Yo compacters everywhere, This continues to be a fun thread to watch as we all grope with the very origins of our cult here. On my latest digest, our Philip Stortz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> added some wise words with:
>...best to clean and lube that drive and hope for the best then. might also be >wise >to unplug and replug both ends of the cable a few times, it's probably >oxidized as >well, and perhaps the same with the ram. might be worth checking >the power supply >voltages before getting too into it as well, they do tend to >go bad with age even if >not used. Ah... going inside to clean Our Holy Grail itself. All who fuss inside a 128k Mac may appreciate these coupla fine points of the 128k which haven't been this way since the 512k/512ke: That 400k floppy drive (a type 32 I believe) is controlled with several little red lights and light sensors rather than (oddly) the more ancient microswitches of our more modern floppy drives. When you go hosing WD-40 all over the working parts of your 400k drive to clean and lube it, those light sensors are not going to like it one bit. So be sure to use copious amounts of alcohol to swab out the light awitch assemblies. Mine have taken several passes of swabbing and several days of drying before these light sensors were happy. Uh...My 128k Macs have had the RAM hard soldered to the motherboard so yours may be just as unremovable as mine. I understand some 512k Macs thus possibly some 128k Macs had RAM in sockets. Don't be surprised you can't remove it. Does our man-with-the-meter, Jeff Garrison, have voltage numbers or ranges for the 128k? Are they the same as later Macs for which Jeff has supplied voltage values? Does a Pina tome or other reference have them? Close to a year ago, one of our listers (A. Daniel King? Bryan Kattwinkel?) posted a very well done multi-pictured how-to guide for cleaning and adjusting the light sensor limit switches. I cannot find the citation for that site in my notes. Perhaps, if the site is still posted, our fellow lister will pop up and share it with us again. In my tours of thriftshops and such places where precious Mac parts are found, I keep my eye opened for the Apple M130 external floppy drive. Unless it has been replaced with an 800k drive, you will likely find a low milage type 32 400k floppy drive in there. These ususally sell for a buck or two. Considering that the 400k floppy is the most failure prone of near impossible to get or substitute parts inside of a 128k, these M130 external floppy drives are VALUABLE! I found one still new sealed in the box for $10. My best 128k now has a brand new floppy. With a never to be exhausted supply of Plus analog boards, this 128k is gonna live forever. Good fortune to each and everyone of you with your 128k projects. Bill -- Compact Macs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/>. Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Compact Macs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/compact.shtml> The FAQ: <http://macfaq.org/> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/compact.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
