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SE/30: Strange HDD sled found
Posted by: retrofreak83 on 2023-10-05 05:00:08
Hallo all,

I recently dug through my SE/30 parts collection.
A HDD carrier sled which caught my attention.
It looks quite different but still similar to the original one, but a number of points are strange to me.

I was not able to find a picture or hint for the other variant on the Internet so far.
For comparsion two pictures with an original sled and the "strange" one.

Notable differences:

  • No parts number on it
  • As a whole, built much more simpler, rough metal surface
  • It seems as if construction was reduced to the bare minimum needed for a basic HDD fit
  • no activity LED mount
  • Significantly flatter overall
  • cut-out metal has no rounded but sharp edges
Still, holes are very much made for HDDs.

The only thing I can think of so far:
Maybe there has been a 3rd party kit for people owning a Macintosh SE built to replace the 2nd floppy by a HDD?
IMG_3777.jpegIMG_3778.jpeg
Posted by: Phipli on 2023-10-05 05:07:11
Hallo all,

I recently dug through my SE/30 parts collection.
A HDD carrier sled which caught my attention.
It looks quite different but still similar to the original one, but a number of points are strange to me.

I was not able to find a picture or hint for the other variant on the Internet so far.
For comparsion two pictures with an original sled and the "strange" one.

Notable differences:

  • No parts number on it
  • As a whole, built much more simpler, rough metal surface
  • It seems as if construction was reduced to the bare minimum needed for a basic HDD fit
  • no activity LED mount
  • Significantly flatter overall
  • cut-out metal has no rounded but sharp edges
Still, holes are very much made for HDDs.

The only thing I can think of so far:
Maybe there has been a 3rd party kit for people owning a Macintosh SE built to replace the 2nd floppy by a HDD?
View attachment 63084View attachment 63085
Looks like it mounts later disks the right way up?

There were third party disk cradles. I may have seen one similar to this online. I think I also saw a bright red one somewhere.
Posted by: LaPorta on 2023-10-05 05:58:57
Your suspicion may be correct. In the Ma SE repair guide from Pina, he references a kit you can use to mount a slim HD and bracket farther back above the disk drives so that it clears the CRT.
Posted by: volvo242gt on 2023-10-05 11:11:03
It's probably a variation on the adjustable aftermarket SE hard drive bracket that allows you to install a hard drive in a M5010 SE without deleting the second floppy drive. I've had two SEs so equipped. One was the SE SuperDrive machine I owned last year. The other is my current SE FDHD, which finally makes its journey from Oregon on Saturday.
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