Keith,

Have you seen or heard of electrolytic capacitors on pre-SE/30 compact Macs
leaking? These would all be through-hole capacitors, which hold up quite
well compared to SMD ones. Apple didn't switch to SMD caps on compact Macs
until the SE/30. The general consensus on earlier compact Macs is to leave
the caps alone unless there is a (rare) problem (e.g smell a fishy smell).
Of course, they can and will die eventually, and leak their fluid. It's
just not common.

*Much* more common is the battery leaking, and you noted that problem.
That's my vote. Or if it's a Plus or has any kind of internal upgrade, the
SIMMs or upgrade board may be loose.

Best,
Jerri

On Tue, Feb 5, 2019 at 4:12 PM 'Keith Jamison' via Vintage Macs <
[email protected]> wrote:

> Hi Ian,
>
> I'm with Jerri Kohl on this.
>
> A SAD MAC indicates an issue with the hardware. That means it could be
> missing or faulty RAM, leaked capacitors or some other faulty component.
> That is always down to the digital board (logic board, motherboard).
>
> The fact that it powers on does not exclude the analog board where the
> power supply and video circuits are found. Some of the power circuits may
> be out of tolerance (age related and a result of temperatures and old
> components) and as such they may not be feeding the correct voltages back
> to the digital board.
>
> If this is what you see:
> Sad Mac icon <http://apple.wikia.com/wiki/Sad_Mac_icon>
>
> Sad Mac icon
>
> A Sad Mac is a symbol used by older-generation Apple Macintosh computers
> (hardware using the Old World ROM), sta...
> <http://apple.wikia.com/wiki/Sad_Mac_icon>
>
> Then it would be helpful to know what the two numbers are under the sad
> Mac.
>
> The symbol for no system folder (i.e. no disk with a system file) is this
> (see Figure 1):
>
> How to Generate Floppy Disks for Old Macintosh Computers - Hardware Secrets
> <https://www.hardwaresecrets.com/how-to-generate-floppy-disks-for-old-macintosh-computers/>
>
> How to Generate Floppy Disks for Old Macintosh Computers - Hardware Secrets
>
> Gabriel Torres
>
> Did you buy an old Macintosh computer, but it didn’t come with programs
> and the operating system disks? In this ...
>
> <https://www.hardwaresecrets.com/how-to-generate-floppy-disks-for-old-macintosh-computers/>
>
> If you are not handy with a soldering iron, you may be able to find
> someone local, or certainly within a reasonable distance who can replace
> the electrolytic capacitors and any other damaged components.
>
> This image shows some deposits around the capacitors on the digital board:
>
> http://crasno.ca/articles/img/MacIIciBadCaps.jpg
>
> This image shows the rear of the Macintosh Plus
>
> http://www.vectronicscollections.org/apple/images/macintoshplus/msnap2.jpg
>
> If you zoom into the image, you can see in the left hand column Model
> Number M0001A which identifies the Plus.
>
> This image shows a Macintosh 512k:
>
>
> http://www.vectronicscollections.org/apple/images/macintosh512k/macintosh512K_msnap2.jpg
>
> Over towards the power switch, above the characters 512K is the Model
> Number M0001W
>
> This image shows a Macintosh 128k:
>
>
> https://www.filfre.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/AwgXEL5dnYbIVWuo.medium.jpg
>
> Again, towards the power switch, the Model Number is given as M0001
>
> This is important for the following reason. Some folks chose to upgrade
> their original Macs by sending it back to Apple. Apple removed the original
> logic board, installed a new logic board and, as some external connections
> may have been different from the original, they installed a new back to
> reflect the actual logic board inside.
>
> This means that some original 128k and 512k Macs have Plus logic boards
> and Plus backs while the front of the casing still looks like a 128k or a
> 512k. The front casing should also have a SERIAL NUMBER label beside the
> brightness control, you will have to tip the computer carefully onto it's
> back to see the label and it likely refers to the original build, not the
> upgraded version.
>
> If you have a 128K, 512K or Plus, there should be a battery compartment
> above the power switch. The compartment is a little larger than a AA
> battery. Hopefully there is no battery in there, or, if there is a battery,
> hopefully it hasn't leaked.
>
> I'm still leaning towards some leaky electrolyte on the digital board. It
> can bridge circuit connections and cause spurious short circuits.
>
> Hope this helps you to determine the model and diagnose the fault.
>
> Keith
>
>
>
>
> On Sunday, 27 January 2019, 11:25:21 GMT, Ian <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>
> Hi, folks,
>
> I have an early Mac, it has the square RJ11 keyboard connector, DB mouse
> connector and a single floppy drive.
>
> It boots to the screen, but displays the "sad mac" icon, as I do not
> have a startup disk.
>
> I understand that this is a 400 k, single-sided disk.
>
> I do have another Mac, but it's an SE30 with the double-sided
> higher-capacity drives.
>
> So, (i) can I get a suitable disk from you or one of your members, or
> (ii) is it possible to make a 400 k boot disk on my SE30 (I have plenty
> of spare disks).
>
> I do have a complete set of setup disks for System 6 and System 7, but I
> understand that these will also have the incompatible high-capacity format.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Ian Batty, Secretary, Historical Radio Society of Australia,
>
> 79 Rosebud Avenue,
>
> Rosebud, 3939, Victoria
>
> mob' 0402 736 527
>
>
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