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Dead PRAM and Mouse Speed Setting

Maniacintosh

Maniacintosh

6502
I just cleaned out my Classic and installed a fresh copy of System 6.0.8L (or whatever the Classic-only version is). I've found that a Classic is bearable as long as you don't put 7 on it.

Anyways, the main problem is the dead PRAM abttery. Is there a way to automatically restore my Control Panel settings (Fastest mouse speed, 256k Disk Cache, Clink-Clank, etc) upon boot-up?

 
I guess I'll pop the good PRAM battery out of my Centris 650...it has soft power so it maintains its settings if plugged in.

Some mud dobbers got into one of the screw holes and I can't seem to get the last screw out > :-( That's why I keep my Macs in my room now and not in the garage!

 
Unfortunately, when a PRAM battery goes bad, the Mac will lose most of its settings for the Control Panel. You will still have to restore the settings by hand. The date and time, mouse speed and such are no big deal, but other settings for memory management are lost and have to be reset by hand. So is life.

73s 8)

 
Yeah, I was hoping for some sort of modification... can ResEdit be used to alter the default settings?
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Perhaps, but it'd be MUCH simpler to just get a new battery :p

Also, did you get that last screw out?

 
Perhaps, but it'd be MUCH simpler to just get a new battery :p
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Except the fact that it's a CRT AIO and unlike the earlier Compacts, the battery is on the logic board, so you've got to face Mr CRT if you are to replace the battery... A naked Compact is just one of those things I find rather terrifying and would not want to have to contend with... :p

 
Perhaps, but it'd be MUCH simpler to just get a new battery :p
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Except the fact that it's a CRT AIO and unlike the earlier Compacts, the battery is on the logic board, so you've got to face Mr CRT if you are to replace the battery... A naked Compact is just one of those things I find rather terrifying and would not want to have to contend with... :p
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On the Classic, all you have to do is pop off the back, disconnect a few cables that aren't near the CRT, and the logic board just slides out. You can take it miles away from Mr. CRT to replace the battery if you want :p

 
There are shareware/freeware apps out there for managing PRAM settings as well. You can use one to reset them to your desired values when you start up. Slightly annoying, but better than having to go into the control panel. On my list of things to write is a simple INIT that will set the various values and the date to something reasonable - to avoid having to worry about the batteries on my non-frontline machines.

 
On my list of things to write is a simple INIT that will set the various values and the date to something reasonable - to avoid having to worry about the batteries on my non-frontline machines.
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That would be brilliant - I'm sure most of us here have this issue. Is there any way of doing the screen brightness/contrast on PowerBooks that way, or can they only be changed using the buttons on the machine?

At least if you run one of the newer OSes, 7.5 up I think, the screen resolution and colour depth seems to revert to what you set when it starts up, as opposed to reverting back to B&W when the battery is dead.

I don't suppose you know how to make a Network Time control panel for 68ks (was it not until OS9 that this was introduced?) that syncs the clock when you start the machine up? I guess that would be difficult though. A way to get rid of that annoying dialog on OS9 that pops up when the desktop loads telling your clock is wrong would be nice though...

 
It would still scare me to take the back off a Compact and even see that thing at all though - I'm not ready to die yet! :p
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Wow, I'm wayyy younger then you and I just completely removed the CRT in my Classic today, very carefully of course.

 
:D I guess I'm easily scared then! :I I don't know, I just find the idea of them really terrifying - I could certainly never touch one, as even if I had done whatever it is you're supposed to do to discharge them I would never be sure enough that it was completely OK and I wasn't going to get zapped. Also I wouldn't go near it in a working Mac anyway, as I think they are very easily broken - don't they implode and get you that way instead, if you knock the end off or something like that?

Having already been inside little compacts at your age, I can see you taking on those 21" Apple Studio CRTs once you're my age :D *shudders at the thought of his hand shaking a tiny amount, coming into contact with the Red Wire Of Doom, and going up in a flash of purple lightning*

:p

Just be careful everyone - we don't want any fallen soldiers now ;)

 
The CRT"S are very strong, people have thrown rocks at them without them so much as cracking. 21" color CRT's, well, they're outta my range ;)

Btw, I don't think CRT's "Get You" :p

 
If you slid the case of the Classic and looked at the internals, I don't think that you would be that intimidated after a while. You're not going anywhere near the CRT or the "Red Wire of Doom". I do remember being nervous the first time I cracked open my SE/30 but I had(!) to install the ethernet card. I just worked very slowly... and I'm still here today :)

Consider this a battery liberation mission - you must retrieve the battery and replace it. :)

 
The CRT"S are very strong, people have thrown rocks at them without them so much as cracking.
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I thought the other end ie not the glass end is very delicate though? Maybe knocking it off just kills the screen rather than making it implode though, I don't know.

If you slid the case of the Classic and looked at the internals, I don't think that you would be that intimidated after a while. You're not going anywhere near the CRT or the "Red Wire of Doom". I do remember being nervous the first time I cracked open my SE/30 but I had(!) to install the ethernet card. I just worked very slowly... and I'm still here today :)
Consider this a battery liberation mission - you must retrieve the battery and replace it. :)
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I like your way of putting it! :D I'd still be scared of my hand slipping on to the dangerous bit, or something like that, though. Luckily I don't have a Classic, SE/30 etc so I don't have to worry about such things :p I probably would look into getting the full 4 MB in my Plus (currently has 2.5 MB) if I could open it though - 1 MB simms seem very plentiful these days and so it would be tempting, though it could be that you need a special rare type for them, I don't know. I think you need special screwdrivers and everything though, so I won't be trying it any time soon regardless! 4 MB does seem a great amount for such an old machine, especially when you consider that the minimum spec for Windows 95 all those years later was only 4 MB.

Bah, I got zapped by my Classic II's CRT a while back. It's surprsing, but not as bad as I thought.
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Wow :O Did it hurt a lot? Have you opened it up since?

 
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I've drawn ARCS from my 15" Apple MultiScan's red wire before! I'm not afraid of CRTs! :-)

If I could just get that stubborn screw out...

 
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