatiable fetish for old Mac gear in the world! Good to know we won't have to give you a dishonourable discharge! [8D]

 

[LCGuy]

If i was in the UK i'd be more than happy to help you out Macster, having completely stripped out and successfully reassembled a 210 before.

 

[The Macster]

Good to know we won't have to give you a dishonourable discharge! [8D]

Well, I'd have to have kept it quiet had I needed to bin it, wouldn't I? Although it seems to be acceptable here to scrap dead hardware - from what I can tell, a lot of us have thrown out/scrapped for parts dead machines. I do hope my buyer isn't too disappointed when it turns up - it was very clear in my listing that it's dead though, and I reminded him of that fact before he paid. He seemed very friendly though - I wouldn't be surprised to find out that he hangs out here!

having completely stripped out and successfully reassembled a 210 before.

Very jealous of your hardware skills, I really admire people that can do things like that Dana's recent tale of the Wallstreet resurrection was amazing! It's really nice that you'd help if you could too - I'd make a set of Tiger discs for you or something like that in return

 

[heebiejeebies]

Oh - dead. Missed that bit. Well, I hope it's acceptable considering what I did to that dead Classic, if anyone remembers that. A dock is a bit rarer though I s'pose.

 

[The Macster]

A dock is a bit rarer though I s'pose.

Yeah, I don't really know how common they are to be honest - they don't seem to come up on eBay very often at all though.

 

[heebiejeebies]

That bloke has probably been sitting there every day typing in "duo dock" just waiting for one to come up. [] ]'>

Rather like what I do with Edwardian gilded monogrammed snuff boxes.