Wait...THAT'S what was wrong with my rare Mac clone?!

[@SlevinKalevera]

Been doing board level repair for the last 5 years at the store I own. Every once in a while, physical inspections miss stuff. Glad you caught it, man! Congrats!

[@neccros007]

I need some board level fixing done... do you accept send in repairs??

[@PotatoFi]

Spoiler alert if you haven’t watched the video. My very first vintage Mac was an SE FDHD from eBay. There was no video display, but it chimed. I tried every solution in the Dead Mac Scrolls, recapped the analog board, desoldered and cleaned the brightness knob, and anything else I could think of. After weeks and weeks, I was staring at the board one evening, and accidentally bumped a small inductor or filter near the top of the board. One side was broken off. I soldered it back on, flipped the power switch, and was greeted by a very happy Mac. That was a magical moment, and I am never getting rid of that little SE FDHD.

[@5argetech56]

This sort of thing has cropped up before, and it has always been due to human error. -- HAL 😁

[@p_mouse8676]

That reminds me of a very weird repair we had when I was working at an audio company. It was also a broken little inductor, something that had never been an issue for that last 10 years or so. These things can drive you insane lol!

[@jaws10278]

My SE kept going black screen after some use. Took it apart and went over and over and over it. Finally found a bad solder joint on the analog board. 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️ fixed it and no more issues

[@drywinddotnet]

Great story, good persistance. I have lots of retro computers, SGIs, various rare 68K and PPC Macs, NeXT, but my little faithful cheap eBay SE FDHD has been the most fun to restro.

[@rawr51919]

you basically did all that work for that inductor to say 'nah that was all for no reason', glad you got to save that old Mac from the MacHeaven

[@GrandTheftWatto]

Great job - I love to see man triumph over machine. It's actually really important to STOP when you are angry/frustrated with troubleshooting. I find that is usually when I am about to make bad decisions and compound the problem. Stopping for a while and then circling back, I would say, is EXACTLY the thing that led to your success in the end. Take the win!

[@trashtrash2169]

I can relate to that. I have done both.

[@dbhansen]

This is one of the biggest things I discovered about myself when starting this hobby... I can get extremely frustrated and manic when troubleshooting or a repair isn't going 'smoothly' - which surprised me given that I'm almost always pretty chill. Something about this hobby brings out some interesting traits. Learning to slow down or step back, stick to the basics and be methodical has been huge for me - not just in the hobby but in other areas of my life.

[@bluephreakr]

It's really the machine which is a triumph of man. What Colin did was triumph over age and degradation; when he soldered the component which was loose back into position, he defeated age and brought the machine back to life.

[@thegeforce6625]

Agreed, and usually in my experience, during those moments of frustration is usually when I make a fatal mistake in the process of attempting to find or fix the problem and end up permanently damaging something, sometimes (but rarely) to the point of writing off the part or entire machine.

[@deathdoor]

"It's the fucking heatsink!" It's an instant classic. But Jesus! Four PowerPCs with more than 800MB RAM, wow! Imagine using that in the 90's!

[@windowsxpnt2347]

If the Mac OS was multi threaded when this had come out, it would have been a beast but the reality is unless your applications supported multiple processors, it wasn't much more powerful than the g3 that came later on

[@donatj]

I am genuinely glad to see this fixed. It’s honestly been keeping me up at night.

[@cmorche]

"WAIT WHAT!?" 😂 That feeling when the fix doesn't make sense haha (immediately at least)

[@DominiqueGendronLanglois]

I was swearing with you all the way through men. I worked in IT a long time and holy shit I couldn't look at some point, feeling how frustrating it is. GLAD YOU GOT IT, MATE. This is the most "on the edge of my seat" I have been in the last 5 years. Not even Mission Impossible did this to me haha. Oh my god, I'm so glad for you.

[@maxmouse3]

I'm glad you saved this machine. What a weird problem but I guess it makes sense, pressure and broken legs/solder joints are actually common but we all forget them haha Nice find! 💪🏻

[@riskin620]

So satisfying to see you found the problem and fixed it! Sometimes it just takes some time away from the project to approach it from a fresh perspective. For everyone who has struggled to diagnose intermittent computer issues, it was extremely satisfying to see you successfully resolve it!

[@LangleyNA]

Great props to you, This Does Not Compute. Your consistent power cycling to a chime at the end was thrilling for me. :) Happy sales!

[@robsquared2]

That intro 🤣

[@whiskeyjuliet]

that outro 😂

[@TheJoMan2]

3 days ago? How?

[@JVHShack]

​@@TheJoMan2Patreon...

[@CHGOfficial512]

That prelude 😂 (come on, I also wanted to participate)

[@Markimark151]

Wow, you had the balls to actually go that deep into finally fixing that Mac clone! Congrats on getting it to work!

[@whompronnie]

Balls deep

[@Markimark151]

@@whompronnie that’s a good pun!

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@whompronniecoulda said “solder balls deep”, smh

[@TechYodaSV]

@@whompronniewhatever the question, this is always the right answer.

[@soviut303]

I'm glad to see a follow up video. The way you cover your troubleshooting is really satisfying to watch.

[@mikek1187]

If you can, try touching each of those solder joints after the heatsink is back on. That way, the solder will reflow and settle the way the board now flexes, meaning that they won't be a stress point anymore.

[@VulcanSpock]

I have experienced a similar dilemma too, looked everything and everywhere, except the most obvious. YAY to you fixing the problem!

[@lordmuaddib]

the chime while probing the clock had me rolling :D glad you fixed the issue! it was a titanic effort

[@joeljenkins7092]

Congrats! Reminds me of three-days I spent trying to find a bug in a $25K animation box in the Nineties. Pulled very part, replaced RAM, bought spare $10K Targa card. Turned out to be an internal break in a SCSI cable. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. :D

[@dr.samsung_8855]

I find this video inspiring, because here you were on the brink of giving up just to have another crack at it. You retraced your steps multiple times until a small defect became more apparent. Yes it might have been easy to spot if you had known about it, but I find it comical but also reassuring for I as I'm sure many others too overlook things just as simple when fixing stuff. I'm happy your time and effort ended on a positive note, and I hope this Genesis MP goes on to represent it's kind for more decades to come!

[@stgigamovement]

As someone who is a programmer, this type of scenario is something that one can run into often, and I'm saying this from personal experience. Part of debugging is isolating what is going wrong, and seeing what happens when you change something. Sometimes the simplest of changes can cause significant glitches, and sometimes the smallest fix can save the whole program.

[@mac27collection]

Wow, what a crazy problem to have (and to troubleshoot!) I certainly don't blame you at all for not discovering it any sooner ... would have never guessed it'd be something like that. Great episode as always.

[@heckintech]

"WOAH, WHAT??? WAIT, WHAT???????" 🤣 I LOVE the incredibly genuine, absolutely floored reaction 🧡 This is the closure I NEEDED hahaha, I legitimately began clapping at 12:23

[@FAYZER0]

Agree with someone else here, I actually felt a thrill as you tracked down the issue. If it weren't for a physical disability I would love to learn how to do this sort of thing. Maybe not so much for preserving this level of vintage hardware, but just in general to prevent so much perfectly usable hardware from becoming e-waste. Thank you so much for sharing this tale of perseverance.

[@dancingwiththedogsdj]

I don't mean to pry, but what limiting factor are you experiencing? I have a small right hand because I have 2 bones in each finger instead of 3, so I understand more than some about physical limitations and ya never know when someone out there might be in a similar spot with a perfect solution.... Or maybe an idea that hadn't occurred previously. Be safe out there and have a great day!! 🍻🌎❤️🌮🎶 P.S. - some of us out there are even crazy enough we love to help out when possible just for the fun of it! I'd rather be making someone's day easier if I can.... 😉

[@CurtisBond]

I was sitting here with a huge grin on my face as you were slowly closing in on the problem, and nearly yelped in excitement once you got the thing up and running again. Great job methodically working your way through it and figuring it out. It's an inspiration to troubleshooters everywhere.

[@VincentWillcox]

Fantastic video and well done for not giving up! Shows that sometimes you just need to stop, and come back to a problem days later. I'm so glad you could get it working again!

[@compu85]

This sort of thing has happened to me too. I do find it's good to take a project and set it aside for a while... I can become "frustration blind" and working on a different project is a nice reset.

[@tohothewriter8002]

I'm glad you ended up not being satisfied with the conclusion you did in the last video, and that my hunch about the board flex was in the correct ball park, just not what I was expecting. XD Awesome job eliminating variables one after the other until you found where the problem really was. Hope that's a lesson you'll remember for a long time.

[@brently1973]

NICE!!! Good work! I had a similar problem with a tiny bord in a remote for a security system. It would randomly not work. Turned out it was the tiny antenna souderd to the bord. One of the joints was cracked but very hard to see. You really do have to check every joint.

[@EvexiansVideoworks]

Phew! Glad you found the Issue. *And i can imagine that it IS damn Heavy.*

[@theblubus]

Congratulations!!!! That feeling of accomplishment when you finally fix something that has been a PITA for so long and seemed impossible to fix is wonderful

[@paulfredfield]

Just fabulous. No way you can spot one bad joint. But as tech ages this will become more and more common. Great video.

[@stephanstumpf3051]

... that scream at 7:04 😆

[@simont557]

mate... the amount of times i have done troubleshooting like this only to find it was something simple that i have overlooked is something i can relate to. You got it eventually, well done :)

[@BilisNegra]

Sincere congrats on keeping trying and saving that gem of a system!

[@luannvanh]

Conquers the demons in the machine. "Should be reliable moving forward"-> Immediately summons them again. Awesome you found the problem. Thanks for taking the time to film it.

[@wolfrobots118]

the way you paced that video to be very detailed and not boring was excellent. that was a really good video on trouble shooting.

[@howardbaldwin1226]

What a great result! You got there in the end. Top job!

[@hanspecans]

This is the very best kind of video. I love the stubborn persistence to figure out a problem like this.

[@NPrescott]

I am super happy you got this working again. I hate when I have similar issues that drive me nuts. Something so simple accidentally overlooked.

[@Omegapork]

Glad to see this unique behemoth up and running again! You did an excellent job with the troubleshooting.

[@dasmikko]

Congratulations on fixing it! I'm so happy to see that you found the issue and fixed it.

[@diegoknyte]

Ya i’ve done face-palm repairs too. As long as you find the problem in the end and have a great story to tell! Always a joy to watch someones’ success with a troublesome repair! 👍🏻

[@Eric-lr5ur]

Awesome troubleshooting bro. Well played and well repaired.

[@Daniel-it1dp]

So glad you got it fixed and brought us along for the ride. I hope it ends up in a good home where it will be appreciated.

[@ewansbuzz127]

What a great save! I am so glad you managed to get it working. I have had similar struggles and it is so rewarding when it works.

[@ericbauer4559]

Glad you found the problem! I day dreamed about this Mac as a young adolescent when it was released.

[@andrewcook495]

That is an absolutely wild ride. Glad you found the issue!

[@Pressbutan]

I really admire your ability to flow and troubleshoot down to the dumbest component level failure.

[@bobcarlson7729]

that was very satisfying to find such a intermittent problem. kudos on sticking it through!

[@FurbleFawks]

Genuinely hilarious video. It's lovely to see you getting it working again, I felt so bad for you last video!

[@timmooney7528]

Reminds me of a friend who would troubleshoot surface mount components with a tiny rubber headed mallet. Tapping on components would sometimes let you know if solder pads had cold solder joints. Too bad affordable phone mounted thermal camera modules didn't exist 30 years ago

[@ЙорданКирачен]

I really was sad last week when you didn't post a video. im glad you're back. love your videos.

[@ccoder4953]

As an electrical engineer who builds PCBs often, it's amazing how often it's something stupid - something not soldered, a tiny solder splash, something not plugged in, etc. That's why the first steps in troubleshooting are quick inspection for obviously broken components, voltage/continuity checks, and careful optical inspection under magnification.

[@jakthebomb]

It always makes sense to reflow all joints. Cold joints have caused havoc for loads of old tech.

[@garrettfuller8418]

It seems that the simplest or easily overlooked problems are often the culprit. I'm glad you got the CPU card fixed and restored this computer to its original glory.

[@MrDDawson]

NICE SAVE! Well done. That amazing CPU card deserves life and you brought it back!

[@SteampunkFiend]

That outro feels like the dramatic ending of a movie! Love it.

[@tr144]

Love the persistence, that you came back to it and figured it out. Logically with your amount of experience and knowledge something had to give. 😂 I verbally yelled “Yeah” 🤓 when you got it working. I was actually thinking about this at work the other day 😆 Happy you pushed on (after a needed break, as others have mentioned) and figured it out. What’s funny is how many times you mentioned the “heat sink flexing the motherboard“. Congratulations

[@moz2186]

So glad to see you fixed the problem. We all miss things, sometimes that rabbit hole is just too easy to fall into!

[@f937r]

Great job finding the issue! Glad to see this machine back to life

[@nhand42]

I'm glad you went back to this one. Another classic saved.

[@memsom]

Wow - this was my dream machine back in the early 2000's. I have a 9500 MP, and that was perfect for running BeOS, but this would probably be even sweeter. Given the case is not basically one giant blob of decaying plastic (like the 9500) it would also have longevity. I would totally buy it, but being in the UK, that seems like it could be extremely expensive and problematic. If you don't get a buyer, please comment on this message and we can discuss more.

[@thegoodguy44]

How much is it worth?

[@memsom]

@@thegoodguy44 potentially a lot. I mean, it is next to useless in modern computing terms... but from a historical and rarity stand point it is priceless.

[@shuwenchiang9544]

my powerpc 9500 1996's

[@DEMENTO01]

so glad to see this working now! I've had a lot of headaches over broken solder joints too, i sometimes will just try to bump random components when i cant make sense of things and sometimes i find one that wasnt soldered anymore and that was the problem (or part of it)

[@munnsie100]

Ha, what a novel issue! I’ve had some similar situations, where I give up and randomly find the solution later on. I’m glad you were able to fix it!

[@milky__1748]

Yesh!! What a ride!! So happy you pinpointed the issue and fixed it!!

[@draggonhedd]

hahah yes!! Awesome! Stopping and thinking about it for a bit was probably what you needed anyway. I'm SO HYPED you got it figured out! It's such a cool machine and you figured it out.

[@owmylehg7811]

Wait, are you actually selling it? That would be a huge bummer if you are.

[@SledgeFox]

Congratulations Mr. Holmes! Amazing detective work!

[@JamiesHackShack]

Woot! Glad you got it! Yelled out loud when you finally figured what the trouble was!

[@mmuww]

Great work!!! First video I watched on your channel was the one previous to this. So it was super awesome to be able to watch this immediately following it

[@rjaques60]

In 2005 I spotted one of these in a shop with the cover missing and basically stripped except for the quad cpu card. I had no idea what it was and the owner gave it to me. So I set about doing the internet thing and soon I had ram, a hard drive, etc. I couldn’t believe it was a quad cpu at 200 mhz. Had fun playing with. Even installed Linux and beos. Was a blast.

[@zik316]

Major props for not giving up. I don't post that much here but I had to give credit where credit was due.

[@spikester]

Thats a beautiful piece of hardware, good idea checking with the scope, you would have spotted the missing clocks eventually pointing directly to some other kind of board routing issue.

[@Imrooot]

Great story, with happy end. Well done!

[@mima85]

In my humble experience with computers, retrocomputing and electronic stuff in general (I'm also into vintage electronic music instruments), a lot of times the most puzzling and unnerving issues were caused by silly stuff like cold/broken solder joints, bad contacts, etc. I remember some years ago I spent months at scratching my head on my Roland D-50 synthesizer, which was intermittent at power on. Some times it would boot, some times not. I spent hours and days checking this and that, cleaning contacts, reflowing solder joints, replacing capacitors, just to realize at a certain point that the problem was due to the reset signal not being generated correctly. And that was because of a cold solder joint on an IC on the power supply. After reflowing the solder joints, the synth was rock solid. So, I definitely know how you felt when discovering the cause of your headache :-D This happens with software development too. I work as a programmer for a little software company, and if I'd have to write a book about all the times I got headaches chasing bugs and ghosts whose cause was trivial, that book would be think as a brick. Fixing the cause took seconds, finding it sometimes even days.

[@MartinPaoloni]

YEAHHHHHHH good job man! Taking a small break was definitely the right choice. Sometimes that's a necessary step in troubleshooting.

[@picklerick_91]

“fine… we’ll look at it again” i felt that in my soul 😅

[@PrayingToTheAlien]

I got to give it to you - those old macs can be such a pain the butt to work on! Its always the most obscure part that is the issue.

[@oleo007]

One of the best videos of your channel,I'm jumping when the chime play,Your breakdown analysis was absolutely fascinating, it always is, it's the little details that drive us crazy! Seeing your Genesis MP working makes me happy!

[@bouchert]

Very satisfying resolution! Your persistence is amazing.

[@LelandHasGames]

SO GLAD you went back and took a closer look. Congrats, my dude.

[@xephorce]

Nice, nothing like finding the unexpected problem and fixing it. thanks for the update

[@michaelscottcutler3627]

Great video! I'm currently working on another rare computer. A 1991, IBM clone laptop I found in the trash. It's a CMS, model NB386SX20-40. Very obscure machine. Virtually no information online. I'm doing a hinge repair and using a two-part System Three T-88 epoxy on the plastic. Seems like a very tight, strong bond. Just hope it functions properly when opening and closing the display lid. I'm also having trouble finding an appropriate AC adapter. I've looked everywhere. System batteries aren't available anymore, but I did locate a correct CMOS battery. What a project!!!

[@matsauc2787]

I love these troubleshooting videos, it reminds me of my days working in Data Centers!

[@slash-proc]

Congrats! This was super satisfying to watch.

[@Cyber_Horse_Studios87]

All that work… and it was a PASSIVE DELAY MODULE that crippled this thing??? …man I’m glad the system is fixed but I also feel SUPER bad that you went through all that…

[@Rivenworld]

Well done mate, easily missed but at last you found the cause, great job.

[@LusRetroSource]

It's great that you finally got it working. It's a machine that needs to be preserved.

[@FlintG]

Holy crap! I am so happy you got that to work again! That was such a stupid little problem that was causing it to not boot. Even I would have missed something like that lol.

[@Iskandarko]

Just brilliant. So happy that you’ve figured this out 🎉

[@Levi12O8]

something about the continuous power-on power-off near the end of the vid really tickled my brain. makes me happy seeing the machine working

[@mattsword41]

Congrats! Nothing more satisfying than *finally* fixing a problem that you just can't leave alone :)

[@mrashbryant]

Loved this one. So glad to see that it's not just me that has luck like this.

[@astyfoo]

I love how the is the universal joke in all computer videos is to not show how much thermal paste used, because of the number of know-it-alls who will tell you that you used the wrong amount no regardless of how much was applied. Great video!

[@mrwho30]

Wow, respect! That's a well done error searching and video work! Stay persistent and never give up! 😎👍

[@nikolayt9350]

This is an example of purposeful attitude! Bravo! 👍

[@kristjen86A]

Colin, that's fantastic news! Really glad you finally found the bloody problem! :D

[@Radenska512]

I'm happy for you. This looked so daunting but in the end so rewarding

[@GizmoTheGreen]

Glad it's sorted! had a similar issue on a blinkermodule on my old car!

[@hackthis02]

8:11 I love how applying thermal paste on camera has become a KZbin meme.

[@edyaldea1969]

Glad to see this rare computer working again! Good job!