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G4from128k
Full Member


USA
873 Posts
Posted - 24 May 2003 :  15:08:39
Today I got a Duo 230 w/ DuoDock at a surplus equipment sale at a local copy center. I don't know if $15 is a good price or not, but I am happy that this cute little nubbin of a Mac has entered my life. This little Duo suitably attired with 12 MB RAM and a 120 MB HD. The poor old thing was crammed with OS 7.6 -- making the machine so very intolerably slow that I will definitely downgrade/"upgrade"/regrade it to 7.1.

One of the two NuBus expansion bays in the Dock does have an ethernet interface (with DB-15, coax, and RJ-45 ports). The second bay seems empty. I'll also need to do some more exploration on the modem in the Duo/ Dock and check if the Dock contains an FPU or any other goodies.

I also don't know if the screen, keyboard,or trackball works on the Duo itself. So far, I have not gotten the thing to work outside the Doc because the battery seems terminally dead (no surprise there) and the Doc is the only source of power for it. I plan to manually cycle the battery to attempt to rejuvenate it.

Prior to this conquest, I had never had or even held a Duo. The compact size and light weight of this little laptop is amazing. On the other hand, I am shocked at how big and heavy the Dock is (I had to carry the thing 2 miles to get it home). I guess Apple giveth and Apple taketh away in the weight and size department.

Well, I'm off to Google Duo Info....

G4From128k

by Day: Mild-Mannered Engineer and Trapeze(tm) Artist
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maclover5
LC Doctor/Hot Rodder


Australia
5830 Posts
Posted - 24 May 2003 :  15:33:21
Cool! *drools*

Btw, if you want an adapter, a clamshell iBook, PowerBook G3, or PowerBook x400 adapter will work fine.

--------------------------

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G4from128k
Full Member


USA
873 Posts
Posted - 24 May 2003 :  16:07:07
quote:
Btw, if you want an adapter, a clamshell iBook, PowerBook G3, or PowerBook x400 adapter will work fine.
Excellent! I'll see if I can "borrow" the adaptor on my wife's Pismo.

And if it works I'll have to dig in the closet for the umpteen-pound backup AC adaptor (a RatShack 12V 3A powersupply and Auto cigarette lighter to powerbook cord) that I had to buy on a business trip when I forgot the Pismo's orginal adaptor. It's twice the mass of the Duo, but should be able to power it.

Thanks for the tip.

G4From128k

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emaq123
Junior Member


USA
258 Posts
Posted - 24 May 2003 :  16:24:31
Great deal! I don't see how $15 could not be a good price.

emaq123

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Clinton
Full Member


USA
700 Posts
Posted - 24 May 2003 :  19:08:43
upgrade that dock to da max!!!

you can put a HDD into that sucker, find a disassembly manual, and have at it.

if you have a Dock II, it has an FPU for your duo, so it'll work faster.

I love the way that the full sized dock sucks the duo up like a VCR, its kinda cute that way :)

CCC

Commander
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maclover5
LC Doctor/Hot Rodder


Australia
5830 Posts
Posted - 24 May 2003 :  23:33:41
Yeah. Only problem is that the HD bay is a complete PITA to get to!!!!

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Give your dreams a chance.™ - Apple in the mid '90s

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68k Macintosh Liberation Army

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fabriziovenerandi
Starting Member



8 Posts
Posted - 25 May 2003 :  01:23:03
Duo series is a real nice one. I use a duo 270c everyday as portable, and I feel real fine with it.
The bad things of the duo series, is the keyboard, not the best to write, the case, more fragile than other powerbook, and the dock's fan, noisy.

I asked to to my father to rebuild a dead duo battery, and he did it. Now, i can write for 1h and 30, more or less.

15$? a real good price, the same object was sold in e-bay for 150 euro, some weeks ago.

enjoy!

f.

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maclover5
LC Doctor/Hot Rodder


Australia
5830 Posts
Posted - 25 May 2003 :  01:26:15
I must say, unless you have the right keyboard, typing is a PITA. However, the rest of the Duo system really is a stunning machine.

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Warrior maclover5
68kMLA

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cory5412
68KMLA Comrade-in-Arms


USA
4679 Posts
Posted - 25 May 2003 :  02:06:39
right keyboard?

.ME breaks out the Apple Adjustable Keyboard!

I've always wanted a duo and dock... actually I do go back and forth between yes wanting one, and not wanting one...

I think that it's in cory's "aesthetic yes" right now

very stunning machines from cory's aesthetic standpoint.

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maclover5
LC Doctor/Hot Rodder


Australia
5830 Posts
Posted - 25 May 2003 :  03:21:03
And it'd be even better if you hooked one up to your Adjustable keyboard and AudioVision 14"!

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Warrior maclover5
68kMLA

Official 68kMLA Detective
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Christophillis
Forums Squadron Commander


USA
688 Posts
Posted - 25 May 2003 :  07:06:56
Is the duo 270c's keyboard one of the "good" duo keyboards. In the service manuel they said that it was the revision C i think, and that not many people have problems with it.

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fabriziovenerandi
Starting Member



8 Posts
Posted - 25 May 2003 :  12:39:23
well, I write everyday with a 270c... and well... the 165c keyboard was a dream... duo keyoboard is a soft hell ;)


f.

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G4from128k
Full Member


USA
873 Posts
Posted - 25 May 2003 :  15:16:26
Thanks to maclover5's right hand, I now have the Duo running sans Dock off the Pismo's adaptor. The screen is a near-flawless grayscale (jus a bit of ghosting on the passive matrix display). The keyboard is OK - better than the one on the PB 190cs (only the spacebar seems a little stiff and the trackball is strangely gritty). Of course, now that the machine is out of the Dock, I can hear the frighteningly noisy bearings of the Duo's old HD. Also scary is the fact that the machine does not have a copy of HD First Aid -- so who knows what evil BTree extents system wrapper corruption gremlins have crept into the HD. Time to reformat and reinstall.

I like Clinton's suggestion of hacking the Dock to the max. It's only a Dock I, but it sure seems like there must be a bunch of space down inside the thing (I understand that it might have 2 SCSI bays deep inside it??). A bit of dremelling should let me install my old 21 MB floptical drive, or maybe a 3.5" 270 MB Syquest drive, or maybe both. With the ethernet interface in the Dock, I should be able to get the older devices on our home network with out worrying about driver compatibility on newer Macs (the Floptical's drivers date back to System 7 and don't play well in anything like OS 8 or higher). I'll also have to reread jt's exploration of lidless ops because using the Duo and Dock with only the LCD would be preferable in my rapidly shrinking house.

More tests confirm that the battery seems totally dead, dead, dead. Even after being plugged in overnight, it registers 0% charged. This is strange because when I booted in the Dock, the battery showed 100% charged. The battery is definitely dead because if I unplug the AC, the machine shuts down instantly. I'll have to take a multimeter to the battery and see what's going on electrically with the battery.

When I get the time, I'll also have to see if the video system in the Dock is compatible with my old 17" Radius Pivot monitor. The beige and gray Pivot monitor in portrait mode would sure look nice on top of the DuoDock.

Thanks, everyone, for the suggestions and support!

G4From128k

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Trash80toG-4
NIGHT STALKER


USA
2899 Posts
Posted - 25 May 2003 :  18:48:42
Pulling the DeclROM from a Dock II or desoldering the power pin from the ROM IC in your Dock I will enable the LCD, but you'll lose SCSI (and FDD support, AFAIK) along with the video out. The pivot might work, which model # do you have?

jt .
Trash Hauler: call sign: eight-ball
C.O. AC-130H SpecOps 68kMLAAF

Edited by - Trash80toG-4 on 25 May 2003 18:50:19Go to Top of Page

G4from128k
Full Member


USA
873 Posts
Posted - 26 May 2003 :  05:09:00
quote:
Pulling the DeclROM from a Dock II or desoldering the power pin from the ROM IC in your Dock I will enable the LCD, but you'll lose SCSI (and FDD support, AFAIK) along with the video out. The pivot might work, which model # do you have?

Ahhh yes, the infamous DeclROM rears its ugly pins. Thanks for the suggestion. Loss of SCSI would not be a problem until I install a drive in the DuoDock or finally get one of those little Powerbook HDI-30 SCSI Adaptors. Would disabling the DeclROM also disable the ethernet card in the Dock's NuBus slot? That would be a serious bummer.

The monitor is a Portrait Display Labs Pivot 1700. IIRC that I have both v1 (or maybe v1.1?) and v2.0 of the little driver that lets you flip the screen from landscape to portrait mode.

Hmmmm.. now I am wondering if the video out on the DuoDock supports NTSC....

iWish I had more time to play with my Macs.

Cheers,

G4From128k

by Day: Mild-Mannered Engineer and Trapeze(tm) Artist
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cory5412
68KMLA Comrade-in-Arms


USA
4679 Posts
Posted - 26 May 2003 :  07:16:50
:drool: powerful 68k duo running in DuoDock II with AudioVision 14" and Adjustable keyboard....

:drool: other cool monitor

NuBus Cards!
install a video card

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Trash80toG-4
NIGHT STALKER


USA
2899 Posts
Posted - 26 May 2003 :  07:50:43
quote:

Ahhh yes, the infamous DeclROM rears its ugly pins. Thanks for the suggestion. Loss of SCSI would not be a problem until I install a drive in the DuoDock or finally get one of those little Powerbook HDI-30 SCSI Adaptors. Would disabling the DeclROM also disable the ethernet card in the Dock's NuBus slot?


Nope, NuBus support with LCD display was the whole point of the experiment. It works fine and you could even put a NuBus card in the Dock to run your Pivot right next to the LCD on the open Dock.

Instructions are posted somewhere for desoldering the power leg of the DeclROM of the Dock I. Mine is now wired to a header pin pair/jumper so I can run it either way. You'll want to shave off a little of the docking bay/logic board compartment divider so the LCD will tilt back to a better angle, but it'll run just fine in ROMless/LCD mode. ADB will work fine, never tested sound or the FDD because I didn't expect them to work or need them, but you'll definitely lose the serial ports and probably the modem passthru, but I'll bet the Duos ports would be functional . . . behind the folded legs of course. :rolleyes:

jt .
Trash Hauler: call sign: eight-ball
C.O. AC-130H SpecOps 68kMLAAF


Edited by - Trash80toG-4 on 26 May 2003 07:55:27Go to Top of Page

Slomac636
Junior Member


USA
103 Posts
Posted - 27 May 2003 :  12:01:23
If you are looking for manuals and other tidbits of hardware info, this is a great place to look:

http://home.earthlink.net/~gamba2/

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G4from128k
Full Member


USA
873 Posts
Posted - 27 May 2003 :  13:24:40
Thanks, slomac636, I am forever losing the URL to Gamba. Thanks to you, I now have various Duo and Dock-related manuals and some other nifty old utilities to play with.

In my google-aided quest for information, I also found these Duo-related pages.

What you can do with a Duo: http://www.lowendmac.com/macdan/01/0822ek.html
Massive 3-part Duo and Dock FAQ: http://members.aol.com/kim/computer/duo/duoindex.html
Another large FAQ: http://home.att.net/~JBDUOFAQ/frfaq.html
Info on some suggested utilites: http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-196.html#lnk5

The only remaining thorn in my side is the dead battery (which puts out 6 V open circuit and only a few milliamps shorted). I have not gotten the thing to charge yet (despite resetting the PMU) and suspect that the battery is so dead that the Duo refuses to recognize it. I'll have to rig up a manual charger to it and see if I can force-feed some electrons into the thing.

G4From128k

by Day: Mild-Mannered Engineer and Trapeze(tm) Artist
by Night: Colonel of Truth, Justice, and the Macintosh Way
Reserve Officer in 68kMLA Cantankerous Coot Contingent

Edited by - G4from128k on 28 May 2003 14:34:30Go to Top of Page

maclover5
LC Doctor/Hot Rodder


Australia
5830 Posts
Posted - 28 May 2003 :  17:22:21
Good luck!

"**** em" - Jobs in regards to customers
Warrior maclover5
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