68kMLA Classic Interface

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The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
Posted by: bibilit on 2016-05-15 09:01:14 This morning i spotted four Compacts sold in the same place. The asking price was a mere 20 euros per unit, after a small bargaining i managed to collect two for 30 euros a pair. Both were bad looking, covered in dirt, one of the casing was badly scratched, and one was labeled SE/30 in the front but SE in the back...but for the price could not complain. I left another pair of SEs, one was a twin 800k and the other not the FDHD variant, and most of all should go home by foot... The SE/30 was a SE/30, still with the Maxell battery (in good order), and Logic Board with the gold processor... The SE, in the other hand had a busted Maxell battery... The inside of the SE is really bad, will keep it for parts.
Posted by: olePigeon on 2016-05-15 09:07:19 Huh. For some reason I thought the Maxell were alkaline batteries which is why they bursted all the time. I guess lithium batteries leak as well. Is there a type of battery that doesn't leak?
Posted by: slomacuser on 2016-05-15 10:29:21 Nice, you have now two SE/30?
Posted by: BadGoldEagle on 2016-05-15 10:29:28 Nice SE/30 board! I have one of these socketed ones but it's dead 🙁 Don't know if that SE board will be salvageable at all though... Maybe the ROMs? They could be useful for a FDHD conversion. Well at least now you have a spare CRT you can swap with your dead one! I would like to own an SE twin-floppy. I think this could be an ideal system for me. Built-in ability to copy disks very old disks and with an SCSI2SD fitted, it's one of the few machines that can have a HD and two floppy drives along with the LC and IIs.
Posted by: bibilit on 2016-05-15 11:21:32 Nice, you have now two SE/30? Hey, hi Janez, yes, well sort of... keeping in mind i will need to replace caps at least (have not found a IIsi PSU for you by the way) Don't know if that SE board will be salvageable at all though... Maybe the ROMs? They could be useful for a FDHD conversion. Well at least now you have a spare CRT you can swap with your dead one! I would like to own an SE twin-floppy. I think this could be an ideal system for me. Built-in ability to copy disks very old disks and with an SCSI2SD fitted, it's one of the few machines that can have a HD and two floppy drives along with the LC and IIs. Hi Lambert, Yes i will try to save the board (i love the challenge), if not i will remove ROMs. In the meantime i have collected a spare CRT (well a pair indeed) so the repair has been done, thanks. Technically all SEs (not the SE/30) have the ability to have two floppy drives (just remove the blanking plate and you are done, the Hard drive was an option) another possibility will be to find an external Floppy drive to suit your needs...
Posted by: BadGoldEagle on 2016-05-15 15:03:19 and one was labeled SE/30 in the front but SE in the back...but for the price could not complain. BTW, this one was probably upgraded at some point. My SE/30 originally started out in life as an SE FDHD: its serial number ends with B03. With the upgrade you got a new logic board, optional 1.44 floppy, a new bezel and a new sticker. It seems a new chassis was included as well, don't know why though. Mine still has its original chassis. Maybe they forgot to put the sticker on ? You should check if dates coincide.
Posted by: bibilit on 2016-05-15 22:42:20 It seems a new chassis was included as well, don't know why though IIRC mainly for the main connector, not at the same place in the Logic Board, so you can still plug it with the wrong chassis but it's far more difficult, also the PDS slot is different.
Posted by: BadGoldEagle on 2016-05-16 07:06:13 IIRC mainly for the main connector, not at the same place in the Logic Board, so you can still plug it with the wrong chassis but it's far more difficult, also the PDS slot is different. On my 128k I noticed the power connector isn't at the same place as on the Plus. They did not provide a new chassis with the 128k to Plus upgrade though. Despite having the original chassis my SE/30 can accommodate a proper 030 card. So I don't know. Maybe it was swapped but it still has the manufacturing date on it... --- BTW, are the HDs okay? I noticed old SCSI hard disk are very expensive these days. Might have been worth it for the HDs alone!
Posted by: MinerAl on 2016-05-16 09:57:16 You should go back and get the other SEs. Then you'll have plenty of parts for a FrankenMac SE.
Posted by: olePigeon on 2016-05-16 10:39:11 Or spare parts for the SE/30. Chassis, CRT, and analog board/power supply.
Posted by: bibilit on 2016-05-16 12:17:12 If they are still there BadGoldEagle is interested, my attic is already full...
Posted by: BadGoldEagle on 2016-05-16 14:27:39 Yep we'll see next saturday if they're still there! I really hope so!
Posted by: bibilit on 2016-05-21 10:26:45 Some work on the SE, after some cleaning and welding: Those SEs are really bulletproof, the HD i should have a look at it, as you can see above, trying to boot but don't go further ahead... I have replaced the CRT, was heavily burned, and casing looks a thousand times better than it really is...
Posted by: BadGoldEagle on 2016-05-22 11:19:42 Nice! I'm glad the SE is okay! It turns out I'm rubbish at repairing HDs. So next time I'll let a professional do it. I hope you'll be able to fix yours. Man those drives are annoying!
Posted by: bibilit on 2016-05-30 07:32:23 Small update : The SE was missing sound, the connector was corroded beyond repair (was probably the very first to go when the battery exploded) and was removed from the board previously, i managed to remove one from a spare board, and the sound is back. The SE/30 has a new set of caps and is working pretty well, even the hard drive is working flawlessly. All in all not a bad purchase.
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