SE/30 SIMASIMAC w/ Stock ROM

[dgveedubbus89]

Hello Everyone,

First post here, transferred from 68KMLA.

Recently purchased a SE/30 with SIMASIMAC. When I received it I did a full RECAP but that did not solve the issue.

I had watched the G.O.A.T MAC84 going over an SE/30 and noticed he replaced the Stock ROM with a ROM-inator II and that worked for him. Dug my IIci out and swapped its ROM-inator II into my SE/30 and that solved the issue. It has been running perfectly ever since. Even go the 80MB HDD reimaged with 7.1.1 and that too seems to be working smoothly. (Granted its not trustworthy, its still a bit more fun to hear the HDD sounds vs my BlueSCSI V2)

My question is, why the failure of the stock ROM? I cant seem to see an issues with the ROM itself, nor any traces in the area. My board was immaculate, no battery bomb and the caps had very little, if any at all, leakage before I recapped the board.

Should I even care? Just buy another Rom-inator II and move on with my life?

On the HDD, I took it apart and put Kapton Tape on the Park heads which brought it back to life I am quite happy with that fix.

Only thing I need to do it take the fan out for a thorough cleaning and it will be as good as new!

Included some board photos for fun LOL



Thanks!

 

[Kai Robinson]

The ROM chips themselves may very well just be faulty - ROM's are no different to any other semiconductors - they degrade over time. You could be experiencing bit-rot/fade, where the 0/1's held in a cell may have flipped/faded to nothing. All it takes is a single byte to throw things off. The only way to truly tell if it's a ROM issue it to grab another known working stock ROM and try that.

 

[dgveedubbus89]

Thanks for the info Kai!

Knowing that any old ROM might exhibit the issue at some point makes me lean towards another ROM-inator II. Just seems more beneficial in so many other ways.

Guess I have myself a working SE/30

Your feedback is much appreciated and it is a pleasure Kai! You are one of the greatest people I know in this community and I personally can't thank you enough for all that you do.

Thanks again!