SE/30 -> SE conversion

[beachycove]

I have an SE that seems to boot up, but that has a dead screen. I also have a spare SE/30 with a good screen (though a checkerboard), and thus that has a dodgy logic board.

SEs were upgradeable to SE/30s. This may be a stupid question, but can an SE/30 be downgraded to an SE?

This would give me one working machine out of two boat anchors. I would try the swap without asking, except for fear of frying something.

 

[Byrd]

The simplest downgrade would be to just to slide out the SE/30 board and bung in the SE one; they're exactly the same in terms of cable layout etc.

JB

 

[Scott Baret]

The only thing you wouldn't be able to do with Byrd's method is to use two internal floppy drives, as the SE/30 bezel accommodates only one. Otherwise that is all that needs to be done. If you really want to use the two drives I suggest picking up a new bezel (although it probably makes more sense to just buy an SE if that's all you're after).

 

[porter]

Is the old SE board for 800k drives or 1.4Mb?

Can an old SE still use a newer 1.4Mb drive as an 800k one?

 

[RichardG]

Apple advises against doing that, but there are reports of Apple FDHD drives working (as 800K) on pre-FDHD Macs (unless if your SE is a SE FDHD).

(also a placeholder to prevent my account from being pruned once again)

 

[beachycove]

Thank you, gentlemen. I now have a cunning plan. The SE in question is a FDHD, so given what has been said, all should be well.

What I'll do along the way is deal with the rather badly yellowed plastics as in this thread, so as to produce not only a working SE, but an attractive one. At the present moment, it looks like it's been soaked in urine since manufacture. Not a pleasant thought.