Tech by Androda Products

[Androda]

With the Vendors section going away, this thread will serve several purposes:
* Reference to my store's URL
* New product announcements
* Product Suggestions
* Product Support

Tech by Androda, LLC website link

This is my side business / hobby company dedicated toward trying to solve problems with vintage systems. It all started with BlueSCSI, and since then I have branched out into products for the Newton and eMate, the Mac Portable, have recreated some vintage parts and upgrades, and offer a small selection of New Old Stock.

 

[Androda]

Hardware and Project Updates:

BlueSCSI Desktop Hardware:
The updated and more affordable BlueSCSI Desktop 50 Pin design has passed my local testing on a PowerMac 7300, Beige G3, and Mac Portable. It removes the microSD slot and USB-C power connector, but in doing so also cuts the cost enough that prices can be decreased to the usual level. Initiator Mode is still included, and distributors are starting to place orders for the updated model.

Upcoming Products:
Several more products are on the way, including:

• A Macintosh Portable Battery Eliminator based on Supercapacitors and a radical departure from fitting into the battery bay. This uses the Modem slot for 5v rail feedback, and a jumper cable to connect right to the motherboard. It takes only about two minutes to charge the supercaps from flat to usable, and there's no need to bother with keeping a lead acid battery charged and happy any more. Given that this is basically a battery hookup, it likely also removes the restriction that you must only use the original power adapter. I'll be testing that out, but in theory any generic 7.5 volt power adapter should work as long as it has a minimum of 1.5 amps capacity.

• An update to the Mac Portable 7 Meg RAM Card, which will include the switches onboard so I don't have to rework the base PCB any more. This will sell in parallel with the basic 7 Meg card until the basic ones are gone, and will then replace the Basic card entirely.

• Finally, an entirely new product line is in development called the HIDHopper. Finding keyboards and mice for vintage systems isn't getting any easier, so a line of USB to vintage interface adapters is on the way. Starting with USB to ADB, and planned to expand into USB to PS/2, USB to Sun, USB to Amiga, and others, the HIDHopper series will help you get a vintage system working without needing to locate near-impossible interface devices.

Relaxing end of year? Nope, guess that's not how it works...

 

[wottle]

I have replacement Portable batteries I've been testing. One is a 6V lead acid battery inside. One is a LiPo 6v battery. And the final is simply a board with the supercapacitors installed to let it run without an actual battery while plugged in. I do not have the original charger, so I've been using a 7.5v, 1,5A generic charger. It's been working fine, but am I running the risk of frying the hybrid board or other components doing so. I thought the only problem was aftermarket chargers that could supply more than the 1.5A?

I like the idea of the HID hopper. I have a USB to ADB adapter, which is nice, as is the Wombat (since it is bi-directional), but competition in this space is a good thing. Especially if it can be made relatively cheaply.

 

[splorp]

Excited about the HIDHopper project, too.

 

[Androda]

I have replacement Portable batteries I've been testing. One is a 6V lead acid battery inside. One is a LiPo 6v battery. And the final is simply a board with the supercapacitors installed to let it run without an actual battery while plugged in. I do not have the original charger, so I've been using a 7.5v, 1,5A generic charger. It's been working fine, but am I running the risk of frying the hybrid board or other components doing so. I thought the only problem was aftermarket chargers that could supply more than the 1.5A?

Assuming your power adapter actually has a 1.5 amp current limiter that works properly, you'll be fine. The 1.5 amp current limit is for a few reasons:

1. The original lead acid battery charge current was not allowed to exceed 1.5 amps
2. Apple's battery charge circuitry might not be able to properly handle more than 1.5 amps, or was not designed to properly limit battery charge with more than a 1.5 amp charger (possibly both)

My supercapacitor board for the modem slot should eliminate that 1.5 amp current limitation. The fuse between the battery and the Portable mainboard is rated for 7 amps. In my estimation the battery is providing about 4 amps of surge current for a few seconds when starting the original hard drive. For this reason a 7.5 volt 2 amp or 4 amp power supply should pose no danger at all - it takes the place of the battery entirely (this is yet to be verified).

The Portable treats the battery as the actual power reservoir, the power adapter at 1.5 amps is just barely enough to run a fully loaded system where the hard drive is already spinning and you're using the floppy continuously. Odd architecture.

I like the idea of the HID hopper. I have a USB to ADB adapter, which is nice, as is the Wombat (since it is bi-directional), but competition in this space is a good thing. Especially if it can be made relatively cheaply.

I hope to make it very affordable. Not going to talk about pricing until I can factor everything in though.

 

[Androda]

The Mac Portable Battery Eliminator is available now, assembled only, in low quantity.

HIDHopper for ADB will hopefully be next, just needed to update the PCBs a bit to handle part clearances. So those PCBs will be ordered soon and then it's a matter of designing printable cases.

 

[ScutBoy]

Done and done!

 

[Androda]

Parts and boards are now ordered so I can make more of the Battery Eliminator. And a hopefully-production PCB for HIDHopper ADB.

 

[Androda]

SCSi adapter with blinkenlights is back in stock. Sorry for the delay, didn't notice the "out of stock" notification.

 

[JDW]

@Androda
I'm rather impressed with your new products, especially the Portable Battery Eliminator. Wow.

Now all your store needs are replacement rubber feet for the Portable, as those crack apart or get torn away over time.

Two questions:

1. Have any of your customers tried the Battery Eliminator in a 5126 Backlit version?

2. Also, does your Battery Eliminator also eliminate the need for the 9V battery?

Could be I'm mistaken, but I thought the 9V was to preserve PRAM only when disconnecting/changing the main battery. So if there is no main battery (thanks to your device), and if you close the battery cover which affects the microswitch leading to the 9V, then the 9V would never get used, right? Or would you be able to just keep the battery cover off since there is no battery anymore when your product is installed, and then the 9V would get used to preserve PRAM only when the AC Adapter is removed from the wall socket? Or do you just eliminate the 9V entirely and live with the fact your PRAM will be lost every time you unplug from the wall?

Sorry, one more question...

Your Macintosh Portable Adapter For BlueSCSI V2 requires knowledge of the motherboard revision. Is there a way to find that out via the Bar Code serial number on the bottom of the plastic case, or is it necessary to take the machine completely apart to view the actual motherboard?

 

[Androda]

1. Have any of your customers tried the Battery Eliminator in a 5126 Backlit version?

2. Also, does your Battery Eliminator also eliminate the need for the 9V battery?

Could be I'm mistaken, but I thought the 9V was to preserve PRAM only when disconnecting/changing the main battery. So if there is no main battery (thanks to your device), and if you close the battery cover which affects the microswitch leading to the 9V, then the 9V would never get used, right? Or would you be able to just keep the battery cover off since there is no battery anymore when your product is installed, and then the 9V would get used to preserve PRAM only when the AC Adapter is removed from the wall socket? Or do you just eliminate the 9V entirely and live with the fact your PRAM will be lost every time you unplug from the wall?

1: I haven't received feedback about which Portable versions the Battery Eliminator has been used in. To my knowledge the Backlit's Modem slot is the same as the original M5120 so there should be no electrical difference between them.

2: The PCB does contain a provision for a 9v battery holder to be soldered on, but I haven't tried it. Supercapacitors have a relatively high rate of charge loss, and I don't know how that drain factor would play into battery life. This is the BT1 solder points to the right of the supercapacitors, where you would solder the + and - (labeled on the PCB) leads from a 9v battery holder. Again, this is currently untested but if there's interest in a PRAM-retaining option I'll check that it works properly.

You are correct that the 9v battery in a Portable is basically the PRAM battery. This is due to where the PRAM values are actually stored (not in a super-low-power RTC chip like most Macs), which requires the main 5.2v rail to be powered on all the time. Can't imagine PRAM battery life is all that great to begin with.

The Battery Eliminator installation requires that you unplug the original battery harness cable, which totally removes the 9v battery from the circuit. With the Eliminator installed, when you unplug from the wall you have a few minutes of PRAM retention at most (have not tested how long it lasts) as the supercapacitors are slowly drained to power the PRAM and RTC retention.

The Battery Eliminator is somewhat targeted to the people that, like me, aren't using their vintage systems all the time. This makes it safe to store away your Portable for a year or more and have it pop right back to life the next time you want to enjoy your vintage system. No lead acid batteries to maintain, and no 9v batteries to cause leaks and damage.

Sorry, one more question...

Your Macintosh Portable Adapter For BlueSCSI V2 requires knowledge of the motherboard revision. Is there a way to find that out via the Bar Code serial number on the bottom of the plastic case, or is it necessary to take the machine completely apart to view the actual motherboard?

I have updated the description on the Mac Portable Adapter page to better explain what this is. The BoardRevision does not refer to the Mac Portable's PCB. It's referring to the BlueSCSI hardware version, which is easily visible in the silkscreen by the BlueSCSI logo.

The 2023.10a desktop hardware design had to move the mounting holes around, so the only difference in the adapter kit is the printed bracket. Electrically the adapter and cable are not different.

 

[JDW]

@Androda
Thank you for the explanation!

I just noticed your BSv2 Adapter is out of stock (both Kit and Assembled). Do you know when it will be back in stock?

Next...

I read through your thread about the Hybrid Module for the non-Backlit Portable. That's yet another amazing product! Is the reason you don't have a backlit version because you don't have a backlit Portable, or because those modules fail less on the Backlit Portable?

 

[Androda]

I just noticed your BSv2 Adapter is out of stock (both Kit and Assembled). Do you know when it will be back in stock?

It's out of stock for the 2023.10a version, but kits for 2023.09a and earlier are available. No specific ETA, I just need to print brackets and put things together.

I read through your thread about the Hybrid Module for the non-Backlit Portable. That's yet another amazing product! Is the reason you don't have a backlit version because you don't have a backlit Portable, or because those modules fail less on the Backlit Portable?

The M5126 Backlit Portable actually doesn't have a Hybrid Module. Instead, Apple directly embedded the power regulation components onto the motherboard. This is both a positive and a negative. Positive because the design is simpler, and negative because naturally there are leaking capacitors right next to it which can kill the circuit - but it's not a module that can be swapped out. Have to do hot air desoldering work to repair the Backlit when one of the components dies.

 

[JDW]

@Androda
Thank you.

I just now did what every single Portable owner on the planet should promptly do...

I ordered a fully assembled Portable Battery Eliminator (shipped to a friend who owns the Portable). Fantastic product and engineering. Kudos for having brought it from Concept to Market!

 

[JDW]

Well, my friend, Michael, received the Battery Eliminator and got it to power his 5126 backlit model, although he shared the following photo with me to show it displays a Sad Mac error...



0000000E <-- Bus Error? RAM error?
0000FFFF <-- unknown

He also says he needed to boot from a floppy in the past in order to get the Conner hard drive to work. I cannot comment on that because I have zero experience with the Macintosh Portable.

This is, perhaps, the first person who has tested the 5126 with the Portable Battery Eliminator. @Androda ... Any thoughts?

 

[Androda]

0000000E <-- Bus Error? RAM error?
0000FFFF <-- unknown

Is he saying that there is no sad mac error code without the battery eliminator installed, and getting a sad mac error with the battery eliminator installed?

According to the Sad Mac Error Codes reference, that's a memory error saying all 16 bits are not responding properly. But there are no RAM-related signals present on the modem slot according to the schematic. The only signals I'm using are a ground pin and the 5v power line (5v is an input to the card, not an output from the card). And the backlit portable dev note doesn't mention anything about changes to the modem slot (unlike the RAM slot, which does have a few differences).

 

[MICHAENTOSH]

We installed the Battery eliminator because the battery went dead and the Mac would not start up, or so I thought, this unit to my knowledge has not been recapped so not sure if it’s that but this is a error described here…
Macintosh Classic Sad Mac 0000000e / 0000ffff
By: Admin On: July 20, 2021 In: Uncategorized
I wanted to write about this Macintosh Classic as it stumped me for a bit. We had replaced UH6 which is a LS174 that handles timing for the CAS circuit. When booted, the system just showed a sad Mac with the error code 0000000e.

This error means there has been a data bus error. The last four numbers of second row are the 32 bits representing the failed bits. In our case, it’s all of the bits.

This could be caused by a number of things but generally it is related to the LS174. We verified all of the address lines were present and working. We checked the output pins and they were looking about what we expected. On a whim I checked the ground pin…no beep. Fixing the missing connection got the board working again. I haven’t traced to see where the failure is yet but I plan to.
Ok I am using a MacEffects Memory card that could be the problem see here…

So in finishing is the card damaged or is this needing a recap in order for the card to be seen and available to the motherboard?

 

[Androda]

this unit to my knowledge has not been recapped

That's a huge problem for Portables. I suggest that you don't run any more power through the system until the capacitors have been replaced and all the leaked capacitor fluid damage has been repaired. The leaking electrolyte causes tons of problems, everything from primary voltage regulator instability (which kills components) to internal motherboard PCB trace damage.

Ok I am using a MacEffects Memory card that could be the problem see here

That's not very likely to cause problems in this case.

So in finishing is the card damaged or is this needing a recap in order for the card to be seen and available to the motherboard?

The Battery Eliminator card was tested in my Portable before shipment. It should work without any issues.

It is likely the problems you are experiencing here are related to the lack of capacitor replacement. Even without any power applied to the system, capacitor fluid is very electrolytic/corrosive and likes to creep up the legs of ICs and cause internal shorting. Applying power just makes the capacitor fluid cause damage faster.

 

[JDW]

That's a huge problem for Portables. I suggest that you don't run any more power through the system until the capacitors have been replaced and all the leaked capacitor fluid damage has been repaired. The leaking electrolyte causes tons of problems, everything from primary voltage regulator instability (which kills components) to internal motherboard PCB trace damage.

@MICHAENTOSH and I have been discussing his 5126 Portable privately, and he mentioned the need in the past to boot from a floppy in order to get the Conner Hard Drive to boot, which baffled me. I can only assume that strangeness must pertain to the capacitors as well?

I have zero experience with the Macintosh Portable, so I don't know the common failure modes. I know about recapping other machines, but I don't know what damage is typically caused on a Mac Portable by running power through the machine while caps are leaking. But it seems you are saying pretty much anything could be fried and permanently damaged on the motherboard if powered in that leaky cap condition?

 

[Androda]

@MICHAENTOSH and I have been discussing his 5126 Portable privately, and he mentioned the need in the past to boot from a floppy in order to get the Conner Hard Drive to boot, which baffled me. I can only assume that strangeness must pertain to the capacitors as well?

It could be related. There are leaking capacitors in the 12v generator circuit, and I believe both the original hard drive and floppy drive require 12 volts. Might only be able to power one at a time with the leakage. Low or improper capacitance on the boost driver (boosting from battery voltage to 12 volts) may even cause over-voltage on the 12v line as the capacitors aren't able to absorb the inductor-driven boost pulses properly.

I have zero experience with the Macintosh Portable, so I don't know the common failure modes. I know about recapping other machines, but I don't know what damage is typically caused on a Mac Portable by running power through the machine while caps are leaking. But it seems you are saying pretty much anything could be fried and permanently damaged on the motherboard if powered in that leaky cap condition?

In the case of the Mac Portable, failing to replace the capacitors can cause extensive damage. The main 5v regulator's precision analog resistors are right next to a leaky capacitor on the M5126. Those analog resistors are precision for a reason - and that 5v rail can swing all over the place (lower than it should be, all the way up to battery voltage) due to the corrosive fluid affecting resistor values. 7-ish volts at the battery is way higher than the 5-ish volts that most components on the PCB are designed to accomodate.

Overall, using a vintage system without checking the capacitor state is asking for trouble. And on the Portable that trouble is amplified by the oddball power system.