Ye Olde Mac Haul

[Academician]

Just got back from the town across the river (Mandan, ND for those interested) and got a nice deal.

For a nice clean $20 I got:

2xLC 550, all-in-one systems. Both really yellowed but seem to be all there minus keyboards and mice (well, working ones). One was apparently used as a parts machine so could be a fun ride to figure out what was wrong with it. These didn't appear to have cd drives on first glance, but all reports say a 2x was standard. I'll have to check again.

2x Macintosh Plus (1x 1Mb, 1x regular as per their labels). Both are REALLY yellow (and from schools, go figure ;]), the 1Mb has some minor case dents, but they all appear to have the bells and whistles. The owner still has some components buried in his basement, but will arrange pickup when they are found.

With these Mac Plus' I got two keyboards, one has the numeric pad built in, though the numpad is missing the enter key and a key on the top row which I can't determine what is missing. The second keyboard is missing the numpad, but came with the add-on numpad that is chained to the keyboard. So far, only one M0100 mouse, but I should be getting that with the rest of the missing pieces soon.

I also got some large HDD sized thing with "MIRROR" printed on the front, no idea wth this is, appears to be some kind of powerstrip with SCSI on it... Could very well be another hard drive, but I can't tell and I don't think I have the cables to test it. But I haven't looked hard through the bag of cables I got.

Also, I got the coveted Macintosh Hard Drive 20 was in the mix, and apparently both of them at one time had the hard drive and the "MIRROR" thing mentioned above. I will be receiving the other pair soon as well, so that should just plain OWN.

I didn't get any software with them, which is only a temporary problem as my Centris, now on the internet, can grab the disks I need w/ ease =] Apparently, the hard drives are pre-loaded with a lot of stuff as well, so that helps.

He did have a few LCII and LCIIIs, as well as a PowerMac 8600/200 (which was in damn good shape, and a pull from the college I go too odly enough), and a 6100AV, but I figured I would be lucky to survive bringing 4 more home The 8600 was intriguing, anyone have thoughts on it's potential?

I'm going to do a test drive of all the systems, and begin Operation Cleanup. These things need some massive TLC, maybe even more than my Apple ][e ;D

-Academician

 

[funkytoad]

Nice!

Sounds likeits gonna be fun and busy!

 

[Academician]

Well all initial tests are that these things simply won't boot. The Mac HDD 20 seems to be working ok, the drive spins up, etc. (found out by removing the case cover and feeling the vibrations).

I do know that all four of them have dead PRAM batteries (one LC 550 didn't even have one, now I know why the owner said it wouldn't boot when he got it ;p) The other LC was registering .09v, and both Mac Pluses were sporting a 2.1v.

I'm not sure where I can get replacement batteries, I suppose I'll try eBay. The Pluses use some crazy Energizer 4.5v battery, which could be a tough find. I'm also trying to find a torx screwdriver long enough to get inside the Mac Pluses, since on the plain Mac Plus, I found a magic marker label stating 2.5Meg, so that machine could have some nice memory upgrades inside.

The Plus 1Mb does seem to have a possibly slowly dying screen, as it sometimes flashes in and out of contrast. That's about the best I can describe it. I sure hope not, but time will tell.

I did take apart the Mirror thing, and it is indeed a SCSI HDD / power strip. Since I don't have the cable I can't test it yet, but I did notice some rust on the external D connections, which I'll try to remove.

My favored Magic Eraser treatment did remove nearly all the dirt and grime off of the LC computers (which don't have cd-roms =[) but there was obvious deep case scratches. The Pluses however, and the Mac HDD 20, are still quite yellow even after a good scrubbing.

I was wondering if anyone knew any good treatments that don't involve sanding down the surface, since I don't really want to maim these classics. I'm going to google for some possible cures, though I don't know if I'll ever get it better than it is atm.

Overall I think I should be able to get my new Macs running fine in a few weeks, provided I keep having time to work on them, lol.

-Academician

 

[Blessed Cheesemaker]

Just got back from the town across the river (Mandan, ND for those interested) and got a nice deal.
He did have a few LCII and LCIIIs, as well as a PowerMac 8600/200 (which was in damn good shape, and a pull from the college I go too odly enough), and a 6100AV, but I figured I would be lucky to survive bringing 4 more home The 8600 was intriguing, anyone have thoughts on it's potential?

-Academician

The potential of an 8600 is quite huge, for lack of a better term. First off, it runs every OS from 7.6 to 9.1. Then, with XPostFacto, you can run up to the latest Tiger...it has 3 PCI slots, which I've put in a video card, firewire, and ATA 66 card. The CPU is upgradeable, up to a G4 1GHz, via a Sonnet Crescendo. And let us not forget the A/V inputs on the back; I've used it to capture stills of movies, such as the Kitty Kat from Shrek...it can only do max 640x480, but that is good enough for me.

I have to say, in my opinion, the PCI Power Mac towers, esp. the 8600 and 9600, were some of the best computers ever made...

Do you know if the 8600 runs?

 

[equill]

The 8600's board can be replaced with a Kansas board from a 9600, taking a G3 daughter card (soldered or ZIF) and giving you six PCI slots (but losing the AV). As BC wrote, you can make an 8600 into an even more accomplished machine than it started as. Mine runs 9.2.2, with a G3 at 400MHz, shortly to become 450MHz, and feeds 45GB of Ultra-SCSI HDDs. It can take up to 1GB of 168-pin EDO (cheaper than FPM) RAM.

de

 

[Byrd]

It can take up to 1GB of 168-pin EDO (cheaper than FPM) RAM.

Cheaper? I've been lucky enough to have a handful of 32MB FPM/72-pin RAM, but there was time when I was buying cheap PCI Powermacs just to scrounge the RAM for my 9600. It's now up to ~ 896MB, accounting for about six different, gutted machines

Certainly 16MB DIMMS are a dime a dozen, but the EDO RAM is hard to get cheaply, as least that's what I've found.

JB

 

[Academician]

Thanks for the advice on the 8600, I might just pick that up as well when I get the call to pick up the other hard drives and missing cables, etc. The owner stated that all the machines worked except one of the LCs, so I'd imagine it works just fine. Considering the price, it's probably a good bargain as no G4 or good G3 machines get sold around here, and not for any small pricetag either.

I'm still trying to find a long hex tork screwdriver so I can pop open these Plus cases. I soon hope to purchase some vinyl dye matched to the bottom plate, which still shows the original color, and make these babies look like new.

I did manage to get one of the LC550's running just fine, after about ten minutes of trying to figure out why it wouldn't boot, something for some reason popped in my head and I hit the control+apple+<| thing and she booted right up.

Unfortunately for whatever reason the other LC won't boot, so I'm going to try and put the motherboard for it into the other LC and test it's boot potential there.

-Academician

 

[equill]

... Certainly 16MB DIMMS are a dime a dozen, but the EDO RAM is hard to get cheaply, as least that's what I've found.
JB

Perhaps 'cheaper' is relative to expectations. I've never bought less than 128MB DIMMs for the machines that can use them. Just a little while ago (~3yr) FPM cards were up to USD28 each, while EDO were USD15-20. At the moment, FPM (8500/9500) is not easily found at all, and EDO cards were under USD13 four days ago (from ramdirect).

de

 

[phreakout]

I do know that all four of them have dead PRAM batteries (one LC 550 didn't even have one, now I know why the owner said it wouldn't boot when he got it ;p) The other LC was registering .09v, and both Mac Pluses were sporting a 2.1v.
I'm not sure where I can get replacement batteries, I suppose I'll try eBay. The Pluses use some crazy Energizer 4.5v battery, which could be a tough find. I'm also trying to find a torx screwdriver long enough to get inside the Mac Pluses, since on the plain Mac Plus, I found a magic marker label stating 2.5Meg, so that machine could have some nice memory upgrades inside.

The Plus 1Mb does seem to have a possibly slowly dying screen, as it sometimes flashes in and out of contrast. That's about the best I can describe it. I sure hope not, but time will tell.

-Academician

Radio Shack carries the replacement batteries for ALL of the Macs you acquired. Be prepared for sticker shock as far as price goes on those batteries; they aren't cheap, especially if you have to buy lots of them. Though, you might get a discount for buying multiples of the same product.

If you need a proper screwdriver to get into those Pluses, here's a simple solution: Stop by your hardware store and ask for a T15 with a long shaft. Or get one of those extensions for socket tool sets and get a T15 bit to match the extension. Most extensions will have a magnetic tip, so be careful around floppies and hard drives. You can also take a T15 bit and stuff the end of it in a Bic pen and use that as an extension. There are lots of possibilities.

The "flashing in and out of contrast" could be a dusty brightness control potentiometer. If there is a knob in front of the computer below the front of the screen on the left side, that is where the problem exists. You could carefully open up the case, and either spray some contact cleaner somewhere in the pot or you can replace it with a new one of matching value. This would mean desoldering the old and resoldering in the new. If you don't feel up to soldering, get the help of a friend who is good with soldering.

73s 8)

 

[equant]

I'm still trying to find a long hex tork screwdriver so I can pop open these Plus cases.

Sears has 6" long torx screwdrivers that do the trick. I just got one recently.

Nathan