A Clear Mac SE/30 With a CD ROM hacked into it (still cursed?)

[@Astfgl]

I stand corrected. I thought going for a clear case and abandoning the black-and-blue origins of the Cursed Mac was a mistake, but this is the next level of cursed. I love it. :D

[@brokenelectronics3665]

Well, I guess I am in the minority, but I loved the black and blue. I miss the Jaz drive, but if you are set on going with the clear case, that blue face plate doesn't really work as well. Realistically, it's not a very valuable thing, and you can put the room inside the case to better purposes. Cool that the original owner emailed you, thanks for including it, it was a great read.

[@HughJeffreys]

Ok wow, this is cool! Great job.

[@GigantTech]

i didnt expect you here

[@ActionRetro]

Thanks Hugh!

[@christianhansen3292]

need to test the music please!

[@MegaManNeo]

I love the backstory and how the cursed Mac looks now. Adding anymore drives would sort of destroy its clear looks (then again, this thing is cursed for a reason).

[@cod.liver.failure]

not going to lie. it does look excellent. it is a shame to erase some of the machines history. I think there is often a pull for people to 'restore' vintage machines, but real preservation is about keeping a machines history whilst making it useable in the modern day. maybe the clear case would be better suited to an equally cursed sibling.

[@MarcoGPUtuber]

I dunno why but I always love the blue CD drive contrasting with the black.

[@zsombor_99]

Dude, this slot is just as good wit the clear case as the blue drive was with the black case, right? 😉

[@defconzero]

It had kinda a ps2 vibe which is _really_ cursed

[@deponia]

Personally, I'd say leave the other drive out and use external devices instead. Don't suppose you could add USB ports to open up the external devices options? I know 68K Amigas have this ability with devices like the Subway USB controller.

[@TheducksOrg]

USB Mass Storage is supported by MacOS 8.6 and later. I think this is running 8.1?

[@dataterminal]

So, while the case is completely transparent. There is the option of using products like plastidip that you can spray on the internal, keeping the clear plastic look from the outside but also providing a color of sorts. Since it's plastidip it'll easily peal off if you don't want to keep it. It's used a lot to give cars a new look without having to respray it proper. It might be worth giving the front of the case a spay down with black to see how it looks. I think it'd be very imac g3 like with the clear plastic top coat as a result.

[@iiiiiifggffggffgfgfg]

iMac 040

[@ekner]

What an amazing story! I was doing much of the same back in those years, inspired by other modders and constraining myself with limited hardware. The internet is so cool.

[@destroyer6470]

From the Cursed mac to Project Prism this machine is awsome and shall always be a main staple of the channel

[@zsombor_99]

Wow, this Macintosh become better and better! It's evolving! 👍 😏 I suggest to do a pass trough for the SD card adapter for easier file transfer (even if it requires the computer to be switched off to take the card out)! 😉

[@GeekmanCA]

A Zip or floppy drive would be a great addition to the new ghostly identity of the Cursed Mac. But I'd say that you need to find one with a translucent bezel, or find a way to make it work with the existing case (as you did with the optical drive).

[@DavidStahlOLDHAPPyMACs]

Yes Sean that is A perfect way to mount that CD drive love the clear case I think is looks better with out the Jazz drive. SD card option would be pretty neat to do Nice Work Sir

[@armspac]

the ONE thing now is to get greyscale on the internal monitor. an external monitor would be failure in my irrelevant eyes. utterly incredible beast! recently picked up an SE/30 because of this series

[@mal2ksc]

Why grayscale when there were color CRTs the right size and the output signal is right there?

[@armspac]

@@mal2ksc you mean swap out the crt? That would be awesome no doubt, but I like the idea of keeping it black and white. As long as he doesn't stick an LCD in there

[@armspac]

@@mal2ksc also checked online, colour CRTs are longer and take more power so even if you managed to change the analog board you would still need to cut a hole on the back of the case

[@ericbauer4559]

Awesome back story. Makes the cursed Mac even more interesting. The guy sounds like he is about my age.

[@ctrlaltrees]

So cool to finally learn the true story behind the Cursed Mac - Brian is definitely one of us! Personally I went with keeping the black front panel but the end result has blossomed like a beautiful butterfly from a cursed caterpillar so I approve 😅

[@PiMpGranny]

I can't help but smile at people who get this excited over old computers like me. Beautiful mod!

[@Doegiz]

Honestly that is so cool that the original owner managed to come across this.

[@mikek1187]

Great to meet you at VCF East and see the face behind the camera! I was very impressed with your cursed mac, as well as your Quadra 950 fan mod. Can't wait to see what shenanigans you come up with next ;)

[@ActionRetro]

Thanks, likewise!!

[@fluffycritter]

I would be really tempted to use the unpainted old case front and apply the same slot-loading mod to it, just so that it looks like you have a 5.25" floppy slot on a Mac SE. Either that or sanding/frosting the current transparent front so that you can still see the glow of the lights within.

[@RamLaska]

Seeing that empty clear SE case (the SE was my stalwart companion during high school in the early nineties), I'm very tempted to buy one just to build a modern linux machine out of it. Just imagine how much battery could fit inside that case, and how long that could run with something like a raspberry pi zero, lol!!

[@michaelmullett7327]

Very, Very, Cool Mod, the Clear Case was Fantastic and lit up it was Beyond Cool!

[@ww21943]

Awesome! Good meeting you today at VCF East. I’m the StarMax guy who played on the MUD today.

[@Vlamat67]

Very nice transparent houses and excellent work done for the CD drive. The RGB LEDs do not convince me much of their usefulness but on a mad car and absolutely unique as this, there can be there. It would be hilarious if the control of the LEDs took place from the operating system. Other thing, the screen: it should be in color and maybe support the thousands of nuances.

[@BlackEpyon]

You'd have to replace the analog board for that, which isn't exactly easy to do.

[@migaisnotacat]

I don't consider this cursed any longer - this is more like a blessed mac now. It's beautiful.

[@brianlindgren1445]

I love it! Great job rehabilitating this crazy little Mac, Sean 💯🔥

[@ScarlettStunningSpace]

The cursed Mac is how I found this channel, what a cool machine. I definitely vote for leaving as is or putting something in other than a Jaz drive that would get used

[@48aee]

A clear modded Jaz Drive would be a match made in heaven for that mac

[@DannyBeans]

I was dubious about going full-transparent, but yeah, it was the right call. And that guide you built is perfect - if you hadn't pointed it out, I wouldn't have guessed it was there. Beautiful job.

[@Stryder_The_Nite_Owl]

Awesome project! Great video! Thanks for doing this. Amazing what we can do in 2021. If you could change out the 1 bit parts on the CRT and install the Micron greyscale mod, that thing would be even more awesome, and vintage at the same time (the Micron XCeed is legit vintage). I think Bolle makes reproductions of that, too.

[@gabegherca]

that looks DOPE asf man, amazing job

[@quiksr20]

Saw this computer in person today @VCF, So cool! Didnt realize while I was bs'ing with you how you built it etc that I was a subscriber to your channel for quite some time... What a bummer! Awesome build and nice chatting!

[@forceraider451]

Need to find that blue and black keyboard from those old photos.

[@dotmatrixmoe]

Thanks for taking a selfie with me, the Mac looked sick!

[@geekwithsocialskills]

Wow. This actually turned out way better than expected. Nicely done!

[@Natures_Intentions]

Wow the cursed MAC looks phenomenal.

[@msthalamus2172]

I've been really liking this series! FWIW, I thought the solid front would have been better, as the case is so busy in front when you can see through it, but I know that the audience has spoken! :) What's missing is *color*. Have you thought about painting the inner metal frame black and blue, to bring some of the cursed Mac aesthetic back? It also definitely needs an era-appropriate Apple logo (though maybe a smaller one than last time). I'd also replace the paper insulation sheet on the analog board with a thin, clear piece of acrylic so people can see the back of the board. Of the options you listed, I would definitely set the SCSI 2 SD up to pass the sd card through the upper floppy drive slot. You'll get a lot more mileage out of being able to access that than you would a Jaz or Zip disk anyway.

[@megatronskneecap]

I've been rewatching this series and can't tell you the relief when the CD drive and whatever the hell that other thing was finally went.

[@juanmacias5922]

hahaha this was a great episode, history on the cursed mac, update on the original owner! And, what a sweet upgrade with the clear case!

[@NoobixCube]

When printing in clear filament, if you want optical clarity, you need to go for a really coarse layer height like 0.3 or 0.4mm. The more layers you have, the more refraction as the light moves from one layer to the next, so you end up with a lot of light scattering. Hence the frosty white look. It's basically like taking clear perspex and roughing it up with sandpaper.

[@mikequinlan9585]

This is best story love watching this Mac evolve 👍

[@Ryan.Lohman]

I love this channel - the retro technology evolving in its own way never ends!!!!!

[@Moondream417]

I think you should put a zip drive in there. It's still iomega so it doesn't really detract from the missing jaz drive. Plus it's useful for file transfers between your machines.

[@Kiyoshi_9606]

Next = Micron PDS card allowing for 256 grey scale? Ever tried it?

[@ugh.idontwanna]

First rule of being a geek: If there's a transparent option, you pick the transparent option.

[@shh1234]

Hilarious, I can recall when people were taking classic Mac cases and putting pounds of epoxy inside to turn them into tiny fishbowls with equally tiny optics. That transparent case would make an awesome evolution of the concept.

[@sparroestar22]

Oh please take some high resolution photos of this while it's brand new and shiny, this deserves to be preserved as art forever!

[@argent0r]

Imagine replacing metal chassis with 3d printed clear plastic

[@yosefyacub3595]

Blue and Black plastic

[@badboybruno547]

So glad the original owner found your channel. That made my day.

[@draggonhedd]

still love this thing, You should paint the metal chassis some bright color and swap in a green CRT.

[@GHero60]

This is turning into the ship of Theseus. Might as well make the original cursed Mac along with this new clear version.

[@CompuHacker]

18:12 That's a fucking album cover right there.

[@randomd2146]

The album coud be called “sounds from the 80’s” or something

[@bramvandenbroeck5060]

I would stick a floppy emu on the front of this mac where the jazz drive was, but choose one with an lcd screen, so you have a small screen underneath the big one, making it even more obscure! What a beautiful mac you have made there! Awesome job!

[@xp7575]

Meeting a "nice guy from Philadelphia" that you met on Craigslist sounds like a suicide mission 😂☠😂

[@clintongoodfellow]

Paint the internal metal parts in the same blue as the cd drive used to be. Will carry on the theme of the old case to the new!

[@richfiles]

ngl... I would have kept the blue case. The CD drive came out amazing! I like the idea of swapping the Jazz drive for a Zip drive and making the SCSI2SD slot accessible. Have you considered painting the steel internal chassis black? I just feel like the contrast would make seeing through the case more visually appealing.

[@FPVphilly]

Sean, now do the transparent mod to the keyboard and mouse... it will complete the whole combo.

[@paulrippcord506]

I vote Zip Drive, more nostalgic love for it and it would be more practical overall

[@emmabentley7945]

All you need is a transparent mouse and keyboard and it will look awesome! ❤️

[@Noaddedsalt01]

get the apple USB keyobards to connect it, put a usb port on it

[@MrLurchsThings]

I do kinda miss the black front. It’s where the Cursed Mac started. But the clear case does look pretty awesome. As for the Jazz drive, a Zip drive would be a very good substitute.

[@greypatch8855]

Excellent video. I LOVE that MAC!

[@LovelyAlanna]

that thing you did with the cd drive looks pretty cool, the cd's just appear outta nowhere, awesome

[@RandomBSOD]

This is definitely cursed "2.0" 👍

[@rhysholdaway]

Ok. The clear case looks cool. Do pass through for the SD card, don't destroy the clear lines. P.S. if want to connect with the history of cursed mac a tinted black front panel might be cool. Otherwise, need a poll for new name. No longer cursed.

[@ultraokletsgo]

Seeing it take in the CD was so satisfying

[@fl0wedm612]

the super floppies are called "floptical disks" and hold 2GB. This info is courtesy to the 8bit guy

[@jamesdye4603]

I saw this unit at VCF East on Saturday. Very cool.

[@knghtbrd]

Sean, definitely Zip drive is the way to go for this machine. If you want to get the SCSI2SD card ported out, there's extension cables for those, put it wherever seems to make sense. If you want to wire in a video board … make sure it can be taken apart for maintenance and repair. This mac is cursed after all.

[@jeremytravis360]

The next project could be making a beige case for the first iMacs. I Will add that's a joke. Thanks Action Retro.

[@valshaped]

It's a joke, but it doesn't have to be

[@TheTravis1984]

Not really a mac fan, but I have to say, that old school mac with the clear case looks amazing. Thank you for sharing!

[@anxietyprimev6983]

I'm thinking you should install some sort of clear plastic box on the side of the case that obstructs the internals that can hold those USB drives. Maybe add a USB splitter bank or something under them, too. After all, there's nothing more cursed than having ten different peripherals plugged into your computer 24/7.

[@fsfs555]

Nice work. This thing looks great. A 68k Mac on the internet in the early '00s wasn't a big deal or even uncommon; I had one. Most days after school I'd use my Performa 475's 14.4k modem to dial into whatever the cheapest ISP was at the time (remember NetZero and the store-branded ISPs (Walmart, etc)?) and hop onto AIM and a few of the less flash-heavy websites that I frequented. I upgraded to a blueberry iBook around 2002 but the Performa still got AIM duties on the regular. Also I figure the best choice for an AIO 68k with CD built-in would likely be the LC/Performa 575, the last and fastest of the Trinitron AIOs; the 58x series is slightly faster (thanks to its Quadra 63x-based logic board with Valkyrie video chip) and more readily upgradeable to PPC via simple logic board swap (the 575 needs either a rare and frankly lackluster upgrade card or a lot of case hacking/chassis swapping for a new logic board), but it has a basic shadow-mask CRT in a slightly bulgy case and its plastics are much more brittle than its predecessors (these and the early 52/53xx models are the worst example of Spindler plastics. Seriously don't try to ship one or you'll end up with a box of beige shards with some bits of metal and a CRT on top).

[@thelanecampbell]

Incredible work. As a geek, and admittedly not a purist, I’m curious to see if you could get this running with an LCD or OLED display.

[@yosefyacub3595]

OLED 👍🏾

[@eduardocarrasco8830]

This video is so fucking cool. I loved every second of it. And that Mac, just wow !!! Great job dude !!!

[@UpLateGeek]

The new CD-ROM drive seems so much better than my old Pioneer slot loader. That thing you had to jam the disc a lot more than half way in before it actually sucked it in. But the case looks amazing! I think the problems with the cut-out for the CD-ROM drive aren't a big deal. It would probably look weird if you cut out the slot in the right place from the start and left the floppy slot in place, so having a black cover under the slot seems like a better solution. As for the Jaz drive, it definitely would be more cursed to have that, but having a big cut-out would look pretty ugly, and it would kind-of ruin the look. I like the idea of a Zip drive with the front bezel removed and just a slot cut out for the disk. Or a LS-120 SuperDisk, although a SCSI one might be a bit hard to find. Personally it makes more sense to have some kind of removable media accessible from the front, rather than the SCSI2SD, since that's your boot drive and you're never going to remove that in normal operation. Making it accessible from the front at a public event is just asking for someone to pull the card out while it's running. Anyway, hopefully you can get the speaker working again. But no matter what you decide to do with the machine, I can't wait to see it!

[@TheBasementChannel]

Yuss! I was waiting for this video after seeing your tweet a while back. Such a great story.

[@mek4321]

Cool. I saw this at VCF East and didn't realize it was you. Love the channel.

[@SalvoDan]

My vote is for a ZIP drive. I didn’t think that LS-120 Superfloppy drives were available in SCSI.

[@hardline2a]

I agree that it makes more sense for the zip driver to be in there than anything else. I'm partial to zip disks though.... Fond memories

[@SBarrenecheaF]

OVER A YEAR?! Oh my... Time flies.

[@nicwilson89]

Should keep some of the essence of the black cursed front fascia by spraying the metal parts of the chassis black :D 17:26 Goddamn that is utterly beautiful

[@andresbravo2003]

A CD-ROM is Needed! Amazing work!

[@zh84]

Back in 1990 when I had a 4MB Mac Plus I remember seeing an advertisement for an external colour adaptor for that machine. It plugged into the SCSI port (!) and then somehow into a monitor. Unfortunately I can't track it down on Google. Have you or anyone else in this channel come across it?

[@pedro_8240]

See if you can extract a piece of the clear case and try to die it atomic purple, if it works, do it with the whole case.

[@KeithSurvell]

Oh wow, that is *wicked* cool; I love it! I think it's perfect as-is with just the CD drive (which is crazy enough on its own) so I don't think it needs an internal floppy/zip/etc. drive of any sort.

[@emmettturner9452]

I immediately recognize that as a Matsushita-produced CD-ROM drive.

[@BrainSlugs83]

Okay, crazy idea, but hear me out: make the RGB LEDs fade colors when there is disk activity. Like, you will get a little light show while you're waiting for games to load! 😎

[@carl4889]

Time to track down the CRT from a Colour Classic, mod the video board to output 640x480, then jam it in there.

[@mercuryzam]

Im gonna miss the black and blue case. It really did make it unique and cool.

[@AmigaofRochester]

Was awesome to see this in person.

[@deedouglas6615]

Only looks good in the dark

[@emmettturner9452]

Get som Nite Shadez or whatever it is called for tinting tail lights with a coating you can peel off. You can make the front semi-transparent smoke and have the best of both worlds!

[@mikemoyercell]

beautiful leave just the cdrom in it - it turned out so nice and clean that way

[@systemchris]

And in regards to the front, at most only put the SCSI2sd access panel reducing the need to reopen since you have external addons

[@PCPSolutions]

Loved seeing them at VCF, good work!

[@retroguy7649]

Looks amazing!!! Well done!!

[@jenhodges92]

No way did the original guy contact you! Crazy! Can’t believe he used it in the 2000s in college!

[@JVHShack]

I've been wanting an original empty compact Mac case to play around with...

[@Honeybearsphone]

I swear I was thinking how cool it would to so a slot loading CD drive just how you set it up before you me mentioned it, the super floppy drive you're thinking of is an LS120 drive it reads both LS120 disks and floppy disks both

[@RWBHere]

That looks way better. And I hope that you added a Zip drive later.