Macintosh SE/30

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A popular system for hobbyists due to the compact size and expansion capabilities. The SE/30 is powered by a Motorola 68030 at 16MHz with FPU. The system is known to support up to 128MB memory, though you will either need a 32-bit clean ROM or run with 32-bit addressing enabled in the software side.

Replaces the Macintosh SE model which was based on the Motorola 68000 CPU.

Expansion

There is a single "SE/30 PDS" expansion port, though you are able to get creative with PDS adapters in order to fit multiple expansion cards inside the chassis. Ethernet is probably one of the most popular options, along with CPU accelerators.

Troubleshooting

Jittery Video

Description: This common problem is not mentioned on the RMS webpage. It's usually caused by problems in the 4 pin connector (marked "P5" on the analog card) interface between the analog card and the CRT yoke. One or more pins in the analog card connector develop bad solder joints. A bad solder joint can cause excessive heating which causes heat corrosion in the associated pins within the 2 connectors. The heat corrosion will cause discoloration of the white connector shells.

Repair:

  1. Verify that the lug of the black/white ground wire from the CRT neck video card is firmly screwed down.
  2. If it is loose, tighten the screw and retest before doing following steps.
  3. On analog card, remove old solder from all 4 pin connections and resolder all 4 pins.
  4. If there is connector discoloration: Identify which pin pair is closest to discoloration. Scrape down the male pin with sharp pointed xacto knife blade. Use tweezers or needle nose pliars to compress the female pin so that has tighter grip on male pin.

Replacement Tantalum Capacitors

REF DES   CAPACITANCE   VOLTAGE    CHIP CASE    REPLACEMENT    MANUFACTURER
         (microFarads)   (VDC)       CODE       PART NUMBER

              1.0         50 <--(ORIGINAL PART RATING)
              1.0         35          B         TAJB105K035R     AVX
C6            1.0         25          B         293D105X9025B2T  Sprague
              1.0         35          B         293D105X9055B2T  Sprague
              1.0         25          B         T491A105K025AS   Kemet
              1.0         35          B         T491B105M035AS   Kemet

C1,C3          47         16 <--(ORIGINAL PARTS RATING)
C4,C5          47         16          C         (Available)
C7,C8          47         16          D         293D476X9016D2T  Sprague
C9,C10         47         16          D         T491D476K016AS   Kemet
C12,C13        47         16          D         ECS-T1CD476R     Panasonic

Dimensions:
CASE     EIA       Length      Width
CODE     SIZE

 A       3216      0.126 "     0.063 "
                    3.2 mm      1.6 mm
 B       3528      0.138       0.110
                    3.5         2.8
 C       6032      0.236       0.126
                    6.0         3.2
 D       7343      0.287       0.170
                    7.3         4.3

A Bright Vertical Line in the Black Monitor

Symptoms

When starting up Mac SE/30, only a bright vertical line is shown in the black monitor. The width of the vertical line is approximately 5 mm. During start-up, you can see moving raster patterns in the vertical line. You can hear spinning sound of the hard disk drive also. The hard drive seems to be OK, and the vertical line seems to show the startup picture though very compressed to 5mm in width.

Diagnosis

  • The horizontal sweep circuit on the analog board is broken.
  • Ageing and/or cracks in the soldering of either (1) P1 connector, (2) C15 electrolytic capacitor (3.9uF, 35V, 85degree C, HighFrequency, NonPolar) or (3) L2 variable inductor on the analog board is the major cause of the problem.
  • The most frequent cause is soldering failure of the P1 connector due to ageing and/or cracks. In this case, you will see the burnt and/or charred P1 connector.

Solutions

The first thing to do is to check the connector, capacitor or the inductor, and then desolder, clean and resolder them. If the problem still persists, replace the parts with new ones.

A Fine Vertical Line in the Black Monitor

The First Thing To Do Is To Turn Off The Power!!!!!!!!!!!

Symptoms

Mac SE/30 shows a fine vertical line in the black monitor. In addition, you may be able to see and/or smell smoke coming up from the SE/30. It's burning. Shut off the SE/30 immediately, and pull out the power plug.

Diagnosis

  • The horizontal sweep circuit on the analog board is broken.
  • The R19 resistor (220 ohm, 1/4W, 5%) on the analog board is burnt out.

Solutions

Check the R19. If it is burnt, cracked and/or charred, replace it with a new one.

Herringbone Pattern Regardless of Startup

Symptoms

When turning on the SE/30, the monitor is wavy and shows herringbone rasters. Sometimes with startup bong and smile Mac, sometimes without startup bong nor smile Mac.

Diagnosis

  • One cause is a trouble of the flyback transformer on the analog board at reference T2. The T2 flyback transformer is shielded by a metal cage, and a cable with an anode cap is attached on its top.
  • For SE/30, three versions of the flyback transformer were used as listed below.
    • 157-0042A
    • 157-0042B
    • 157-0042C
  • You can identify the version/parts number by the label attached on the side of the flyback.
  • This trouble has been found most frequently in the early lots of SE/30, in which the 157-0042A flyback was installed. The later lots of SE/30 even with the 157-0042B or 157-0042C version also can show the same trouble because of ageing and degradation of the flyback transformer.

Solutions

Replace the flyback transformer with new one. Don't use 157-0042A. Use 157-0042B or 157-0042C. Even if the flyback you can get is a used one, check its version.

Monitor Black Out with/without Startup

Symptoms

As to the symptoms when turning on the power, there are four types including

  1. Black monitor with startup bong;
  2. Black monitor with startup bong and with spining sound of fan and hard disk drive;
  3. Black monitor without startup bong but with click noise; and
  4. Black monitor without startup bong and without click noise.

Diagnosis

  • The most probable cause of this trouble is damage of the CR2/CR3 rectifiers or the Q2 transistor.
  • Troubles of the T2 flyback transformer sometimes results in this problem.
  • The broken CR5 rectifier also causes these symptoms, though rarely.
  • CR2 and Q2 are placed on the outer surface of the metal cage, which shields the flyback transformer on the analog board. The cage metal around CR2 and Q2 is locally discolored/charred, or these parts are exploded by high temperature.
  • If the CR3 rectifier is damaged by heat, explosion of CR3 usually occurs. CR3 is placed on the inner surface of the shielding metal cage.
  • When CR3 is damaged but not exploded, the Q2 transistor may be damaged simultaneously. In this case, Q2 is sometimes burnt and sometimes is not.
  • When Q2 is burnt out but CR3 seems to be OK, the CR5 rectifier is probably damaged.
  • Even if all CR2, CR3, CR5 and Q2 appear to be OK, the inner circuits of these parts are sometimes destroyed by heat.

Even if all these semiconductors are OK, destruction of the R22 resistor also can cause Symptom(2) as described above (Black monitor with startup bong and with spining sound...).

Solutions

  • Replace the broken semiconductor or resistor with new one.
  • CR2 and CR3 (silicon rectifying diode): GI854 (600V,3A). The much better is MR824 (600V, 5A).
  • CR5 (silicon rectifying diode): 1N4937 (600V, 1A).
  • Q2 (NPN transistor): BU406 or BU406D (7A, 60W). If you cannot get BU406/BU406D, use RCA SK9085.
  • R22 (resistor): 470 Kohm, 1/2 W, 5%.

When the SE/30 appears totally dead (black out monitor, no startup bong, no spinning sound, no noise), the major cause of the problems is the power supply (SONY or ASTEC). Check the power supply/power switch with a digital multimeter. If the power supply doesn't work, replace it with another one (new or used).

A Bright Horizontal Line in the Black Monitor

Symptoms

  1. The SE/30 starts up and works normaly. After a while, the monitor suddenly blacks out only with a bright horizontal line. OR...
  2. When turning on the SE/30, you can hear the startup bong but see only a bright hrizontal line in the black monitor.

Diagnosis

The vertical sweep circuit on the analog board doesn't work. The major cause of this trouble is either of (1) connection failure due to ageing and/or cracks in the soldering of the P1 connector, or (2) troubles of the vertical sweep IC chip at reference U2 (12-pin TV, TDA1170A) on the analog board.

Solutions

  1. The first thing to do is to check the P1 connector. If the problem is caused by connection/soldering failure of the P1 connector, you will see the burnt and/or charred P1 connector. Desolder, clean and resolder the P1 connector.
  2. If the problem still persists and the culprit is the U2 IC chip, replace it with a new TDA1170N chip.

When the U2 IC chip is broken, you may see another symptoms such as:

  1. The screen is shrunken to the upper/lower half of the monitor and the opposite half blacks out,
  2. The upper/lower half of the screen is extended in the vertical direction.

Checker Flag Pattern

Symptoms

When turning on the power, you don't hear startup bong. The monitor displays the checker flag pattern.

Diagnosis

  1. The most probable cause is connection troubles between the ROM-SIMM and the ROM-SIMM slot.
  2. Another cause is inappropriate installation of RAM-SIMMs. The memory size of RAM-SIMMs in Bank A is smaller than that in Bank B. You recently upgraded the memory but the configuration was wrong.

Solutions

  1. Pull out the ROM-SIMM from the ROM-SIMM slot. Clean the ROM-SIMM and the ROM-SIMM slot with volatile cleaner or ethanol. Then connect the ROM-SIMM to the ROM-SIMM slot correctly and tightly.
  2. See "Principles of memory upgrade for the SE/30" in the next section, 8. Jail Bar Pattern or Smile Mac in Jail.

When you install SIMMs of different memory size, install the larger ones to Bank A and the smaller ones to Bank B. Each Bank requires a set of four SIMMs of the same memory amount.

Jail Bar Pattern or Smile Mac in Jail

Symptoms

When you turn on the SE/30, the monitor displays vertical stripes (jail bar pattern) with/without a smile Mac. The memory was upgraded recently. The SE/30 was completely nomal before memory upgrade.

Diagnosis

SIMMs were inserted to the wrong SIMM slots/banks.

Solutions

  • The working memory configurations for the SE/30 are shown in the table below.
  • Check and re-insert the SIMMs.

Note 1

The SE/30 has eight RAM-SIMM slots on the logic board: Four slots at Bank A and four slots at Bank B. Principles of memory upgrade for the SE/30:

  1. Use 30-pin SIMMs.
  2. You need to install a set of four SIMMs of the same memory size to each bank.
  3. When you use only a single bank, use Bank A.
  4. When you install SIMMs of different memory size, install the larger ones to Bank A and the smaller ones to Bank B. You also have to remember that each Bank requires a set of four SIMMs of the same memory amount.
  5. It has been reported that some 2MB SIMMs and some 16MB SIMMs don't work for the SE/30.

Note 2

The SE/30 has a "dirty ROM" that can recognize only 8MB RAM, and the maximum RAM for the SE/30 is 8MB under the normal condition. But if you install the MODE32 extension file, the SE/30 can recognize up to 128MB RAM.

Bright Monitor with neither Arrow Pointer nor Startup

Symptoms

When turning on the power, you can see bright rasters on the monitor, but neither startup bongs nor arrow pointer comes up.

Diagnosis

  • The culprit is the network filter located on the logic board at reference RP2.
  • The model of the chip is Bourns 4120R-601-250/201, M/C 8908L 115-0002 or P9120M115-0006, depending on the lot, year and/or country where the logic board was made.

Solutions

  1. Replace the network filter.
  2. This network filter chip, however, is hard to find/obtain at resale parts shops. If you have a skill to make it yourself, refer the circuit schematic of the filter as shown in the left figure. It is made of sixteen 25 ohm resistors and eight 200pF capacitors. Assemble and solder them on a small IC socket, and then solder this socket on the logic board at reference RP2.

An Arrow Pointer on the Left Upper Corner but No Smile Mac and No Startup

Symptoms

When turning on the power of the SE/30, the monitor shows the bright rasters and an arrow pointer appears on the left upper corner. But the monitor doesn't show a smile Mac, and the SE/30 doesn't start up.

Diagnosis

The most probable cause is a trouble of the SCSI chip on the logic board at reference UI12. This chip is labeled "NCR 53C80 CP02346 609-3400257 8907N" on the top.

Solutions

Replace the UI12 SCSI chip with new one (44-pin PLCC, 53C80-P44).

Monitor Out of Focus

Symptoms

The monitor of the SE/30 is out of focus. Except that, everything is OK.

Diagnosis

The variable resistor at reference R27 on the analog board is not adjusted correctly.

Solutions

Open the SE/30 and look at the vinyl jacket of the analog board. You can see a hole labeled Focus Control. Adjust the focus using a hex tool (or screw driver) put into the hole. If you cannot get the best focus only with re-adjustment of R27, replace the R26 (not R27) resistor with new one (1 Mohm, 1/2 W, 5%).

Too Bright Monitor with Horizontal Sweep Lines

Symptoms

The SE/30 monitor is too bright, and you can see many horizontal sweep lines. Even if you adjust the brightness control under the front bezel, the symptom is not improved.

Diagnosis

There are five known causes for this symptom.

  1. The R24 variable resistor on the analog board is not adjusted correctly. This resistor controls the cut-off voltage.
  2. Troubles of the resistors R20 and/or R21 on the analog board.
  3. Troubles of the resistor R25 on the analog board.
  4. Troubles of the IC chip U1 on the analog board.
  5. Troubles of the transistor Q1 on the video board. The video board is a small board where the CRT socket is soldered.

Solutions

  1. On the vinyl jacket of the analog board, you can see Focus Control, Brightness Control, Width Control and Height Control for video adjustments. Using the plastic hex alignment tool (screwdriver may be OK, if you don't have the hex tool) put into the Brightness Control hole, adjust the brightness so that the sweep lines disappear and the monitor shows the best images.
  2. If the above solution doesn't work, replace either or both of the resistors R20 (100 Kohm, 1/2 W) and R21 (1 Mohm, 1/2 W).
  3. If solutions (1) and (2) don't work, replace the resistor R25 (470 Kohm, 1/4 W).
  4. If solutions (1), (2) and (3) don't work, replace the U1 IC chip (74LS38).
  5. If none of the above doesnt't work, replace the transistor Q1 (2N3904, NPN transistor) on the video board.

A Bright Pixel at the Center of the Black Monitor

Symptoms

When you turn on the The SE/30, you can see only a bright pixel at the center of the black monitor. This phenomenon appeared after disassembling and reassembling the SE/30.

Diagnosis

Both horizontal and vertical sweep circuits on the analog board don't work. Although both circuits may be broken simultaneously, this possibility is very small. This occurs most frequently when you disassemble and reassemble the SE/30. The most probable cause is that the yoke cable does not connect tightly to the P1 connector on the analog board.

Solutions

Disassemble the SE/30 again, and check the connection between the yoke cable/connector and the P1 connector.

Wavy Display, Swaying Back and Forth of the Image

Symptoms

Normal startup and normal display. But for a short period, the display is sometimes wavy, and the image is swaying back and forth (or small and large) on the display. Then, the display becomes normal.

Diagnosis

The power supply is getting degraded and unstable with ageing. All components of the SE/30 can be affected by instability of the power supply. The monitor is most vulnerable, because it requires very high voltage. This symptom, in general, indicates fluctuation of voltage for the monitor.

Solutions

Replace the power supply. The power supply of the SE/30 (and SE) was made by SONY and ASTEC. The SONY power supply has less trouble than the ASTEC.

Notes

  • This trick requires that you have MacsBug installed. Press the interrupt switch to dump yourself into the system debugger, then use the command "dm 4082E853 20" to display a few bytes of memory from location 4082E853 onwards. The bytes there spell out, in ascii, "WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT?" Also, type "g eb1000" into MacsBug or the interrupt debugger. This displays the "Macintosh SE/30 Engineering Hall of Fame". Entering "pc=e11000;g" works too.

Modifications

     

     

 

How many cards can be installed in the SE/30 with only one PDS slot?

In Macintosh, six slot addresses (9, A, B, C, D, E) are assigned to the extended slots, and each extended slot has its own address space as listed below.

Therefore, the SE/30 can theoretically harbor six cards, though it has only one slot on the logic board. The problem are (1)how to install more than one card to a single PDS slot, and (2)how to supply much more power to support up to six cards.

        16M byte Standard Address Space	 256M byte Super Address Space
Slot 9	F900 0000 ~ F9FF FFFF   	9000 0000 ~ 9FFF FFFF
Slot A	FA00 0000 ~ FAFF FFFF   	A000 0000 ~ AFFF FFFF
Slot B	FB00 0000 ~ FBFF FFFF   	B000 0000 ~ BFFF FFFF
Slot C	FC00 0000 ~ FCFF FFFF   	C000 0000 ~ CFFF FFFF
Slot D	FD00 0000 ~ FDFF FFFF   	D000 0000 ~ DFFF FFFF
Slot E	FE00 0000 ~ FEFF FFFF   	E000 0000 ~ EFFF FFFF

For the PDS slot of the SE/30, a 120-pin Euro-Din connector is soldered on the logic board.

How to install three cards to a single PDS slot?

The important criteria are

  1. whether the card has a pass-through slot to install an additional card; and
  2. whether the slot address of the card is configurable with a jumper switch.

Video Card

The SE/30 built-in monitor displays one bit black & white images. To make it gray-scale operational (256 gray-scale), we have only one choice, i.e., a combination of Micron Xceed Color 30 video card (8bit or 24bit) and a Micron Xceed Gray-Scale 30 Adaper card. The Xceed video card does not have a through slot. The slot address of Xceed is fixed to 9.

Ethernet Card

There is only one ethernet card which has a jumper switch to cofigure the slot address.

That is ASANTE MacCon+30 series: MacCon+30iET64 (AUI and RJ-45 ports, PDS pass-through slot) or MacCon+30iE64 (AUI and BNC ports, PDS pass-through slot).

The RJ-45 port (this is for 10BaseT) is more popular and convenient than the BNC port (this is for 10Base2), so the MacCon+30iET64 card is better.

We can choose one slot address among 9, A, B, and E by configuring the jumper switch.

Although the MacCon+30 card has a pass-through slot, its direction unfortunatly is not parallel but perpendicular to the card. When we install this card in the SE/30, this pass-through slot faces inward. We need to get or make a direction changer (or PDS adapter) for facing this pass-through slot upward.

Accelerator Card

Currently, the MicroMac DiiMO 030/50Mhz (with FPU) accelerator card is the best choice, because this card is still easy to find/get and has a parallel pass-through slot.

Making a Direction Changer (or PDS adapter) for the MacCon+30 Pass-Through Slot

Obtaining 120-pin Euro-Din (PDS) connectors, ether male or female, is very difficult. It is much easier to get 96-pin Euro-DIN (NuBus) connectors. You may be able to find/get NuBus connectors at parts/junk shops.

I used female 96-pin Euro-DIN (NuBus)connectors having L shape leads. The L shape of the leads is important, because this changes the slot direction from perpendicular to parallel to the card.

By cutting and pasting, I made one 120-pin Euro-Din (PDS) connector from two 96-pin Euro-DIN (NuBus) connectors as shown in the left picture.

The Order of Installation of the Cards

 

Firstly, the MicroMac DiiMO accelerator is connected to the PDS slot of the SE/30 logic board.

Secondly, the ASANTE MacCon+ ethernet controller card is connected to the pass-through slot of the DiiMO accelerator. The smaller MacCon+ daughter card is attached to the chasis bracket. The MacCon + controller and daughter cards are connected by the flat ribbon cable.

Thirdly, the direction changer (PDS adapter) is connected to the pass-through slot of the ASANTE MacCon+30 ethernet.

Fourthly, the Xceed video card is connected to the direction changer (PDS adapter). However, if we install other cards simultaneously with Xceed video and Gray-Scale cards, the gray-scale assembling cables are too short to connect them to the analog and the logic board. We need to extend the assembling cables with extension cords/cables, pressure connectors, and pressure pliers or by soldering.

Configurations of slot addresses

The Xceed Color 30 video card has a fixed slot address assigned to 9. With/without the DiiMO accelerator, the slot status and the slot PRAM of the SE/30 is listed below. Slot E is already and always used regardless of card installation.

Slot 9: BoardID = 0000, PRAM = 00 00 00 00 00 00
Slot A: BoardID = 0000, PRAM = 00 00 00 00 00 00
Slot B: BoardID = 0000, PRAM = 00 00 00 00 00 00
Slot C: BoardID = 0000, PRAM = 00 00 00 00 00 00
Slot D: BoardID = 0000, PRAM = 00 00 00 00 00 00
Slot E: BoardID = 000C, PRAM = 80 00 00 00 00 00 (This address is always in use)

The slot address of the ASANTE MacCon+30 ethernet card must be chosen from 9, A, B, or E. But Slot 9 is assigned to Xceed, and Slot E is already used. Therefore, the slot address of ASANTE MacCon+30 must be A or B. I chose A for the MacCon+30 card.

Then, looking at the slot status and the slot PRAM again, they show

Slot 9: BoardID = 01E2, PRAM = 83 00 00 83 00 83 (Xceed)
Slot A: BoardID = 0008, PRAM = 00 00 00 00 00 00 (ASANTE)
Slot B: BoardID = 0000, PRAM = 00 00 00 00 00 00
Slot C: BoardID = 0000, PRAM = 00 00 00 00 00 00
Slot D: BoardID = 0000, PRAM = 00 00 00 00 00 00
Slot E: BoardID = 000C, PRAM = 80 00 00 00 00 00 (This address is always in use)

Gallery

External Resources

See Also