Sears carries the the long torx driver for the Mac for under $4 everyday of
the week. John
At 03:27 AM 8/29/98 -0400, you wrote:
>
>
>On Fri, 21 Aug 1998, Tony Duell wrote:
>
>> Torx screws are turning up in all sorts of computer stuff, including
>> classics. Printers, disk drives, tape drives, laptops, etc, etc, etc all
>> need Toex drivers to dismantle them. So you may well find a complete set
>> a useful thing to get.
>
>Yes, I can see why a complete set might be useful. But does a regular set
>that one would buy at the local hardware store have the extended length
>Macintosh-opening driver?
>
>> > [re: logic probes]
>> >
>> > I just bought a 'cheap' Radio Shack logic probe today, also 10MHz.
>>
>> Sounds like the same one I used. Plenty good enough for 90% of the
>> computers you're likely to work on.
>
>I think only two of the 35 (? <-- I've lost count again already) machines
>in my posession have _processor_ clocks faster than 10MHz, so it should do
>fine. :)
>
>> > 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.
>>
>> If it is the same one, that's a sure sign there's ripple on the power
>> supply.
>
>What is 'ripple' on the power supply? :)
>
>> > Anyway, I don't know what the heck I'm doing with this thing yet. But
>>
>> Learning to use one properly, and interpret all the indications, is quite
>> hard. Do you have a simple computer with schematics? (something like an
>> Apple ][ would be ideal).
>
>Unfortunately my ][+ clone is quite ill, and is in increasing need of
>medical help. But I do have the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 schematics, too.
>I think there may be a few errors on the schematics, and those machines
>have a few custom parts, but I may as well play with those machines as
>anything else.
>
>When I bought my very first VIC-20, back in 1990, it was my intention to
>tear it apart and learn something about electronics with it. It was in a
>smashed up case and looked rather forlorn, and I think there was a metal
>screw or two that had found their way into the case. But when I got it
>home, the darn thing worked, and I got hooked, and I didn't want to do
>anything to harm my little VIC. :)
>
>That was the machine that started my 'collection'. The first machine that
>I had bought as something just to have around, to play with, etc, instead
>of as my main computer.
>
>Now I have three VIC-20s, and that original VIC is definitely in the worst
>shape of the three. It has a damaged cartridge connector and it now lives
>in a Commodore 64 case. So I may as well haul it out and use it for my
>originally intended purpose.
>
>> Start by looking at the CPU clock signal, and the address and data buses.
>> Get to know what normal activity looks like. Look at some I/O select
>> signal (that C400 strobe on the games connector of an Apple ][ would do).
>> Run a program to trigger that, and see what that looks like. Etc.
>>
>> The idea is to look at as many known signals as you can and see what the
>> logic probe shows.
>
>Yeah, neat. I don't know how "known" any of the signals will be, though.
>:)
>
>> > 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.
>>
>> Ooops...
>>
>> Another tip. Whenever I buy low-cost/common components - like D
>> connectors, resistors, capacitors, TTL chips, etc, I always buy a few
>> more, and a few related ones.
>
>These were common, but definitely NOT low-cost! I didn't bother to find
>out how much they were until after I had already paid for them (dammit!).
>The prices weren't on them, only bar codes.
>
>Something which I think should be illegal.
>
>Most of the computers in my collection cost me less than those two 9-pin
>connectors. (The connectors were about $5 each!)
>
>> If I think I need the plug, I'll buy a socket as well. If I think I
>> need an AND gate, I'll get a NAND and an OR as well. In no time at all,
>> you'll have a box of oddments for fixing machines, trying hacks, etc.
>
>I'll have to find an INEXPENSIVE source of parts before I do that.
>
>I know of one place that is considerably less expensive than Radio Shack,
>but it's much more expensive in time. It takes me about two hours to get
>there by BMW (Bus, Metro, Walk).
>
>A lot of their parts are surplus or recycled (pulled out of murdered
>VIC-20s and stuff).
>
>> -tony
>
>
>Doug Spence
>ds_spenc_at_alcor.concordia.ca
>http://alcor.concordia.ca/~ds_spenc/
>
>
>
Received on Sat Aug 29 1998 - 08:06:32 BST