Mac Repairathon Part 5: The Classics live! Recapping, cleaning and a game

[@coryengel]

So here’s what I did today: removed SE30 SMD cap by attempting to desolder it, and lifted a trace in the process (unfortunately on the tiny 1uF cap). Then watched this video. Then gently used the Adrian Black method for all remaining caps without a single problem. Live and learn. Thanks Adrian!

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

Heh yeah. Lots of viewers complained about the twist method but for old caps I find it the best way to get stuff off without damage. Hopefully your machine now works great!

[@coryengel]

@@adriansdigitalbasement Yeah, last night I heard my $30 garage sale se30 do a startup bong for the first time!. Next stop... analog board and PSU.

[@only257]

Adrian's Digital Basement 🤩

[@marinedalek]

"...and it doesn't take much effort just to hose it off with a garden hose. Can't do that with a computer but-" *immediately has flashbacks to every single 8-Bit Guy restoration*

[@joshm264]

If I'm honest, getting to see another computer get restored is why I love Saturdays

[@FlashPan73]

I'm not in C64's or Macs but I love these videos. Very very well presented and delivered in a way that I can understand and enjoy. Even though I started out in IT in the 90's it's good to see some of that tech come back to life.

[@VK2FVAX]

You should have a go at some yourself :)

[@TPIR_Fan_1972]

Adrian, you're not the only one who likes to clean out their car engine at least once a year. Makes it much less unpleasant to work on when needed. Great video!

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

Heh and if you don't have oil leaks, then all you're really doing is cleaning out dust and dirty which is pretty quick and easy to do.

[@pickronk]

So glad you posted the music from bandcamp love the music in the videos - I will donate for the type of music, good stuff!! Love your videos and production - Thanks so much for putting them together.

[@logosltd3218]

Adrian, I have heard you say in more than one video that you are not an electrical engineer nor electronic technician. I am do not generally comment BUT I cannot let this opportunity go by. I have was blessed to be started in electronic hardware and computer software in 1965 and found automatic control systems shortly after and I love it! I am still blessed to be working in embedded development in support of research teams. Also blessed to have been teaching electronics, troubleshooting and controls since 1973 and still am blessed to get to do this today. You demonstrate electronic digital understanding and troubleshooting at the same level as professional technicians that I have worked with and continue to work with daily. Your use of schematics, scope, DVMs etc are right on par with many professionals in the field. You use of common sense, experience and documentation in troubleshooting are evidence of years of experience. Please do not apologize for lacking a piece of paper. You have done equivalency in the school of experience. YOU EARNED IT. It does not mean a college education is not worthwhile ( I teach collegiate classes and have co-authored a textbook for a college controls course ). But it is not the only way to excellence! I don't work on classics ( Maybe because I lived through the era(s) ) But I really enjoy your channel and never miss a new adventure. Please keep it up!

[@ChairmanMeow1]

Experience is the absolute best teacher of all!

[@razinhailsharp]

This entire series has been great to watch, but the knowledge in the comments section is insane! My hat's off to y'all (especially Adrian and his digital basement!)

[@macmuchmore1]

Hey - love your work Adrian! It’s great to see someone like myself as interested in computers as I am!

[@VicTheVicar]

I just love this series!

[@CNGP9]

Me too

[@thepiratepilot1507]

Same here

[@mojoblues66]

Much more interesting than working on those shitty PCs.

[@BlueJayBonsai]

Me too

[@gieselats]

How can someone doesn’t like these videos. I don’t get it. Someone is repairing and restoring old be loved computers. This is a skill that will get lost in the future. Every computer museum in the world is looking for guys like Adrien. A passion for old broken computers is a rare behavior. So. Keep up the good work. Stay safe. Stay healthy.

[@xnonsuchx]

FYI, a valid System Folder with the right icon is referred to as a "blessed" folder.

[@pedrofelck]

There is even a "bless" command in current macOS versions to do it

[@be236]

Good to see you're giving these old Macs a second chance at life... hate to see these old Macs get recycled or trashed...

[@enginecrzy]

Wow Adrian, so satisfying to watch!! You Sir have done your due diligence!!!

[@countersurprise]

I just love this!! Seeing Adrian work on these old machines is so very satisfying. Thanks again Adrian!!

[@RetroHoosk]

Great video. I've always found 'dual wielding' soldering irons is the surefire way of avoiding lifting solder pads when removing the old caps. :)

[@dr.zarkhov9753]

Ah yes, blessing the system folder. Haven't seen that done in a while. Nice work by the way.

[@shawnwestbrook7132]

i had a gentleman bring me a classic II on fantastic shape, had bought it brand new and used it every day until 2017, never had anything done but a battery replacement. still runs perfect.

[@UpLateGeek]

I think I might've mentioned previously that I'm designing a new 4MB 30 pin SIMM. The prototype PCB tested fine, and I've pretty much finalised the design. I was going to order a batch of the final PCB design, and I did order some new old stock chips from Finland in anticipation of doing so, but they still haven't shipped thanks to the pandemic so I have no idea when they'll arrive. I'm actually tempted to just fork out for the extortionate international delivery fees and order another small quantity from the US. I was going to suggest I send you a couple of SIMMs when the chips arrive, but considering the cost of postage to and from the US it's probably cheaper to just order the boards and chips, and have them sent directly to your PO box! I'd be more than happy to do that as a donation to your channel, and it'd probably make an interesting video soldering them up and testing them, so let me know if that's something you'd be interested in? Anyway, great to see so many repaired Macs! Can't wait for the next instalment in the series, I've never seen the inside of a Mac Plus or Portable!

[@evknucklehead]

Would be interesting to see if you could make a 16MB version, if the chips required are available still. Some of the Mac II line and the early quadras could really benefit from that.

[@UpLateGeek]

@@evknucklehead I am looking into it, but I wanted to make sure the final version of the 4MB SIMMs are tested and working first.

[@Bora1333]

Adrian congrats on keeping these old machines ticking. That recapping is some serious dedication.

[@eldontyrellcorp]

Nice job ! You are bringing old computers back to life. I'm bringing old tube radios back to life. We both have an important role to play :) (and I love the smile of the people when I give them back the repaired radio !)

[@pwissink1]

What a devotion! Love this serie Adrian. You are a real pc/mac hero👍💪

[@pablog.espinoza9675]

Work of art Adrian... love these mac repairsss.... you make me learn and... love these machines... there are a part of history... in computer history....

[@stevesstuff1450]

Brilliant stuff.... lovely to see these tired, forgotten, and damaged Macs coming back to a new life! :-)

[@specgrade3275]

18:09 "There's that BONG, sounds good to me." Yep, I've said that a time or two in my life, lol.

[@naderhumood1199]

Aptly deligintly..... Great guy.. Great apprauches.... 👍🇧🇭 Thank you very much indeed. Sir.

[@Rockythefishman]

Loving this series

[@michaelmarkham658]

Great work Adrian. Love the rework you've done to get those old Mac's running again. Keep it up.

[@effingcontroller]

I just wanted to thank you for these Mac restoration videos. I came across them a few days ago and they've motivated me to drag my old Mac G3 All In One out of my parents' basement and start working on it (once I build myself a workbench; again, something that you've inspired me to do). Keep it up, Adrian!

[@InitialiseDisk]

Yooo effing controller! I love you F/A-18 series! Please make more of those videos.

[@StoianAtanasov]

Bent pin 50 on the CPU

[@JasonStevens]

Good eye

[@andreykldjian]

Are you talking about the one by C13? Saw that too. Good catch.

[@fgaviator]

Indeed. Shorted to pin 49. See 15:56, two top-left pins of the CPU.

[@YesterGearPCii]

Drove me nuts the entire time ;) Obviously not actually shorted, but looked close enough that I wasn't sure it was going to boot.

[@AngelFernandezA]

Although pins 49 & 50 are shorted, you don't have to worry about that. In the FE package like this, pin 50 (fortunately enough) is NC.

[@hodgenick]

Repairing late 80s and 90s Macs. So many memories. Thanks!

[@batlin]

Never heard of the Thunderscan before, but what a great idea!

[@MrSatellitehead]

This guy delivers another video! Thanks Adrian!

[@Stryder_The_Nite_Owl]

When you are setting the date with '20' for the year, you are actually inputting 1920, because the date control panel section does not go above 2019. You can verify this by checking the day of the week it displays. I've done this myself and there is no Mac system prior to 8 that can set a date with 2020. I simply set 2019 and leave it.

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

Heh! Good to know. So 2019 if you hit the up arrow it just wraps to 1920? Funny as heck! Not that it even matters not like anyone is doing any real work on these where the date actually matters. :-)

[@KarlBaron]

The OS itself supports it, but just not the control panels. There's a third-party program called SetDate that can do it. tidbits.com/2020/01/03/solving-the-mac-os-8s-y2k20-bug/

[@SilvioTischer]

Nice to see that these old macs have a new life again. great work!

[@sarman1998]

Love it. Had a thunderScan on out Mac as a kid!

[@SuperWestie01]

Remarkable work Adrian, thank you for sharing your passion and skills!

[@jaycee1980]

I generally do SMD electrolytics by applying flux to the board, position the cap on the board in line with the pads, and then touch the joint with a wetted soldering iron. The solder should flow right off the iron and make a nice neat joint :)

[@Halterung01]

I love the fact you didn't just put in anything. When I personally take the time to recap, I also always try to get "the nice stuff" they have. Just because.

[@mrnmrn1]

39:00 This Mac game made me wanna play some Boulderdash on my C64 :)

[@rogerjones8809]

One of the BEST games ever! Played for hours! Dungeon of doom and later The Dungeon Revealed v.5.4. I’ve looked for the source code for this forever and I’ve never found it. The game however can be found on classic Mac software websites!

[@eviljonny8446]

This series is terrific :) Such a joy to look forward to the release each week.

[@thisisnotatest9013]

Adrian, the Motorola MC68030FE16B looks to have a short on pins 49 and 50, Pin 50 looks bent into pin 49, Hope this helps, Great content.

[@TheducksOrg]

@17:06 ? Yeah, I was wondering that too

[@AngelFernandezA]

Although pins 49 & 50 are shorted, you don't have to worry about that. In the FE package like this, pin 50 (fortunately enough) is NC.

[@razinhailsharp]

Good eyes Jeff and Ducks! I totally missed that

[@Stryder_The_Nite_Owl]

I came here to see if someone else noticed.

[@evknucklehead]

It's okay, pin 50 isn't connected to anything inside the chip. See Chapter 14 page 3 here for the pinouts: www.nxp.com/docs/en/reference-manual/MC68030UM.pdf

[@buserror]

Adrian, for resoldering caps, I use solder paste; it comes in a seringue, put a little into a small plate (I use artist paint mixing ceramic stuff) and add a little bit of liquid flux from your pen so it's a little bit more runny. Then, take a plastic toothpick and pick some gloopy paste and just TOUCH the pads on the board (both end -- you just need a little, especially if the pad has been tinned!) and put the cap there; you can do a handful like that. Then take the iron and gently touch the ouside of the pad and the magic of solder paste happens and it reflows nicely. Do both pads,JUST a touch, and you get a stress free way of puttting caps back on...

[@bradleyhove4177]

Even easier if you use solder paste and a hot air station!

[@buserror]

@@bradleyhove4177 actaully not really. hot air put quite a bit of thermal stress on parts; if you have connectors or other passives nearby it's not necessary to heat them up. Using the iron is surgicaly precise!

[@bradleyhove4177]

@@buserror I suppose so, although there are some very fine tip hot air stations out there. I find them very convenient for this type of work

[@danielson9579]

Great tip about the rom boot 🙂👍

[@MrParrothead60450]

Love the repair-a-thon videos. Thanks much.

[@timbersrcadventures]

Love the music choice at the start of the vid

[@Jerkwad152]

To the caps soldered to the bodge wires, it might be a good idea to add some superglue/hot snot. That way, you don't have to worry about the board getting jostled and something breaking loose.

[@SootHead]

Boy, I cranked out a lot of work on these. Nostalgia Saturday!

[@rlgrlg-oh6cc]

For broken fine traces, I prefer to use an insulated 30 gauge wire from the via at one end to the via at the other end, instead of using an uninsulated wire across the break. I think it looks better and is less likely to break off. Of course sometimes the ends of the wire are a long way from the break.

[@rustyfloorboards]

I'm curious if you would even attempt to fix the number 5 board. That would be the jack of all trades!

[@MarSAttK]

Cant wait for the restoration of that Portable! Ive got one too...

[@Aruneh]

Was beginning to need a spreadsheet to keep all these machines and fixes straight, but I think a lot of it got sorted with finishing up a bunch of them in this video. Great work!

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

Yeah the post-it notes helped me otherwise I would have lost track too!

[@enzoperruccio]

Just an amazing work on these machines. Well done!

[@Dex99SS]

I never knew of this "image scan" for the Image Writer ... You totally enlightened me to some old tech here. Can't wait to dive into this rabbit hole!

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Thunderscan.txt

[@BenjiKimba]

There was also a program for the C64 to scan pictures with a photocel on the head of a matrixprinter, it was very exiting to watch it in those days.

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

I had one of those Thunderscan units for the Mac back in the day. Would be neat to play with one again although I don't have (or want) an Imagewriter printer LOL. Serious boat anchors those things. :-)

[@StephenArsenault]

Really enjoying this series - looking forward to the floppy drive restoration :)

[@gameboy-rz9cs]

Oh yes I like your repair videos of old pc's they are fascinating and you learn that every pc is a little different than the other 👍❤️

[@williamsquires3070]

If there’s room elsewhere, I’d suggest not even putting the battery holder on the motherboard, but mount it with double-sided sticky-tape somewhere else, then just run fine hookup wire from the battery holder to the motherboard, and you can integrate the reverse-polarity/anti-charge diode in the leads. That way, if the battery ever leaks again, only the battery and holder will take the brunt of any corrosion, and not the motherboard that’s already been to Hell and back; no point letting it get ruined again. 😊

[@1914grant]

Excellent work Adrian as always well done i`ve been a big fan of your channel for about 4 years now

[@racer4200]

Awesome series. Always looking forward to the next vid.

[@sadmac356]

Yay, the classics work again!

[@CDP-1802]

The fact that this channel has less than 100K subscribers is a travesty :/

[@MCAlexisYT]

Wait! It’s quite close to 💯K subs!

[@jimjimx5418]

Referring to: battery. Once again, you can tell the positive side, by the square solder pad.

[@tomonabudget]

Lovely work as always. I find that secret button combination is really typical of apple that they hide useful tools. Interesting to see they've been doing that for so long.

[@75slaine]

Another great video. Really enjoyed this series Adrian. Looking forward to the rest. LOVED the shirt by the way. 👍

[@pedrofelck]

KZbin recommended this video to me, then I checked out the first one and I enjoyed your style and skills a lot, you got a new subscriber in video 3 of the series, I checked the channel and added some videos to my "watch later" list in video 4, and now I checked the notifications to see the part 6 as soon as it gets posted!

[@yaroze]

Nice work on these, I was hoping to see something crazy like a IIc green phosphor monitor swap, something I have seen done in the past, and a B+W IIc monitor would be neat too.

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

You know I would love to do this if I could get my hands on a compatible CRT. The mount is the issue. I was going to try swapping with a Kaypro but the way the CRT mounts is incompatible.

[@aenoymotors]

I love the Classic II. Used to have one a long time ago and want another one again someday.

[@stub1116]

That was a brilliant video, which I enjoyed immensely.

[@DiskWizard001]

Yeah, this is the exact way I'm doing - solder one side first only while doing SMD assembly.

[@CamelGarage]

Hi Adrian! You’re videos sure do make a guy wish he knew more about electro digicals. I have picked up some helpful lingo for parts searching however I’m still overwhelmed with the vast amounts of difference there are. Keep making videos and I’ll keep watching! Always a+ content

[@joselu90]

All in surface mount, incredible!

[@tamashee6625]

This is an amazing series.

[@richfiles]

Dungeon of Doom got passed around the old Mac Classic lab at my high school back in the day. I still have a copy of it.

[@briangleeson1528]

Adrian gets 100 bonus points for using a SCSI ZIP drive to boot the Mac!

[@BollingHolt]

Excellent!

[@bigjnsa]

Great job Adrian! I loved this series to please do another one! ;)

[@stphinkle]

The presence of the anti-theft thing makes me think that this was used in a school or office previously.

[@alphabeets]

When I do work like this, I install good old regular wired electrolytic caps. Why replace with more of the same type can caps that will leak sooner than a high quality leaded cap. Also the leads on the caps can be used to solder to the traces when a pad is already gone. Much easier

[@Tech_481]

Loven these series keep them coming

[@seshpenguin]

These Mac videos are so good! Looking forward to the next episode :D

[@Shifter-1040ST]

Interesting, I had no idea some classic Macs could boot to desktop from ROM. It's a standard feature on the Atari ST, though (except the very early ones without ROMs)

[@chinosts]

Thanks for the awesome content Adrian..

[@RonLaws]

Stellar job Adrian!

[@Tyle_smalcu]

I love your red T-shirt with donuts :D

[@stevencarlson5422]

Adrian still waiting for a reply on email if you were still doing something with one of those Mac classic front bezel no big deal I know your a busy man fixing and working at the same time :) good job on getting those macs running and back to life it’s always nice to see them kept alive:)

[@jmpattillo]

Makes you wonder about how Wendy’s life turned out in the past 20 years. Did she finish her Ph.D.? How did the wedding go?

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

You do have to wonder with these old computers. They did belong to real people and where are they now?

[@rodneylives]

@@adriansdigitalbasement I felt bad to see all her work and files go, though of course the hard drive was still failing. I still have papers in my documents folder, that gets copied over every time I move to a new machine, from when I was at college over a decade ago.

[@Walczyk]

@@rodneylives I can't bear to delete things like this. I archive it somewhere.

[@williama29]

I wonder to why the old computers still carry files on the before being sold to other people and or what about sensitive information I call it a time travel to a decade where the classic Mac Computers were common

[@rodneylives]

@@williama29 I'd think it was obvious? A computer like that that had been used for so long was obviously a beloved machine, and only fell out of use once it stopped working, at which time, how do you get anything off of it if you have no technical skill? And there is a tendency among the non-technically-savvy to think, if it won't work for me, it won't work for anyone, so why bother getting it securely wiped?

[@MasterControl90original]

the possibility to boot from rom or any other drive reminds me of my old IBM PS/1 2011... This thing also has DOS 4.0 in rom plus it's own interface but you can always choose to boot from HDD or floppy, having an OS in ROM is really convinient

[@benbaselet2026]

A lot of corroded dull joints on those chips around the 11 minute mark. I'd pull those chips off, clean the underside and resolder them in. Or you can use a glass fiber pen to brush off the corrosion to get some shiny stuff visible and add a bit of solder.

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

Yeah the corrosion really does a number on the solder. There is so much of that everywhere it would require the complete reworking of nearly the whole board. I do need to get one of those pens to see how well it can work through the crap solder.

[@rannugblah4251]

I didn't know, so I checked, tantalum capacitors also have electrolyte (boric acid) in them and they can blow up too. But they are known to be more reliable.

[@gusbert]

Adrian, for bodge wires get some which are insulated but you can solder through the insulation, they are much better. Louis Rossman uses them.

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

Yeah I like his technique -- need to find some like that. Mine don't really melt properly like his do...

[@gusbert]

@@adriansdigitalbasement Search for "Solderable Enamelled Copper Wire", you can solder directly through the insulation, no need to strip it off.

[@PaoloMarcelli]

Oh finally, a longer video!

[@macdaniel6029]

WOW! That was a hell of a repair with the classic II board. I wonder what Louis Rossmann would do if he had to repair this board? Great job, well done!

[@aurthorthing7403]

That was a neat easter egg.

[@peterg.8245]

I love compact Macs! Always wanted a dead one for a bar top Picade but I’ve got rotten luck and the only 2 I have both work and that’d be a crime.

[@BandanazX]

Adrian is a virtuoso of retro.

[@ThisSteveGuy]

I wonder if you could place a small mirror over the board and point the camera at it in order to give yourself some more room to do the soldering. Attaching the mirror to the camera would probably be the best way to keep from having to readjust everything every time.

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

If I had to way to mount the camera on the other side of the work I was doing that would help -- I just don't have the room for that kind of setup.

[@jscollett]

That shirt you have on at the end of the video cracked me up!! I must get one now! LOL great video sir! Thank you!

[@Dukefazon]

The one that received the blown up battery machine's back cover was the one with the ugly scrape mark on it (up high on the right)?

[@monchiabbad]

Thank you o so very much for all your interesting videos. Those older HDDs really don't like being shaken. Some heavy shakes like you did could already create badblocks or even head damage. They did not tend to have a auto-parking mechanism like later HDDs and if the system did not park them before abrupt power down the head would lie in on middle of the platters surfaces and wreak havoc if moved.