Table of Contents for this issue:

upgrade for LC II?
Need Help Upgrading a MacPlus
Re: Mac cracking tool
Torx 15 tool
Re: IIsi
Classic Macs
Re: Floppy Mac on WWW?
Thanks for the help
System 6.0.8 for a Color Classic?
Torx alternative
Torx 15

My accelerated (25%) LC II is still giving me great service, but I would
like to locate an upgrade to the LC III at an affordable price.

The authors of MacWorld's* Macintosh Secrets* (ca. 1991, page 272) wrote
that the upgrade would double the LC performance.

I'm sure the original price of the upgrade was several times the market
value of the LC II today, but it would be great to find a source.

Any ideas?

Hey people,

THIS'S WHAT I'VE GOT:

A MacPlus with 4MB of RAM,

System 6.0.3,

Finder 6.1,

An external single sided (400k) floppy disk drive,

A Quantum ProDrive 40MB external hard drive WITHOUT a case.

THIS IS WHAT I WANT:

System 6.0.8,

Any better Finder,

An accelerator chip (or whatever will make it go faster),

A case for the hard drive,

Whatever software will get the hard drive working,

QUESTIONS:

I know that you go to
<ftp://ftp.info.apple.com/Apple.Support.Area/Apple_SW_Updates/US/Macintosh/System/Older_System/System_6.0.x/> to get the system software,
but it is on 4 separate disks of about 600k each, and the files are
compressed. How are you supposed to install it on a computer that
doesn't have a hard drive?

Does the Finder automatically get upgraded when you upgrade the
system software?

I was told that there is no way to accelerate a MacPlus. True/False?

Is there a catalog of some sort that I can order older parts and
software? If so how do I get one?

I'd appreciate any help you can give me.

to: alovett

re Mac cracking tool

Opening a classic Mac is no problem! Go to Sears and pick up a Craftsman
Industrial star nut driver no.41871.
To be sure you are getting the right one, the markings on mine are:

9(underlined)41871 USA WF J

The 6 inch blade is plenty long enough for those deep screws. Just a few
dollars.

Caldance

Subject: Mac Cracking Tool
Sent: 2/23/97 6:31 PM
Received: 2/23/97 6:41 PM
From: alovett
To: classic-post@hitznet.com

Hello everyone,

Here's another cry for help. I'm looking for a Torx 15 tool to
open my compact Macs. I bought one at Wal-Mart, but it won't reach the
screws under the handle. I've been to Home Depot, Lowe's, every other
hardware store in our town, automotive stores (the Torx 15 is used on
headlights), K-Mart, etc, etc. All of the ones I've found are too short!
Other than calling Apple and paying way too much for one of their
"official" tools, does anyone have an idea on where I can find one? I love
my Macs, but if I can't get to their guts, then I can't make them the best
they deserve to be.

Thanks,
Adam

Hi Adam, I found mine at SEARS....

LF

Subject: Re: IIsi
Sent: 2/25/97 5:38 PM
Received: 2/25/97 7:47 PM
From: L.F.
To: classic-post@hitznet.com

Subject: Re: IIsi
Sent: 2/24/97 12:03 PM
Received: 2/24/97 6:14 PM
From: Gina Wallace
To: cmpost, classic-post@hitznet.com

A friend of mine bought the IIsi that I was asking about last week--but it
did not have a monitor, and he has run into conflicting opinions about what
monitor to buy. He would like to buy a VGA (?) monitor that he can later
use for a new Windoze (sigh) machine and evidently needs a converter to
make it work on a Mac--but some say not for IIsi. Also, can a TV serve as
a monitor for the IIsi? One of the people who wrote back to me said it had
video out capability. Sorry if my questions don't make much sense. I told
him to go ahead and buy an Apple color display and use it later for a new
power mac, but he's not convinced.

Gina Wallace
Topsham, Maine

Hi GIna. He can always buy an Apple monitor and use it later with his PC..;-)
Or tell him to come and visit my site:
http://members.aol.com/mac2k
.................Maybe I can change is mind.............

LF

Subject: Classic Macs
Sent: 2/24/97 10:12 AM
Received: 2/24/97 6:15 PM
From: JPurtle
To: classic-post@hitznet.com

I really enjoy this forum and reading responses to things that have come
along, some of the developments I watched as the Mac base developed. It
seems to me that most of the current questions are from people who have an
entry level Mac and want to make a PowerPC out of it. No, no,no, there is
nothing wrong with this, power on if you will. But it is like taking a Model
A Ford, or a Volkswagen and trying to make a speed machine out of it. To many
the beauty lay in the Model A Ford and the original Bug, not highly modified
souped up hotrods. Mind you there is plenty of room in the Mac community for
both groups. A basic SE, MacPlus, LC a MacXL, in fact any of the 6800
machines, is perfectly adequate for word processing up through Word 5.1. Word
5.1 itself may someday become a classic. For that matter, MacWrite 4.5 was
really an adequate word processor for most tasks.

There are many things that needed fixing about the Mac Plus but the concept
of a transportable machine with a built in handle so you could carry it from
room to room, even job to job was something new in the mass market. It sure
was neat. What needed fixing about the MacPlus most? I'd say power supply and
a fan to keep heat down. I never believed the explanation that a fan would
add too much to the cost. I did believe the rumor that power supplies from
the Far East are notoriously weak. Evidently they used a varnish on the wire
which broke down quickly in the transformer under heat conditions. We have
our MacPlus in dry storage now, but we did boot it up the other day. We were
running Panorama 2.03, a really fast ram based database, we surprised how
slow it was on the 68000 machine. We were used to a 60030 and PowerPC mode,
we are talking comparisons here. It was still very adequately fast on the MacPlus.

With the price of machines dropping everyday, I recommend that instead of
hacking an old machine, you buy newer technology, I have seen some 60030
machines at attractive prices.

Hey what's wrong with classic Macs, they're great,besides I personally
Have 3 Macs +1 Apple][c and hopefully by the end of 1997 i'll have an
8600/180 as well.

Remember that many of us own other Macs as well.
LF

Is it possible to get an old Mac on the web? In particular, I think my
Grandpa has a _floppy_ based mac...

Yes, it is possible to get compact 68000 macs like the Plus on the net and
use tcp apps for mail, news, ftp, www etc. Check:

<http://walli.walli.uwasa.fi/~mhaveri/68000.txt>
<http://walli.walli.uwasa.fi/~mhaveri/mac-internet-faq.txt>

But if you want to do _www_ on a _floppy-only_ mac your only chance is to
connect via a terminal emulator or PPP/telnet and use lynx via a unix login
shell. MacWeb and NCSA Mosaic 1.0.3 need at least System 7 (which won't fit
on a DD floppy), also NCSA Mosaic won't fit on a DD floppy.

PPP works just fine on a floppy-only setup with System 6.0.5-6.0.8 but then
you have a limited set of tcp apps. So get at least 4MB of RAM, 20MB HD and
System 7.0*.

Thanks to everyone for the help on my Torx-15 problem. I finally found a
socket set that had an extender and Torx-15 bit. Now I can get to
cracking!!

Adam

Hey Classic Mac'ers:

Got a quick question here:

Does anyone know where to download the "special" version of System 6.0.8
that works on a Color Classic?

A Color Classic normally won't run any system older than 7.1 (you get a
message stating that System 7.1 or newer is required for the CC at
boot-up); however, I remember reading somewhere that a special version of
6.0.8 was available for the Color Classic: anyone know where this can be
found?

According to the myth/rumor/lore that I remember reading, this special
version of 6.0.8 was an unofficial, unsupported release from Apple for
use by U.S.-system users in Japan, where System 7.0/7.1 was not yet
available when the Color Classic was introduced in February of 1993.

thanks in advance,

Hello everyone

Here's another cry for help. I'm looking for a Torx 15 tool to
open my compact Macs. I bought one at Wal-Mart, but it won't reach the
screws under the handle.

Hello Adam, I used my nephews torx driver. It was one of those handles
with about 100 tips that slip in the end. Some of the tips are
extensions that gave me the reach I needed on a Classic II. The handle
cleared the case by a quarter of an inch.
Eric The Web Wandering Wonderer

Hey All,

I have found two really reliable sources for Torx 15 wrenches that will
indeed reach the screws in a Classic body.

One source is the Snap-On Tool company. If you can find a Snap-On man,
they carry one that is a good 20" long. It comes with a handle, like a
regular screw driver.

The other source is most flea markets and roadside festivals. I have found
several different places at these shows that carry tools. A perusal will
generally locate a few extended pits for power screw drivers that are Torx
15.

The auto parts store in my home town also has them, but not always. The
above sources have never failed me, especially the Snap-On guy!

Al