Picked up a few macs, don't know where to start

[kurb69]

The one attached to the NuBus card appears to be used for data acquisition - a better shot of the card would help determine its use for sure, and hopefully the drives still work, since they would most likely have drivers for the cards. In fact, quite a bit of software might exist on these drives (in your haul) that is not available elsewhere. I am a bit worried about their extended stay in the trailer, since it would get very hot in the midwest.

We will likely prioritize various Macs (I would suggest taking care of the Duos and their Duodocks ahead of some of the others) but there are so many other great items here as well.

Triage is going to be essential to this and it looks like you are off to a good start, reviewing documenting, and stabilizing. Getting some help would be a great idea if you are near anyone else here and also remember that VCF Midwest is coming up next month and quite a few people from here likely plan to be there in Chicago (I'm still not sure if I am going this year yet).

Thanks for the input. There was only one duo laptop, the one thats stuck in the duo dock lol I couldnt figure out how to eject it. Do those have batteries inside as well that need pulling?

My plan is to basically focus on the macs first. I am going to cut the silicongraphics indy and the sun system ultra 1 creator in there soon though as those are neat peices to me.

I am enjoying what i have been doing so far and learning about these machines as i go is pretty exciting to me to be honest. I definitely won't hesitate to ask questions if im unsure of something though!

 

[bibilit]

Concerning the SEs, the SE (without any other label) should be the 800k drive, the other two ones have the 1.44 Mb drive, and were sold under the FDHD (Floppy Drive High Density) or Superdrive name, but they are the same.

Ths small monitors can be used for Apple IIs

A lot of work here, i will try to look what is useless and get rid of it, then focus on what is worth something and can be sold, kept or given.

 

[Realitystorm]

I would be checking the LCs to see if any have an Apple IIe card. Especially if they came from a school

 

[kurb69]

Concerning the SEs, the SE (without any other label) should be the 800k drive, the other two ones have the 1.44 Mb drive, and were sold under the FDHD (Floppy Drive High Density) or Superdrive name, but they are the same.

Ths small monitors can be used for Apple IIs

A lot of work here, i will try to look what is useless and get rid of it, then focus on what is worth something and can be sold, kept or given.

Thanks for the info! I am going to go through it all and determine whats good and what isnt.

 

[kurb69]

I would be checking the LCs to see if any have an Apple IIe card. Especially if they came from a school

I will be opening up every single one I have to remove the battery, i will check for damage and take a picture of the cards etc and post here.

I am excited to check for the cards its one of the first things I thought of. I also have a shitload of PCs maybe I have a voodoo 3 or something in one of those as well who knows.

 

[luRaichu]

I'd be happy to buy an AT desktop case off you for a reasonable price. Also looking for a PowerBook 160/165 if you have one in your pile

 

[kurb69]

I'd be happy to buy an AT desktop case off you for a reasonable price. Also looking for a PowerBook 160/165 if you have one in your pile

The only apple laptop of the whole lot is the one stuck in the duo dock. I got about 6 or 8 windows laptops though ranging from 286 to pentium 3. I think 4 are thinkpads, 2 compaqs, some bondwell brand i never heard of. I haven't checked them out yet one says bad screen though. As far as the cases yeah we'll see when its all said and done. Theres def a few neat looking pc cases one of my goals is to build a nice retro gaming rig out of them all as well. I'll keep you in mind.

 

[kurb69]

Day 2 of the battery removal/cleaning. Here are the 2 IIsi's. Look good to me no bad batteries so far and as far as i can tell I havent even seen 1 bulged capacitor on a board yet but im only 6 machines in. So far so good!

Also since someone mentioned cards I included 2 random cards that were laying around in the pictures.

I "think" these are the only 2 IIsis but not positive. I seen at least 1 maybe 2 IIcx's I think ill do those next, then probably jump to the SEs.

 

[obsolete]

I havent even seen 1 bulged capacitor on a board yet

The ones in these machines don't tend to fail that way, they leak electrolyte out the rubber seals on the bottom and it seeps all over the board.

 

[kurb69]

So change of plans I went with the 2 LCs and 1 LC 475 of the lot. One of the LCs says bad motherboard and the battery was removed with what looks like very minor leakage, so I wonder if its a simple fix maybe a bad trace or something because it certainly isnt as bad as it could be? Who knows. Heres the pics. One had a little motorola card "Novy Systems Inc", the 475 card is just a modem or some sort and the bad board one had no card!

I'm hoping that little card is a good find can't wait for someone to let me know lol

 

[kurb69]

The ones in these machines don't tend to fail that way, they leak electrolyte out the rubber seals on the bottom and it seeps all over the board.

Well i am hoping for some luck, and so far ive carefully inspected (albeit with an untrained eye) and havent seen any liquid or goo or crud on any minus the one LC I just posted that had the battery removed theres some minor corrosion.

 

[KennyPowers]

Nice, you've got a Novy accelerator there.

Well i am hoping for some luck, and so far ive carefully inspected (albeit with an untrained eye) and havent seen any liquid or goo or crud on any minus the one LC I just posted that had the battery removed theres some minor corrosion.

I see clear signs of leaking surface-mount caps in all 3 of the LCs pictured in this post. It usually won't be "liquid" or "goo", but a dull "fuzzy" finish on surrounding vias, solder pads, and component legs.

 

[obsolete]

I see clear signs of leaking surface-mount caps in all 3 of the LCs pictured in this post. It usually won't be "liquid" or "goo", but a dull "fuzzy" finish on surrounding vias, solder pads, and component legs.

Yeah, it's subtle, but once you learn to recognize it, it's easy to spot. As Kenny said, the dull solder joints are a telltale sign, and you might see legs on surrounding components turning green as well. The leaked electrolyte on the boards tends to attract more dirt/dust to those areas as well.

 

[dramirez]

Lovely Indy, do you know what processor is inside?
If you ever consider selling one of the IIfx, let me know, I'm interested.

 

[kurb69]

Hmm I think i see what you mean it looks almost like powdery mildew. Thats what I thought i was looking at. There is a white kind of powdery dust all over the outside of the cases as well I thought it was the by-product of 30 years of rodent piss/ammonia as that normally turns into kind of hard white chunks almost over time. Once I assess everything and decide what ill be keeping and what ill be getting rid of, absolutely I plan on recapping.

 

[kurb69]

Lovely Indy, do you know what processor is inside?
If you ever consider selling one of the IIfx, let me know, I'm interested.

Im tearing down the IIcx right now and after that I think ill do the silicongraphics because i want to check it out too so within an hour or 2 ill post pics of the inside.

Edit: Also unfortunately one of the 2 IIfx's board was toast ill post a pic later, so im def. keeping this one

 

[kurb69]

Ended up being only 1 IIcx here it is, not sure what the cards are. Tore it down and cleaned it up half ass

Going to move onto the silicongraphics indy next i never seen one of these before curious to check out the insides

 

[KennyPowers]

It might not be the best idea to lay bare PCBs on static-prone surfaces like towels and rugs, especially those made with synthetic fibers

 

[kurb69]

It might not be the best idea to lay bare PCBs on static-prone surfaces like towels and rugs, especially those made with synthetic fibers

Are they pcbs anything good is the question lol

 

[KennyPowers]

Are they pcbs anything good is the question lol

Well, the 040 NeXTCube logic boards certainly are. The NuBus video and network cards don't exactly grow on trees either...at least not my trees.