Mac SE1/40

ambro25

I've recently been gifted a Mac SE1/40 in reasonable nick, but with wrong keyboard/mouse (keyboard has what looks like an RJ-45 plug, and mouse has what looks like a serial (DB9) plug).

Two queries to you Apple luminaries, if you please:

(i) Even if there's no keyb or mouse plugged in, should the thing boot to a GUI on startup? I've plugged it in, switched it on, and all I've got is a grey screen with an arrow pointer in the top left corner.

(ii) Assuming the thing's not fried and either it's only supposed to work with keyb+mouse plugged in or it's just a matter of reloading the OS, anyone here knows where I can get hold of compatible keyb & mouse for the thing, or has those available for cheep-cheep-cheap by any chance? (aside from the obvious: eBay :rolleyes: )

Best Regards from a long-lost friend (after the usual string of C64/AtariST/Amigas, my first 'real' computer was a monobloc Mac in... 1989!)

SouperComputer

IIRC it should boot to the OS without a keyboard.

Do you get a "Happy Mac" when you start it?

The only place I can think of where you "might" get a keyboard and mouse is www.electronic-recycling.ie

I thought the SE used ADB keyboards no?

ambro25

You again!

No "Happy Mac" I'm afraid. I take it's bad, Doctor?

What is ADB, may I ask? Is it one of these PS/2 or DIN looky-likey sockets at back? Or one of the (still proprietary, by the looks) rectangular sockets in the middle?

Thx for linkie, sent'em an email. You just never know (though I'll probably give it a miss if they ask for something stupid, e.g. €20 or some such).

... :cool: ...

Anyone want a maybe-working Mac SE1/40?

SouperComputer

Yup, me again!

if you get no happy mac at all that could be bad, do you even get a sad mac or a chime?

/fires up Classic II

It boots fine with the keyboard disconnected, I got a happy mac too.

ADB, yea, prettymuch looks like PS2.

Crack it open and reseat everything, you never know it might come to life. Maybe turn it on without the HD conneced in case its causing a hang.

tonyboy247

It will boot without a keyboard/mouse connected …..if you have a screen with a question mark system needs to be installed… ADB is apple desktop bus… it was a network topology they had many moons ago …you need the correct k/b and mouse. Shame I chucked a pile of them away 2 weeks ago.. prob have mice and cables if you want..

ambro25

SouperComputer wrote:

if you get no happy mac at all that could be bad, do you even get a sad mac or a chime?.

Nope. Squat all. A 'beep' then the 'blank GUI' (I take it's a GUI and not static, since the mouse arrow pointer is displayed). I thought that since I got a pointer and nothing else, maybe the OS was on the HDD and my friend wiped it before dropping it to me? (It's been nearly 20 years since my last exposure to Macs!)

SouperComputer wrote:

Crack it open and reseat everything, you never know it might come to life. Maybe turn it on without the HD conneced in case its causing a hang

Only time I'm ever gonna prise this puppy open is to "wintelify" it with a mini or nano ITX (if I ever get the time and I don't bin... sorry, offer it to an enthusiast first)

TempestSabre

http://www.clubmac.ie/
http://www.2ndchancepc.co.uk/

Maybe it needs a CMOS battery or something?

Ask over here
http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.shtml

ambro25

Thanks for that, but I'v decided to give it away free to the first person who collects it from D16 (currently in FS Computer Hardware, no interest so far ), as suddenly no time left at all + short space.

Someone save it from the skip, puuuleeease

niallb

Does it have one or two floppy drives?
Not all those machines had a hard drive at all!
The 1/40 though suggests 1MB RAM and a 40M disk.
If there's two floppies, one needs to go to make room for the HDD.
I probably have a drive or two that would fit.

You should be able to download a bootable floppy image
of OS 7.5.3 (the latest freely available version)
Stick it on a floppy, and try again.
(System 6 would work even better. All of it fits on a floppy.)
If there's a wiped drive in the machine, it'll show up.
This assumes it's got the superdrive floppy
which is PC compatible. If it's old 800k disks, then
you're out of luck.

I'd suggest zapping the PRAM, but without a keyboard,
that's not so easy!

NiallB