Mac Projects
This page will track some of the Mac Projects I am working on.
The first project is a salvage Mac SE/30 I have disassembled to get the case which is in decent shape. I also got a Keyboard with it as well. I wont take you through the teardown, frankly it had just the Power Supply Board and a very old crusty floppy drive and CRT. See parts below.
From this it looks like I will be able to save the speaker and the carriage inside to help make it easier to mount the replacement system and LCD. I have gotten a nice version of Mac OS 7.55 up and running on a Mini PC and hope to maybe use that with some dual boot options to make this a very functional PC. I have an old i5 Mac Mini I may use so it can have OS X as well. We’ll see! I don’t see finishing this project up until summer so I can retro bright the case and Keyboard/Mouse. I have an iTinker adapter that I hope to use to have the actual Keyboard and mouse work.
01/05/2024 Update
Some Decisions made on which device to use for my Mac SE/30 replacement. I have ruled out the old Mac Mini, I upgraded it to the latest version and it really doesn.t inspire me to use it as the heart for this new Mac. I have also gotten the Pi Mac to work and it has 3 versions of Mac OS, a Modem Emulator, PI OS and C64 Emulation. I feel like I am leaning that way right now. It uses a Pi 3B and seems to present a smooth experience. The Multi OS Mini PC seems to be representing some challenges. However, there is always the option to use both and a HDMI switcher. In this scenario I see a scenario by which I can emulate the Mac with the Pi and then Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows XP, Windows 11, Zorin OS 17 Linux, OS2, BE OS. PiMiga, QNX and maybe some others I played with in the day. That could be super cool! Who knows, maybe even put the Mac Mini in there as well, there is plenty of room and an remote controlled HDMI switch could make it all possible. I think I would prefer a remote control power solution to select which machines are powered up may be smart as well as not to corrupt US versions with sudden power offs. I have had a screen adapter professionally 3d Printed as well that should arrive soon. I still see this wrapping up in the summer as some serious retro-brightening will be needed for this and even more so for the Mystic Color Classic with Apple 2E I just received. Imagine how freaking cool that would be!
The other Mac Project I have going is I found a nice Mac Color Classic with Mystic and Apple IIe card on eBay and hope to have that in a few weeks. This should give me a very authentic Retro Mac Experience and I will share pictures after it arrives late next month.
01/05/2024 Update
This arrived today and wow was it ever packaged well!
It was so well packaged that after unwrapping it all, the stuffing trash exceeds the size of the box it was wrapped in. What a awesome eBayer!
So listen, lol, a 40 year old computer can get not only yellow, but even brown and that is what I received. But hey, the thing booted right up and its super cool. I knew I was going to need to retro-bright, recap etc. The price was right though! A pristine version would easily go for over $2K US! It will be a fun project and so worth seeing the end result. Here is the add text on it so you know what we are dealing with;
Macintosh Color Classic MYSTICApple IIe 36MB RAM 18GB HD 68040 Vintage Rare Mac | eBay
https://w w w.ebay.com/itm/322926567697 3/5
For your consideration at this wonderful auction is a rare and vintage Apple Macintosh Color Classic from 1993, with an
upgraded Logic Board containing a Motorola MC68LC040 series processor clocked at up to 33Mhz speeds, and custom
configured with an Apple IIe card. These specifications have been maxed out with 36MB of RAM, an internal spacious 18GB (18
Gigabytes) SCSI Hard Drive and a full installation of System 7.5.5 (this only supports IIe Card), Mac OS 7.6.1 and Mac OS 8.1, making it more attractive and interesting. Apple Ethernet Card is installed on the logic board in the communications slot for
AppleTalk and Network Connections, and the logic board features both PDS and Communication Slot connections. The PDS
slot, currently occupied with the IIe card, supports other devices, such as graphics cards, display engines, mainframe systems,
etc. The Apple IIe y-shaped adapter cable with part number 590-0703-A is included; when connected to the Apple IIe card, to be
used with Apple II peripherals, such as external Apple 5.25″ Floppy Disk Drives (not included, sold separately) and Apple
Joysticks (not included, sold separately).
The built-in crisp Sony 9″ Trinitron display supports thousands of vibrant colors in crisp quality with the upgraded VRAM memory.
Apple ADB Keyboard II matching with Mouse II are included. Built-in speaker and microphone are present. SCSI port allows
connection to external hard disk drives, CD-ROM drives and peripherals; the serial ports allow connections to external modems
and desktop printers. There is line-in and line-out connection for audio devices, such as microphones and speaker systems, but
they are untested. An Apple Omni-directional Microphone will be included.
This unique configuration was time consuming and took a great deal of effort & patience to make it possible for the hardware to
understand that there is an internal 18GB hard drive installed, and it is partitioned into several drive icons. System 7.5.5, Mac OS
7.6.1 and Mac OS 8.1 are installed on separate partitions. The Apple IIe card will only function in System 7.5.5 with 32-bit
addressing turned off in the memory control panel. 32-bit memory addressing will turn back on when switching into Mac OS 7.6.1
and Mac OS 8.1. The Apple IIe card will not function after System 7.5.5 – it is not supported because of the 32-bit memory
addressing. An LC 575 (Mystic) logic board is installed, however, the original Color Classic logic board and plastic panel cover
are absent due the different design of the port layout and will not be included with this auction. PRAM clock batteries are not
included on logic boards when shipped international due to customs and courier regulations pertaining to battery devices. There
is an internal Apple 1.4MB SuperDrive floppy disk drive inside the Color Classic, and it is functional. CRT displays may show
signs of age over the years during the first few minutes of startup, with small dark portions of the screen readjusting to full
contrast, or partial burn-in, and this is considered normal for vintage computers. Color Classics have beige cases that have
been exposed to sunlight and may appear to fade from platinum to tan beige or sometimes yellow. Machine plastics are 30 years
old, and have scuffs, scratches and imperfections.
Seller will ship this Color Classic carefully wrapped for domestic shipping throughout the United States. The equipment will be
professionally packaged by the seller when shipped, however, international shipping and handling is also available throughout
the world at additional cost specified here in the auction; Approximate weight of bundle for shipping is 40 pounds. I have years of
experience packing Color Classics for shipment, and I insist on wrapping at least 6 to 12 inches of bubble-wrap around all 6
sides of the machine to minimize the potential for physical damage upon direct impact during handling.
However, this unit is offered as-is, with no warranty and no returns, and any changes or additional modifications are not
supported, as such actions are performed at your own risk. It is recommended to make a secondary back-up of the hard drive
when using this machine for the first time.
How cool huh? Still a bit of in-processing to get done with this one, I will let you know more as it develops! One super bright spot here is if Retro-brightening works well, this will all look fabulous when done! As far as scrapes, chips, dents, I got really lucky!