A Sad Macintosh Plus 1MB. \ VOGONS

A Sad Macintosh Plus 1MB.

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First post, by maddmaxstar

Posted on 2012-02-22, 04:07

maddmaxstar Offline

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Location: New Brunswick

I've got an original 1986 Macintosh Plus, beige case, 800k floppy drive, keyboard and mouse, as well as a HyperDrive 20mb SCSI External HDD from General Computer.

I got the computer about 5 years ago when I pulled it from recycle pile in the store I used to work at in Calgary, AB. When I got it, it booted fine off the SCSI drive, not sure what the system version was, I think maybe v6.

The issue I'm having now is, I packed it up and shipped it with the rest of my belongings when I moved back home later that year. After taking the Mac out of storage, the machine gets a Sad Mac error code.

The error code displayed on screen is "010CB8". I've researched the code, according to he scarce online resources for this thing, the first 2 digits mean "ROM error" and the rest are meaningless. The only suggestion I've heard is to replace the ROM chips. (with what?) I'm having a hard time thinking the ROM's went bad when it worked when I had it, was shipped home, and now it doesn't work.

I've located the tool for opening the Mac (6" Torx T15 screwdriver bit) and opened the case, popped out the logic board and reseated the ROM chips, as well as cleaned the socket with contact cleaner and made sure the chips are securely inserted, but did not solve the issue.

My question is, has anyone ever seen this before? And is there any other reason that this error may occur that would cause the ROM to fail it's self test, like a Bad PRAM battery, faulty capacitor, etc. And if it indeed is the ROM, does anyone where I can get replacement or even an aftermarket reproduction?

Thanks in advance!

= Phenom II X6 1090T(HD4850) =
= K7-550(V3-3000) =
= K6-2+ 500(V3-2000) =
= Pentium 75 Gold(Voodoo1) =
= Am486DX4-120(3DXpression+) =
= TI486DLC-40(T8900D) =
= i386sx-16+i387(T8900D) =

Reply 1 of 6, by SquallStrife

Posted on 2012-02-22, 04:13

SquallStrife Offline

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It's probably the caps. They always leak in the Mac, Mac Plus, Mac Classic, etc, and cause all sorts of unpredictable behaviour.

Give the digital board the old dishwasher treatment to get rid of the conductive electrolyte solution, then replace the capacitors.

VogonsDrivers.com | Link | News Thread

Reply 2 of 6, by maddmaxstar

Posted on 2012-02-22, 04:20

maddmaxstar Offline

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Joined: 2012-01-08, 21:18
Location: New Brunswick

I'll check over the logic board again, though I didn't see any bulging/leaky caps. I cleaned the contacts on the RAM as well. If someone doesn't have a Dishwasher, any other suggestions for cleaning?

= Phenom II X6 1090T(HD4850) =
= K7-550(V3-3000) =
= K6-2+ 500(V3-2000) =
= Pentium 75 Gold(Voodoo1) =
= Am486DX4-120(3DXpression+) =
= TI486DLC-40(T8900D) =
= i386sx-16+i387(T8900D) =

Reply 3 of 6, by MatthewBrian

Posted on 2012-02-22, 04:44

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There is a good resource about Macs with leaky caps and how to solve them.
It looks like the caps are SMD, not regular electrolytic caps (the black/green one with silver top)

http://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/2012 … ud-solution.htm

Reply 4 of 6, by maddmaxstar

Posted on 2012-02-22, 05:02

maddmaxstar Offline

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Rank: Member
Posts: 231
Joined: 2012-01-08, 21:18
Location: New Brunswick

Checking over the board, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of Capacitors. There were about 3 small ones on the logic board, none of them appear to be doing anything bad.

The Analog/Power board appears to be good as well, has numerous large capacitors, but nothing slimy, bulging, out of position. What picture there is looks fine and it powers up fine, so I don't think it's that.

One weird thing though is there is a resistor on the right side (holding it from the rear) that is hanging, marked "Ram Size" 256 or something. Looking at it under a magnifying glass, looks like it was clipped, and the RAM onboard has been upgraded, so this might be normal.

= Phenom II X6 1090T(HD4850) =
= K7-550(V3-3000) =
= K6-2+ 500(V3-2000) =
= Pentium 75 Gold(Voodoo1) =
= Am486DX4-120(3DXpression+) =
= TI486DLC-40(T8900D) =
= i386sx-16+i387(T8900D) =

Reply 5 of 6, by ratfink

Posted on 2012-02-22, 07:46

ratfink Offline

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I would try asking at jagshouse, used to be very good for troubleshooting 68k macs, though the forum itself was pretty dead last time I went there.

Reply 6 of 6, by luckybob

Posted on 2012-02-22, 07:47

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maddmaxstar wrote:
One weird thing though is there is a resistor on the right side (holding it from the rear) that is hanging, marked "Ram Size" 256 or something. Looking at it under a magnifying glass, looks like it was clipped, and the RAM onboard has been upgraded, so this might be normal.

it is. your 1mb mac is actually FOUR mb. in stead of the 256kb simms you could use 1mb ones and you would then need to clip that resistor.

as for the sad mac icon. I would remove all the removable chips. taking careful note were they came from. and make sure there is no corrosion and replace them back in the board.

It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.

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