SE SuperDrive and Plus

[el_jeffe]

These are my first finds. I got a beige Plus with HD20 for $125. Unfortunately the floppy drive is dead and it won't boot from the HD20. I got the SE SuperDrive for $60, it boots to the internal HD and the floppy drive works too. I'm new to this but based on what I've read I'm assuming I need to clean and lube the floppy drive as well as replace the battery and check the capacitors.

 

[Johnnya101]

Correct! Pluses don't usually need new caps, also a new battery is kinda expensive ($10-$20) and not needed. Not sure whats up with the HD20, might need a format?

 

[BadGoldEagle]

You got good deals on both machines. Congrats ! The Superdrive will certainly come in handy to make 800k floppies for the Plus later. Why?

Because the Plus doesn't use the same floppies as the SE Superdrive. So if the floppy you're trying to boot from is a 1.44meg (HD) floppy, the Plus certainly won't boot from it. You can tell DD floppies and HD floppies apart as HD floppies have two holes (well one hole and the write protect notch) and DD floppies only have the write protect notch.

If the floppy you're using is a 800k one and works with the SE, then you definitely have a problem with your floppy drive or bourns filter. 

You should take it apart and clean the heads with Q-tips and isopropyl alcohol.

You don't need the batteries, in fact I'd say it's better to run these machines without any. You'll have to take the SE apart at some point in the NEAR future as some batteries referred to as the "Diabolical Red Maxells" tend to leak and kill the logic board. Maybe you got a Maxell in there... You can't tell until you take it apart.

I'd say this is your first priority here. Get a suitable (long) Torx T15 screwdriver and take this baby apart. There are 4 screws on the back (the Plus has 5). You need do disconnect the floppy drive, the HD and the logic board cables. Be careful not to snap the neck of the CRT while you pull these cables out. Be very gentle   You should be able to swing the logic board out and remove the battery. If it's not a red Maxell, remove it anyway. It's safer.

About the external HD20. There is an HD20 repair utility out there but perhaps the drive itself is fine and the system file is just corrupted (or maybe there's no system file on the disk?). Since the Superdrive works and is compatible with the HD20, you can go ahead and plug that HD20 into the Superdrive's floppy port. If the Superdrive can't boot from the HD20, it will boot from its internal drive. If the HD20 still doesn't show up on the desktop, then run the HD diagnostics available here (you'll have to create an account there if you haven't done so yet.)

Hope this helps.

 

[Themk]

Nice machines! As mentioned earlier, you will want to remove any PRAM batteries that are left.

The HD20 works fine with the SE, so you should test it on that machine. As BadGoldEagle said, the HD20 repair utility is beneficial.

Definitely clean and lubricate the floppy drives on both machines.

Capacitors? Not usually on the SE and Plus. So, unless something is obviously bad, you probably don't have to do anything with the capacitors. At some point though, they will fail (as will all electrolytic capacitors).

 

[el_jeffe]

Looks like I got lucky with the battery. "Made in West Germany" - piece of history right there!

Your Macintosh SE (B01), with serial number F10287F9B01, was the 8611th manufactured during the 28th week of 1990 in Fremont, CA.

 

[Themk]

Interesting, that logic board is from 1987 though, so someone swapped in an older logic board into a newer SE SuperDrive. It looks like someone swapped in the SWIM, as well as the FDHD ROMs, making it still a SuperDrive, but with an older motherboard.

Check the voltage on the black Varta, some of those still have something left in them!

 

[el_jeffe]

Interesting, if you don't mind me asking what info on the board gives it away? Would it have been something Apple or a dealer would have done due to a newer motherboard not being available? I work for a PC manufacturer and typically they purge warranty replacement stock of the older revision boards when a newer one is released. I'm not sure if the SuperDrive variant would have counted as a revision or an entirely separate model. I have a better pic of the board if needed.

Regarding the Plus, cleaned and lubed the floppy but one of the gears in the eject mechanism is broken. The drive heads do not move at all when it attempts to access the disk, just gives the floppy with an x and tries to eject. I don't have a multimeter to check the drive motor but it doesn't appear to be jammed. I'd like to have a working floppy but with my budget I think the floppy emu would be the better investment at this point and then maybe get a drive down the line. Also the battery on the Plus did not leak and only trace corrosion on the terminals. More like a couple of green specs. 

 

[Themk]

The date codes on the ICs give it away. In your photo above we can see on the Zilog SCC, that it has a date code of "8718". This means 1987, week 18. On the NCR 5380 SCSI controller, we can see "8711", which means 1987, week 11. Those are the big giveaways. Now, how I know it has the FDHD ROMs and the SWIM chip? All of those chips have date codes from 1990 (and what match your serial number decode above), so we would assume those are SuperDrive chips.

 

[jsarchibald]

Those Vartas, have never seen one leak or damage a board, although I've heard the odd snippet.

Correct on the caps, they tend to not be an issue with these older Macs, but I have seen the odd one go on the analog board.  Replace as they fail (ie. magic smoke) and you are good to go.

 

[Carboy7]

You can 3D-print new gears for the FDD, or buy new ones off of eBay. The broken gears are a big problem with the old Compacts, though.

 

[BadGoldEagle]

Yep, new gears are quite expensive but it's better than nothing! 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gear-for-Macintosh-512k-Vintage-Floppy-Drive-eject-Mac-Sony-Apple-/262956115633?hash=item3d3967e6b1:g:sikAAOSwvgdW4sti

 

[Johnnya101]

Just bought a pack of four, they are AMAZING! Perfect! No printing lines either! The old gear I could easily mash with my finger, these are strong like they should be.

 

[el_jeffe]

That's great on those gears I'll keep that in mind. Unfortunately the drive head does not move and the spinning motor is extremely noisy so I think the drive is pretty much dead unfortunately.

 

[BadGoldEagle]

I think but I might be wrong that the drive will try to eject the disk continuously until it succeeds and the head won't move until that has been taken care of.

What happens if you push the tab (manual eject procedure), take the floppy out and then pop it back in?

 

[el_jeffe]

When I put in a disk the main motor will spin the disk but the heads do not move. It gives an X floppy on the screen and tries to eject. The eject motor runs and trips the sensor to stop after its rotation but since the gear is broken the disk remains. I can eject manually at that point and the system gives the ? floppy on the screen. I've tried 2 known good 800k disks I got from BMOW, they work in the SE. 

 

[el_jeffe]

So I found a way to make floppies from the PC. Unfortunately(but not surprisingly) the hard drive in the SE died. Making a noise and isn't recognized. I connected the HD20 to it. It tries to initialize but fails. Disk first aid fails and HD20 diagnostic immediately fails like it's not detected. So I've got 2 dead hard drives and then a dead floppy on the plus. Guess it's time to get a floppy emu.