Katheryn's Macintosh SE/30 saga

[obsolete]

I just get nervous when I solder the PLCC chips because I can't exactly see where pins could be bridged if possible.

If you can't see, then you need magnification. A microscope, even a cheap one, makes a world of difference.

 

[alectrona2988]

Good point, I'll definitely look into getting one of those!

 

[Phipli]

Good point, I'll definitely look into getting one of those!

Before you do, try using the camera on your phone. Modern phones used in good light are often so good, that the images they take are better than a cheap microscope once you zoom in.

The thing that really makes or breaks it is the lighting - nothing beats natural light in a big window

 

[obsolete]

Agreed on the lighting, but I'll take an old fashioned halogen fiber optic dual gooseneck illuminator over a big window any day

 

[Phipli]

Agreed on the lighting, but I'll take an old fashioned halogen fiber optic dual gooseneck illuminator over a big window any day

Pffffft. Carbon Arc Lamp any day.

 

[alectrona2988]

I feel more confident in soldering the PLCC chips directly. I got some better solder paste and I must say... it's much easier than installing PLCC sockets on EVERY chip! Just got the ADB chip and the 65C22s installed. May not look super even, but I touch up any bridges or missing joints as needed by hand. I feel confident I can get this thing working.

 

[alectrona2988]

Ended up removing the PLCC sockets for the FPU and GLUE that I soldered earlier. I know those chips are good so there wasn't any point in doing that.

 

[Phipli]

I feel more confident in soldering the PLCC chips directly. I got some better solder paste and I must say... it's much easier than installing PLCC sockets on EVERY chip! Just got the ADB chip and the 65C22s installed. May not look super even, but I touch up any bridges or missing joints as needed by hand. I feel confident I can get this thing working.
View attachment 72404

Good to hear it is going well

 

[alectrona2988]

Thanks! I tested the paste I bought on a scrap motherboard's BIOS chip and as soon as everything went together I knew this was going to work beautifully. Obviously it won't look the neatest, but it seems like I can get this to work!
Also... wasn't there a fix for artifacting on these SE30 reloaded boards? Think I saw it somewhere...

 

[Phipli]

Also... wasn't there a fix for artifacting on these SE30 reloaded boards? Think I saw it somewhere...

@croissantking ? What was your thread called?

@alectrona2988 - it might be already fixed on your board depending on when the files were fetched for making it.

 

[croissantking]

@Phipli @alectrona2988

https://68kmla.org/bb/index.php?thr...d-recreation-thread-revival.39485/post-512595

 

[Phipli]

@Phipli @alectrona2988

https://68kmla.org/bb/index.php?thr...d-recreation-thread-revival.39485/post-512595

@alectrona2988

Take care - you don't need to make the mod if it is baked into your board already!

 

[croissantking]

Yes, the fix is not needed for the Rev04 board released Dec 2023.

 

[Bolle]

It’s also not needed if you don’t have problems with artifacting. I still have to experience it on one of the boards I built for myself. Never seen it in happen the first place. So I‘d suggest you try it the way it is first to see if your exact combination of VRAM and PALs triggers it.

 

[alectrona2988]

Thanks, guys. Right now I have almost everything on the board, and everything required to get the machine to start. Only problem? It has a horizontal B&W line pattern so theres a chip or 2 that might be dead. Are there any specific chips that cause the simasimac or this specific pattern to appear? I suspect the 53C80 and 8530 chips are bad, personally.

 

[Phipli]

I suspect the 53C80 and 8530 chips are bad, personally.

I don't suspect the 53C80 - that's the SCSI chip.

The 8530, if I have the right chip from a quick Google, is simple enough to manually test. It's just a buffer with inverting and non-inverting outputs. Power it, and put and input high or low and the corresponding outputs will go low and high or high and low.

Duh, it's the Serial chip sorry. I'm being daft.

Again, the serial chip is unlikely to cause stripes. I'll see if I can find a "no ROM stripes" photo from my SE/30.


But the symptoms you describe are often ROM related. So firstly - what style of ROM are you using? How did you write it? I haven't made a reloaded board, but I have seen that ... I believe @Bolle organised the ROM chips differently, so just writing standard ROM downloads to the chips results in a non booting machine. Is this right @Bolle? Sorry to drag you in, I'm not familiar with what you did other than passively.

 

[Phipli]

Ignore the diagonal stripes, that is from my camera's rolling shutter, but this is... erm... allegedly... what happens when you forget to put a ROM in an SE/30 when you're testing after a recap / repair.

 

[alectrona2988]

I'm using the stock ROM SIMM.

 

[Phipli]

I'm using the stock ROM SIMM.

OK, then I'd start around there. Make sure it is properly seated, check all the pins are soldered nicely. Check for shorts on data and address pins perhaps. After that personally I'd be doing a careful visual inspection for solder bridges.

You're not far from it working I don't think.

Does it look like my photo?

 

[alectrona2988]

yes