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ATPM 7.07
July 2001

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The Legacy Corner

by Edward Goss, egoss@atpm.com

Welcome to The Legacy Corner. Each month we will feature items of interest to owners of older, “experienced” pre-G3 Macs. If you have something you would like to see, or an interesting item you would like to share, e-mail me.

This month I received a nice letter from Bob Kolquist, who is the Technical Services Consultant at SchoolVision, Inc.:

Edward, I am not sure if you are aware of my “Macintosh Plus Web Server.” It has been up and running for over 3 years. Before Y2K, its clock was set 5 years in the future to demo Y2K with a Mac Plus. Since it is a moot point now, I left it, since the Mac is 5 years ahead of its time anyway. Bob Kolquist

You can learn about Bob’s little Mac Plus chugging along.

legacy-mac-plus-se30

Bob’s Mac Plus with an SE/30 next to it running Apple IP Gateway.

Trivia

Each month we feature a few legacy Mac trivia questions. The answers are at the end of the column. If you have a trivia question you would like to include, e-mail me.

  • The two hard drives available in what Mac model were nicknamed “Elwood” and “Jake” as an obvious reference to The Blues Brothers?
  • Carl Sagan sued Apple because they “illegally” used his name as the code word for which Mac computer model?

Links

The Legacy Corner would also like to provide links to good Web sites that promote older Mac use and help. If you know of a good site please e-mail me and I’ll post it in a future column.

This month I learned of a very interesting site from a reader in Texas named Jag. He has a wealth of information on classic Macs, including software downloads, hints and tricks, and advice on keeping your Mac as up-to-date as possible with current software. Stop in, sign the Guestbook, and tour JagsHouse. I’m sure you’ll find something of interest. And, for music fans in the Sonic Youth/guitar rock genre, you can even download samples of music Jag has recorded with various bands over the last 15 years!

Tips

My Tips advice last month about changing your PRAM battery generated this letter from Mark:

Change your battery? I’ve never changed a battery in any Mac. They’re all chipping away (including a Mac IIsi). Perhaps you could tell us exactly what horrible thing will happen if we fail to replace it anyway. To my knowledge, it just won’t keep your PRAM settings when you power down, so you’ll have to get a new battery then and reconfigure your control panels, etc.

Before I could fire off an answer, reader David helped me out with this comment:

Re: Mark’s question about PRAM batteries.

A number of models do not function without a PRAM battery. There are many models affected including the small pizza box LC/Performa/Quadra family of machines and the Power Mac 6100. Without a battery the Mac will seem to start up (chime, hard disk activity), but the built-in video will never activate.

Thanks, David. I couldn’t have said it better myself. Some people like preventive maintenance, and some people drive their cars until they have to be towed to the repair shop. It’s your choice. Remember, you can leave a comment about any of the ATPM columns or reviews on-line. Just visit the ATPM Web site and check them out!

Quote Of The Month

A reader made me laugh real hard with this unattributed quote: “85% of the computer users in the US use the Windows operating system. 85% of the drivers in the US are idiots. Coincidence? Hmm.”

Trivia Answers

  • The PowerBook 100 series. They were supplied by Conner. Elwood was a 40 MB drive, and Jake was a 20 MB drive.
  • The Power Mac 7100/66.

• • •

Have a great month! Ed Goss, the doyen of ATPM.

appleCopyright © 2001 Edward Goss, egoss@atpm.com.

Also in This Series

Reader Comments (5)

anonymous · July 4, 2001 - 12:35 EST #1
You missed the best part of the Sagan saga. After the legal action by our buddy Carl, the code name was changed to BHA--for butt-hole astronomer.
Ed Goss (ATPM Staff) · July 4, 2001 - 17:00 EST #2
Actually, I left that part out in deference to Carl's passing, but the complete rest of the story is that, sadly, Carl tried to sue Apple for that too.
Terry Rezek · July 17, 2001 - 14:59 EST #3
About the PRAM Battery, Part 3(?): My wife's APS mPower 604/200 (a StarMax Clone), which was graciouosly handed down to her when I got my G3, will NOT boot when the battery dies. I (and a professional Mac repair guy) both thought it was the power supply, but when he tested the it, all the voltages were there. After much painstaking lead tracing, I discovered that the keyboard power-on switch was fed by the battery and, in turn, operated a silicon switch in the power supply. No battery = No boot! A $12 generic replacement solved the problem. Incidentally, my 13-year-old Mac II started acting flaky a few years ago after running reliably for 9 years. The batteries are soldered to the motherboard on those early models and the possiblity of obtaining a replacement or a repair out in the California Desert were slim - until I realized that the batteries were the same physical size and had the same power ratings as batteries that I used in my 35 mm SLR. A few snips, some silvered lead wire and a judicious soldering iron soon got Ol' Mac back on the road. I'm now prepping it for a web server.
dwight robinson · July 17, 2001 - 17:03 EST #4
What's the cheapest way to upgrade my 9500/132 to G3 or G4 power?
Wayne Daniels · October 8, 2001 - 21:12 EST #5
Fascinating! Splendid! I'm a new reader but an old Macaholic. Hardy Menagh put me on to you, and I'm a fan already. Good luck and continued success.

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