Thread

My Latest Restoration

68kMLA Hardware 21 posts Mar 6, 2010 to Nov 25, 2010

#1 Sat, 6 Mar 2010 - 17:29 68kMLA

Hello,

I am new here. I am happy to join up with my many like-minded comrades. I wish I would have discovered this place earlier.

Here is my latest restoration, my first one in a while. It turned out to be a pretty easy one. The computer was missing a hard drive and only had on-board memory. I couldn't find my floppy disk stash, so I recovered the computer without any floppy disks; I was very happy to have an AppleCD 600e drive to help out. The LC III now has 36 MB RAM and a 40MB SCSI HD with System 7.5.3. Don't you wish modern computers had as much RAM as hard disk space? Well, maybe you don't care about modern computers at all.

http://patater.com/files/pictures/lciii.jpg

I'd like to put a IIe card into the LC III, but I haven't found any for sale that come with the cable.

My next project is restoring a SimasiMac SE/30. I haven't opened the case yet, but the machine looks to be in pretty bad shape. It will be quite an adventure.

http://patater.com/files/pictures/simasimacse30.jpg

Nice to meet you all.

#2 Sat, 6 Mar 2010 - 23:22 68kMLA

Welcome to the 68kMLA!

Great job breathing new life into the LC III.

Your next project should be a fun one. Good luck and keep us updated!

#3 Sat, 6 Mar 2010 - 23:50 68kMLA

Welcome, comrade!

Which weighs more, the III or the monitor?

)

#4 Sun, 7 Mar 2010 - 07:35 68kMLA

Welcome, and good job getting the LCIII up and going. Best of luck getting that SE/30 up!

#5 Sun, 7 Mar 2010 - 13:14 68kMLA

Congrats on your LC III!

Welcome, comrade!Which weighs more, the III or the monitor? )

THe funny thing is, that big flat panel, probably weighs quite a bit less than the 14" CRT's that the LC was designed to support.

#6 Sun, 7 Mar 2010 - 14:09 68kMLA

Heh, I have a Dell 23" LCD, and it weighs nothing compared to most 14" CRTs, even the Macintosh Colour Display (which is pretty light for a CRT, I have to admit)

Its funny to think, the "Getting Started" guide that came with my LCIII suggested not to place a monitor on top of the machine any bigger than 14", since the LC case wasn't designed to support big monitors, however I'd have no trouble whatsoever parking my gargantuan 23" on top of there

#7 Sun, 7 Mar 2010 - 14:32 68kMLA

I like the SE/30's Secret identity.

#8 Sun, 7 Mar 2010 - 16:07 68kMLA

Which weighs more, the III or the monitor? )

The monitor weighs more.

I like the SE/30's Secret identity.

I'm not familiar with the identity you are referring to. (It may very well be an actual secret.) Might you be referring to this black SE/30? Or maybe this SE/30 bong? Or maybe its ability to run A/UX? It is hard for me to guess.

Do vertical stripes like the one in our smiley names SimasiMac really represent what a SimasiMac is? To me, a SimasiMac has horizontal bars. A mac with vertical bars is a jailed mac. If I am right, who should I talk with to get the smiley updated? :simasimac:

And just to make sure I don't post too much about the SE/30 in an LC III thread (well, more because I am curious about this), I would like to show you all something interesting I found inside the LC III. The LC III logic board has a few green wires connecting the chips U32, U22, and U7. I don't know what any of those chips are or how I could look them up (aside from just searching for numbers printed on them, which didn't get me anywhere). The wires were laid nicely and held in place with tiny beads of hot glue. The soldering quality isn't all that great though.

So, from this green wire find, I have two questions. First, do we have a good logic board reference we can use to find out what different parts are? Something like a BOM for various Macintosh models would be nice. And finally, what do you think those green wires are doing?

http://patater.com/files/pictures/lciii_greenwire_flash.jpg

Thank you all for your kind welcomes. I look forward to advancing the cause with you all.

#9 Sun, 7 Mar 2010 - 16:45 68kMLA

I made the smilie

your se/30 has an apple ][e logo on it!

#10 Sun, 7 Mar 2010 - 16:59 68kMLA

your se/30 has an apple ][e logo on it!

Oh, yes it does. I guess I should remove that. I don't think the SE/30 could ever be an Apple IIe.

I made the smilie

So you could put up a more correct SimasiMac?

#11 Sun, 7 Mar 2010 - 20:57 68kMLA

Which weighs more, the III or the monitor? )

Click to expand...

The monitor weighs more.

I'm not at all surprised, the LCIII and the MicroQuadras are all lightweights, but the Microquadras are built to support heavier Monitors. My LC475 and Q605 were always happiest with my Apple Portrait Display sittin' on top.

. . . (well, more because I am curious about this), I would like to show you all something interesting I found inside the LC III. The LC III logic board has a few green wires connecting the chips U32, U22, and U7. I don't know what any of those chips are or how I could look them up (aside from just searching for numbers printed on them, which didn't get me anywhere). The wires were laid nicely and held in place with tiny beads of hot glue. The soldering quality isn't all that great though.
So, from this green wire find, I have two questions. First, do we have a good logic board reference we can use to find out what different parts are? Something like a BOM for various Macintosh models would be nice. And finally, what do you think those green wires are doing?

Check the Developer Notes for each machine, they all have a rough logic diagram, listing the interconnections between the various ASICS, the CPU, what is connected to the Fast and Slow System buses and how.

Judging from the paths, lengths and the hot glue holding down the green wires. I'd say they were standard rework wiring for bad traces on that board in particular, or to fix an incorrect PCB layout.

I'd examine that board VERY closely for any verbiage, dates and revision#s you can find. With that much rework, you may have, either a very early production board or maybe even a prototype MoBo on your hands. [

] ]'>

BTW, I LOVE your avatar, what's the resistance value?

)

#12 Mon, 8 Mar 2010 - 05:05 68kMLA

Check the Developer Notes for each machine, they all have a rough logic diagram, listing the interconnections between the various ASICS, the CPU, what is connected to the Fast and Slow System buses and how.

I just discovered these today. I thought they were more geared towards developers of expansion cards and software, but they might help in figuring out what these wires are doing. I will review the notes for the LC III and let you know what I can find out.

Judging from the paths, lengths and the hot glue holding down the green wires. I'd say they were standard rework wiring for bad traces on that board in particular, or to fix an incorrect PCB layout.

I don't know. I would have thought that Apple manufacturing techs would do a better job of rework than this. They could have at least washed the board when they were done.

I'd examine that board VERY closely for any verbiage, dates and revision#s you can find. With that much rework, you may have, either a very early production board or maybe even a prototype MoBo on your hands. [] ]'>

All I can find is a black stamp that probably reads "9B", a bar code and serial number of sorts "*B13020Q5EN6B* SINGAPORE VAIL", and printed on the logic board PCB "APPLE COMPUTER INC., 820-0650-A © 1992, 630- - ".

BTW, I LOVE your avatar, what's the resistance value? )

You must have one of those fancy color monitors.

Here's the LC's new home.

http://patater.com/files/pictures/lciii_desk.jpg

#13 Mon, 8 Mar 2010 - 05:22 68kMLA

All I can find is a black stamp that probably reads "9B", a bar code and serial number of sorts "*B13020Q5EN6B* SINGAPORE VAIL", and printed on the logic board PCB "APPLE COMPUTER INC., 820-0650-A © 1992, 630- - ".

And, of course, there is the actual Apple serial number of "SG3030Z7VA2". I'm pretty sure this Mac is not a prototype. It would be interesting to know if any other LC III owners have similar green wires in their machines and if they are the Rev A logic boards and/or are manufactured around the same time as this LC III.

#14 Mon, 8 Mar 2010 - 08:46 68kMLA

I have two LCIIIs, none of them have any wires or anything whatsoever, however they are fairly late model LCIIIs, both manual-inject models, and both with October 1993 build dates.

#15 Wed, 21 Apr 2010 - 09:37 68kMLA

Congrats on the LCIII restore.

It looks great and even better when mated with that nice lcd and desk.

Makes me miss my old 475.

#16 Thu, 18 Nov 2010 - 15:27 68kMLA

Hello

My "new" macintosh LC III has same green wires on logic board. And i have death chime.

I would put a picture soon.

Sorry for my languages i am french.

lpl

from FRANCE

#17 Mon, 22 Nov 2010 - 09:46 68kMLA

Picture

#18 Mon, 22 Nov 2010 - 10:51 68kMLA

First thing to do is change your PRAM battery, that is an old one in there! Then trouble shoot using the error codes.

#19 Mon, 22 Nov 2010 - 16:43 68kMLA

It s order ... i am wainting.

Thanks.

lpl

#20 Tue, 23 Nov 2010 - 14:16 68kMLA

Be sure to replace those old and prone to leaking caps. Max out the RAM, too. She's a beautiful machine.

#21 Thu, 25 Nov 2010 - 16:24 68kMLA

Hello

I changed battery but he won't boot.

I have a startup chime followed to a death chime, black screen, fan start and hard disk turn.

One idea ?

lpl