Project MacSE/30

From richmondmakerlabs.uk
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Introduction

I am now in possession of a Macintosh SE/30. Likely built late October or early November 1989, this system is the most powerful original compact Mac to have ever been built. Interestingly this is a Macintosh that looks to have been imported from the USA as it was not assembled in Ireland. Most Apple products for the European market were made in Ireland during this era.

More details as the process goes underway, but learning more each time I open up the device.

TODO

  • Dust/wipe/clean all exposed internal parts giving careful respect to the high voltage CRT components (This is mostly done - it is a lot cleaner than it was)
  • Replace capacitors on logic board (move from electrolytics to higher quality tantalum capacitors)
  • Replace capacitors in power supply - it's the Astec AA13800 76 watt power supply (not the Sony!)
    • Replace C4 and C5, the 4700pf filter capacitors (Success!)
  • Replace capacitors in analog board (they seem fine - maybe not)
  • Upgrade Boot ROM to new 32-bit clean Big Mess o Wires programmable ROM
  • Replace dead Quantum 80MB SCSI drive with SCSI2SD solid state card
  • Install 128MB of new-old-stock 30-pin memory
  • Figure out how to use ESP8266 or TI board to build PPP TCP/IP serial-to-wifi bridge (ESP8266 or similar) - this might be a RaspberryPi 3 powered by SCSI terminator power.
  • Clean and lubricate 1.44MB Floppy SuperDrive
    • May need external USB drive to transfer documents to Macintosh SE/30 (or supply bootable media)


Original Configuration

Non-Bootable Apple Macintosh SE/30 with 5MB RAM, Dead 80MB SCSI Hard Drive, and US mapped Compact ADB Keyboard

Intended Configuration

Restored Apple Macintosh SE/30 with 128MB RAM, 8GB SSD (multiple partitions), and UK mapped Apple Extended Keyboard II. Operating System: OS 7.5.5 with After Dark screensaver, OpenTransport for Networking, LaserWriter support for any Postscript printers, and more. Good System 7.5.5 suggestions here

Extra

Use UK Apple Extended Keyboard II instead of US ADB Apple Keyboard.