Perplexing SE/30 issue

[krishnadraws]

Today I received all the parts for my SE/30 upgrade, namely a ROMinator II and 4 16MB SIMMS from OWC. The problem: after installing the RAM and the ROMinator, I get horizontal stripes. I have made sure that all items are properly snapped in place. Now... I remove the ROMinator and put the original ROM. Same problem. I googled "horizontal stripes" and Mac SE/30 and the cause for the stripes seem to be leaky caps on the logic board. The seller has claimed he recently recapped it (not sure when). I've attached shots of the logic board with a close-up on some of the caps that are on the board. Advice greatly appreciated. 

 

[aeberbach]

Has this board been cleaned? I can't really tell if that is crinkly solder mask or capacitor guts. Also, what's the messy blob between C9 and C10 on the right? You seem to have a clean board and say it used to work so chances are it is something you touched. Are the contacts in the all the sockets clean? Are the solder joints that connect the sockets looking OK or could they be cracked/dry? What happens if you revert to original RAM/ROM just the way it used to be?

 

[krishnadraws]

Has this board been cleaned? I can't really tell if that is crinkly solder mask or capacitor guts. Also, what's the messy blob between C9 and C10 on the right? You seem to have a clean board and say it used to work so chances are it is something you touched. Are the contacts in the all the sockets clean? Are the solder joints that connect the sockets looking OK or could they be cracked/dry? What happens if you revert to original RAM/ROM just the way it used to be?

I haven't cleaned it. When I received the Mac a few months ago, and inspected the board - it looked clean. I'm not sure what the blob between C9 and C10 is - I used a toothbrush and some IPA on it and it seemed to diminish (not totally gone though). Putting the original ROM after testing the ROMinator resulted in the same simasimac pattern. I've ordered some new capacitors (tantalum and electrolytic) with the intent of replacing the ones that are already on the board.

 

[ttb]

Have you tried all possible RAM bank configurations? There is a published table for normal amounts but 16GB SIMMs are beyond the scope. 
 

FWIW, in mine I run with 4x 256KB in bank A and 4x 16MB in bank B. This appears to work. In your pic it looks like maybe you have the 16MB SIMMs in bank A. Maybe try swapping them?

EDIT: Found the tables: https://www.fenestrated.net/mac/mirrors/Apple Technotes (As of 2002)/hw/hw_25.html

 

[krishnadraws]

Have you tried all possible RAM bank configurations? There is a published table for normal amounts but 16GB SIMMs are beyond the scope. 
 

FWIW, in mine I run with 4x 256KB in bank A and 4x 16MB in bank B. This appears to work. In your pic it looks like maybe you have the 16MB SIMMs in bank A. Maybe try swapping them?

EDIT: Found the tables: https://www.fenestrated.net/mac/mirrors/Apple Technotes (As of 2002)/hw/hw_25.html

I'll give that a try. Most concerning to me is that with no RAM in any of the slots (only the ROM), the Mac displays the same zebra stripe pattern.

 

[ttb]

Yes, I believe that’s normal. Mine do that, at least. This is what I see with no RAM and stock ROM:

 

[krishnadraws]

Good to know @ttb. Thanks! 

I'll give the RAM swap a try. Here's hoping.

 

[rplacd]

It's probably the Mac ROMinator – IIRC it's just a little too thin to make proper contact in the ROM slot, so the manual suggests you apply pressure on it with rubber bands.

 

[krishnadraws]

Have you tried all possible RAM bank configurations? There is a published table for normal amounts but 16GB SIMMs are beyond the scope. 
 

FWIW, in mine I run with 4x 256KB in bank A and 4x 16MB in bank B. This appears to work. In your pic it looks like maybe you have the 16MB SIMMs in bank A. Maybe try swapping them?

EDIT: Found the tables: https://www.fenestrated.net/mac/mirrors/Apple Technotes (As of 2002)/hw/hw_25.html

The OWC 16MB RAM seems to be taller than the stock 1MB RAM modules, which is causing a slight clearance issue when placing the logic board inside the chassis. Is this something you encountered with your 16MB modules?

 

[krishnadraws]

It's probably the Mac ROMinator – IIRC it's just a little too thin to make proper contact in the ROM slot, so the manual suggests you apply pressure on it with rubber bands.

Thanks! I did read that earlier when I was troubleshooting. I'll give the rubber band method a try.

 

[ttb]

I’ve heard that about some modules. I have two different 16MB SIMMs, one from MemoryX and the other from Keystron. Both are almost obnoxiously short (as in harder to get in and out of the clips, far shorter than stock 1MB sticks) and have no clearance issues. 
 

You can always try without fully installing the board back in the chassis. I do most of my troubleshooting with the board sitting next to the chassis connected via an ATX extender.

 

[krishnadraws]

Based on the board, do you think that the caps need to be replaced? 

 

[ttb]

I agree with @aeberbach that it's kind of hard to tell if the whole board is covered by a film or if that's just the soldermask. The solder fillets on UE8 and UF8 look a little mangled so it's possible there's some corrosion happening there, but again hard to tell. Maybe I misunderstood, does it not work with the old RAM & ROM now,? If so I'd tend to side with @aeberbach again and say you could have jostled something to break/make a connection in the process of swapping out the RAM/ROM. In that case you should absolutely clean/recap.

Regardless it seems like a good practice to get the board to a baseline condition of fully cleaned and with new caps. I usually clean and recap my boards before ever even trying to turn them on.

 

[techknight]

Also there is a known issue with using those custom ROM cards on some SE/30 boards. I have one, and its a crapshoot which boards work, and which ones do not with that card. 

 

[krishnadraws]

I plan to put back the original RAM and ROM and see if that works. A recap is definitely something I plan to do (parts ordered) as well. Thanks @techknight - yeah, I'm finding out that could be the case here but I have to rule out all possibilities first. 

 

[krishnadraws]

Okay, with the original ROM and 4MB of the original RAM in Bank A, I'm getting a BONG and no stripes. Now to switch the original ROM with the ROMinator to see if that works.

 

[krishnadraws]

So, here's what seemed to work. Original ROM with 4 16MB SIMMS in Bank A, and 4 2MB SIMMS in Bank B. Got the beautiful bong when it turned on. I'm returning the ROMinator II and will seek out the Mode32 extension.