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Macintosh SE/30
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:
- Verify that the lug of the black/white ground wire from the CRT neck video card is firmly screwed down.
- If it is loose, tighten the screw and retest before doing following steps.
- On analog card, remove old solder from all 4 pin connections and resolder all 4 pins.
- 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
Notes
Press the interrupt switch on the side of the computer and type dm 4082E853 20 into the message box and press return. This will return the message "WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT?"
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
- whether the card has a pass-through slot to install an additional card; and
- 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)
