On Sun, 16 Aug 1998, Tony Duell wrote:
It's not that hard to open up a Mac, given that
extra-long Torx driver.
I've got a straight-blade screwdriver that fits.
:-). The right tool is better though.
Yes, but I don't feel like hunting down (and paying for) a tool that's
really only good for this one job. I've only got the one Mac, and I don't
plan on opening it too frequently.
Now, if I got a whole truck-load of old Macs and was threatened with death
if I didn't open them all up, I'd certainly want the proper tool. :)
[re: logic probes]
A cheap one is easily good enough for most classics. I
used to use a
cheap Tandy/Radio Shack one a lot - although it was only a 10MHz unit, it
was enough for just about every computer I repaired. I've since bought an
HP one, but that's because I also do _design_, not because I need it for
classic computer work.
I just bought a 'cheap' Radio Shack logic probe today, also 10MHz.
Unfortunately, tonight I was powering it with a cheap Radio Shack power
adapter, and it was screetching and had the PULSE light on no matter where
I made contact. So probably I need a power supply with better filtering.
I know that when I used to use this very same power supply with my
Walkman, there was a very audible (and annoying) hum.
Anyway, I don't know what the heck I'm doing with this thing yet. But
I've only used it for a few minutes. I didn't find the problem with the
Mac, but that'll come in time.
I also did a very dumb thing today in that I bought the wrong connectors
for the Mac->Amiga mouse cable I wanted to build. I bought one of each
sex, which any lame-brained dimwit would recognize as wrong as the two
machines in question use ports of the opposite sex.
If I had accidentally bought two female plugs, at least I could've tested
the Mac mouse on the Amiga.
My excuse is that I haven't managed to get more than 4 hours sleep on any
night so far this week. :)
At least I'll be building up a 'spare parts bin' like the rest of you. :)
<lots of good advice about scopes snipped>
Thanks for the advice and info, Tony!
-tony
Doug Spence
ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca
http://alcor.concordia.ca/~ds_spenc/