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SE/30 Graphical Artifacts

APPLCOLC

Member
Hello, I have purchased a Macintosh SE/30 around three months ago now and I have been on the quest of upgrading it to get it near its highest potential: I got the logic board recapped, I got Bolle’s Ethernet Riser and 50MHz 68030 accelerator, got a ROMinator, and I am now waiting for Bolle to finish his greyscale card for me to add as icing on the cake. However, I decided to bust it out and turn it back on while waiting for said card to release, and I was greeted with strange graphical artifacts. I’ve tried several things and they do not go away. What could the issue be? I have no experience with something like this.
(files attached show issue at hand)

Methods of fixing issue I have attempted:
-Soft resetting
-Switching power off and switching it back on
-Booting into safe mode
-Deleting After Dark (which turned out not to be the issue in the first place)
-Booting into ROM

All of these, and the issues continue to occur.
 

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  • IMG_1353.MOV
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  • IMG_1352.MOV
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Johnnya101

Well-known member
Bad Vram? Someone on here had a graphical issue that messed up the entire screen and it was cap goo under UE8.
 

Byrd

Well-known member
I'd give the board another clean, focus on UE8 and surrounds as noted, pull RAM and ROM and clean/reseat modules.

Additional troubleshooting would be to to put the stock 16Mhz CPU and see what happens. Are you running the stock ROM?
 

APPLCOLC

Member
I'd give the board another clean, focus on UE8 and surrounds as noted, pull RAM and ROM and clean/reseat modules.

Additional troubleshooting would be to to put the stock 16Mhz CPU and see what happens. Are you running the stock ROM?
That is most likely the issue. I did forget to mention that I broke one of the RAM clips and had to do the Action Retro method of using physical metal clips (wrapped in bandage not to conduct any electricity) to hold it in. These have probably loosened by now.
I will also check UE8.
 

Byrd

Well-known member
The old RAM reseat! Glad it’s back to normal. I spent hours diagnosing my SE/30 (very similar to yours with PowerCache) and it came down to RAM too - in this case it wouldn’t start up properly. Prior to that, the IIfx ROM I was using clearly didn’t like the PowerCache so I switched back to stock ROM. Hopefully (fingers crossed) that better be bloody it.
 

APPLCOLC

Member
Damnit, it appears I was wrong. Turned out it wasn’t the RAM that fixed the issue, but it was actually removing the accelerator card. I have no clue how to troubleshoot this thing. I assume I should tag @Bolle now.
 

Johnnya101

Well-known member
Don't rule out a failing power supply, make sure to get that recapped so it has plenty of power!
 

APPLCOLC

Member
Issue resolved (again)! The issue was that, when I would try to run a benchmark test using MacBench, After Dark would interrupt it at times and, in doing so, mess with the test. If it does this while it is benchmarking the processor, my accelerator card freaks out and has to cool down to work. I believe that is the end of this issue.

edit: nevermind
 

Byrd

Well-known member
As I was concerned about overheating on my PowerCache card (socketed) I ended placing a long thin aluminium heatsink on the CPU, ground down to clear some parts of the chassis. The heatsink came from a G3 Wallstreet CPU I think. Turned out it wasn't the issue (more ROM, RAM) but it was roasting under there.
 

APPLCOLC

Member
As I was concerned about overheating on my PowerCache card (socketed) I ended placing a long thin aluminium heatsink on the CPU, ground down to clear some parts of the chassis. The heatsink came from a G3 Wallstreet CPU I think. Turned out it wasn't the issue (more ROM, RAM) but it was roasting under there.
It does indeed get very very hot. I don’t know if that is the issue, however. All I can keep note of is that it starts working again if I take it out for a few after a software error like the benchmark. Wait, that might be the issue! I remember having some ribbon cable run up against the accelerator. Imagine if that was causing it to lose some ventilation potential and overheat? Hell, would that even cause such graphical errors?
 
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APPLCOLC

Member
Actually, yeah, there’s no way that ISN’T the issue! This only started immediately after I put my blueSCSI down there!
 

Attachments

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Byrd

Well-known member
The '030 doesn't need much help to cool, I'd stuff the SCSI cable under the blueSCSI to encourage air flow - also consider upgrading your SE/30 fan.

Still battling with mine! Now got it reliable with 80MB RAM, however there is an analogue board issue ... all recapped and pristine - reflow of solder time.
 

APPLCOLC

Member
The '030 doesn't need much help to cool, I'd stuff the SCSI cable under the blueSCSI to encourage air flow - also consider upgrading your SE/30 fan.

Still battling with mine! Now got it reliable with 80MB RAM, however there is an analogue board issue ... all recapped and pristine - reflow of solder time.
(Am I supposed to be replying like this? This is my first thread and I don’t really know the “etiquette” of how people talk here.)
I am similar, I have been upgrading the hell out of my SE/30. ROMinator, 128MB RAM, ethernet riser/card, Bolle P33 Reloaded accelerator, a logic board recap done by a friend, and I have to recap the analog board myself.
The only issue, at this moment, is said P33 Reloaded card, which is now giving these weird issues. I didn’t think it was supposed to overheat either, but when I touch it (when the computer starts giving graphical errors), it burns my hand! It only begins working again when I turn off the computer and wait for it to cool off. I purchased heatsinks, a noctua fan, and a new external BlueSCSI.
 
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