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Wallstreet PDQ issues - apple talk and batteries
Posted by: fimbulvetr on 2016-09-29 06:40:25
I recently picked up an almost mint PB Wallstreet PDQ running System 9.2 to use as a bridge computer with my SE/30, SE, and Classic II. It works perfectly except for dead PRAM and main batteries. I have a bunch of old WiFi PCMCIA cards around the house, including a Cisco 350, so I hope to find the drivers and get it set up for wireless networking. I am having difficulties getting AppleTalk to work with my SE/30. All the compact macs happily connect and work with each other, and the PB will connect to the SE/30 and mount the SE/30 HD. My problem is that the SE/30 sees the PB, but when I go to mount the PB HD, the SE/30 has a "Divide by 0" error and requires a reboot. 

Also, I would like to replace the PRAM and main batteries, but my problem is finding a source that will ship to Canada. I can't find a source for the main battery, and the only PRAM battery I've found is US$45 with shipping. That seems steep to me, but I don't really know what one should expect to pay for one of those. 

So, can anyone help me with my divide by 0 error and getting some batteries to the great white north? Any hints on getting wireless running? I quickly found out that just plugging the card in is not good enough. It sees the card, but I can't get anywhere from there. I assume drivers are in order.

Thanks.

Posted by: EvilCapitalist on 2016-09-29 07:18:54
As far as batteries go, there's this one on eBay for $48.99:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/350719611562

How do you feel about aftermarket batteries?  At this point finding NOS Apple stock is going to be difficult.  USPS international flat rate would be $25 on top of that so all-in you'd be looking at ~$74.

Posted by: fimbulvetr on 2016-09-29 07:48:16
Aftermarket is fine - they just have to work! That one would be great except they don't ship to Canada. I might end up contacting some of the ebay sellers and see if they will make an exception on the shipping.

Posted by: peafour on 2016-11-12 14:54:24
I just picked up a Wallstreet today with a dead battery, I may be buying one of these batteries. If I do, I'd be happy to buy an extra and ship it to you if you can't work something out with the seller.

Posted by: MikeatOSX on 2016-11-13 04:22:43
Also, I would like to replace the PRAM and main batteries, but my problem is finding a source that will ship to Canada.
I've written a PowerBook PRAM battery replacement guide, it's in German and I didn't have the time yet to translate it into English. But on the pictures and in the text you can see, which replacement PRAM batteries should be used:

https://www.mediafire.com/download/95msic89udzjigd

Posted by: danikayser84 on 2016-11-13 13:59:23
FWIW, I run my Pismo without the PRAM battery and haven't had any issues (I removed it because it was dead and I didn't want it to leak and damage the motherboard/etc.), I'd assume the Wallstreet/PDQ is similar (it's a pain to get to the PRAM battery on the Wallstreets though)

If you don't mind setting the date and time every time you cold start, I'd recommend just removing the PRAM battery (I've done so on most of my machines to avoid leakage)

Posted by: tonyingesson on 2016-12-06 01:26:21
This may be borderline thread necromancing, but I noticed that no-one answered the original question regarding the "divide by zero" question. I know the exact situation, since I too have an SE/30 and a Wallstreet connected via AppleTalk. The solution (at least for me) was dead simple: let the SE/30 be the server and the Wallstreet the client (i.e. use the Chooser on the Wallstreet to connect to the SE/30). For me, this has worked perfectly (if I do it the other way around, I too get the divide by zero error).

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