tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55454472011-07-30T17:44:52.609-04:00I rescue and fix up old Mac computers as a hobby.Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.comBlogger331100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-5836722442876143722010-06-06T17:18:00.002-04:002010-06-06T17:38:34.725-04:00

A relative of mine had a purple tray-load G3 iMac for many years. Last year they bought a new printer which required 10.3 or later. The iMac was still running Mac OS 8.6!I knew they liked the form factor, so I found a blue slot-load G3 iMac for sale locally for only $30, which already had enough memory and disk space (the tray load did not). I put Tiger (10.4) on it, plus Open Office, and the

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1156368895016049022006-08-23T17:34:00.000-04:002006-08-23T17:34:55.026-04:00

Toward the end of the 2006 school year, we gave away about nine more Mac systems, mostly PowerMacs with modems or ethernet for cable. It is more work to prep these than the simple compact Macs with ImageWriters I used to give away, and the recepients are not as satisfied. Yes, they can get on the web, but cannot access many of the popular sites these days, even with Mozilla WamCom.Still trying to

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1128840617708218452005-10-09T02:34:00.000-04:002005-10-09T02:50:17.723-04:00

Another long time between posts! We finished out the 04-05 school year giving away almost 30 Macs, the largest number yet. Completely cleared all the powermacs I wanted to give away, but still the storage area is overcrowded!During the summer I had some more non-Mac work to do, and now I have a second job programming at home, so there's not been much time to fool around with old Macs. I've wanted

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1111085706055618952005-03-17T13:44:00.000-05:002005-03-17T13:55:06.060-05:00

I just finished replacing the power-in board on a dual USB iBook. The take-apart and re-assembly is quite involved, but the instructions on pbfixit.com were pretty clear.I've been giving away lots of desktop Macs to kids in the school. The top-end "internet Mac" has a PowerPC, at least 64M RAM, 1G hard drive, CD-ROM, 28.8 or better modem, and StyleWriter II, 1200, or 1500 printer. I try to

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1108875897119255642005-02-20T00:03:00.000-05:002005-02-22T15:08:10.166-05:00

We use the original iMac keyboards in the computer lab because their width (15.5") makes the table space less cramped than extended keyboards would (not to mention they came with the bondi 333 iMacs that populate 2/3 of the lab). One of the keyboards quit working, and it caused the computer to flash the folder icon on startup, as if the hard disk had failed. I didn't figure out that it was the

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1104124077115651452004-12-26T23:59:00.000-05:002004-12-27T00:07:57.116-05:00

One problem that has vexed me for some time has been burning CD-ROMs that can boot a Mac. I've gotten pretty good at making them for Quadras and early PowerMacs: Set up a real volume on an external SCSI drive, use Toast 3.5x, burn volume, optimize for speed, and switch on the bootable checkbox. But I was never able to create a working one for an iBook until yesterday. The trick is to use Toast 4

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1099513636664614512004-11-03T15:06:00.000-05:002004-11-03T15:27:16.666-05:00

One of the links from this blog goes to the Low End Mac article "What Works, What Doesn't", which quotes an Apple study that says that "Rebuilding the Desktop worked 0% of the time that it was tried." Well, just yesterday it worked for me on 2 different problems with 3 Macs. Two of them were fairly new CRT iMacs running 9.2.2, and had generic icons all over the place. One of the older CRT iMacs

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1098759322487109142004-10-25T22:53:00.000-04:002004-11-03T15:06:26.326-05:00

For various reasons I've been using System 7.6.1 on some Quadras recently, and I'm pleased at what a nice version of Mac OS this is. A little essay was posted to one of the Low End Mac email lists titled "Why I like OS 7.6.1 better than OS 8 or 9" by Melvyn Halbert. In summary, he says that graphics are snappier, there is better/faster feedback to commands, and certain old behaviors of the

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1097726894763724252004-10-13T23:57:00.000-04:002004-12-27T00:18:13.780-05:00

After a reasonably good experience with the 1st grade version of Smart Steps, I noticed that the program is one of a series and bought the Kindergarten version. This CD seemed to be working fine, but then we noticed none of the students' individual names and progress were being saved. Worse, on some Macs the game crashes when you finish the first activity, right at the time it would normally

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1097726121091014732004-10-13T23:41:00.000-04:002004-10-30T14:36:58.053-04:00

This program was already at the school, and works well with the 1st graders. It is a CD with a number of files that stay on the CD and a folder which gets copied to the hard drive. When you try to exit the program under Mac OS 9.1, it gives an error dialog about a certain .mov file. You can dismiss the dialog and continue. I found the specific .mov file on the CD, and noticed it had a different

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1092198381213916422004-08-11T00:15:00.000-04:002004-08-11T00:58:23.160-04:00

The Launcher dates back to the first Performas running System 7.1p and has not changed much since System 7.5. But I still find it useful for kids, both at home and in the school iMac lab. You can accomplish some of the same stuff using Favorites and Button view in System 8.x and later. For computers used by both kids and adults, I put the adult programs in Favorites and the Kids stuff in the

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1092195989536479882004-08-10T23:12:00.000-04:002004-08-11T00:08:56.103-04:00

Today was my wife's first classroom day as computer lab teacher. She has 30 bondi iMacs, an iMac DV for the teacher, a G3 server, and a snow iBook for use at home and to carry in as needed. We are scrambling to set up some extra clamshell iBooks for classes of more than 30 students. Apple's Network Assistant has proved to be a key utility for setting up and running the lab. The school had both

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1091725817131436472004-08-05T12:58:00.000-04:002004-08-05T13:10:17.130-04:00

I had accumulated 3 of the road-apple 6200 models plus a 4th one that doesn't work, and was wondering what to do with them. A teacher wanted a Mac to run AppleWorks, so I got one out and did some experiments. Since I really like iTunes 2, I put 64M on it and OS 9.1, then iTunes. Bottom line, iTunes really does not work on this hardware. So it is OS 8.6 for this model which really runs well. And

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1091724965723613392004-08-05T12:48:00.000-04:002004-08-11T22:44:08.323-04:00

Have not posted for a while, because I felt I had to fix some things in the blog template and didn't get around to it. But I've decided to post some of the things I've learned this summer, and deal with the template later. I fixed up a 7100/80 with no sound as an AppleShare IP server. It was very difficult to add RAM; apparently this model really needs matched pairs of SIMMs. I had a matched

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1085157003350631622004-05-21T12:22:00.000-04:002004-05-21T12:30:03.350-04:00

Just a couple of quick follow-ups. RD&S is apparently back in operation, with the use of some space at the Orlando Science Center. It is Saturday mornings again, and as of today there are no details on the flmug web site. I'll be taking care of kids most Saturdays this summer, but I'd like to stop in at least once. ShreveSystems has cache chips for the 5260/100 at very reasonable prices. My

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1083209958153041052004-04-28T23:39:00.000-04:002004-04-28T23:47:17.936-04:00

There is a cache chip for the 5260, it also fits in the 6320, and maybe a few others. I got one and it works nice in one of the 5260's, so I bought the other 2 the same seller had. Will wait until next school year to see where they are needed. The chip does make the slow 5260 a bit more tolerable. The info on the chip is "APPLE, 820-0754-A c 1995, L2 CACHE". A couple of the 15" monitors at the

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1080333743697394992004-03-26T15:42:00.000-05:002004-03-26T15:45:52.326-05:00

Just more of the same old same old these past few weeks. I fixed up about 6 Mac SE/ImageWriter combos for donation, and have 6-10 more to do before I run out of working printers. At the school I've been upgrading early PowerMacs to run System 8.6, Accelerated Reader, and Internet where appropriate. I'm still surprised at how slow the 5260 all-in-one PowerMacs are. I've speculated in the past

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1075327163051865152004-01-28T16:59:00.000-05:002004-01-28T17:10:56.653-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I put 18 logic boards in the dishwasher (normal wash with detergent, air dry for several days). Before washing, none of them would show a happy mac; most displayed a scrambled or checkerboard video pattern. The results were that 16 improved to show happy Mac: 2 classics with bad sound, 2 SE/30's with bad sound, 8 classic II's with bad sound, and 4 classic II's that seem to

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1073771709566495382004-01-10T16:55:00.000-05:002004-01-10T17:01:42.920-05:00

I went to RD&S yesterday, possibly for the last time. They are not saying what is going on, but it appears they have no new location and are closing down. As many as a hundred Mac CPU's have disappeared, probably to the recycler. Many working monitors and laser printers have been placed on the discard pile. Refurbishing and donation work has pretty much ceased. I rescued 8 printers (mostly

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1073567151883348522004-01-08T08:05:00.000-05:002004-01-08T08:07:51.153-05:00

I'm pretty annoyed at blogger/blogspot, as they seem to have decided to put pop-up ads on my blog. The first time a user visits the blog each day, he seems to get a pop up ad. Of course I know how to block pop ups on my own browsers, but I don't want anyone who reads my blog to be subjected to this. The ads began shortly after I added the tag commenting feature, so I spent a lot of time trying

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1072026958245798992003-12-21T12:15:00.000-05:002003-12-21T12:16:54.670-05:00

Sources of Macs Someone browsed this BLOG and asked where do all the Macs come from. There are 2 answers. The ones I've been mentioning recently are all at the elementary school where my wife teaches. Donations to other schools and surplus Macs come mainly from the FLMUG user group in Orlando. Years ago, my wife's school purchased a bunch of 580's and 575's (one for each classroom plus several

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1071898539649927962003-12-20T00:35:00.000-05:002003-12-20T00:37:12.013-05:00

End of semester/calendar year One last day at the school before the winter break. Finished up the refurb of 4 more Macs: a 6500, an 8100, a 7250, and a 5400. Spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out why the 5400 would bomb with a fresh system install, but was OK with extensions off. It turned out to be a bad comm slot II ethernet card. Only 2 Macs left to fix in this bunch. No time to

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1071208180667285102003-12-12T00:49:00.000-05:002003-12-12T00:50:27.403-05:00

More School Upgrades Been back to the school twice since the last post. The first time I struggled with a 7250. I knew it had a bad CD-ROM, so I replaced that and loaded OS 8.6 from CD. But then when I tried to get other software over the LAN, the ethernet interface proved flaky. It is on the logic board, so I removed the 7250 to the repair area and replaced it with a 5200. Yesterday things

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1069879862491754302003-11-26T15:51:00.000-05:002003-11-26T15:51:33.856-05:00

8.6 and AR upgrades, no Frequency Today I did volunteer work at my wife's school. I upgraded 2 6100's to 24M RAM, MacOS 8.6, and AR 6.1.3, and upgraded 5 7200's that already had RAM and System to run AR as well. The classroom where we were storing the extra Macs was assigned to a new teacher, so we moved about 25 computers to a portable classroom. I looked at a problem with a tray-load iMac

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1069817033195799562003-11-25T22:23:00.000-05:002003-11-25T22:24:24.200-05:00

8100 donation, FrequencyMonday I helped donate 12 PowerMac 8100 systems to another school. These came from FLMUG's RD&S group, which needs to move as many Macs as possible before they either move or close at the end of the year. The school is not quite ready to put them into use -- they are waiting for an ethernet hub and some tables. The Apple 17" Multiscan monitors are quite heavy after loading

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1067554757025823392003-10-30T17:59:00.000-05:002003-10-30T18:03:44.483-05:00

Wow, a long time with no posts! I did tear up a LaserWriter Plus and got the pickup rollers out of it, but the rollers have already started to turn into goo. I might freeze them. But I don't have confidence I can install rollers into a LW plus and get it all back together. I made 3 good LaserWriters out of a IIg and 3 IIf's. It turns out you can clean the pickup rollers without taking it apart.

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1061175222364843612003-08-17T22:53:00.000-04:002003-08-17T23:05:23.113-04:00

Had a scare when the SE/30 I sold arrived DOA with the chimes of death! Luckily the buyer had a torx tool and was able to open it up and re-seat the memory SIMM that had come loose. I may have a buyer for another SE/30, and I might score a Color Classic locally! I've really been procrastinating on my LaserWriter Plus project. I have 4 units plus a pick-up roller assembly, and was hoping to make

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1060400858156096882003-08-08T23:47:00.000-04:002003-08-08T23:52:52.553-04:00

No luck fixing the LaserWriter Select 360. I'm wondering if I can transplant its logic board into a 310. I might be able to get a Select 310 for nothing since it does not work with MacOS after 8.1. Sold an SE/30 today. Nice config with 20M RAM, 500M hard drive, and ethernet. I got a Power Computing PowerBase 240 minitower donation. But the thing is very flaky about booting up; often there is no

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1059541076254015472003-07-30T00:57:00.000-04:002003-11-26T00:33:41.340-05:00

Apple 15" Multiscan Focus, LaserWritersThe private school project is now complete. It consisted of 12 7100's with 17" monitors and ink jet printers, plus 24 6100's with smaller multiscan monitors sharing a LaserWriter. There were 3 Apple 15" multiscans with bad focus. To deal with these, I drilled a hole in the case so the focus adjustment could be made without removing the back. The hole needs

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1058927122669772162003-07-22T22:25:00.000-04:002003-07-22T22:34:53.163-04:00

Since my last post, I set up and delivered 5 more 6100/66 systems to the school and repaired another 15" multiscan. I'm using the 15" now, since my old AppleVision 1710 gave out. It gave me some warning, making odd zapping sounds and screen glitches for a few days. Then there was a fairly loud snap and it was gone. This 15" occasionally has some kind of brief screen glitch which I have not seen

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1057920536744400262003-07-11T06:48:00.000-04:002003-07-11T06:48:56.786-04:00

Yesterday I repaired another Apple 15" multiscan monitor. I've done 6 or 8 of these now. The fixable symptom is loss of one color, sometimes intermittent. The fix is to re-solder bad connections on the vertical circuit board attached to the back of the CRT. The problems to overcome are opening the case (insert small screwdriver in upper holes and gently press down) and removing the metal shield

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1057713398322538282003-07-08T21:16:00.000-04:002003-07-08T21:18:13.146-04:00

Today I delivered 12 PowerMac 6100/66 systems from RD&S in Orlando to a private school where they will become half of a computer lab. The RD&S group (http://www.flmug.org/rds/) is partly responsible for my hobby of fixing up old Macs. It's been my opinion that the group collects too much and does not donate enough, but they have let me organize this school donation so that makes me happy. To

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5545447.post-1057340091104626562003-07-04T13:34:00.000-04:002003-07-04T13:34:51.143-04:00

I've finally found the driver software for the Dove Marathon 020 accelerator. This add-on board for the Mac SE makes it 3-4 times as fast as the original 68000 chip, but seems to be limited to System 6. The files are named MaraThon 20X/256-4M (control panel) and MaraThon 20XE INIT. I'll be sending them to the Mac Driver Museum soon. I plan to set up all three of the boards I have in SE FDHD

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491274327650722099noreply@blogger.com0