Restoration: Macintosh SE with Water Damage

PotatoFi

PotatoFi

Active Tinkerer
Oct 18, 2021
175
367
63
We're just about done here. After installing the BlueSCSI, I flipped the power switch, and the machine booted right up to System 6.0.8. Fantastic.

IMG_3617.jpg


The CRT was positioned slightly too far to one side, so I used a plastic spudger to rotate one of the centering rings. With that, the restoration was done.

IMG_3618.jpg
 
PotatoFi

PotatoFi

Active Tinkerer
Oct 18, 2021
175
367
63
Up until now, I hadn't thought to see how much RAM it has. It appears to have 2 MB. In this configuration, System 6.0.8 will be super snappy, and it will work great for some black-and-white Mac gaming. If someone wanted to upgrade it to 4 MB, and plug in a RaSCSI for SCSI Ethernet emulation, you could probably download some files with FTP, or even do some Telnet! Technically, you could load up a webpage or two... but with System 6 and a 4 MB RAM ceiling, that is extremely challenging.

IMG_3632.jpg


Yes, there's some burn-in... but I don't think it's very distracting. This is max brightness in a well-lit room - not super bright, but really no brighter than I go on my other machines.

IMG_3631.jpg


Here's a close-up of the burn-in (cc: @This Does Not Compute). If anyone has any ideas what this is from, I'd love to hear them! It almost looks like a CNC application or something to me, but I can't quite read any of it.

IMG_3633.jpg


And I think this is where our restoration thread draws to a close! As for the machine's future - I'm going to offer it back to the person who gave me the whole pile of Apple stuff to begin with (although I would need to track down a mouse and keyboard for it). The floppy drive still isn't super reliable, so I might tinker with that a little bit more. For now, thanks for reading my restoration thread! I hope you enjoyed it.

IMG_3624.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: pfuentes69, rikerjoe, DeChief and 7 others
splorp

splorp

Tinkerer
Oct 31, 2021
142
135
43
Calgary, Alberta
splorp.com
Following this entire thread, I have been impressed by your perseverance to see this project through. A lesser man (perhaps myself) would have thrown in the towel ages ago.

Bravo.
 
PotatoFi

PotatoFi

Active Tinkerer
Oct 18, 2021
175
367
63
RetroViator said:
What an amazing restoration! Great job and thanks for letting us follow along. 🙂
Click to expand...

Thanks for following along!

landogriffin said:
Great job @PotatoFi !!!
Click to expand...

Thanks!

svenvendetta said:
Amazing work. Makes me want to take another stab at my SE board that wasn't even close to as bad as where you started with this one!
Click to expand...

You should! After seeing this, and fixing a battery-bombed SE SuperDrive for a friend, I'm convinced that the SE's logic board is as tough as they get.

splorp said:
Following this entire thread, I have been impressed by your perseverance to see this project through. A lesser man (perhaps myself) would have thrown in the towel ages ago.

Bravo.
Click to expand...

Thank you!

Cameron_Talley said:
Wow the before and after is like night and day!
Click to expand...

Right!? I love the before and after shots!


You might remember from earlier that this machine came equipped with 2 MB of RAM. On seeing that, @rdmark donated a 4 MB RAM upgrade for the machine! Of course, I took a photo of the wrong side of the new modules - they all have a super cool Motorola logo on the back.

IMG_3667.jpg


I scrubbed all of the contacts with Isopropyl alcohol, and installed them in the machine. The tabs on the slots are all plastic, and one is broken, so I really wanted to only install the RAM once time to avoid breaking things.

As for telling the Mac how much RAM to look for, this Macintosh SE FDHD is of the jumper variety. There is a 1 MB position, and a 2/4 MB position. Some Mac SE's (probably older non-SuperDrive and non-FDHD versions) use resistors that you have to remove.

When I booted it up, I was very confused to find that only 2 MB of RAM was detected.

IMG_3669.jpg


I consulted the Low End Mac Macintosh SE RAM Upgrade guide, and immediately found my mistake.

To upgrade to 4 MB, remove all four 256 KB SIMMs and replace them with 1 MB SIMMs, being careful not to damage the SIMM sockets. If you have the resistor motherboard, remove R35 and R36. If you have the jumper motherboard, remove the jumper. (Oddly, you do not set it to the 2/4M setting.)
Click to expand...

Of course, removing the jumper entirely did the trick:

IMG_3670.jpg


And with that nice RAM upgrade, this Macintosh SE FDHD is "maxed out"! Sure, I could find a Shiva Ethernet PDS card for it, or one of those neat accellerator PDS cards, or maybe even install a RaSCSI! But with a 1.4 MB floppy drive, solid-state storage with the BlueSCSI, and 4 MB of RAM, this little Macintosh SE has become quite the capable little machine.

Thanks again to @rdmark for the upgrade!

IMG_3671.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: pfuentes69, eric and fehervaria
PotatoFi

PotatoFi

Active Tinkerer
Oct 18, 2021
175
367
63
There is one little thing left to do on the machine: the lower two screws for the case (that go into the back of the case, through the shield on the logic board, and into the chassis) were in pretty bad shape. I am pretty sure that I discarded them. If anyone knows what size they are, please let me know - I'd like to replace them with something new (even if they're just Phillips head screws).
 
rdmark

rdmark

Moderator
Staff member
Oct 3, 2021
164
230
43
PotatoFi said:
And with that nice RAM upgrade, this Macintosh SE FDHD is "maxed out"! Sure, I could find a Shiva Ethernet PDS card for it, or one of those neat accellerator PDS cards, or maybe even install a RaSCSI! But with a 1.4 MB floppy drive, solid-state storage with the BlueSCSI, and 4 MB of RAM, this little Macintosh SE has become quite the capable little machine.

Thanks again to @rdmark for the upgrade!
Click to expand...
You're welcome! Good RAM deserves to be used, not sitting in a box of spare parts in my closet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Patrick, PotatoFi, svenvendetta and 1 other person
Powerbook97

Powerbook97

New Tinkerer
May 21, 2022
9
6
3
Starting this journey myself … however my board was a little rougher …… hoping to move all functioning parts to a new board and possibly bringing this beautiful piece of computing back to life .
 

Attachments

  • C07EB8FC-85C7-4110-8635-090F32FD932E.jpeg
    C07EB8FC-85C7-4110-8635-090F32FD932E.jpeg
    2.7 MB · Views: 88
  • BB2AA5CF-F0EC-4CCD-BBB2-3D85C075BA91.jpeg
    BB2AA5CF-F0EC-4CCD-BBB2-3D85C075BA91.jpeg
    2 MB · Views: 78
  • 87F64ACF-832A-4678-B73F-7A66305F0B4F.jpeg
    87F64ACF-832A-4678-B73F-7A66305F0B4F.jpeg
    1,022.6 KB · Views: 80
  • Sad
  • Wow
  • Like
Reactions: tmtrains, alxlab and Nitram78
Kai Robinson

Kai Robinson

TinkerDifferent Board President 2023
Staff member
Founder
Sep 2, 2021
1,162
1
1,173
113
42
Worthing, UK
...ouch! That is well and truly destroyed! I hope the Sony sound chip is salvageable from there. You'll need to source one of the serial chips as new old stock if the legs have been eaten away, but at least everything else looks to have been spared!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Powerbook97
Powerbook97

Powerbook97

New Tinkerer
May 21, 2022
9
6
3
You know I am biased as many here are too - I love the old computers - I do …. I do think Apple’s latest MacBooks are the best the company has made in a long time - maybe they are too perfect / so one can’t tinker ;)
‘Having said that I am sure there are 50-150 ( if not thousand ) people out there if not more who wish to revive their memories through these lovely designs so ….. is there no way to put all this knowledge together and make a run of re created completed boards/re born boards ( almost completed - except the very rare chips ) by a third party in a land far away so it may also be cheaper ??? Yes it won’t be cheap - neither is a ‘re-imagined” old Porsche for example …. But then one can resurrect in higher numbers and reach out to those who may not have the talents needed to get there …… Are these boards and designs copy righted — would one be allowed to produce them in high numbers ? Just a thought ……. :)
 
Last edited:
Mac84

Mac84

Administrator
Staff member
Founder
Sep 4, 2021
192
270
63
New Jersey, USA
www.mac84.net
Powerbook97 said:
is there no way to put all this knowledge together and make a run of re created boards/re born boards ( almost completed - except the very rare chips ) by a third party ...
Click to expand...
Yes! A number of creative and smart individuals are doing just this. Check out this thread where Kai talks about his project on recreating the Macintosh SE board. I also believe a Classic, SE/30, LC, and other boards are in the works by similarly bright individuals.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Powerbook97
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom