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Macintosh 512k!!! EDIT: <POP>

A

Apostrophe

6502
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Is it a regular or enhanced?

If it's an enhanced System 6.0.8 will work fine. If it's a regular 512K, you'll need to find an older version of the system. I'd recommend 3.2 for the 512K as it was stable and had a fair amount of features for a 1986 operating system. Apple doesn't make it available so you're going to be on a bit of a floppy hunt, thankfully those old disks do show up on eBay now and then.

 
Scott--from what I can tell of the auction, it's a regular 512k.

Hotdog Zanzibar--thanks for that great download page, but download or not, I don't have any 400k disks at all, so either way, I'll need to find them. Hopefully I can find one with Mac OS 3.2 on it. I still have like $5.00 left over from the auction, so I may be able to scrounge around for a 512k system disk.

EDIT: Never mind, after doing some research, turns out all I need is an 800k disk and Disk Copy 4.2 to create a "400k" disk. Which is where those downloads come in handy--thanks Hotdog Zanzibar!

-Apostrophe

 
Congrats,

That was my first Mac! :beige: I was waiting for the arrival of my (vertical market) MacSignmaker system to arrive. It came with an SE W/20 mb HDD and A RADIUS 16 Accelerator (mostly bundled for the math co-pro, but the doubled clockspeed was no small thing either!) and was looking for a used ImageBanger Wide Carriage so I could run 15" plotter paper (legal size w/o the tearoff perforations that was used on Gerber's SignMaker III & Sprint models) through the ImageBanger Wide Carriage, scanning them in with the infamous ThunderScan unit that replaced any ImageWriter's Ink Ribbon Cartridge.

Anyways, I was able to digitize ThunderScanned logos and artwork in Fontographer and then AutoMagically convert the files to the proprietary MacSignmaker format using their Font Conversion utility. Fontographer's Type 3 Fonts were converted to MacSignMaker fonts at 5 outlines per character. That'd be four for the postscript outlines in the artwork and one for a bounding box needed to get each "character" aligned in the MacSignMaker edit window.

Anyhoo, by building complex artwork in Fontographer, doing a lot of cut & pasting, converting the font format, and then doing a lot of repetitive typing and bounding box deletions, I got COMPLEX PostScript graphics output to vinyl cut graphics over a year before anyone else in NYC could even TOUCH PostScript files!

That was VERY lucrative back in the day! 8-)

And I could do all the digitizing & scanning at home on the FatMac after having dinner w/the family! :D

Someday I/ll look up and post the specs on the awsome NewLife Accelerator I installed in FatMac. That made it way cooler than a stock Mac 512ke!

whatever . . . enough of this old coot's ramblings,

jt ::)

 
The Macintosh 512k just arrived!!!

It's in awesome condition. Sadly, although they included a keyboard and mouse, they seem to have omitted the keyboard cable. I'll dig around for one of those on eBay.

I have a few pictures, a few comments, and as always, a few questions.

Here's the Mac 512k at different angles:













And, while I'm here snapping pictures, here's all my other computers:







They included a few software disks as well. I checked Macfaq.org's serial number decoder, and found this particular Mac to be 24 years old, incidentally making it my oldest computer.

Before they shipped it, I asked them to stick a random floppy disk in the drive to protect the read/write head (as I've had a few problems with the floppy drives in my SEs, I thought it wise to take precautions this time). When I unpacked the Mac, however (which was shipped in its original box, by the way), the floppy disk they stuck in was sticking out. So I pushed it back in, and it bounced right back.

Hence my questions. The Mac 512k is a completely new ball game for me. In a bit I'm going to prepare a boot disk for it and turn it on, but before I do, I need to make sure I know as much as I can.

So first of all, how does the floppy drive work? Is the disk supposed to bounce back if you push it in? How do I get it to stay?

Secondly, is there any special way to turn it on, or do I just turn it on, wait for the :?: prompt, and then insert my boot disk?

Also, how do I run different programs if there's one drive? Does each program include bootable software, or do I put in the system disk in, eject it, and then a program disk?

And, finally...the battery is AA?!?! Really? I mean, really?

Hope I didn't overwhelm anyone with my questions, but this is the best place to ask them...

All the best,

-Apostrophe

 
You can put the disk in before turning it on, or after. It doesn't matter. In the 1984 Mac demo, Steve Jobs turns on the Mac, and then puts the disk in.

Disks from this era generally all had System 1.1g on them if they contained an application.

The battery is not a AA.

 
Oh, okay. So then--what kind of battery is it? I mean, it's supposed to look like a AA, right? I'm only asking to make sure someone didn't just stick the wrong battery in there...

 
I just now turned it on. It chimed, and started right up to the :?: prompt. But no matter what disk I inserted, the prompt remained. I see red LEDs on down inside the floppy drive, so it must be plugged in since power's getting to it, but it won't read any disks. It won't read the disk I prepared for it , nor will it read any disks that came with it (which do work, by the way; I tested them in my Centris.)

Sometime next week I'll pop the case open and check for any capacitor leakage, and of course I'll do the usual cable re-plugging, etc.

Updates to come then!

-Apostrophe

 
The 512K was my first Mac too! Cost me almost $2K before taxes for just the single-floppy system with MacWrite and MacPaint. Great that you have the accessory kit: I really liked the way they packaged the thing.

 
By the way, you probably already know this, but a standard phone cable won't work because it's wired differently, but it's definitely something you can fix yourself if you have some RJ11 plugs and a crimper.

 
Oh, okay. So then--what kind of battery is it? I mean, it's supposed to look like a AA, right? I'm only asking to make sure someone didn't just stick the wrong battery in there...
Click to expand...
It's an uncommon type of battery at 4.5 volts.

 
As you may have noticed, I changed the name of this thread again, this time to "Macintosh 512k!!! EDIT: "

I opened the case this morning to check everything over. I gave the analog board a quick peek, I removed the logic board and examined it, I removed the floppy drive completely and re-plugged it on both sides. That 512k is like new on the interior! The boards are shiny, and look like they haven't ever been used!

So I plugged everything back in, put the case back on, and plugged it into the wall. I left it sitting there for a while, so that the components would be 'warmed up' when I flipped the power switch.

Then I flipped the power switch. Here's what happened:

POP!!

No screen lighting up, no chime, nothing. A loud POP a split-second after I flipped the switch. (Well, it sounded more like a CRACK!! but I'll just call it a pop) I tried flipping the switch again, but it was as if the cord had been unplugged. Not a peep. :(

I'm almost positive that I didn't plug anything in backwards. (In fact, I'm not even sure it's possible, the way the pins are all arranged.) But I ask myself still, why did it pop after I opened it, but not before?

At any rate, the pop seemed to have issued from somewhere close to the power switch, so my guess is a flaky power supply.

Tomorrow I'll open the case up again and pinpoint my problem. A pop that loud will definitely have some visible damage.

After I've pinpointed my problem, I'll remove the component in question. And then, on my birthday when I'll have more money, I'll put ads here in the trading post for replacement parts.

But I will get that 512k working again. That is my vow. Most of my computers at one point or another had a problem.

Now they all work. So will that 512k.

-Apostrophe

 
You might even check the power switch itself. Pops are certainly what you hear when switches short out. Mind you, what frying a switch would do to the rest of the machine is another story....

 
Switches can short out? Really? What is it inside them that shorts out? They don't have any capacitors or anything, do they?

Ahhh, I hope what you said about 'what it would do to the rest of the machine' doesn't actually happen...I'll switch out the analog board with a known-working one (to be obtained at a later date) and then with the original one outside of the machine, I'll be able to examine it more closely.

-Apostrophe

 
IIRC, there's a little fuse on the analogue board, and that may have been the source of your *POP* sound. Might wanna hunt around a bit for it and take a looksie. I'd point out where it is for ya, but my oldest Mac is two models later, an SE :)

 
Switches can short out? Really? What is it inside them that shorts out? They don't have any capacitors or anything, do they?
Click to expand...
Switches are pretty simple, really: they're just a couple bits of metal that make and break connections. Over time, however, things can get gunked up with dust and carbon, or something. These build-ups can cause shorts or, more likely, can prevent the circuit from completing.

Some switches can be disassembled and cleaned, such as those for power windows in older cars. Others are far more difficult or impossible to open without destroying.

Try testing the switch with an ohmmeter: it should read about 0 ohms when on, and infinite when off.

I'd look at the analog board, too (taking precautions around the high-voltage stuff, of course). Specifically, check for burn or melted stuff, and check the fuses. Also, verify that the machine is rated for your local line voltage. IIRC, the original Macs were set for specific voltages.

 
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