Another eBay conquest, 3 more compact Macs... (aka Mac Haul 2)

[EvilCapitalist]

Congrats on the surprise socketed DayStar in that SE/30!  Like Crutch said, you're definitely coming out ahead on this conquest.  One of the more technically inclined folks will be able to confirm but I'd imagine if the 40MHz clock was swapped out for a 50MHz version you could either run CPU/FPU overclocked at 50MHz or you could swap in the respective 50MHz versions of each.  Even if you keep it at 40MHz that's still quite a fine surprise!

I do wonder what kind of life that machine lived before you got it though.  Dust that dark and pervasive makes me think some type of industrial shop.

 

[Crutch]

Right. FWIW I haven’t seen one of these Daystar boards in person but I do have a couple Diimo030s, and those run at 50MHz by overclocking an 030 marked as 40MHz just like yours. (And they run flawlessly.)

 

[joshc]

Thanks for the extra info guys, I wasn't sure if it was sold in 33Mhz, 40Mhz and 50MHz versions, but if you say it just overclocks up to 50MHz then that also makes sense.

I have read before that these cards mean the processor gets really hot, and there isn't really room for a heatsink, but I'll have to see how it goes.

In terms of the history of the SE/30, on the front it has a sticker that says "POS" "Point of Sale Macintosh" so I think it was some sort of demo machine at one point.

The guy I bought it from was selling his dad's old stuff (or possibly his partner's dad's old stuff) who he said used to be a programmer for Commodore, so I guess he perhaps also did programming on Macs as well. Once I get it booting from the hard drive, I'm hoping the contents of the drive give a clue as to what it was used for.

For this machine to have been upgraded back then, when these upgrades would've cost in the thousands, it would've been someone where the cost was not an issue and they needed the power. Judging by the amount of dust, I think the unit was on perhaps 24/7 or at least for many hours each day, which ties in with it being a demo unit as well.

 

[joshc]

Or perhaps with it being POS, it was part of a till system...maybe it has some bespoke/custom/rare software on it !! Anyway I'll stop getting excited and will instead spend my time trying to get it working again...

 

[olePigeon]

It'd be cool if it had some POS software that actually worked with a cash register.

 

[jessenator]

Very nice! Socketed is special on its own, but the upgrade with it? Go buy some lottery tickets with that luck  :lol:

 

[joshc]

After cleaning the logicboard and floppy drive/hard drive, I decided to put it all back together to see if I could get the floppy drive reading disks and to see if the hard drive would mount.

Long story short, some initial success but then quite a big failure. It can boot from a floppy, albeit very slowly (I think I've just forgotten how slow floppy booting is), anyway the hard drive just won't mount at the moment, HD SC cant see it and after a while it spins down on its own... But when I tried a restart, and the floppy drive ejected the disk, it immediately started making an awful screeching sound. I powered it off, then back on, and the sound remained.

Looking through the Dead Mac scrolls book, there isn't a mention of this as a symptom in the floppy drive section of the book, does anyone know what it might be?

Also, before I forget, has anyone got some good tips on how to revive these old SCSI drives? I know its a long shot expecting a 30 year old drive to just carry on working, but it would be REALLY handy to see what's on there!!

Back to square one...

 

[Dog Cow]

Also, before I forget, has anyone got some good tips on how to revive these old SCSI drives? I know its a long shot expecting a 30 year old drive

Perhaps not such a long-shot. I've learned from past experiences and have developed some specialized techniques which are non-invasive. I strongly urge you not to disassemble the drive until you've tried other methods first.

What sounds does the drive make, and what do you think is wrong with it?

 

[joshc]

The Plus now has video back after swapping the flyback transformer for a different one, and recapping the analog board. The display is a bit dim still - I had to adjust the 'Contrast' adjustment up to full which brought it back but it's still dimmer than it should be at 100% brightness. I also recapped the Plus logic board for good measure.

I have now recapped the socketed CPU SE/30 logic board, so that's looking great now:



Stuff left to do on the Daystar SE/30:

• Get the Rodime drive working / install SCSI2SD
  
• Find more RAM
  
• Fit a working FDD (mine are all in various states of repair at the moment)
  
• Reinstall the Asante Ethernet card and get it networked
  
• Use the heck out of it
  

Stuff left to do on the Plus

• Adjust the CRT so the picture is centered
  
• Fix whatever is causing the dimmer than usual video
  
• Retrobright
  
• Possibly sell it
  

Stuff left to do on the 128K/Upgraded to Plus

• Recap analog board
  
• Recap logic board
  
• Retrobright
  
• Find an original mouse (I have a Plus mouse, but would like a 128K mouse with the original variant of the connector (darker color, more beige).
  
• Find original MacPaint / MacWrite disks.
  
• Use the heck out of it
  

 

[CC_333]

The CRT in your Plus might be dim because it's worn out.  How much, if any, burn in is present?

If you temporarily swap in the CRT from another Mac (such as your upgraded 128k; the CRTs are 100% interchangeable), does it get brighter with the same A/B?

c

 

[joshc]

The CRT in your Plus might be dim because it's worn out.  How much, if any, burn in is present?

If you temporarily swap in the CRT from another Mac (such as your upgraded 128k; the CRTs are 100% interchangeable), does it get brighter with the same A/B?

c

This was the obvious...and correct solution.

I swapped with a spare CRT I have that's known good, and hey presto we're back with a brilliant picture.

I am actually kicking myself that I didn't try this sooner, it is even obvious looking at the yoke on the old CRT - it's a dark brown colour and the connector has the typical burnt connector on one of the pins, so all the signs of a worn out CRT are there!

Many thanks for suggesting this, the Plus is now working absolutely fine with a recapped logic board and analog board.

 

[joshc]

I have started moving the progress of my restorations/rebuilds into separate threads...

Here are two I've started so far which relate to the machines I acquired as part of this conquest.