Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

tomo360

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 29, 2014
3
0
Hi,

I bought this old Mac, and this is the first classic Mac in my collection - I have some video consoles and Commdore computers.

I'm not familiar with old macintosh system, so maybe you can help me.

1. how to change name of admin user, or maybe I should make a new one? Now I have user with name of previous owner. I can only create a new user, but not an admin. I dont now how to change name, and vene I cant change deflaut user. cmd+alt+****+4 doesnt work :(
2. I have only system on hard drive. I want to create backup system disk like in OSX, but I also dont know how.

thx for help.
 

Anonymous Freak

macrumors 603
Dec 12, 2002
5,582
1,333
Cascadia
The Classic Mac OS doesn't have "admin" or "non-admin" users - every user has full rights. And on the systems prior to 9, the users only matter for file sharing, not for local use.

Just make a new user, and delete the other users.

Depending on what system you have on it (it is likely System 7 or 7.5 from the description,) you MAY be able to copy the System Folder directly to a floppy disk - although that is unlikely on System 7, and darn-near impossible on 7.5. Your best bet is to look for a system disk download. They're available online. (They used to be available directly on Apple's website, I don't know if they still are.)
 

carloselvis

macrumors newbie
Apr 15, 2014
9
0
Hi! I just bought a Macintosh SE but it seems to have a video problem? Can anyone help me?

http://postimg.org/image/ob8jk83hl/

It serious? Can be fixed?
 

Lord Blackadder

macrumors P6
May 7, 2004
15,677
5,510
Sod off
Hi! I just bought a Macintosh SE but it seems to have a video problem? Can anyone help me?

http://postimg.org/image/ob8jk83hl/

It serious? Can be fixed?

My guess is problems with the high-voltage board for the CRT or the early stages of a "simasimac" failure. In either case you are looking at hardware component failures.

It's usually repairable, but you're going to have to do some desoldering/soldering.
 

carloselvis

macrumors newbie
Apr 15, 2014
9
0
I think is the motherborad because i use another one to test it and work perfect with the other. I have updated the ram to 4 Mb, i have cuted the resistance to avoid the 256kb ram. Could be posible that the ram is making this problem?
 

MacTech68

macrumors 68020
Mar 16, 2008
2,393
211
Australia, Perth
I think is the motherborad because i use another one to test it and work perfect with the other. I have updated the ram to 4 Mb, i have cuted the resistance to avoid the 256kb ram. Could be posible that the ram is making this problem?

It could be the RAM, but it's more than likely leaking surface mount electrolytic capacitors. If you look at the board under good lighting and tilting the board at different angles you might see what look like wet areas around these capacitors. That's electrolyte leakage. The biggest problem is that the electrolyte is corrosive. If you see green tracks that look black in places, that's the corrosive action. In some cases, it can etch a track such that you need to jumper the track with prototyping/wire-wrap wire. It can be done, it's a lot of work and difficult if you've never soldered.

All the capacitors need to be removed, the board cleaned and the caps replaced - preferably with surface mount Tantalum capacitors which come in different case sizes so a little research is required to get the right sizes.

One thing you can try, is to allow the board to get warm. These capacitors will sometimes (temporarily) work again when they're warm. Leave the machine on for about 30 minutes, then turn it off and back on to see what happens. This isn't a "fix", but rather a test.

As an example, here's a recent thread about an SE/30 that had the capacitors replaced but had etched tracks causing a video problem:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1647269/
 
Last edited:

Lord Blackadder

macrumors P6
May 7, 2004
15,677
5,510
Sod off
I would definitely check the RAM, but if the board needs to be recapped that should be taken care of first.

As an example, here's a recent thread about an SE/30 that had the capacitors replaced but had etched tracks causing a video problem:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1647269/

Rotted traces are pretty common on boards with leaky capacitors unless you catch the problem early (and given their age, most of these machines have probably had leaky capacitors for years.)

These repairs require patience but in most cases they seem to be doable by the average person with minimal soldering experience - just work slowly and do plenty of research beforehand. In a minority of cases the boards may have widespread damage or problems that are really hard to track down - in those cases you might want to send the board to someone who will fix it for a fee. There are a few Mac hobbyists out there who will do that, and some of theme are very experienced.

I recently bought a brand new, sealed in the box replacement IIci logic board from ebay. Despite never having been used it still had leaky capacitors. It's an age thing.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.