Official SE -> SE/30 upgrade

[MinerAl]

Decoded the serial # on the back-bucket of one of my SE/30s. It says it is a M5010 (regular SE) that shipped with 2 floppies, but the front fascia and lobo are clearly an SE/30's. So, just a mixed up bucket, right? But the big model identifier sticker on the back is the official SE/30 sticker, in the right place and everything. When I looked closely at the sticker though I could read the SE's "1 Mbyte RAM, Two 800k Drives" text ghosting through from the original sticker beneath it.

Was this the standard operating procedure for upgrading from an SE to an SE/30 back in the day?

I guess I'm surprised they replaced the whole front fascia plastic piece as well as the lobo. I can see the big back-sticker and maybe a "/30" sticker for the front, but they went all out with this upgrade.

Kind of a fun find. Oh, the long and interesting lives these machines lived before I met them

 

[uniserver]

interesting …. more pictures?

 

[uniserver]

Should I make a post of my officially upgraded 128k to Plus?

basically this upgrade consists of a new rear, plus main-board, 800k floppy.

 

[Macdrone]

Well the 128 upgrade everyone knows about, the SE/30 you dont see mentioned. I will look more but definately different.

 

[MinerAl]

interesting …. more pictures?

The rest of it just looks like an SE/30. Only the lower FDD-height recess, and it goes all the way across the front. The only way to tell is: the serial # indicates it was an SE made in '87 and had two 800k floppies.

 

[uniserver]

i see, so its kinda like no big deal... you can just toss a se/30 mobo in any SE, and slap a sticker on the back, and presto

does it have that older skool fan on the back, that looks like a squirrel cage HVAC blower?

 

[MinerAl]

I'll have to break it open and check. Is there a visible-from-the-outside difference in an SE and an SE/30's backside?

 

[Charlieman]

i see, so its kinda like no big deal... you can just toss a se/30 mobo in any SE, and slap a sticker on the back, and presto

Oh no you can't. The original SE has a different chassis which would prevent the SE/30 PDS slot from being fully used. This was fixed with later SEs but the SE --> SE/30 upgrade kit allowed for a chassis replacement as well as the front panel. The dealers must have loved that...

 

[MinerAl]

Well this SE/30 has an Ethernet card, so they replaced the face plastic, chassis, and lobo. So the serial # refers only to the CRT/analog board, and the bucket! That's quite an upgrade! Wonder how much it went for.

 

[uniserver]

wow, i didnt know the chassis was different.

 

[uniserver]

before i got my se/30, i was using a SE to test se/30 mobos, it looked the same, but then again i never looked that close at the pds slot