Wanting to replace floppy in Mac SE (dual 800k)

[Strimkind]

Powered up my free mac SE and it works wonderful...except for the floppy drive. Now whoever owned this before had replaced one floppy drive with a 500mb HD and upgraded the RAM to 4MB.

My question is, can I replace the 800k drive with a 1.4mb superdrive?

Thanks

 

[Mac128]

Probably not. Chances are if it is labeled "SE" only and has an 800K drive it was never upgraded from IWM to SWIM. Pull your logic board and check for the presence of a SWIM chip as it is possible, though remote, that somebody pulled an upgraded 1.4MB drive for another unit and replaced it with an old 800K drive. Without the SWIM chip an SE can use 1.4MB drive but only 800K will be recognized.

 

[Strimkind]

Could be. Someone has been playing around enough inside to install a 500MB Hard drive and upgrade the RAM. Maybe they did the same to the floppy. I will pull it apart tomorrow or on the weekend.

As long as it can use the 800k drive then at least options for finding a working drive are a bit less difficult.

 

[Unknown_K]

Could be wrong but I think the 800K drives used a different data cable (yellow stripe) then the superdrives (red stripe)?

I don't have any drive handy, but are there different pins used on each (hence the need for different keyed cables)?

 

[Mac128]

Could be wrong but I think the 800K drives used a different data cable (yellow stripe) then the superdrives (red stripe)?
I don't have any drive handy, but are there different pins used on each (hence the need for different keyed cables)?

Actually from the SE forward that rule no longer applies. The cables were designed to block certain pins from passing on signals unique to the 400K drive in later 800K drives used in the SE, creating much of the cable confusion in the earlier drives. The earlier drives blocked the signals at the headers. The 1.4MB drives required the same special cables used with the later 800K drives as it requires a special signal, then again it was never intended to be used with a Plus or earlier. Either way, the SE onward does not generate any of the problematic signals, so the particular cable used is completely irrelevant and determines nothing on inspection.

In this particular case, if the SE has a downgraded 800K drive from a previous SWIM upgrade, then the cables could easily have changed as well. The main thing to look for to know what's in there is check the ROMs and the IWM sockets. Here are the upgraded part numbers to look for on the chips:

• SWIM (344–0062) at D8

• High ROM (342–0701) at D6

• Low ROM (342–0702) at D7

 

[Strimkind]

Great! Thanks for the info. When I get a bit, I shall open up the SE and see whats inside. Never had the opportunity to open up a classic compact mac before so this should be an interesting experience.

 

[tomlee59]

You'll just need to get a lonnnnnnnggggggg torx-15 driver. That seems to be the main challenge for people trying to open these up for the first time.

 

[mfortuna]

I forget the exact size, but a long allen wrench with regular hex tip works fine. In fact, that was what was supplied to me in a case cracking kit back when I had a MacSE (late 80s).

Mike

 

[MultiFinder]

Yes, you can. However, as has been mentioned, it will only work as an 800k drive. I replaced the original 800k mechanism in my SE with a superdrive (I've got a gazillion hanging around) and it's been working just peachy

 

[Scott Baret]

If you do want to upgrade the Mac to a SuperDrive/FDHD model the easiest way to do so is to find a logic board from an SE SuperDrive/FDHD and swap it with yours. Since most compacts seem to die from analog failure there are probably a few folks on this board who could swap you one or you could look on eBay, even if it meant acquiring a dead SE and stripping it of its logic board (this will also get you some spare parts and possibly some RAM).

Alternately, if you're not using the SE's expansion slot, swap with an SE/30 logic board. It will fit fine in an SE case.