Will This Mac Crush My Spirit? The Cursed LC575 - iiiDIY

[@iiidiy]

WARNING: DO NOT WORK WITH CORROSIVE CHEMICALS OR POWER SUPPLIES UNLESS YOU ARE TRAINED IN THE CORRECT SAFETY PRECAUTIONS. ALSO... It's July of 2024 and DaVinci Resolve STILL doesn't have a spell-check feature in their text generator... so reply to this comment with your favorite typo!

[@iiidiy]

13:17 - "Techknight"

[@iiidiy]

23:51 - "Techknight"

[@iiidiy]

24:45 - "THETechknight"

[@iiidiy]

13:21 - "Confirm" (singular)

[@douro20]

Nickel salts are also extremely toxic.

[@mattyb33ts]

Absolutely amazing. The amount of work... incredible. The actual repair & attention to detail is one thing, but doing all of that AND having great camera work... mad skills. Proud to be a supporter.

[@iiidiy]

Thanks Matty! Are you M.B. from Patreon? If so, I'll drop you a message sometime to nerd-out about JBL speakers & audio :)

[@homeforobsoletetechnology]

Seeing this project coming to a disappointing end like this hurts. You have my full respect for continuing for so long! I wish you all the best and sincerely hope the PC comes back to life eventually

[@mac27collection]

What a gnarly project this one turned out to be; can't wait to see that board running again!

[@brianclimbs1509]

Man, I could really feel your pain in this one... But you are also doing an amazing job documenting this process for other people who attempt such a restoration in the future. I truly applaud you for your herculean efforts here, and I'm really glad that you have people supporting you in this journey!

[@iiidiy]

Thank you, very kind of you to say :)

[@BigBadBench]

I like that you drive with your gloves on.

[@iiidiy]

Wait, wait... you DON'T?!

[@BilisNegra]

Many people, me for one, don't feel comfortable appearing on camera, but this is a whole new level.

[@beerdiaryshootinmcdaniel8063]

we tossed a performa 575 years ago. was my personal one back in 1993 or 1994 maybe 95. Loved that thing, took it to a repair guy who couldnt fix it. Wish i still had it.

[@bakkus82]

Brutal! And as usual, a _perfectly_ put-together and composed video. This is the shadow side of this hobby - the stuff that just does not work, no matter how much we hack at it. Just realized I'm not on your patreon, so that's fixed now

[@iiidiy]

Thank you for the empathy, encouragement, AND support over on Patreon!! ❤️

[@MikesArcadeMonitorRepair]

Good lord! What a mess. Great job with the perseverance. Will be patiently waiting on the update.

[@JamiesHackShack]

Wow! Way to not give up on it! Beautifully done video. Enjoyed it very much and excited to see what happens next with this system.

[@iiidiy]

Thank you! I'm excited too - the board will be in good hands :)

[@JeffGeerling]

Is this video the beginnings of a Mac84 workshop setup with piles of old Macs covering every surface and test equipment buried in the rubble?

[@iiidiy]

Hah, with all the love and respect to Mac84, I hope not! :)

[@kirbyyasha]

Poor Macintosh. I can totally feel your frustration there. You lasted longer than I would have.

[@mcbeav]

Love your content and dedication!

[@LeSpameurYT]

Congratulations for all this work, it’s just crazy ! An excellent video once again ;)

[@iiidiy]

Thanks, glad it was fun to watch, despite the end result! ;)

[@newportshapwick]

Keep at it! A long, long time ago when all ic were dip packaged, I had a board which ran fine and then a while later, stop. It was a big densely packed board and it took me weeks to find the fault which turned out to be one leg of an i.c. was bent up under itself and to all appearances looked absolutely fine as if it was just a normal pin through the board, but once the board had warmed up, the leg/package acted like a thermostat and lifted the leg off the pad!

[@iiidiy]

Oh my goodness! That fault would drive me crazy! Haha

[@jubjunior]

Amazing work!

[@sim61642]

The LC575 Looks like some kind of retro robot dog thats been told to sit and is looking at you expectingly.

[@DavidPlass]

I think many of us have "been there, done that". I hope you get some resolution soon, and you can finish this project.

[@jryankennedy12]

The care and attention you put into these videos **chef's kiss.** Just subscribed to your Patreon.

[@iiidiy]

Wow, thank you for the kind words AND joining the club! :) Much appreciated!

[@BeniD82]

These are all learning experiences, as frustrating as they may be. Might be a good thing for you to put everything away for a little while and then pick back up when you've recovered some. I can definitely relate to that frustration :) You've done a great job so far, and I'm sure your tenacity will pay off, at the very least once you hear the successful startup chime :) Keep at it!

[@iiidiy]

Thanks for the encouragement! :)

[@JohnVance]

I had one of these like 20 years ago when it was already very obsolete. I ran Debian on it from a SCSI ZIP drive and felt like a god.

[@iiidiy]

That's fun! I never got Linux going on my old 68k Mac back in the day - didn't try very hard, but it seemed like a pain. Booting from a ZIP drive sounds... slow :)

[@JohnVance]

@@iiidiy Decently fast actually since there was no GUI. It had to bootstrap from within Mac OS for some technical reason. It was a lot of fun at any rate.

[@jonathanhalewood5902]

Don't be too discouraged - sometimes things don't go well, and it's absolutely not a reflection of your efforts! Part of being good at this sort of stuff is to know when to walk away and take a break from a project!

[@iiidiy]

So true, thank you!

[@cla3d]

I have had this happen to me. It took me a year to fix an se/30 logic board that I almost sent out several times when I felt like I had to give up. But taking time off from it several times gave my brain a rest and eventually I found the problem and fixed the board without help. That was the reward and when I look back the fun of the whole thing. Once it was fixed I was sad I didn't have something to work on. Its a love hate thing you have to settle into. I am sure you will figure it out. Love your videos

[@iiidiy]

Thank you for the encouragement! And I'm getting to know the love-hate relationship well :) Happy to hear you have a working SE/30 in the end!!

[@InitialiseDisk]

Multiple failures are the absolute worst. You fix one thing and realise that nothing has changed or (happens a lot to me) you realise you’ve actually made it worst. Btw I’m really impressed with how much equipment you have. I’m still debating whether or not I want to buy to buy a plastic crate for retrobright. I really hope you get this fixed as you’ve put so much time and effort in it would be a real bummer if it doesn’t work. Good luck!

[@iiidiy]

Thanks ID! I've definitely gotten carried away with the tools (toys) this year... gonna have to cool it for a while :)

[@sandycheeks7865]

I’ve worked on a lot of 80s and 90s macs. Whilst I want boards to live, and the 575 is worth a lot to collectors, that board was too far gone. All that corrosion will be under every chip, inside every trace, and it’s effectively riddled with stage 3 cancer. You can’t take eggs out of a baked cake. I’ve also suffered from spending too much time time on stuff like this and it really can affect your mental health. You have to compartmentalise, take away what you learned (including ‘never again will in travel this road’) and at worst, junk/give away those parts so that other machines will live. Run it with a CC board until a remade 575 board appears or you manage to buy/swap/find one in better condition. Oh and switch surface mount electrolytic with non-polarised ceramic ones. They’ll never leak. Replacing like for like is just resetting the timer on a well known time bomb.

[@iiidiy]

Fair points all around! You're totally right, but a lot of this project (and most of my projects) are for the fun of the challenge. When it stops being fun, it stops being a hobby and I have to walk away / pass it onto someone else that would enjoy the challenge. Regarding caps, sometimes I like to use tants instead of electrolytics, but it depends what I have on-hand, how much I want to spend, and how "original" I want the board to look. I don't mind resetting the clock for 10-20 years and mark the boards with the date they were completed so I have a reminder. If these were mission-critical machines, I'd look at this differently, but it's a low-stakes tinkering hobby for me, so just a matter of personal preference :)

[@rlima81]

You have some nice retro computers there! Keep up the good work this video was awesome to watch

[@iiidiy]

Thank you!

[@MI7DJT]

I wanted this to work so bad!! I have to admire your attempts mate but sadly this one was too far gone. Thanks for sharing!!

[@iiidiy]

Me too... me too. I'm glad there are more talented people willing to chip in!

[@MI7DJT]

@@iiidiy It works both ways my friend. Even the best learn from your exploits ;)

[@priosmithxd]

Nice Video, I like this kind of ASMR Satisfying Restoration. I had a kind of sweet spot in my heart for the LC575. Thanks for trying.

[@iiidiy]

Thanks, I think with the team of talented folks helping now, we'll get it over the finish line!

[@toddholcomb1]

Helluva effort!

[@tony359]

Oh I can relate to that. I have had a Color Classic in pieces on my workbench for a while. I haven't given up on that thing. How unreliable those things are??? I was a bit surprised by your ultrasonic, I thought it would do a better job at cleaning corrosion to be honest. Have you tried using vinegar as solution? It might help. But maybe I won't buy one if I then still have to scrape everything by myself! :) Too bad about the plating. I haven't got space for that and always gone for "cold galvanising paint". Not as effective and elegant as plating but it works pretty well to me.

[@iiidiy]

Yeah, the Color Classic can be a headache too :) I'm quite happy with the ultrasonic - it's good for a pretty thorough wash. I use electronics cleaner diluted in distilled water, and it does a pretty good job of getting gunk and flux off. I haven't tried vinegar yet, though this 575 would've been a prime candidate for that! If you're expecting US to take away corroded solder mask, it won't do that - at least mine doesn't. It's just a time saver that reduces how much manual scrubbing you do and can get to places a brush can't. I was very disappointed in the plating. I saved the nickel solution to have another try at plating another time. Thanks for the tip - I was planning on going for galvanized paint of some sort, if the board can be fixed... now I have the correct phrase, thanks!

[@tony359]

@@iiidiy not expecting US to remove corrosion under the solder mask but definitely to do a better job at removing the green stuff. I use SWAS from Electrolube - it's expensive but I've been re-using mine for ages. It's designed for US, I use it manually. It removes a lot of oxidation, I'd imagine it would work like a charm in an US. Galvanising paint looks ok and it can be conductive (not chrome plating conductive but if you screw something on it it won't isolate) but it's a bit delicate unfortunately. My CC shields are no better than yours. The ones on the analogue board got the galvanising paint as they were covered in rust. They look ok now. The big shield will just be cleaned as it's not so bad. I look forward to the next episode, I'm sure TheTechKnight can sort that out!

[@theghit]

Oh man, I suffered with you on this one !

[@charlessale409]

Lovely old thing. Good luck.

[@rass1959]

I have three of those at least two of them 575s that work. I got one for 75 bucks work great but I’ve kept them all inside and or in a shed that was covered so the problem is you picked it up at a junkyard and that’s why I was there too much moisture too much anyway I have about 100 max at homeand all about two or three of them don’t work and they’re not really rare

[@danielktdoranie]

I would have taken one look at that LC575 and said “that’s a parts computer, if that”. Some stuff is just way too far gone bro

[@iiidiy]

You are 100% right. But also....

[@OctavioGaitan]

Loved this video! Don't feel too bad. I'm sure you tried your best. I wish schools weren't so cruel with their old computers. I mean, come on. There's still people like us computer heads who would love to own a Molar G3 and repurpose it. Those Molar G3s are getting extremely rare. I hope the ones shown at the beginning of this video went to good homes instead of the land fill.

[@iiidiy]

Those awful storage conditions are thanks to a private buyer that got ALL the computers from a closed school. The buyer isn't into tech, just saw a flipping opportunity, and hasn't cared for them at all. It's heartbreaking to see, and I took on as many as I could. At least they are selling them for cheap, so the computers will eventually find their way to new homes.

[@OctavioGaitan]

@@iiidiy Cool to know. :)

[@ConnerWithAnE_]

What liquid do you have in your ultra sonic cleaner?

[@iiidiy]

Chemtronics Flux-Off Aqueous. It seems to work fine, but I don't have experience with anything else, so take that with a grain of salt :)

[@DavidStahlOLDHAPPyMACs]

WoW I feel your pain & suffering iiiDIY Im sure they TheTechNight & Big Bad Biologist will be able to help you out

[@iiidiy]

Thank you Dave! I have complete faith in their abilities. I'm very lucky to have talented friends :)

[@jjohnson71958]

can it run an amd k6 cpu?

[@DolezalPetr]

Putting a board with electrolytic capacitors on it into an ultrasonic cleaner will destroy the capacitors, never do that! Edit: Unless you replace them of course :)

[@JamieBainbridge]

I would have given up on this. About the time I'm cannibalizing good working systems is where I consider it too far gone. Cool journey you went on tho. Apply those skills to other systems :)

[@iiidiy]

Taking one look at the board should've been "too far gone" haha! But rest assured, the parts were only borrowed for troubleshooting. They're going back on the 475 soon, before this 575 board gets shipped out.

[@mcbeav]

What discord are you referring to?

[@iiidiy]

It's called "Retro Electronics Repair", run by Techknight

[@mcbeav]

@@iiidiy Thanks! Can you possibly share a link?

[@iiidiy]

@@mcbeav I don't know if this link will work, but you can try it: discord.com/channels/865380038937542687/865914693898076180

[@mcbeav]

@@iiidiy No dice, thanks for trying.

[@mdrumt]

PCBWay a new motherboard? 😉

[@iiidiy]

Hah! If only my KiCAD skills were strong enough! :) I know you're kidding, but I do hope one day someone makes a "reloaded" version of this board... that'd be really cool!

[@TheBasementChannel]

lol this is epic!

[@jjohnson71958]

next time bro just buy a replacement lc575 motherboard

[@iiidiy]

I'm no billionaire... just a regular working guy ;)

[@jjohnson71958]

@@iiidiy i would.. and it would save me time and hassle

[@Jdvc-yd5tx]

It will be good when these types of shows could be 100% computer generated. Like you said it's dangerous work - corrosive chemicals and 25 KVs.