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Table of Contents for this issue:
Old Mac Hardware and Software
Re: IIVX RAM Upgrade
Re: Mac IIsi and color monitors
Mac IIsi and color monitors
Re: Internal HD compatibility with LC II?
RE: IIsi and color monitors
Re: Classic Macs
Re: Mac II, Super drive ROM Upgrade
Classic Macs 12.3.
Re: A Mac Plus needs your help
RE:Mac Portable expansion
LC 550
RE:Mac Portable expansion
Re: Netscape 3.0 Gold and a IIci
Re: Netscape 3.0 Gold and a IIci
Re: Netscape 3.0 Gold and a IIci
Accelerator for Mac Classic and Mac SE
PowerBook 520 - Experiences?
Re: Internal HD compatibility with LC II?
Open Transport on a IIsi?
Portable & PB 100 upgrades
Re: Request for 128K Help
Re: LCII VRAM Increase?


Subject: Old Mac Hardware and Software
From: Jeffrey Bipes

Please see my page at:

http://www.mtn.org/~jbipes/oldmac.html

For a list of Old Macintosh Hardware and Software For Sale. I have items from the 128K Mac, up to the Mac II series.Reply to me at: jbipes Thanks.


Subject: Re: IIVX RAM Upgrade
From: Ingramt

I have a IIvx which came with 5 megs of memory. I wish to add 4 megs. Could someone tell me what I need to purchase. Do I need 4-1meg chips or 2-2 meg chips? How many chip slots does the IIvx have? I don't have it at present so I can't take the back off to see.

The IIVX has four SIMM slots taking conventional 30-pin SIMMs, 70 or 80ms, non-PAL, 8-chip, 9-chip or 3-chip. Stock units have 4MB on the motherboard plus 4-256K SIMMs to give you 5MB total. I've used 9-chip units right out of a PC, and it just ignores the 'extra' parity chip.You need to update this machine with four similar SIMMs, all 1MB, all 2 MB, or all 4MB. I've done all of these combinations on this Performa 600 (same unit, different name, no math-co) successfully. The IIvi, IIvx, Perf600 is a 32-bit machine.Supposedly, you can also use 4 16MB simms to get a total of 68MB, but I have not tried this. I get varying information from different SIMM providers on this.My Perf 600 w/CD currently is happy with 12MB.


Subject: Re: Mac IIsi and color monitors
From: tonytony

I have a Mac IIsi that I've used only with the grayscale Apple Portrait Monitor, and want to set it up with a color monitor.

The basic question is: Will I be able to get 256 colors? The monitors control panel now only shows a max of 16 colors/grays available, but I assume that is because of the larger size of the portrait monitor. Is this assumption correct?

Tom, this post comes to you via a IIsi (9/80) that happily uses the 15" Apple/Sony color monitor that I received when I bought the machine all shiny and new with merely five megs of RAM. You'll get 256 colors in the monitors control panel once you connect a color monitor and inform your Mac of the new equipment. Right now, via the magic of Mac OS, your Macintosh is aware that it's hooked up to a greyscale monitor; ergo, only greys are available to you via the monitors control panel.As for any adaptors that may be needed for connecting a monitor to a IIsi, there's two things that I think you should know.1. An adaptor is needed to connect a regular monitor to a high-density monitor port. High-density monitor ports exist on PowerMacs, not IIsis.2. If you want to connect a PC (i.e. Evil Empire) monitor to your Mac, you'll need a nifty little adaptor made by Sony and many others. If you simply purchase an off the shelf Mac-compatible monitor, just follow the instructions in the package, and life should be good for you and your IIsi.


Subject: Mac IIsi and color monitors
From: EL

I have a Mac IIsi that I've used only with the grayscale Apple Portrait Monitor, and want to set it up with a color monitor.

Yes it will support 256 colors with the internal video. Any color monitor will use a different cable than your grayscale. But it is a standard cable. You have to have adaptors for monitors NOT designed strictly for Macs. Some, not all, need adaptors.Eric the web wandering wonder- IIsi 17 mg./fpu/ 17" grayscale portrait monitor/ 13'' color / 4-X CD/ 1.75 gig combined hard drive/ 33.6 modem/


Subject: Re: Internal HD compatibility with LC II?
From: Robert Zusman

From: Ian K. Erickson

I'm considering buying a Seagate ST31200N 1.0 Gig internal hard drive to replace to 80 meg standard issuer HD in my LC II. The Manual for it says "for use with SE, SE/30, II, IIx, IIfx, IIcx, IIci or Quardra 700." Does this mean it would *also* work with an LC II, or

* Is the internal HD connector different in an LC II from the above?

* Is the LC II power supply too weak or weaker than these models?

These high-capacity drives are not recommended for the LC Macs because of their wimpy power supply, but I have installed Quantums, Seagates, and IBMs in LCs and never had a problem. These days it is getting hard to find a drive small enough to "work" in these machines! I don't think you'll have any problem, but... Caveat Emptor.-RZ


Subject: RE: IIsi and color monitors
From: Jones, Paul B

I have a Mac IIsi that I've used only with the grayscale Apple Portrait Monitor, and want to set it up with a color monitor.

The basic question is: Will I be able to get 256 colors? The monitors control panel now only shows a max of 16 colors/grays available, but I assume that is because of the larger size of the portrait monitor. Is this assumption correct?

When you plug in a different monitor the monitors control panel will show you the options for the new monitor, a 13"/14" monitor will give 256 colours on a IIsi.

Will I be able to get 256 colors with a new 14 inch model (i.e. Apple or NEC)? Am I correct in my understanding that these newer monitors require an adapter to connect to the IIsi?

A new monitor may require an adaptor if it does not have an Apple DB15 plug on it similar to the one on your current monitor.

Would I be better off getting a used 12 inch RGB monitor that the IIsi was originally designed to use? Will it give me 256 colors?

Go for the bigger monitor, a 12" will only give you 512x384 pixels, a 14" will give you 640x480. and you could find a Nubus adaptor and put a second video card into your IIsi, like me, 13" RGB + Radius 19" Mono.


Subject: Re: Classic Macs
From: Alex Gibson

Classic Mac Friends,

I have a Color Classic as well as a PM7500. I would like to speed up the CC by some reliable means. Shortly after the CC was introduced (in 92 or 93) I read in a comp mag that a 68040 version of the CC was made for Japan only. Can anyone confirm this, and might it be possible to obtain a new or refurbished '040 logic board from Apple. I have called Apple on this several times, but was unable to reach anyone who had even heard of a 68040 color classic.


Subject: Re: Mac II, Super drive ROM Upgrade
From: Beno M. Bequette Jr.

Upgrading the Mac II ROMsGalaxyHP is selling the Mac II Upgrade ROMs packages with or with out the Super drive.Galaxy HP 800-366-2234 8 AM to 5 PM PST Monday to Friday

http.//www.galaxyhp.com or sales@galaxyhp.com

If you call them, tell Kristen hello for me.GalaxyHP will also do component level repairs for most Mac s and has a large variety of parts and upgrades for most Mac in stock or can find them for you.They will work with you to find the parts you need.I do not work for GalaxyHP, I am a Happy customer.The ROM upgrade package consists of 4 ROMs and the SWIM chip I Bought the Mac II ROM upgrade package with out the super drive for $100 and shipping. About 3 months ago I bought the ROM upgrade package with out the super drive, to upgrade my 1 st Mac II to use super drives. I was running SYS 7.1, before and after the ROM upgrade, with no problems.The special memory needed for the Mac II and IIx are the 4 & 8 Meg PAL SIMMs.The 1 Meg SIMMs can be the regular 1 x 8 Mac or 1 x 9 PC SIMMs, you only need the PAL SIMMs once you go past 8 Meg to to 20 Meg or greater. To use the 32 bit mode you need to use MODE 32 v7.5 from Connectrix Corporation for SYS 7.0 or greater or use Apples 32- Bit Enabler.Personally I like the MODE 32 v7.5.You can drop any size of HD s in the Mac II that you can afford to buy.The original HD s for the Mac II were 5.25" Half Height Hard Drives of 40 or 80 Meg size.To use 3.5" HD s in the Mac II, you can use the HD bracket from the Mac SE or SE/30, to mount the 3.5" in the Mac II s deck.Before you add MODE 32 to your Mac II, IIx, IIcx, or SE/30, be sure to update your HD drivers to the latest you have. If the HD is a

Apple supplied HD, use the latest version of Apple s HD SC Setup program or use a third party HD formatting program like FWB s Hard Disk Toolkit, to upgrade your HD s drivers.This can save you a lot of hair pulling as you spend your time in trouble shooting your system.Good Luck,

Beno


Subject: Classic Macs 12.3.
From: ghl3.dtp

From armstrong:

...I'm tempted to buy something like an empty Quadra 605 and move my monitor, keyboard, extra mem, etc. etc...

A Q605 (aka LC 475) would be a fine choice for an "upgrade". The one thing that the LC III may have over it is the optional FPU. The Q605 requires a processor upgrade to support an FPU (from its present 68LC040 to a standard 68040, ave. retail $175-$225). Other than that, the Q605 has many nice features.Just throwing in my $.02. :)


Subject: Re: A Mac Plus needs your help
From: John Brassfield

Frank:I had the same problem with a Mac Plus system rebooting itself for no apparent reason. I found the the programmers switch on the side of the machine was jammed and it was making occasional contact with the reset switch inside. Another time it was a book that got pressed up against the switch. Might check it.

John B.


Subject: RE:Mac Portable expansion
From: Anthony & Barbara Bailey

Hello Michael and anyone else who has a Mac Portable,There's a company called Dynamic Engineering that still makes parts and upgrades for these machines. I'm running a backlit 2/40 portable with sys 6.0.8.

We have 3 upgrades for the Portable available now and 2 more in development. We have memory, HDD, and Fax/Modem upgrades along with batteries etc. currently. Please see the following info about those products. We have an accelerator that is a little further away from completion as that is in prototyping currently, and a video adapter that will follow the accelerator.

Our phone number is 408-336-8891, our FAX is 408-336-3840.

http://www.dyneng.com is our web

page address -- the page is currently "under construction" and has information about some of our products at this time. Our new e-mail address is sales@dyneng.com

Thanks for you interest. Please let us know how we can help.

Sincerely,
Keith

PS. Ask for Jackie if you call in.


Subject: LC 550
From: GMcneiL99

While looking thru a catalog of CD Rom Games for my kids I came across one which stated that it required an LC 550 Mac.I have a Mac IIsi. Is the IIsi compatible with software which specifies that it is for the LC 550?Thanks,

Greg McNeil


Subject: RE:Mac Portable expansion
From: Michael Blazer

Thanks to all for the info on Dynamic Engineering. Unfortunately, their prices make any upgrade a nonsensical proposition from my perspective. For example, for about the same price as their 5 MB RAM card for the Portable, I can get an entire PB165 4/140 with 14.4 modem and a warranty. I understand why their prices may be so high, since this is proprietary stuff with a pretty limited market, but it just isn't economically sensible to buy it (much as I love my Portable). If money were no object, it would be really fun to pump up the Portable to a 68040, 8/514, 28.8!I'm still hoping there's someone out there with a PSRAM card lying around that they want to get rid of cheap :-)


Subject: Re: Netscape 3.0 Gold and a IIci
From: zws.com System Administrator

I m running a IIci (24MB RAM / 2.2GB HD / 2x Apple CD) Typing in Netscape is painfully slow. It was not a problem with 2.01 but since moving to 3.0 Gold typing text is a problem (and I m not a blazer on the keyboard).

I'm not a blazer either (~80wpm), but I -am- a touch typist who is often looking at other things while typing, and I have exactly the same problem on a variety of machines, including PowerMacs. There seems to be a lot of redundant code in the MacOS version of Netscape 8-( For example, select Open from the File menu, and watch the hilite on File dance on and off every time you press a key typing a URL into the dialog.And every time I run it to load a file off the Netscape DevEdge CD-ROM, FWB CD-ROM utilities barks at me to say "An errant application has [attempted to do something silly due to a bug]".So, it's not your machine, it's Netscape 3. BTW, download the 3.01 version that's on Netscape's client download site... it's fixed some bugs.


Subject: Re: Netscape 3.0 Gold and a IIci
From: Edmund A. Hintz

I m running a IIci (24MB RAM / 2.2GB HD / 2x Apple CD) Typing in Netscape is painfully slow. It was not a problem with 2.01 but since moving to 3.0 Gold typing text is a problem (and I m not a blazer on the keyboard). Has anyone else seen this problem on other machines?

I'm on a Duo 230 (16-80, 68030 @ 33Mhz) and it's pretty slow here too. Not painfully, but a lot slower than an 040 or PPC.


Subject: Re: Netscape 3.0 Gold and a IIci
From: Tokyoben

Scott Williamson wrote:

Typing in Netscape is painfully slow. It was not a problem with 2.01 but since moving to 3.0 Gold typing text is a problem (and I'm not a blazer on the keyboard). Has anyone else seen this problem on other machines?

I'm also a IIci user and had downloaded Netscape 3.0 Gold last month. Yes, I also experienced the typing slowdown. I'm running my IIci with 20Mb RAM and increasing the memory allocation of 3.0 Gold did not seem to change anything. It also got into the habit of regularly crashing the system. I wasn't thrilled with 3.0 Gold crashing in the middle of downloads. Eventually I got disgusted with it and went back to 2.01. I'll take stability over slick any day.

--ben


Subject: Accelerator for Mac Classic and Mac SE
From: Maurice Lee

I have a Mac Classic and a Mac SE, one of which I would like to upgrade with an accelerator. I would like to know which one is a better candidate for such an upgrade and why. I would also like to know which accelerators are recommended. Currently, I know of the Performer, PerformerPro and Multispeed accelerators form Micromac Tech, the SE accelerator from Brainstorm, the Allegro accelerator from Sonnet Tech, and the Newlife accelerator.

Thanks.


Subject: PowerBook 520 - Experiences?
From: zws.com System Administrator

I've just been offered a secondhand price on a 12/250 PB520 which was TOO good to pass up (US$850 as-new), and so I'm just about to send my credit card details. According to GURU it's got an LC PDS slot.Does anyone know if it's possible to accelerate this machine with a clock-chipping accelerator?Or is it possible to upgrade it to PPC status with either an LC-PDS accel, or a motherboard transplant?(Not that I will be able to afford either of those rsn, but it will be nice to know that it has some upgrade paths).My next trick will be to locate a 240V charger for it 8-/ 110V of course coming from America.


Subject: Re: Internal HD compatibility with LC II?
From: Dirk von Seggern

I'm considering buying a Seagate ST31200N 1.0 Gig internal hard drive to replace to 80 meg standard issuer HD in my LC II. The Manual for it says "for use with SE, SE/30, II, IIx, IIfx, IIcx, IIci or Quardra 700." Does this mean it would *also* work with an LC II, or

It seems that the ST31200N is a half-size-height drive, which does not fit into a LC II (and every pizza-case-Mac).But it works with a LC - as external drive.You need a HD with 1" height.

* Is the internal HD connector different in an LC II from the above?

The internal connector is the same.

* Is the LC II power supply too weak or weaker than these models?

The power supply is weaker (40 W), but this is not the problem, because you only excange the HDs.

dIrk


Subject: Open Transport on a IIsi?
From: Bhavesh.Patel

I have a non-techie friend who has been using AOL with his IIsi until now. He now wants to get directly on the net with an ISP. He currently uses system 7.5 and is going to upgrade the RAM in his IIsi to 17 megs.Since I use Open Transport and OT/PPP on my mac and have found it easier to configure and more stable than MacTCP & Config PPP/Free PPP, I was hoping to put OT on his machine. Anyone know if this would work? Any other cons to it?

Bhavesh Patel


Subject: Portable & PB 100 upgrades
From: E. Barnes

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'd let the list know how to go about voting for a 68040 chip upgrade for Portables (and PowerBook 100s). Send e-mail to powerpcupgrades indicating your desire for such an upgrade and Dynamic Engineering will compile the votes and pass them on to Apple. Apparently Apple is not convinced there is a sufficient enough market to give permission for the upgrade.Keep on keeping on!


Subject: Re: Request for 128K Help
From: B Soluski

3) Can anyone recommend sites which specialise in software to run on these machines - or sites that let you easily search for them?

If you find any, let me know. I just came upon a 128K Mac myself, but have absolutely nothing to run on it.

I would suggest you look in a used CD store for old Mac software. Ham radio events (Hamfest) and computer swap meets are good also. The 1990 MacWorld CD is a real treasure.1992 MacAdemic 2.1 has old stuff also.These will likely end up in the used store as they are a real disapointment for System 7 users.If you do not have a CD drive, just visit a friend with a load of floppies.I am keeping my copies as I still own an SE.

Bruce


Subject: Re: LCII VRAM Increase?
From: B Soluski

The LCII will only get a max of 256 colours at 640x480, the original was only 16 colours at 640x480. If you have a 12" colour screen you can get thousands of colours at 512x384. (I should make a switch to allow 14" screens to ID themselves as 12" and take advantage of the thousands of colours for Quicktime movies). The LCIII can go to thousands of colours with a screen size of 640x400.

This is a good use for all of the old 256k VRAM SIMMS!

The LC family will handle 512 VRAM. Tested on an original LC.I believe there are adapters available for non-Apple monitors for when the pinouts are not right. I have only read about them, but they might be helpful.Another good use for old 256k VRAM is to sell it to Quadra owners with some of their six VRAM slots empty. Big Quadras only take 256K VRAM.

Bruce

 

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