Crutch

Interesting. I’m trying to envision what part of that demo would have eaten up more than 400k of disk space. The speech synthesis is just MacinTalk, right?

I am in love the with SE/30 post chime, because it takes me back to when I first powered on a Mac II in 1987 and thought the whole experience was just awesome. Touching that little power key gently, then that cheery sound and whoaaa the Picasso Mac next to “Welcome to Macintosh” is in COLOR ... But yes that speaker pop-pop is unfortunate. I swear my Mac II and IIci never did that back in the day. Is it just an SE/30 thing?

I’m sure that was a custom app. It would have set the menu bar height to zero, created a single full-screen window (or just cleared the screen directly using the Window Manager grafPort), done SetFont(athens), then executed a call to TextBox to wordwrap the desired string.

Do you have another soft-power machine you could try that keyboard with? To rule out if there’s something wonky with the unique pairing of that keyboard with that machine? Reminds me of this one 1984-style mouse I had that would always reboot ONE (only one) of my Mac Pluses whenever I plugged it in if the Mac was already running. Happened 100% of the time. Never happened with any other mouse, or with any other Mac. I finally decided something must be shorted out inside the mouse, and recapped the mouse (who recaps a mouse?) ... still kept happening, unresolved to this day. If it’s really the keyboard, I assume something in shorted out in there somehow and you may need to look at cleaning the board and/or recapping it? I assume the keyboard works OK otherwise? For example, every key works in Key Caps?

Thanks @EvilCapitalist - and you’re right! I don’t know much about PowerBooks yet so I didn’t realize the 40MB was a tell, and it’s not listed as “PowerPC Enhanced” in “About This Macintosh” like some I’ve seen (maybe only the Apple upgrades show up like that?) ... but per Clockometer it does indeed have a 117MHz 603e hiding inside. I hope to take it apart later today. After using it a bit, it’s amazing how much faster it feels than my other 550c which has a 100 MHz 603e in it. (Speedometer shows it as almost twice as fast at the CPU test suite? All that from an extra 117 MHz?)

What does a “rounded” SCSI cable mean? Are all the lines bundled together into a round packet of wires instead of a ribbon? What’s the concern with twisting the flat ribbon, provided it’s long enough?

Thanks. Pins all look good. I did just notice that the left battery compartment where the PCMCIA module had been installed has quite a bit of battery acid residue inside, presumably from a battery that used to live in that slot. I am now wondering if some may have gotten inside the PCMCIA module and done some damage somehow.

Well, of course, within 30 minutes of finally giving up and posting to 68kMLA ... I found the problem. My troubled 550c had this Apple PCMCIA Expansion Module installed. As soon as I removed it ... instant perfect power up and beautiful operation (turns out this guy has 40MB RAM and a 1.6 GB HD with OS 8 installed ... nice). I confirmed this was the problem by installing it in my other 550c ... it prevents power up on that one, too. Anyone familiar with ease PCMCIA Expansion Modules and what sort of issues they could have?

I bought a PowerBook 550c from Japan a year ago that was DOA — wouldn’t start no matter what I tried (no battery of course - was running with an AC adapter only). After a year in storage, I decided to try to repair it ... plugged it in just for kicks ... and it worked! The Finder was just loading when I decided to try out the Caps Lock key and ... POOF, it powered down. Since then, I’ve been able to get it to power up only on a few random occasions, and, it seems, for shorter periods each time. I know the power brick is good, it powers up my 540c (which I bought as a parts machine to fix this 550!) and a different 550c with no problem. AC adapter voltages check out fine. I’ve tried the four-finger salute (Cmd-Ctrl-Opt-Power for ten seconds while unplugged) from this list https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT1781. Also noted this thread https://68kmla.org/forums/index.php?/topic/56171-powerbook-540c-wont-startup/ but nothing listed seems applicable (for example, the collar piece on my AC adapter plug is nice and tight). Would love any ideas or advice. I can take it apart, obviously, but not sure what I’d be looking for once it’s opened up!

I just listened to RetroMacCast #333 (7/13/2014), they referenced this mod based on an ad in an old A+ issue and at that time James and John said they’d never seen one in person. I wonder if they’ve seen one since? @RetroMacCast

Stumbled on this awesome photo in the August 1986 MacWorld, p. 57. It seems like such an obviously nifty idea back then (if perhaps useless and silly) — I had an unenhanced 512k with external floppy and would loved to have gotten it mounted like this with added fan (and a dust filter??). Curious if anyone has or has seen one of these guys. A google search reveals a few mentions on various forums in the past, but I couldn’t find an actual modern photo anywhere.

Thanks @Scott Baret for providing the history here! I hope to see one of these elusive Platinum 512ke’s in person one day.

That is weird. This happens with ANY floppy drive you connect? I’m going to guess cap damage around the SWIM chip could be the issue maybe?

Yes indeed @BadGoldEagle and if you zoom into the photo of the rear of that unit, the model number is M0001ED. Here’s another source citing platinum 512ke’s being sold in 1987: http://www.earlymacintosh.org/ “There were two generations of Macintosh 512Ke [M0001E] machines: Beige machines produced in 1986 have a label on the back with no copyright date. They came with the M0110 standard keyboard and contained first-revision Macintosh Plus ROMs. The location and design of the Apple logo on the front was the same as the original Macintosh and the 512K. Platinum machines have a 1987 copyright date on the label. They came with the M0110A extended keyboard and contained second-revision Macintosh Plus ROMs. The location and design of the Apple logo on the front was the same as the Plus. Note: I have never seen a M0001E with a 220-240V power supply.”

Wikipedia claims that Apple made a platinum 512ke for a while, which looked exactly like a Platinum Plus but without the “Macintosh Plus” (i.e., it had a non-inset Apple logo level with the floppy slot, and in a platinum case): “But like the Macintosh Plus, in 1987 the 512Ke adopted the standard Apple "Platinum" color, as well as the same case-front design as the Plus (without the name), though keeping its original rear bucket.” - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_512Ke I have no memory of such a thing existing ... but there is also reference to this from highly respected 68kMLA colleagues on this thread, so I’m sure it’s true: https://68kmla.org/forums/index.php?/topic/43917-512ke-rare/& So, my question: has anyone actually got one of these chimerical beasts? I think I found a picture of one on the Google machine, though it looks quite beige rather than platinum (could just need retrobrighting): https://www.ithistory.org/db/hardware/apple-computer-inc/macintosh-512ke. I couldn’t find a clear photo anywhere, though. I would love to see a detailed photo of an Platinum 512ke if anyone has one to share.