SE/30 startup problems

[billynomates]

So, have had my logic board re-capped by Phreakout (cheers again!), and all is going very well indeed.

Until today. Switched on my SE/30, and the chimes of doom spring out with a simasi mac pattern on the screen. First thing is take the back off and have a look around. Nothing burnt / melted / on-fire. Reseated memory and ROM. Reseated floppy and hard disk cables. Partly re-assemble (without case). Test. All okay. Put case on. Test. All okay.

Then I stand the Mac up on the desk, switch it on, and get the chimes of doom back. Simasi mac as well.

Repeat. Same thing.

And again. Same thing.

Until I leave Mac at simasi screen for a couple of minutes.

Restart once more, and we get a single chime, and a fully functional SE/30.

I'm missing the 'paper' thing that separates the logic board from the (looks like plated for RF shielding(?)) case internals. I've tried a piece of A4 pinter paper, but this doesn't seem to make any difference. I'm also working with some potentially iffy RAM - there's 68MB in the machine, but 64M of it is from a printer or something like that. This RAM has given me some chimes of doom before, but as I've said - everything was going so well...

Any ideas?

 

[phreakout]

Good to see it still works...well, despite the issue you're having.

Just to verify, is the RAM you're using a 30-pin SIMM memory? Also, iirc, some capacities are not accepted, like 8MB SIMMs for example. This RAM chart (scroll down a little further to see it) should give you some clues.

Second, are you using an SE/30 ROM SIMM or one out of another Mac II series, like a IIfx, IIci or IIsi? If you're using the latter, please note that there is a known side effect to doing that: You will get Simasimac, but only briefly, before it boots like normal. If you're using the former, try cleaning the little contacts on the ROM SIMM and its socket on the logic board. Chances are it may be a bit dirty. You can use a pencil eraser, isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol and a small wire brush (designed to be used for cleaning circuit boards) to clear out any debris.

That 'paper thing' is the RF Shield. It's made of aluminum and has a layer of plastic taped in place on the side that makes contact with the bottom of the logic board. This way, none of the contacts connect with the shield and short to the chassis ground. Technically, you can safely run it without the shield in place and the metal chassis frame is well formed to not make contact with other spots on the logic board. The case covers are plastic, so there's no chance of shorting out there.

73s de Phreakout. :rambo:

 

[billynomates]

Yes - it was working perfectly!

The SIMMs plugged in are 4 x 16MB in Bank A, with 4 x 1MB in Bank B, making 68MB in the only configuration that's known to work (according to the Repair Mac site).

The chimes are pretty much constant now, so I've got a weekend of playing to get it working again. I'm thinking maybe a contact clean with some isopropyl initially, with who-knows-what after that!

Thanks again!