Table of Contents for this issue:
Re: LCII VRAM Increase?
Mac Portable expansion
Mac plus in the UK
A Mac Plus needs your help
PB 100 Batteries
Mac IIsi and color monitors
Re: Mac IIcx and CD-ROMs?
Color Classic 10" screen
Games for Performa
Re: Mac II, Superdrive
Script From "1984"
Compact Virtual beyond 7.1?

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

 
Robert W. Picton, 101654.101@ wrote:

I have just changed the standard 256k VRAM chip in my LCII to a 512k one: there doesn't seem to be any difference. Whilst I realise I should be able to view higher resolution images, I had anticipated being able to change the monitor settings upwards from 256 colours, and likewise the choice of colours in the palette in ClarisWorks that I use. Am I doing something wrong, or is the only improvement I'l be able to see those high resolution images?

The truth is that VRAM comes in the wrong size.

If it came in 300 k sizes it would be just right for a 640/480 screen.

The math is 640 x 480 / 1024 = 300k --> 8 bit video

600K --> 16 bit video and 900K --> 24 bit video.

So it seems you have reached your limit with your monitor.

But you could get "thousands" of colors with a 12 inch monitor. (Your machine will handle 16 bit color. My Q700 does not so I had to go to 32 bit color.)

If you had 256 colors on your LCII on a 13 inch monitor before the VRAM swap you already had a 512 VRAM simm in there. 256K VRAM gives 4 bit color (16 different).

Technical point:

"high resolution images" have more bits per inch not bits per pixel. Non-multisync monitors are fixed at 70 to 80 bits per inch.

Bruce

Subject: Mac Portable expansion
From: Michael Blazer

Among other classics, my household has a couple of old backlit Mac Portables -- the pre-PowerBook "luggable". One of them has only 2 megs of RAM, and I'd really like to pump it up to at least 4. Does anyone know where I can find a reasonably-priced RAM expansion card for this machine?

Any info on putting in bigger hard drives would also be appreciated. There was somebody on a newsgroup a few months back who was working on making an adapter cable to permit the use of regular PowerBook SCSI drives in the Portable, but I never heard the results of his experiments.

The Portable is a great machine for working in the backyard, since the screen is perfectly visible even in direct sunlight, and the battery life is great (it uses a big lead-acid battery -- you could probably start your car with a couple of them ;-)

Subject: Mac plus in the UK
From: steve scaysbrook

I'm looking to find a dealer or any one who sells Mac plus spares in the UK, can any one help.
 
Steve Scaysbrook
 

Subject: A Mac Plus needs your help
From: Frank Baranski

Hello list I need some help,

I have been looking for a solution to a problem I've had with a Mac Plus for some time. This Mac was passed on to me by a friend. I had a new motherboard installed as well as a new power supply. The machine ran fine for a while (a year and a half, more or less) Then it began to act up again and is now unusable (It reboots on its own with no warning) I am looking for a solution so I can put this Mac back into service.

Anyone?

BTW the machine has 2.5MB of RAM was running System 6.0.8 (ithink) and was not having trouble with conflicts of any kind.

Thanks for the help.

Subject: PB 100 Batteries
From: Cesare Cioni

Bob Laughton wrote:

Does anyone have any information on where (and for how much $$) new Apple-brand replacement batteries for a PowerBook 100 Model Mac can be had, if at all? My current battery has about 45 seconds of life in it when fully charged :-p

Well, they are available in Italy - at about 100 $ each :(. I just got one for my last purchase, a second-hand Powerbook 100. But it does last between 90 and 120 minutes according to the work I do (mostly with Word 5.1, which I load when still connected to the wall outlet before leaving, and with 256k of cache so it wont'access the hard disk often - I ake it spin down IMMEDIATELY).

I think batteries are available in the US at around 60 $, but I don't think they are Apple-brand.

Bye,
Cesare

Subject: Mac IIsi and color monitors
From: TomS999999

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?

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?

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?

Thanks for any help anyone can provide,

Tom Smith

Subject: Re: Mac IIcx and CD-ROMs?
From: Tokyoben

Anybody have a IIcx connected to a CD-ROM? Please relay your experiences.

I have a IIc_i_ connected to an APS 4X CD-ROM which I use mostly for software loading and educational CD-ROMs (that is, I don't play games off the CD-ROM drive). Since the only real differences between the IIcx and IIci are the 32-bit clean ROM, 9 MHz of processor speed, and built-in video (and I use the Apple Toby card anyway), there should be some correlation between the models. Performance, IMHO, is limited more by the CD-ROM drive than by the Mac. The IIci handles things like QuickTime and QuickTime VR to my satisfaction.

There's more than just the ROMs, 9Mhz, and built in video difference between the IIci and IIcx. I own both. Got a great deal on the IIcx and used it for a year before buying a used IIci. I noticed a considerable performance difference. Especially when it came to anything involving graphics. Some of my applications gagged on the IIcx's 24 bit "dirty" ROMs in spite of MODE 32. They now run fine on the IIci. The bus speed on the IIci is 25Mhz whereas the IIcx bus speed is 16Mhz. Bus speed is a considerable factor in machine performance. In many cases it's the bottleneck in overall performace since it limits the speed at which computer components communicate with each other.

--ben

Subject: Color Classic 10" screen connundrum
From: Andrew Ludgate

A while back, I posted a note asking if anyone could help me in finding software to make my monitor virutally larger. I said that I was currently using Stepping Out II to do this but it didn't work very well. A few people sent replies with useful suggestions such as minimizing the RAM cache. Well, I've tried all the methods suggested and none of them worked. What I had been doing, was running Cursor Animator to refresh my cursor (it tended to vanish as soon as SO II was turned on) and Desktop Picture to refresh my background. (this also wasn't being redrawn, without the virtual screen being scrolled.)

So, I seem to be back to square one. Virtual, and Virtual Desktop don't make virtual screens, only virtual desktops, and MaxAppleZoom and Monitor Expander only work on the most recent video chip.

Stepping Out II works fine on a Mac+, but fails to work properly on my Color Classic (is Color Quickdraw the culprit?)

Has anyone else out there found another solution (other than getting an external monitor?)

Any response would be appreciated.

PS: it's nice to see there's so many other people out there using a Color Classic; I'm the only person I know who does, and if you follow magazines like MacAddict, they seem to think that such macs are extinct.

Note: doesn't it seem strange that most of the Color Classic limitations are based on the number 10? 10 megs max memory, 10" max screen, 15Mhz max processor, 16 bit data bus, 8 bit sound (OK, maybe not *all* based on #10....)

Subject: Games for Performa 405
From: Thomas F. Mabry

Hi everyone:

I bought my son a used Performa 405 for his Christmas present, and I am using some of my older equipment (including an Apple CD Rom 2x and a 12" color monitor) for him to help him get going with the Mac.

The Performa has 8 MGs of RAM (expandable by Ram Doubler) and now plenty of hard drive space. I plan to run a 7.5 system on the Performa, but am capable of running up to a 7.5.5 if necessary; right now the System is 7.1P2.

My question: what games are available (by CD Rom, shareware or otherwise) that would run well on this Mac? I also have all of the latest Quicktime extensions, etc., and could intall them as well.

Thanks for your assistance and any tips that you could give; finally, are ther any reliable accellerators for such a Mac?

Tom Mabry

Subject: Re: Mac II, Superdrive ROM
From: Ingramt

Re: Mac II upgrade for Superdrive, other needs

I had two Mac IIs which had the early ROM (version 1.1, if I recall right). This is shared FYI.

I remember the following limitations:
8MB real RAM max.
Low-density floppy only, could have one or two. Mine had 1 each.
9600 baud max (that might be a hardware limit, I'm not sure)
Worked OK with Sys 7.0.1 but would not accept 7.1. I never tried anything any higher.
Small hard drive limits, but would work OK with external SCSI drives connected, including SyQuests. One of my machines had a 5-1/4 form factor 39MB drive, the other had a 3-1/2 ff 40MB drive, original equipment from apple.
Questionable ethernet performance (we had only one NuBus card to try, it didn't work out will in the Mac II but did OK in Centris 650 ... problem was never really truly understood).

There were several 'remanufacturers' and swap-up firms in the back of MacWeek and other computer weekly mags that offered upgrade options for the Mac II (e.g. upgrade to a Mac IIx for a small amount). For example, one would take my Mac II 8/40, and give it back with a 105MB hard drive, SuperDrive, 8MB of RAM and ready to take more RAM, all for around $350. It wasn't a bad deal. Remember that the IIx uses different RAM, however, and now THAT is getting harder to find.

The Mac II is a great multi-slice toaster, all those NuBus slots ... but there was no other path for the proprietary Apple ROM.

We relegated those Mac IIs to the backroom and still use them for word processors with Word 5.1, it was cheaper to buy a newer bigger, badder PowerMac than to nurse the Mac IIs along for our application.

Check the upgrades in the mac mags, look for:
Shreve Systems (800) 227-3971
Mac Sale Intl (800) 729-7031
MediaGuide (800) 463-0686

others, too. These are a few names I glanced across just now.

BUYER BEWARE, of course.

Subject: Script From "1984" Commercial
From: tonytony

From p. 74, "The Macintosh Bible, Sixth Edition"

This is the script for the talking head in Apple's famous "1984" commercial.

. . . seems even more appropo to me in these days of Win95 . . .

Each of you is a single cell in the great body of the State. And today, that great body has purged itself of parasites. We have triumphed over the unprincipled of facts. The thugs and wreckers have been cast out. Let each and every cell rejoice! For today we celebrate the first glorious anniversary of the Information Purification Directive. We have created, for the first time in all history, a garden of pure ideology where each worker may bloom secure from the pests purveying contradictory and confusing truths. Our unification of thought is more powerful a weapon than any fleet or army on Earth. We are one people. With one will. One resolve. One cause. Our enemies shall talk themselves to death, and we will bury them with their own confusion. We shall prevail!

Subject: Compact Virtual beyond 7.1?
From: James Kramer

I have an accelerated Mac SE (a 68030 @ 32 Mhz card) with 4MB on the original motherboard and 4 MB on the accelerator card. My question is: is there software out there that will allow me to break the 4MB barrier and use later System software versions (like 7.5)? Amazingly, even 7.5.5 works quite well with the base 4MB, but it would be nice to run the latest OS AND have the extra memory available...any insights?

CMD Home | Subscribe | Index | 1996 Index | CM Trading Post