Member bio - Nick (k24a1)

alectrona2988

New Tinkerer
Mar 10, 2022
29
14
3
k24a1.fleepy.tv
Hello, I'm Nick, aka k24a1. I work on various computers and sell some whenever possible.
I have taken an interest in PowerPC and 68k macs since the late 2010s, and did some projects on and off. I still work on these computers, and I have done research on some of them, especially the eMac.
Some people may recognize me under a few different aliases and accounts now left in the incinerator for the greater good, and now I have started reaching out to more niche communities about various computers.
Usually I just mess around with the hardware and archaic software, but I also like to do some crazy stuff. I'm a person who is no stranger to experimentation, and that especially goes for getting the most out of an old PowerMac system.
This started back in 2018... Pretty much every system I was using had fallen apart, and I was given a USB 2.0 eMac from my grandfather. I did have one of the same model a couple years earlier, but it suffered from a faulty analog board. That same year I also had a 15" PowerBook G4, which I sold.
The eMac I got nearly 4 years ago served as my main system for a couple months until I built a new PC. During the start of those couple months, I was constantly uncertain about how long that system would last me. I saw an old forum post on MacOS9Lives which talked about how someone got their USB 2.0 eMac to 1.5GHz on stock voltage. I followed those steps, and I had something that felt just a bit quicker. Throughout that time period, I really embraced these old macs for what they were... they had so many internal differences as opposed to a typical Pentium 4 PC of the era that your grandmother probably had. This was only the start, and later on I would find some old salvage macs that I worked on for projects. I'll be honest, these are no Sun Ultras or SGI Octanes, but they certainly aren't Pentium 4 Dell towers without an AGP slot.
I have done some (admittedly rough) writeups on my website (k24a1.fleepy.tv under projects) in which I talk about certain computers, their hardware, and their quirks. I am pretty good at finding design flaws, and in the case of something like the slot-loading iMac, I have identified many.

Overall, I'm a person who just dedicates his time to working on old computers and other dumb stuff. I'm pretty good at helping people. I never had a 2002 eMac, but I managed to help someone get theirs to 900MHz!

I do fluctuate between interests every now and then, but there are always the ones that come back to me. I'm self-taught for technology with technical documentations, forum posts, and YouTube videos. I also have certifications for Testout Network Pro and Security Pro... if that means much.

I really hope I can be of a great resource here, and also help people get the most out of their systems. Very nice to meet all of you!

P.S. I am the one who got a 2005 eMac to 1.92GHz back in 2020. It still runs like a champ, and is the fastest G4 I have.
 

Volvo242GT

Tinkerer
Feb 7, 2022
307
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Currently Duvall, WA
On a P475, you'd change out the oscillator, if I remember correctly. It's more like a IIsi. The 650 board has a resistor at either R151 or R152, depending on if it's a Centris or a Quadra, respectively. If the LED is removed from the board, it then becomes a Quadra 800 board, after the resistor is swapped.
 
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alectrona2988

New Tinkerer
Mar 10, 2022
29
14
3
k24a1.fleepy.tv
Nice to meet you, I'm thinking an eMac will be my next project if I can get my hands on one.
They're better than what people think they are, and it would be a fun project! Sure, they may be somewhat failure prone but the first 3 models make great OS 9 machines. Certain models do need a patch, though. The 2005 eMac can be overclocked to 1.92GHz which makes it wicked fast, yet also running smoothly. Glad they didn't shrink the cooler down once they put the 7447 in!
 
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