Macintosh Colour Classic

Wow! It's been ages since I last wrote on this Blog.

But, my passion for the Macintosh only increased (and keeps increasing :)

Colour Classic 1 (CC1) has been working hard. I wrote my novella "Núcleo Exterior" on Word 5.1 for the Mac, running on CC1. I turn it on every day.

The ThunderCache Pro is installed in the CC1 and running smoothly.

The problem is with the Internal HD. Something happened to to Logic Board, out of the blue, and the HD is not recognised anymore. I've done lots of tests and ruled out everything BUT the Logic Board.

The PPC 6100 is working fine too. I also turn it on everyday.

I have started a YouTube Channel called RetroMac OT (for "and Other Things"), where I talk about Old Macintosh Computers and Retro Computing.

Check it out!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUt8f2oOdjgs3o1quv5JexQ

I'm very proud to announce that we have a new member joining the TRIO, the Mac Classic!

The Macintosh Classic joins the TRIO

I got this Macintosh Classic some 15 years ago (or so) from a pile of scrap at Rua Vitória, near Santa Ifigênia where I and Armando used to go to dig stuff out. He had a brother too, but that Mac was injured beyond repair and could only provide some parts (you will be hearing more about him in the future).

For some time it worked fine, until a time came where things were difficult and it ended up in my dad's garage on a shelf for some years (can't remember how long).

Then I moved to a bigger house and rescued him.

The board was all dirty and it had to be washed. Yes, washed. I washed it with liquid detergent in a big tray and left it there for a day. Then about 7 days drying, not directly in the sun, but in the shadow (and wind).
I replaced all the capacitors on the board and the bad ones on the analog board that were leaking. Very easy to do, just inspect the boards very carefully, looking for stains. This link was very helpful:
http://www.biwa.ne.jp/~shamada/fullmac/repairEng.html#SimasiMac

The floppy wasn't working (ejecting) either. That was hard to fix. I found out the only problem was lubrication on the joints. Drop of machine oil and some exercise (inserting and ejecting) did the trick. This is good for the problem of a Macintosh Classic swallowing the floppy and not being strong enough to eject it. Joints are full of dust mixed with grease. You need to clean them and lubricate them. It worked.

Once it was all done, then hit the power button: boot loop. He would jus keep booting and rebooting.
After some cycles he would finally stabilize.

This all happened about a year ago, then I decided to work on that Mac again.

I had made a System 7.5.3 boot floppy long ago and was going to use it again. When I inserted in the Mac last week and  turned the power on, he gave me the checker board screen for 3 seconds and straight into the happy mac icon. He booted! The boot loop was gone! I can only think there were still places where the board was not completely dry.
I left him on for two days and he just stayed there, brave. I knew he was back.

Yesterday I started to get software to the Macintosh Classic. Since he doesn't have a Hard Disk, I'm using a internal floppy drive and an external 800k Apple floppy drive I got at mercadolivre.com! Unfortunately the ejecting mechanism is broken (need a new small gear that activates the ejector)

800kB Apple Floppy Drive

So I started my research on getting a System 7.1 Boot floppy ready, with Local Talk capabilities.

On CC1 I booted System 7.1 via ZIP drive (the external iomega 250MB). In the CDROM drive I had the Apple Legacy Recovery CD with System 7.1. I used the Net script to automatically mount the disk images for System 7.1 and created a Floppy Disk with only the System Folder, with the minimum system for the Macintosh Classic. In that folder I had:

In the Extension's Folder:

• Networking Extension
• Appleshare

In the Apple Menu Items' Folder:

• Chooser

That's all!

It took sometime to get it right because there is only so much you can fit on a floppy. You won't need the Networking control panel or the File Sharing Extension either. Stick to the formula above.

It booted and it Worked! I got Local talk in the Chooser and could connect to CC1, my Colour Classic.


The Macintosh Classic is now connected to CC1 and can access shares on CC1.

I'm so happy to have the Classic working again and networked!!

Welcome to the team, Classic!

After sometime, all three Color Classics are running fine. CC1 is now at my desk, CC2 in my room where I put another desk just for him and CC3 is currently inactive on the shelf.

I turn CC1 and CC2 on everyday and do some Bible studies and word processing on them.

New friends have arrived: A model 1 Apple Macintosh, the 128k Mac, the original.

Also, a Mac Classic that I managed to get working again. (well....sort of)

One happy Macintosh family.

Santa Ifigênia street is the electronics paradise of São Paulo. The Street is full of electronic shops on both sides and it runs for about 1500 meters, perhaps. It is located in the old side of the town, close enough to the City Center. The street itself is not as bad as the blocks surrounding it, where there is all sorts of garbage, prostitution, violence, poverty, etc...

Nonetheless it is a good place to find old stuff for your Macintosh collection. I've been going to Santa Ifigência since I was a little kid with my father, being a Radio Ham as he is. There I found many good things, including my Digital MicroVax 3300, many Macintoshes, Sun workstations, Cisco gear and much more.

This time I was looking for precision tools (small screw drivers to open my Newton's case), contact cleaners, a SCSI HD 50-pin and of course any other old equipment that might appear.

The truth is that the place has changed a lot. Hundreds of small stands selling Computers, motherboards, laptops, media, cell phones. I guess technology has really become present in everyday life even for those that are not as wealthy as those who used to buy technology in the past. Everyone seem to be able to afford a cell phone, even in Brazil where poverty abounds. So, there are hundreds, maybe thousands in the streets buying and buying.

I got a SCSI HD 50-pin, I took a long while to find one, 1.2 GB that  I installed on CC2. It is working fine.

I got the tools I needed and used them to open my Newton's case. It had batteries and it also has the power adapter but it wouldn't turn on. It stopped. Just stopped. I tried all I could, without opening the case, to bring it back, but nothing worked.

I followed the instructions I found on http://www.pda-soft.de/2x00_disassemble.html Very helpful indeed. Thanks a lot  PDA SOFT.

It was a little challenging to open the case, but I managed it. Nothing appeared wrong inside and when I inserted the batteries and turned the switch the Newton came back to live!

I followed the steps to close the case with no surprises. I tested the power adapter and it also worked.

I installed Newton Connection Utilities on CC2 and made a backup of the Newton.

I'm happy that my Newton is working again. I was lucky to find that Newton still in the original wrapped box! I got in 2000 in an Internet auction, New, in box! What a finding!

Long live the Newton PDA.

Today is a very special day. The day my first Colour Classic came home.

The First Colour Classic is come home after four years. I'm so happy to have that computer back.

I'm going to pick it up tonight at my friend's house, to whom I sold it in 2005.

Here is the story:

My story with the Macintosh Colour Classic started a long time ago, in 1994. I had a PowerMac 6100 that was a very expensive computer for a just married brazilian guy, not out of the university yet. It was one of the best computers one could buy at that time.

I had done some work on the side and managed to save some money for a computer. I have always loved machines so I wanted a Macintosh.

But, times were tough and we needed money. So I set out to meet some people and see if I could sell the PowerMac. I went to a local Apple reseller, hoping to get a deal, maybe I could exchange the PowerMac for something cheaper and make a little money.

WHen I got there I saw the Colour Classic on display. It was on promotion, they wanted to clear the stock. I started to play with it. It was so cute! The design was gorgeous, the entire computer was one master piece. It was beautiful!
I had to think, it was not that expensive for a promotion, but I went there to get money, not to spend money.
I could not resist it. I took a Colour Classic home with me. My wife did not understand what happened, but I managed.
It was more like the tail of John and the magic beans. He was suppose to sell the cow, but exchanged the animal for magic beans.

Anyway, I was as happy as ever with my Colour Classic.

I went to England that year and got it a MacBag that I still have. So I could take it with me when going places. I didn't even had a car, but I had a Colour Classic. Cool!