I'm new here, SE/FDHD user in need of advice

[MassiveBarry]

Good Afternoon fellow macheads,

*rant warning. skip to 2nd paragraph for actual problems*

Heh, I would've joined this forum years ago had I known about it. About me & my SE; I'm not much of a collector per se, currently I own a Powermac G4, a Mac Mini G4, a rev1 iMac G3, and an SE/FDHD. I was quite young when the SE was in its heyday, but after messing around with one at school for a whole day I wanted nothing more than one of my own, so It was a little like realising a childhood dream when I bought mine for under £1 in 1998. Since then its been through a lot, including 6months in college when it was my main computer, due to the untimely death of my PB5300cs (worst mac ever). When I bought it, I maxed out the ram and bought a 9600 baud modem. In 2002 I replaced the 2nd FD with a 2GB HDD and upgraded to 7.0.1. while I was in there I replaced a lot of capacitors, namely these (I think, it was a while back) C1, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7, C8, C9, C10, C12, C13. Then in 2005 I got an Asante Ethernet card for a steal on eBay, and It's been hooked up to the broadband in my study ever since. It sees almost daily use, especially since it got ethernet, as it gets to my email inbox a LOT faster than the other computers

Now for my actual questions:

1- I put the hard disk in the top FD slot. I've read in a few places that it's possible to install a hard disk without moving either

floppy, but I've never seen a source for this. If anyone has any information on that, that would be great as the top slot is kinda ugly as it is.

2- In the 8 years my SE has had a hard disk, it has always run system 7.0.1. Every now and again I get intruiged by 7.5, but I've never actually installed it, as It was quite RAM intensive on my PB. So has anyone run 7.5.x on an SE and gotten it to do anything useful?

3- It was yellow when I got it and I think it's getting yellower. This is something I know absolutely nothing about, Is there any way to restore the cases original colour? sorry if that's a stupid question, as said, I know nothing about plastic.

4- And finally, it's missing the screws under the handle that hold the case together. While that was a godsend the first time I opened it, I would really like to know of any sources for replacement screws.

Other than these minor things, It runs great and is still a pleasure to use. ;D

Thanks for reading, looking forward to some insight,

Barry

 

[Mac128]

1- I've read in a few places that it's possible to install a hard disk without moving either

floppy, but I've never seen a source for this. If anyone has any information on that, that would be great as the top slot is kinda ugly as it is.

Yeah, you need the plastic insert that is long since discontinued to make it look pretty. But you sound like a perfect candidate for Larry Pina's Macintosh Classic & SE Repair and Upgrade Guide. It has step by step instructions on how to do this. It's likely on the internet someplace as well.

2- IEvery now and again I get intruiged by 7.5, but I've never actually installed it, as It was quite RAM intensive on my PB.

It is even more RAM intensive on a 68000 CPU and 4MB max. There is nothing System 7.5 gives you that can't be added to 7.0.1 with extensions, for all practical purposes. Not worth it unless you want to run something System 7.5.x specific.

3- Is there any way to restore the cases original colour?

Search this forum for "retrobright".

4- I would really like to know of any sources for replacement screws.

The easiest way to do this is take a screw from the Mac to the hardware store and match it to a machine screw. Unless you just want to restore it to stock condition, these will be easier to remove without the need for a special torx screwdriver.

 

[MassiveBarry]

Retrobright - I never would've found that. I'll experiment with some yellow PS2 keyboards I have and see how it goes.

Thanks for the help :b&w:

 

[yuhong]

There is nothing System 7 gives you that can't be added to 7.0.1 with extensions, for all practical purposes.

Sentence doesn't make sense.

 

[Dog Cow]

There is nothing System 7 gives you that can't be added to 7.0.1 with extensions, for all practical purposes.

WorldScript?

 

[Mac128]

I think he means, that I forgot to type: System 7.5.x, in context it should be well understood despite my omission. But thanks for nit-picking yuhong. :beige:

 

[CJ_Miller]

There are probably a few ways a hard drive can be relocated in the case without too much trouble. I don't know quite where your network card fits, though. Nicest fit would be to bolt it to something already in there, such as extending off the back of your floppy cage so it just clears the monitor. There are a few places it could be bolted on through the case, which might be less aesthetically desirable. Such as the back or top of the case. Basically, anywhere which avoids touching circuit boards or the CRT should be fine. I would be cautious about power draw with floppies, hard drive, and expansion cards to be sure the PSU doesn't get overloaded.

7.5 on 4MB of RAM might not be too pleasant. If you use an accelerator which allows for more than 8MB of RAM, I would say to go for it.

 

[MassiveBarry]

The nic is an Asante PDS card. It doesn't take up a lot of space inside. It does mean though, using an accelerator is out of the question.

I still have the original floppy drive I took out, I was looking for confirmation that the SE would be able to power the hard disk and two floppies. I would've experimented already but for two things; the extra floppy ins't likely to be of significant use, I just want to restore this machines original look. Also I got a nasty bite off of the crt last time I went hastily poking around.

Thanks again for the replies :b&w:

 

[MassiveBarry]

So this is what I've done. The original floppy drive is back in its cage, and the hard disk has a low enough profile for me to screw it to the upper floppy cage. I only managed to get two scews to fit, and the back half of the drive is jutting out quite a way in to the open space under the back of the crt. It just clears the nic by 2-3 mm. It's a very ugly solution but I guess nobody is looking inside the case. Bad news is I don't have the ribbon cable to hook up the 2nd floppy. While I locate one of those, I'm going to run it like this a little while and see if any problems arise from the new HD position.

 

[Bunsen]

Search this forum for "retrobright"

Some entries may have it spelled as "retr0bright" or even "retr0brite"

 

[Mac128]

the hard disk has a low enough profile for me to screw it to the upper floppy cage. I only managed to get two scews to fit, and the back half of the drive is jutting out quite a way in to the open space under the back of the crt. It just clears the nic by 2-3 mm. It's a very ugly solution but I guess nobody is looking inside the case.

This is pretty much the solution Pina documents. I think his may involve a homemade bracket, either way, as long as it's fixed in place and not prone to come loose due to vibration during operation.

One word of caution, make sure you adjust your voltages, both now, and especially after you get your second floppy cable, and you shouldn't have any problems. The SE PSU is robust and capable of supporting more than what you're taxing it with.

And yup, it is ugly, but that's the SE series. It was the first to cram everything everybody wanted inside a compact case. The chassis is ugly, the speaker connections are ugly, the logicboard is ugly, the fan is ugly, the knock-out PDS card connector access is ugly ... and there's no way to max out the SE's potential, even with "official" upgrades without overstuffing the thing with ribbon cables, metal brackets and logicboards. There's simply nothing elegant about it. But even the exterior design suggests this: it's a machine that means business. It takes itself seriously, and is capable of un-compromised power.

 

[MassiveBarry]

And yup, it is ugly, but that's the SE series. It was the first to cram everything everybody wanted inside a compact case. The chassis is ugly, the speaker connections are ugly, the logicboard is ugly, the fan is ugly, the knock-out PDS card connector access is ugly ... and there's no way to max out the SE's potential, even with "official" upgrades without overstuffing the thing with ribbon cables, metal brackets and logicboards. There's simply nothing elegant about it. But even the exterior design suggests this: it's a machine that means business. It takes itself seriously, and is capable of un-compromised power.

Hehe, exactly. Thats what I love about it, It's not there to sit and look pretty, It's there to get stuff done.

I dont think those existing holes in the floppy cage are safe for this purpose as it developed a very faint rattle a few hours in. With that in mind I've drilled myself some new holes allowing the drive to sit a little further back. Don't know if RF from the crt will be an issue, somehow i doubt it.

I took some pictures of the drive in its final location:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/4762144778_4492fa44a8_b.jpg

Another, with the NIC installed:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4098/4762232078_e013f9b3de_b.jpg

The black tape isn't actually supporting it, just to stop it from rattling a little. And it is now *very* close to the crt, not more than 1mm, but they aren't actually touching.

Turns out my extra floppy drive is dead anyway, so this was a pointless endeavour, until I can find a new drive.

Once again, thanks to all the super-knowledgable guys that replied :b&w: