Table of Contents for this issue:

RE: Classic Macs Digest 3.23
LCII owner responds....
HP Deskwriter drivers for Mac SE
Help! MacCharlie
LC II Problems
Re: Classic II and DeskWriter
Re: Upgrading Macintosh SE RAM
Re: trying to hook 2 mac together
Re: Classic Macs Digest 3.23
Re: LCII problems
Colour Classic II
Re: Funky Radius 68020/16 card
Duodock won't boot
Re: Color Classic
Re: Classic Macs Digest 3.23
Mac Plus 1Mb
MacTCP
Re: Question:Classic w/OS 7.5.3 & OT
IIci 3.5" disk drive

Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 18:23:56 -0600
To: classic-post@hitznet.com
From: Jonathan Kaplan
Subject: LCII problems

I recently gave my ex-wife (yes, you read correctly, my ex-wife) my old
LCII, along with an external 3X CD rom drive. After starting it up for the
first time in a year, I noticed several problems. I'm trying to install
System 7.5, it currently has system 7.1. I cannot install or boot up from
the CD-rom or a Zip drive. I also cannot empty the trash. I'm trying to
boot up from another source so that I can erase the drive since the system
is probably corrupted. I have managed to boot up from the internal disk
drive with a Norton utilities speed disk but when I use it I only can get
to the speed disk program, not the finder. Is there a one disk system I
can boot to bypass the internal hard drive system? If there is, where can
I get it? Or is there some other solution to this problem? Any help would
be appreciated.

On a good day you can use a system 6.0.7 or 6.0.8 disk to boot your
LCII, or look for a system 7.x Tools Disk. You may have to check the
Battery. It'll give you trouble if it's flat.

PBJ

John wrote:

Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 18:23:56 -0600
To: classic-post@hitznet.com
From: Jonathan Kaplan
Subject: LCII problems

I recently gave my ex-wife (yes, you read correctly, my ex-wife) my old
LCII, along with an external 3X CD rom drive. After starting it up for the
first time in a year, I noticed several problems. I'm trying to install
System 7.5, it currently has system 7.1. I cannot install or boot up from
the CD-rom or a Zip drive. I also cannot empty the trash. I'm trying to
boot up from another source so that I can erase the drive since the system
is probably corrupted. I have managed to boot up from the internal disk
drive with a Norton utilities speed disk but when I use it I only can get
to the speed disk program, not the finder. Is there a one disk system I
can boot to bypass the internal hard drive system? If there is, where can
I get it? Or is there some other solution to this problem? Any help would
be appreciated.

Hi John,

I am a very happy LCII user. I suggest:

Use another Mac to create a 'boot disk' which includes DISK FIRST AID.

YOu do this by: Ask the 'other' mac to create a MINIMAL SYSTEM on a
floppy, by running the install-disks (or CDROM). Use system 7.1 for this.
Copy DISK FIRST AID from the install disks.

Boot from the above floppy, and run DISK FIRST AID.

I also suggest: Forget trying to run System 7.5 on the LCII. Instead,
download APPLE SYSTEM 7.1 UPGRADE 3, available from APPLE.COM. I found
that the latest TURBOGOPHER has the target site and info built-in.

I run 7.1 X upgrade-3 and have absolutely no complaints. I ran 7.5 for 3
months but trashed it because of the incredibly slow boot-time and
launch-times. It also had more bugs than my nice, mellow system 7.1.
UPGRADE-3 speeded up my already accellerated system (Sonnet Allegro
33.3 mHz) running RamDoubler 2.0, 12/850/33.3, CDROM, ZIP, ext 330 MB HD,
etc. I use 2 printers and fax.

Please email to me if you have problems.

Greg Burford
Spokane, Washington

I just recently bought an HP Deskwriter from a guy off of Usenet and it
is on its way. He said he was sending drivers, but I'm not sure if their
the ones I need for my Mac SE 7.0 with 4MB RAM. What version of the
driver's works the best and where can I download it?

HP says its current drivers have abandoned the 68000 series.

Thanks,
Bill

Hi Everyone!

I just picked up two "MacCharlie" machines at a computer store that had
the units sitting on the shelf for years. The units were manufactured
by Dayna corporation. The macCharlie was an 8088 IBM motherboard, 640K,
and two 5-1/4 drives stuffed into a case thet was shaped like a Classic
Mac 128K/512K/Plus, only half as wide. Placed next to one of these
Macs, it exactly fits the contour from the side.

I know these units were originally bundled with a keyboard setup that
wrapped around an original Mac keyboard to provide numeric and function
keys. The unit apparently plugged into the Mac somehow and you could
switch between Mac or DOS mode on your Mac.

I contacted Dayna, but they said they discontinued it 7 years ago and
tossed all documentation.

What I need:
I need documentation on the various ports on the back, especially on how
to plug it into the Mac. Ther seem to be two original 9-pin female
serial D connectors and a 25-pin Male D connector, as well as a 62-pin
port on the bottom.

If anyone has an idea what any of these cables are, or how to hook up
this monstrosity, please let me know. If you know someone who might
know, pass along my e-mail address.

Thanks,

Daniel C. Jensen

In the set of System 7.0 install disks there was an "emergency" boot system
disk with the 6.0.7 (or 6.0.x, anyway) System on it. You can download the
disk images from ftp.apple.info.com under the directory
/Apple.Support.Area/Apple.Software.Updates/US/Macintosh/System/Older_System/
System_7.0.x. Among all the diskimages you'll find one that carries a boot
floppy.

Bye.
Guido Roncalli

I wonder if you might be able to help me help my cousin with his classic II
and an original Deskwriter printer. Basically it will print a page and a
bit but then spits out this error message:

"Datacomm buffer overrun - no DTR handshaking."

We've tried Appletalk on / off, reinstalling printer and system software,
rebuilding desktop, checked with Norton Utitlies etc.. all to no avail.

I suspect the problem might be to do with the printer driver and system
7.1; the manual that came with the printer says nothing about system 7, so
I assume it predates it.

Has this ever worked properly? Things I would suspect at this point:
extension conflict (try starting the Mac with the Shift key down to
bypass all extensions and control panels; the Mac will still print, and
if it prints properly, you know it's something loading at startup that's
causing the problem); PrintMonitor (or HP's PrintMonitor, if you're using
that); hardware problems (either some of the serial circuitry got
traumatized or maybe the cable is bad? I would try connecting the cable
through the modem port rather than the printer port just to eliminate the
port from consideration (though that does not rule out the cable or
internal circuitry. Can you try the printer on another Mac? Can you try
another cable to the printer, even temporarily?) It could be the driver
(you don't say which version you have), but I've used 3.1 with System 7
with no problem, so ... ??? Good luck!

sdropkin

I have a Macintosh SE (dual floppy system) with 1 meg of RAM that I would
like to upgrade to 4 megs of RAM. I can get the SIMM's for almost
nothing, but the installation costs would make it cheaper to just buy
another system. Here's my question: Is this something I can do myself?
What do I need to open the case (and how much will it cost)? And while I
have the thing open, is there anything else I might as well do that's
pretty cheap?

It's something you can do yourself if you're careful. The SEs are kind of
a pain to upgrade because:

1) you need a _looong_ Torx tool (T-15) to remove the fasteners in the
handle and then you need to pry apart the two halves of the case (both
topics have been discussed many times on this ml; this is an item for the
FAQ if it isn't already);

2) voltage present at the back of the monitor tube can kill you -- or at
least make installing the RAM a memorable experience (no pun intended),
so, as they said on Hill Street Blues, "let's be careful out there"; and

3) depending on the vintage of your SE, you either need to cut a resistor
or move a jumper to get it to address the new RAM -- I don't remember
which resistor or jumper, but I'm sure someone else on the ml does.

[MODERATOR'S NOTE: The resistor to cut will be labeled either R35 or R36;
the jumper is J16 and will have the words "RAM SIZE 2/4M 1M" printed on the
board. If you cut the resistor or remove the jumper, you can address 4MB.
If you leave the resistor or put the jumper to the left, you can address
2MB. If you put the jumper on the right, you can address 1MB. Note that if
you have to cut the resistor, you should cut it close to the board, just in
case you ever need to return to the 2 or 1 MB configuration (so that you can
more easily resolder it).]

I don't think there's anything else you can do that's beneficial _and_
cheap other than making sure you don't break anything or knock the yoke
magnets for the monitor out of whack or flex the board too much and crack
an old solder joint -- that could turn out to be _expensive_ rather than
cheap. Maybe bring along a can of compressed air and blow out the innards
-- after that many years, there's bound to be a dust bunny colony inside
... Oh, and take a look inside the front cover -- admire the signatures!

sdropkin

Okay, SE owners. You all _say_ there are signatures on the inside of the
case or the front cover. Where? I've seen wax rubbings of them before, but
they were from the BACK of the case. My circa 1988 SE has no such goodies
that I can see. Am I just not special, or just not looking? ;-)

Thanks for taking the time to answer my little bit of inanity,

Nathan Marler

I know this question has probally been ask a few times. i have a se/30
and a power mac 6115 and would like to network them together the
cheapest way i can. any information will help. thanks

Well, there are a few details missing here, like what System software
you're using on each, or how far apart they are, or if you're networking
them both to something else.

Actually, this kind of inexpensive connection is What Macs Were Made To
Do (tm): the simplest, cheapest way to connect is by hooking up a printer
cable between the two and switching on AppleTalk and File Sharing. You
don't say whether the SE/30 is on System 7 yet (the PowerMac must be);
System 6.0.x will AppleTalk to a System 7 Mac, but can only function as a
"client," not a "server" of data.

if the objective is to connect both to an AppleTalked printer or other
device, you will need something like PhoneNet connection kits, which
allow you to use silver-satin phone cord between adapter boxes that are
connected in a daisy-chain. You can buy PhoneNet "clone" boxes for about
$10 each; you might even be able to do better used. These will allow you
to hook up more stuff over a wider geographic area.

sdropkin

Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 18:23:56 -0600
To: classic-post@hitznet.com
From: Jonathan Kaplan
Subject: LCII problems

I recently gave my ex-wife (yes, you read correctly, my ex-wife) my old
LCII, along with an external 3X CD rom drive. After starting it up for the
first time in a year, I noticed several problems. I'm trying to install
System 7.5, it currently has system 7.1. I cannot install or boot up from
the CD-rom or a Zip drive. I also cannot empty the trash. I'm trying to
boot up from another source so that I can erase the drive since the system
is probably corrupted. I have managed to boot up from the internal disk
drive with a Norton utilities speed disk but when I use it I only can get
to the speed disk program, not the finder. Is there a one disk system I
can boot to bypass the internal hard drive system? If there is, where can
I get it? Or is there some other solution to this problem? Any help would
be appreciated.

Thanks
Jon

If the Cd-Rom drive is not a true Apple Product (it must me because apple
did not make a 3x) then you can't boot off of the CD because only apple
drives have the native drivers to work with the system as is. Make a
disk tools boot disk from you cd on your machine and then use that on
your ex-wifes machine.

Only mac users give ex-wifes computers as an act of kindness. Windows
users give them computers as punishment... good job!

Scott Williamson
Cape Cod, MA

I recently gave my ex-wife (yes, you read correctly, my ex-wife) my old
LCII, along with an external 3X CD rom drive. After starting it up for the
first time in a year, I noticed several problems. I'm trying to install
System 7.5, it currently has system 7.1. I cannot install or boot up from
the CD-rom or a Zip drive. I also cannot empty the trash. I'm trying to
boot up from another source so that I can erase the drive since the system
is probably corrupted. I have managed to boot up from the internal disk
drive with a Norton utilities speed disk but when I use it I only can get
to the speed disk program, not the finder. Is there a one disk system I
can boot to bypass the internal hard drive system? If there is, where can
I get it? Or is there some other solution to this problem? Any help would
be appreciated.

Sounds like you bought System 7.5 on CD. The problem you have here is
that since your CD-ROM and Zip drives are not Apple-brand drives, they
lack a PROM that the Mac looks for to see if it can boot from these
drives.

IMHO, the solution(s) require another Mac. Mount the 7.5 CD (hopeful it's
the generic version of 7.5, not for a specific model) on the other Mac
and use the 7.5 Disk Images to create a new Disk Tools disk. This will
give you a floppy on which you can boot the LC II (and will also let you
run Disk First Aid, which won't hurt given your suspicions about the
system). Another key to installing 7.5 is to update the disk driver first
(assuming it's still an Apple-brand hard disk in the LC II; use Apple HD
SC Setup to update the driver and _then_ proceed with the installation)

Alternatively, you could create a Norton Disk Doctor disk (a la your
Speed Disk boot disk); owing to the space crunch, it, too, will only
launch NDD and will not let you get to Finder to play with the hard disk.
But NDD should clear up some problems; maybe enough to install 7.5.

Finally, make sure you do a _clean_ install of 7.5 ... at the first
installation window, do a Command-Shift-K and install a new System
folder. Much better bet (if you have the disk space) than installing over
an existing System Folder.

sdropkin

We had it in Denmark too, and we're *not* the Far East
Tina

Color Classic II was a Japan and Far East version of Color Classic with
faster CPU (33 MHz compared to 16 MHz in CC), greater memory upgrade
capabilities and *probably* 32 data bus (like in LC III). If you could
find those company would be really great TIA and best regards

Nathan Marler

Hello Mac fanz,

I have a Mac SE 4/160 with System 7.0.1/System 7 Tune-up
and I just bought a Radius 68020/16 card. It is ROM
version 2.0 and has some oddities. They are like this:

<snip>

Definitly get the rom upgrade.
I have an old radius b/w pivot that would only work in
24 bit memory mode. Got the rom from Radius for $80.
Works fine ever since.

You could make a shield for the board.
Strip three inches off a foot long ground wire.
Glue foil and wire between two pieces of very thin cardboard.
Try to get the wire comming out the right place.
Bend into a "U" around the shape of the card.
Let glue dry.
Cut to size of board and insure fit.
Make it a bit smaller than the board to allow air flow.
Seal edges with tape to avoid sparks.
Connnect ground wire to chasis lug.
Test!

Bruce

[Thanks, Bruce. I'll give it a whirl. --Nathan Marler]

Greetings to everyone.

I would appreciate any help with the following questions.

For long time I was using PowerBook Duo 250 with Duo dock at work.
Recently I got a desktop mac (PM7200) to have that as my office computer. I
still need to work with the Duo when not at work or at home and come back
to office and have the information available to me via PM7200. I though of
two possible solutions:

1) PB has powerbook setup control panel that shows that the machine can
operate as external harddisk (i can switch SCSI ID numbers). The PB itself
doesn't have a SCSI port, which is available on the Duodock, so I thought
that if I have PB docked and the special scsi cable (30pins-50female, which
makes pb 160 to fall into the scsi disk mode) attached to the dock the mac
would operate in an external scsi hd mode... but it doesn't: when i turn it
on with cable attached, it just boots normaly... so I moved to another
option;

2) The Duodock has Ethernet card, and I decided to connect macs via
ethernet. Here I faced anothe problem. When i disconnect an external
monitro from the Duodock, it powersup, but stops booting in the middle of
the startup process. It boots perfectly with monitor attached.
So i ended up with regular localtalk connection which is (a little bit) slow :(

Thanks in advance,
Dmitri Shishkin

PS the pb is running 7.1

Moscow, Russia

Subject: RE: Faster Color Classic
Date: Sun, 23 Mar 97 19:47:24 -0800
From: Andrew Ludgate
To: "Classic Posts" <classic-post@hitznet.com>

About Color Classic options:

A few months ago, I emailed something slightly similar, and Jeff (being
the great guy he is), sent me a few suggestions; Since then I have
contacted MicroMac and Sonnet Technologies; both have good, clean,
compatible 030 33mhz accelerators for the Color Classic. As I live in
Canada, shipping, handling etc tend to change the online price quotes a
fair amount. So, I first emailed off to these two companies to see what
they coould give me.

From MicroMac, I got a nice phone call; they basically told me that the
040 processor would not work in a Color Classic, but that the 33 or 50
Mhz ones would do great. The head of sales (who talked to me on the
phone) then told me that the only really good option for me to use was to
get their ThunderCache Pro card, with the extra slot for RAM and the FPU.
When I calculated the entire package out on my calculator, it came to
just under $500 CDN. So much for that.

Then, a month and a half later, Sonnet finally returned my email. They
didn't have too much to say on international shipping, but they sent me a
pdf file of their web page (from which I originally got their email
address, anyways). They also said that the 030 33Mhz accelerator that
they have been advertising in Mac mags for the past year had been out of
production all that time; however, they were starting to manufacture them
again, as of mid February. The price on this card looked attractive, but
if this response reflects at all on their tech support, I wouldn't touch
them with an IP packet. I haven't made any more enquiries with them.

Another source that Jeff (I think it was you, anyways) mentioned was the
ARC (Apple Resource Center) <http://www.thearc.com/> which sells Mac
components. I checked out their web page, and they have an upgrade for
Color classics to a Performa 550 for around $200! (US) I thought I'd
check this out, so I filled out their RFI (Request for info) page, asking
them to send me more information on this logic board upgrade, because it
looked like the best bang for its buck. That was another month and a
half ago. 3 weeks ago, I filled out their page again, and I still
haven't had a reply from them.

So, I still don't have the upgrade I wanted to get in January, but if ARC
ever contacts me, I think the logic board upgrade is what I'll go with.
If you want to keep all of your CC's innards intact, and don't want to
see the company you bought your upgrade from again, go with Sonnett. If
you want customer service, for the extra $200, go with MicroMac.

Hope this helps all you fellow CC users out there!

(PS: be sure to check out whether any accelerator card is compatible with
the 256K VRAM upgrade, what system the upgrade is compatible with,
whether you need special software to work with it, and whether you need
to switch to 72 pin SIMMS [or have a certain SIMM configuration] in order
for the upgrade to work.)

Greetings,
Check out MicroMac...Big sale. http://www.micromac.com/index_f.html
Regards,
Craig Rohlfing

Subject: RE: Faster Color Classic
Date: Sun, 23 Mar 97 19:47:24 -0800
From: Andrew Ludgate
To: "Classic Posts" <classic-post@hitznet.com>

[MODERATOR'S NOTE: See preceeding message for excerpt--snipped to reduce
redundancy.]

Greetings,
I just got off the phone with ARC (Tracy,CA-just outside the SF Bay area).
Yikes! I willingly squander money on my Macs better than most, but I can't
begin to justify this amount. First off no way am I accusing anyone with unfair
pricing, rather it's to much money for too little performance.

Logic board-$465.00
Ram(one sim slot)-$170.00(32meg, The Chip Merchant
/www.thechipmerchant.com/prices.htm)
FPU-$49.00(www2.sonnettech.com/pricing/)
Total(excluding tax &/or shipping)=$684.00
MicroMac is presently having a sale on 030/33hmz boards, $100.00 off.
Also, consider that all their 030 boards have 32k of on board cache which would
help mitigate a 16 bit system data bus.

Regards,
Craig Rohlfing

I'm trying to find a keyboard and mouse for a Macintosh Plus 1Mb, but am
having no luck. Anyone out there able to help me? Would also be
interested in a printer for same, as well as software, once it's up and
running.

Kimberly Steinnagel

By doing a simple search on the WWW I found MacTCP 2.0.4 here:

http://www.mdstud.chalmers.se/pub/internet/mac/MacTCP/

You can get the updater to 2.0.6 here:

ftp://ftp.info.appl.com//Apple.Software.Updaters/US/Macintosh/Networking-Communications/Other-N-C/MacTCP_2.0.6_Updater.sea.hqx

Rex

Does anyone have any info on: LINELINK 144E Modem
Technology Concept Inc , Prometheus Product.

I'm looking for Modem init strings or any other info
available for this modem.

Init strings and Power Supply Specs for the LineLink 144e modem are
available at the company's home page at:

<http://www.prometheusproducts.com/faq.htm>

Andy

My 3.5" disk drive on my Mac IIci is giving me trouble. What is the best
place to buy a new one?
Thanks.
Carol