Help me identify a strange (prototype?) Macintosh 128k

[manfredi90]

Hi everyone,
I'm trying to troubleshoot a problem with the analog board on a Macintosh (I'll open a separate thread about it later), but I've noticed some strange things about this Mac:

• The case is from a 128k Macintosh (M0001P)
• The board is a 512k
• The analog board doesn't physically have room for the C46 capacitor, which is instead soldered directly between R47 and R51
• There are some handwritten notes on the analog board, along with the words "test2" and "final test."

The Macintosh is located in Europe, but it appears the analog board was originally configured for 120V, and the W12 jumper was removed later.

I'm just curious: what could the "history" of this Mac be?

 

[Byrd]

Hi,

What is the date of manufacture of the Mac? Most 128K were upgraded to 512K (straight swap of board), the test markings might just be factory tests of an international 120/240V analogue board in the destination country.

myoldmac.net - 68k Macintosh and Apple ][ F.A.Q. - How to...

myoldmac.net

 

[manfredi90]

Hi,

What is the date of manufacture of the Mac? Most 128K were upgraded to 512K (straight swap of board), the test markings might just be factory tests of an international 120/240V analogue board in the destination country.

myoldmac.net - 68k Macintosh and Apple ][ F.A.Q. - How to...

myoldmac.net

Thanks for the site, I didn't know about it! It appears to be a 1984 model:

Manufactured in: F => Fremont, California, USA
Year of production: 1984
Week of production: 21
Production number: 26Z => 2549
Model ID: M0001P => Macintosh 128k/512k
Your Macintosh 128k/512k was the 2549th Mac manufactured during the 21th week of 1984 in Fremont, California, USA.

The really strange thing for me is that there's no place for the C46 capacitor. This also makes me fear that there are other differences and that it's more "dangerous" to work on the board to fix the startup problem it's having (the Macintosh still boots).

 

[slomacuser]

You can read about it here: https://68kmla.org/bb/threads/128k-analog-recap-photos-and-wtb-128k-motherboard.48622/post-583528

Sorry to be waking up an old thread. I found this site while looking for value information and signed up because I actually know the answer since I myself made that change. The red battery holders were simply a quick fix so that service people could know whether the unit had a standard 110v AB or the "universal" 110-220v version of the AB without cracking the case open. It was early days for bar codes and they did not include much detail about the internals. The problem occurred while I was in Taiwan visiting Capetronic (one of 3 suppliers of the AB) and their plastic molder was very nearby so we went over and asked if they had any raw material (nylon 6/6 IIRC) in a different color. They did and it happened to be red so they immediately switched that press over and ran several thousand red ones. On returning to Cupertino after finishing my other visits to Korea and Japan I found that air freighted ABs had beat me back and there was a bit of drama about me (the purchasing guy) having made an -engineering- decision. I won, and actually got manufacturing engineer added to my job description by Steve. I'm not sure just how long they were used but it could not have been before about March of 84. FWIW, we had 3 sources for the AB -Capetronic (owned at the time by BSR), Samsung and an in-house line in the Warm Springs factory. I believe most came from Samsung, who also supplied about half of the 9" CRTs, with Clinton-Taiwan supplying the other half. Good times!

 

[manfredi90]

You can read about it here: https://68kmla.org/bb/threads/128k-analog-recap-photos-and-wtb-128k-motherboard.48622/post-583528

Thanks so much for the link, very interesting. But I'm not sure if it's the same board. Besides the fact that the battery holder is red (as mine), there's no mention of physically different silkscreens like in my case