Please help me fix my SE/30
A. J. Moss
stopped working. Now, when I switch it on, it makes no sound and the
screen shows a pattern of black and white horizontal stripes, eight
pixels wide, which doesn't clear to show the insert disk prompt.
I've checked all the cables, tried swapping the hard disk and the RAM
SIMMs around, tried leaving the power disconnected for a minute (this
sometimes helps to clear the memory) and tried removing the clock
battery. None of this has helped.
Does anyone have a copy of The Dead Mac Scrolls, by Larry Pina? Could
someone help me diagnose this problem?
Phil Taylor
<ajm...@macpaint.fsworld.co.uk.invalid> wrote:
I used to have it. I'll have a poke around tomorrow to see if I can
find it.
Is it possible that the hard disk is consuming a little too much power,
and disrupting the supply to the rest of the machine? What happens if
you disconnect it and boot the machine off a floppy?
Phil Taylor
Dave Balderstone
<ajm...@macpaint.fsworld.co.uk.invalid> wrote:
The SE/30 Service Source entry is available here:
<http://www.whoopis.com/computer_repair/Macintosh_SE_30.pdf>
It says logic board or analog board.
See this site, though:
<http://www.biwa.ne.jp/~shamada/fullmac/repairEng.html>
for more troubleshooting.
--
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Once you've read that, go read this:
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A. J. Moss
>I used to have it. I'll have a poke around tomorrow to see if I can
>find it.
Thanks.
>Is it possible that the hard disk is consuming a little too much power,
>and disrupting the supply to the rest of the machine? What happens if
>you disconnect it and boot the machine off a floppy?
It's nothing obviously to do with the power supply. The same problem
appears if I try to boot without a hard disk conected.
Michael Black
You did try out the machine before adding the drive, to make sure
that it was working already?
It does sort of sound like a voltage issue, though if it remains
when you disconnect the drive, then it's not as clear.
In my Mac Plus, I had some problems for a while where the cable
connecting the analog board to the logic board was flakey. I'd
adjust the voltage so it was just right, but then it would turn out
to be wrong at the logic board. Something was wrong with the cable,
because there was significant voltage drop between the two boards.
So you might want to check that, without the drive in place.
Michael
Howard S Shubs
A. J. Moss <ajm...@macpaint.fsworld.co.uk.invalid> wrote:
> It's nothing obviously to do with the power supply. The same problem
> appears if I try to boot without a hard disk conected.
The solution may be to find another SE/30 and salvage parts to make one
of them work.
--
Anthony said:
> A few minutes ago I attempted to give a flying fsck, but the best I
> could do was to watch it skitter across the floor.
Hugh Browton
(in article <flqei1lmp9ojij5io...@4ax.com>):
Uh-oh![1]
[1] I *know* it's not helpful. It's meant to be sympathetic.
--
regards
hugh
hugh at clarity point uk point co
(by the sea) (using Hogwasher)
You never can truly tell when you have run out of invisible ink.
Stuart Bell
> Does anyone have a copy of The Dead Mac Scrolls, by Larry Pina? Could
> someone help me diagnose this problem?
I have DSS, but the problem is 'Simasimac' - googling for which will
explain all! ISTR it's a capacitor problem.
Good luck!
Stuart
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Try stuartsmacs at dsl dot pipex dot com to email me.
Alex Taylor
> I have DSS, but the problem is 'Simasimac' - googling for which will
> explain all! ISTR it's a capacitor problem.
I think I might have a similar problem with my SE/30. If I switch it on
I only get a checkerboard pattern, but if I switch it off and back on
again it works ok.
--
Alex Taylor.
David Glover
> I have DSS, but the problem is 'Simasimac' - googling for which will
> explain all! ISTR it's a capacitor problem.
My SE/30 had Simasimac, but it turned out to be either a lose RAM card
or lose ROM card, since I pulled them all out, cleaned the connectors,
put them back, and it was resurrected!
J. J. Lodder
Defective or loose ROM most likely.
Taking it out (with the usual precautions)
and cleaning the contacts may solve the problem.
Sometimes only reseating is enough,
Jan
A. J. Moss
>I have DSS, but the problem is 'Simasimac' - googling for which will
>explain all! ISTR it's a capacitor problem.
I've read the URLs provided by Dave Balderstone, and tried the three
solutions that don't involve resoldering anything. Although there's
no visible muck leaking from the capacitors, it's most likely that
they need to be replaced.
Francis Knight
I can confirm this can work. I have replaced the logic board
electrolytic capacitors on one of mine (Cork plant built) to
resurrect it. Now it just has grumbly video, so I need to find
a way to clean the contacts in the main harness from the PSU board,
I think!
The capacitor problem I believe also has crippled my Quadra 840av,
but it'll have to wait until I can scrounge the parts.
Cheers,
Francis K.
--
[Remove Trailing'Z' from mail address to reply.]
David C.
Symptoms like this almost always mean that the ROM code isn't
initializing for some reason (so you're seeing the default state of the
RAM.)
It could be a self-test failure at a point before the sad-mac could be
generated (bad/loose RAM, for instance), or ROM that came unseated (and
therefore can't execute its code.)
First try re-seating your SIMMs. (Does the SE-30 have its ROM in a SIMM
socket? Some Macs did.) Clean the contacts while you're at it. If
that fails, re-seat/clean the contacts for anything not soldered down
(chips in sockets, cables, etc.)
Someone mentioned resoldering capacitors. IMO, if you need to do this,
don't bother. Recycle the computer and replace it. You can get old
Macs (like the SE/30) on eBay for little more than the shipping cost.
-- David
A. J. Moss
board into the shell of my dead SE/30 (whose sound was fine until it
developed SimasiMac), there is still no sound, which indicates that the
problem is on the logic board.
I have checked the connection of the two pins to the speaker (they had
been bent out of place by a previous attempt to remove the logic board
by sliding it right out, like a Mac plus logic board), and I've checked
the 3.5mm jack for crud that could be shorting it out. What else could
be the problem?
David C.
>
Did you check the obvious - the volume setting in the control panel?
The volume is written to NVRAM and will affect even the startup chime.
For that matter, what about the battery? I don't know if it will
affect this, but it never hurts the check it when weird things are
happening.
-- David
David C.
> A. J. Moss writes:
>>
>> Ever since I connected a 500Mb Quantum hard disk to my Mac SE/30, it
>> has stopped working. Now, when I switch it on, it makes no sound and
>> the screen shows a pattern of black and white horizontal stripes,
>> eight pixels wide, which doesn't clear to show the insert disk
>> prompt.
>>
>> I've checked all the cables, tried swapping the hard disk and the RAM
>> SIMMs around, tried leaving the power disconnected for a minute (this
>> sometimes helps to clear the memory) and tried removing the clock
>> battery. None of this has helped.
>>
>> Does anyone have a copy of The Dead Mac Scrolls, by Larry Pina? Could
>> someone help me diagnose this problem?
>
> Symptoms like this almost always mean that the ROM code isn't
> initializing for some reason (so you're seeing the default state of
> the RAM.)
I was able to check my copy of the Dead Mac Scrolls to look this up.
They don't describe a symptom of horizontal stripes, but they do
describe a similar symptom (no startup chime, checkerboard pattern.)
Their solution is the check and reseat the ROM SIMM. (This is to the
right of the RAM SIMMs, just below the battery.)
Good luck.
-- David