https://metalbabble.wordpress.com/feed

Well AI is everywhere today, so why not have some fun with it? As a developer, I use AI tools daily and am constantly amazed at the sophisticated code that tools like Claude produce. So naturally I had the thought: “Can these tools produce real working code for antique hardware?” Turns out the answer is: “Heck yes!”

The image above is a Pong game, written by AI (Claude) and runs on classic 68k hardware. Blasphemous? Well, maybe! But wow is it amazing what’s possible today. Read on!

Let’s start with a quick summary of generative AI. I won’t go super-deep into LLMs but suffice it to say, AIs have become very good at generating language – you’ve probably interacted with a chat bot online and have seen this first hand. In addition to natural language, AIs have also become very good at generating programming language. Developers can give an AI a prompt like “Make me a new function that calculates some data” and the AI will produce working source code. Because AIs understand language patterns, it can apply this capability to even older fallen-out-of-use or niche languages from the 80s and 90s. These AI models also use the wealth of information online to provide accurate output. So long and short – it’s pretty magical.

Given that it’s possible for AI to generate code based on a prompt, the crux of this project was to ask an AI to simply make pong in a language that runs on a 68k Mac. For the AI I selected Claude, and for the language – REALbasic.

Below is the process I followed. For reference, I used a modern MacBook Pro (running Asahi Linux Fedora Remix) and Basilisk II to quickly move files back and forth between the new and old world.

Truth be told, I did help – a little. I first opened REALbasic and dragged rectangles onto a window (for the paddles) and an oval (for the ball). Then, I put two static text labels at the bottom to hold the score.

Then, I saved the project to a shared directory that was accessible by my modern OS.

I then went to Claude and asked the following (this is a real screenshot of my conversation with Claude, as you can see I attached the REALbasic project file in the hopes that Claude could make some sense of it)

In less than a minute it returned source code and instructions back to me:

So with this I had the source code for the game, written against the IDs and names I used in my layout. The trick now was just getting everything back into the classic Mac.

Essentially the next step was to take the source code from Claude and “paste it” into REALbasic, but there are a couple hurdles to this. Getting it to the emulated machine wasn’t a big deal – just save the source code to my shared directory. But there’s an important note about classic Mac OS and modern OSes – they use different line breaks. There are a few ways to deal with this:

• Use BBEdit on the old Mac OS to convert the line breaks
• Convert them ahead of time from the modern OS (Fedora in my case here) with the following command:

tr '\n' '\r' < ClaudePong.bas > ClaudePongMac.bas

And here we are with the correctly-formatted text file in the old Mac OS:

Out of laziness, I actually asked Claude if it could directly modify my REALbasic project file… but since the project file had a mix of text and binary data – not really an option (at least not today.. maybe someday?). So instead, it gave specific instructions on what to add via REALbasic and where to paste each method contents. Here’s a snippet/summary from Claude’s instructions:

As you can see I had to do these steps manually: add properties to the window, add a timer object, and paste the methods from the source file. (This was also well-documented in the source file!)

After everything was in place, I started the game up – and encountered some syntax errors. I’m assuming there could be several reasons for this. For one, it’s possible that the version of REALbasic I was using was older and the source from Claude targeted a slightly newer edition of REALbasic. Or maybe it just hallucinated a little Microsoft QBasic in the mix. But not a big deal, the problems were minor and easily fixed. Here’s a few things I had to fix:

• REALbasic wanted all “DIM” statements at the top of the methods
• It didn’t like inline IF statements (everything needed to be broken out into blocks with END IFs)
• The code referred to “Me.property” in reference to the window; I had to change these to “ClaudePong.property” (using the actual window name)
• A few other things here and there, like how Subs get called

I do however think if I went back to Claude and explained the errors (or sent a screenshot) it could have figured out the issues too. But it got me far enough along that I could easily just clean up the rest and get it up and running:

I also changed the colors of the window and text to be a little more pong-like! But, as the screenshot (and score) shows – the AI was the real winner today.

So there you have it, magic. AI building a game for a vintage computer! And REALbasic is just one language. Claude also gave me some HyperCard examples, and showed “Hello World” examples for various 68k-era languages. Simply put, it’s amazing what it can do – and just imagine what will be possible as this technology continues to rapidly evolve! At least if that becomes too overwhelming we can find some familiar comfort with our prehistoric 68k friends.

• If you’re interested, here is the game and source code.

And to close things out, here’s an image generated by Google Gemini of a retro Mac in an old office. Simpler times….

Once upon a time, I wrote about the issue of older batteries being left in classic Macs. You can avoid damaging these classic machines by removing PRAM batteries when the machines are stored or not in use… but on many 68k Macs it’s a mini project to swap them in and out. Plus, they do the job of retaining some of your system settings. Leaving them in is definitely a gamble. Luckily now there’s a better option all together!

Enter the CR2032 battery adapters! Using them is simple, just install a CR2032 into one, pop it in the PRAM battery slot in place of the old battery, and you’re golden! These CR2032 “coin” batteries are often used in newer computers, watches, and various small electronics. In general they are relatively safe, common, and easy to come by.

A few talented makers produce these adapters and they come in a couple different styles: including a direct inline option, or an adapter with wires allowing you to store the battery in a spot of your choosing. 

Take a look:

• MacBatt
• MeowToast

Today I’ll cover some visual customizations you can make to classic Mac OS through modifying your System suitcase file. Read on and add some color and personal touches to your classic Mac desktop and learn a little ResEdit along the way!

First, a little history. Back in the System 7 days I used to always apply a few customizations to my System suitcase. Why? Primarily, I wished System 7 brought more color and customization options into the UI. But in those days, every little bit of RAM was precious so I was hesitant to burden my machine down with extensions like Kaleidoscope or Aaron. (Plus, neither were free which made them a little prohibitive as a kid!) So, I was able to achieve some of the look I wanted by modifying my System suitcase file through ResEdit. No extensions or significant RAM needed!

And before we get started a couple of notes about the System suitcase. This system file is the core of the classic Mac’s system folder. It contained resources and code to generally, well, run the system. Along with the Finder, these two system components trace all the way back to the start of the Mac OS.

In System 6 and earlier, you could use a utilities to move fonts, accessories, and sound effects in or out of the system file. System 7 simplified this by allowing you to drag these items directly into the suitcase, just like a folder! (If you’re interested in said utilities, check out Font/DA mover and Sound Mover.) In any case, not every resource could be edited in these ways – which is where the venerable ResEdit comes in.

Modifying the System suitcase in ResEdit is fairly easy, but as a word of caution – it’s best to work on a copy, since a crash or mistake might leave the OS in an unusable state. Have a boot disk ready to go before you start! (And… proceed at your own risk!)

With all that out of the way, let’s dive in!

To get started, make your backup copy and open the System suitcase file you intend to edit in ResEdit. (After you finish your changes: be sure to save and put your modified System suitcase in the System folder, then reboot.)

Icons, like the ones used in the Finder in windows, file pickers, and on the desktop are stored in a resource called “icl8” (which stands for icon-large-8 bit). There are also “icl4” (4-bit color / 16 color) and “ICL#” (black and white). Similarly there are “ics8” which are the corresponding small icons. The Mac OS picks the appropriate version based on the current system color depth.

Also note in ResEdit, resources are assigned IDs which I’ll refer to below.

Easily enough, you can open up the icon resources and edit the icons to your liking! Check out some examples below:

Here are some highlights:

• -3999 – the generic folder icon, notice I made my folder “manila”
• -3993 and -3984 – the trash icon. I colored the “empty” version to illustrate. (But have some fun here! You could draw an entirely new basket, replace it with a Mac OS X style icon… or even the dreaded Windows recycle bin!)
• -16490 – this is the “help” icon, used for balloon help in System 7. In my example I used the earlier System 7 icon which I thought was nicer than the lightbulb that came later. I also re-colored it yellow… just because I could!
• -16386 – this is the Apple menu icon. You could use the Mac OS 8 (Copland style) one or change it entirely!
• And as you can see, there are loads of other ones to mess with. If you open an extension like Aaron up you could even swap over those versions! Just make sure you are using the correct resource ids.

The “About this Macintosh” box used to show the name of the model machine you were using, but around System 7.5 this got generic, and simply said “Macintosh”. This was kind of a pet peeve of mine, but the good news is you can fix it.

I covered this topic/hack in more detail, in an older post called Mistaken Identity: Setting the model name under “About This Macintosh”

Essentially there are two key spots to edit: the “icl” icon resource -16396 and a STR# resource (the text is stored in -16395 and the strings correspond to machine gestalt ids – check out the link above for more on this.)

And here we are, Basilisk has become self-aware:

Another System 7 pet peeve I had was how only some of the UI was colorized – many elements were still black and white from their earlier days. One example is the alert icons that show up in dialog boxes. Well, let’s do something about that!

In this hack, we have to look at “cicn” and “icon” resources, refer to the screen shot below…

In this case, you’ll notice only black and white “icon” resources exist for the alert icons – so you’ll have to make new ones for the cicns (color icons). The system uses resource ids 0, 1, and 2 for the icons that appear in dialog boxes. (Error, info, and warning – respectively.) You’ll have to create 3 cicn resources and use “Resource” -> “Get Resource Info” to set their IDs specifically to 0, 1, and 2.

Here’s the result. (You’ll also notice some of the icon changes from “Hack 1” as well!):

Here’s another interesting bit of history – when Apple decided to briefly allow Macintosh clones on the market, they started to intensionally brand their OS as a product, which was previously just referred to as “System software”. They selected the name “Mac OS”… a name we still use to this very day! At this point in time, the happy mac logo (that is still used by today’s Finder) was introduced.

When this change took place, Apple added a large branded image that appears when the system started. The fun part is that it’s simply a PICT resource in the System suitcase. You can copy this image and paste it into an image editor like Adobe Photoshop to modify it. From there, you can make your edits and then copy and paste the new version back into ResEdit.

What we covered here is really just for fun – but isn’t that one of the main reasons we’re using computers from decades ago in the first place? Using similar techniques you can also modify System suitcase resources for other purposes as well, such as sizing down resources to make the suitcase smaller – or making the system software run at all on a modded machine. This is also just scratching the surface on what is possible with ResEdit.

To wrap things up – here are some of these hacks running on real vintage hardware. “Ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby!”

The term “boot disk” carries several meanings. Simply put, a boot disk is a disk a computer can boot from. But, “boot disk” was used heavily in the late 80s and early 90s in reference to floppy disks that could boot up a Mac or DOS PC, for various reasons such as installing an OS or general troubleshooting.

When using vintage computers, you will most likely find the need to boot up from a floppy at some point. This post will talk through some of the ins and outs of classic Mac boot disks, and how to make one of your own.

In the old days, classic Macs often shipped with a so-called “Utilities Disk” for troubleshooting purposes. The term “Boot Disk” was used more when referring to a PC – but I’ll use the two terms interchangeably.

First, let’s review some details on how the Mac boots. Essentially, a classic Mac needs a System Folder with a System Suitcase and Finder in it. The System folder becomes active when it’s “blessed” – a process I cover in this post: Bless this mess. Assuming these files are in place, a Mac will automatically attempt to boot from a blessed floppy System Folder if a disk is inserted, regardless of what is set as the startup disk.

It’s actually fairly simple, and from the beginning this is how Macs were designed to work. System files were generally small because a lot of the Mac’s system was held in ROM. This kept the system files smaller, allowing them to share floppy disk space with other programs in the early days before Macs were outfitted with hard disks.

System 7 was a particularly large update to the classic Mac OS, and it came at a time where it was expected that Macs would have a hard disk – so the system files became much larger. After System 7 was introduced, well into Mac OS 8’s time – Apple used some stripped-down variation of System 7 to make Utilities Disks for recovery and troubleshooting. Early System 7 provided a good blend of features while being able to still technically fit on a single floppy.

Side note: Other companies, such as Norton made their own boot disks, such as the Norton Utilities Emergency disk. The premise is the same; it uses a stripped down version of the system software and contains a set of additional applications for troubleshooting use.

In crafting our own boot disk – it would be helpful to have a Utilities Disk as reference, as Apple includes some compression to size down the Finder and System Suitcase, making it an excellent candidate for use creating your own boot disk. Although, you can use any versions as long as they fit on a floppy.

Above, you’ll see a screenshot of a custom utilities disk that I set up for my own use. It contains a set of utilities I find useful in configuring, tinkering, and troubleshooting classic Macs. Here are some deatils:

• Contains a striped-down system folder from a Utilities disk running System 7.1 – I deleted System Enablers I did not need and only included ones for machines I would use it with.
• Start Up Disk is included, probably one of the most important tidbits to include.
• Mt.Everything which can serve as a SCSI driver and output the items running on the SCSI bus
• The hacked version of HD SC Setup which allows operation with non-Apple hard drives.
• SetDate which can set the system clock to dates after 2020.
• I included the Iomega driver (for Zip disks) and a custom HD icon, in case I need them setting up a new system. Mt.Everything can generally handle mounting the disks if running from this boot disk. If you’re wondering about the icon – the truth is I just prefer that over the black and white default icon used pre-Mac OS 8.
• I don’t have any fancy control panels, but I did use ResEdit to set a custom background, just for fun!
• If needed, there are additional resources that could be deleted from the Finder and System suitcase, such as the graphics used to explain balloon help – and of course the desktop pattern. When working on a floppy, every kilobyte maters.

That’s all there really is to it. To summarize things, it’s handy to have a boot disk available to help support you in your classic Mac adventures. You can stock it up with tools you will find useful and customize it to make the system file as lean as possible.

For a while now, a go-to solution to replace mechanical SCSI hard drives was the SCSI2SD. It’s still a great way to add high capacity storage to a vintage Mac – but now there’s a new kid in town, the BlueSCSI. This post covers what makes the BlueSCSI special, and a strong contender to replace your classic machine’s mechanical drive.

The premise is very similar. The BlueSCSI is a new device that allows you to use a modern SD card as storage on your retro machine. That’s about where the similarities to SCSI2SD end though! The SCSI2SD directly exposes the partitioned SD card to the Mac, whereas the BlueSCSI actually allows you to store drive images on the SD card. Instead of setting up fixed partitions and flashing data to the device, all that is required of the BlueSCSI is drive images saved to the SD card. It’s fairly plug-and-play.

The advantages to this is you can very quickly make new drives, copy drives to a newer computer, download full working drives, transfer data between vintage machines, or use it to mount ISOs as a virtual CD-ROM drive. This opens the door to much more experimentation, allowing you to try out different OS versions and so forth.

The BlueSCSI’s name comes from the BluePill Arduino board that it’s built on. The hardware and software is open-source and developed by enthusiasts. You can build one from a kit or order one fully assembled, even in a 3d-printed case. Check out https://scsi.blue/ for more.

I ordered mine pre-assembled, in a 3d-printed case. I also selected one that could be used externally so I could quickly move from one classic Mac to another. If you’re interested, I ordered mine from Kero’s Mac Mods which did an amazing job assembling and shipping the product. This vendor and many amazing others are found on the Scsi.Blue site.

Now that you know what it is, and where to get it, let’s talk about using the BlueSCSI. It’s actually dead simple.

The BlueSCSI will scan the root level of an ExFat formatted SD card, looking for drive images that follow a simple naming convetion:

"HDx somename.hda" or "CDx somename.iso"

In the above, the filenames start with either HD or CD to determine hard disk or CD drive. X is the SCSI id. This provides a name like “CD4 Myst.iso” or “HD4 RetroGames.hda”.

There are actually more settings beyond this if you need them, but they are completely optional. You can specify a LUN id directly after the SCSI id, making a name like “HD40 Spiffy.hda”. Furthermore you can specify sector size after an underscore like: “HD50_512 Example.hda”

Note: I’ve noticed you get warnings in the log file sometimes if you do not provide a value for LUN id. I include the 0 just to keep things cleaner…

Performance is an interesting topic. These days we associate solid state devices with high speeds, and I ran under the assumption that the SD would be a faster medium than a 30+ year old mechanical hard drive. But then I watched this YouTube video about the BlueSCSI. In it, the BlueSCSI is benchmarked against the SCSI2SD and the original mechanical drive – and to my surprise, it came in dead last. I also replicated this claim using DiskBenchmark and SCSI Director Pro.

Now given that information, you might not actually notice a perceivable difference on an older Mac which might experience other performance bottlenecks. Plus the PROs far outweigh the CONs with a device like BlueSCSI. Mechanical drives from the 80s and 90s are becoming more and more scarce and they are all prone to fail over time. But you have to make the call for yourself ultimately.

In my humble opinion, I think the SCSI2HD still stands as a rock-solid solution for an internal hard drive replacement. In some testing, it outperforms the BlueSCSI. It is harder to set up though, so it fits nicely as a “set it and forget it” type solution. The BlueSCSI is perfect as an external device that you offers flexibility and ease of use. Plus, the added benefit of playing the role as a virtual CD-ROM drive.

• The BlueSCSI only scans the root of the drive, meaning you can make folders and store images that you want to swap out temporarily – or backup. You could keep a folder of zip’d blank drive images to quickly spin up new drives.
• On the scsi.blue site, there are links and resources to sample drive images, images with OS installations, and bundles of apps and games to try out.
• There’s a log file automatically generated when the BlueSCSI powers on – so you can troubleshoot problems (for example, an invalid image or conflict.)
• I keep a text file in a folder that lists notes for which machines are using which SCSI IDs for organization.
• The coolest trick of all might be the following. You can use the .HDA disk image files in the emulator BasiliskII! Open settings and point to the file – and presto! (More on Emulators here!) See screenshot below…

• Remember SCSI termination
• Remember the Mac reserves ID 7 for the machine. Often 0,1, and lower numbers are used for internal drives. 4 and 5 often were used with external Zip and CD drives back in the day. (Some had switches and only allowed for values like that)
• For use on the Mac Plus – there is an extra assembly step required.
• Filenames for drive images have a max length of 64
• For CDs, don’t forget to run CD-ROM drivers, including all of the helper extensions that go along with it. This isn’t as straightforward as you might assume, but many pre-built drives with OS installations have them ready to go.
• Remember that classic Macs store the startup disk selection in PRAM, so you will need to select this frequently in Control Panels when changing volumes around. SystemSwitcher is a good option to manage this. You can also force the Mac to boot using a SCSI id with a keyboard combination on startup: CMD+OPTION+SHIFT+DELETE+# (where # is the SCSI id)

The BlueSCSI is insanely cool. It’s flexible and easy to use; just drop drive images on it and before you know it, you’re up and running on your vintage Mac. The possibilities are endless. It’s a great way to try out A/UX without “committing to it” or simply moving files from one machine to another. (Including to a newer machine via mounting the drive image in BasiliskII)

If you’re ready to take the plunge into the deep blue SCSI, check out the official site (Scsi.blue) – it contains excellent resources for getting up and running, along with links to sample drive images.

Thanks for reading, and have fun!

eWorld was a unique online service provided by Apple in the mid 90s. It was actually Apple’s second online service after its predecessor, AppleLink. Not often spoke of these days, it was an interesting service for its time, and offered many similar features to the online giant that dominated the later part of the decade: AOL. Although the service has been offline for decades, there is a way to experience it today… sort of.

I don’t personally have many memories of eWorld, other than a nifty demo that came with my family’s Performa. The demo was fairly impressive and featured animation and a voice-over narration – which was pretty novel for its time. The Performa shipped with a 2400 baud ADB Global Village modem which I only used for Telnet and eventually AOL when my family subscribed. I sadly missed the train for eWorld, but I always though it looked interesting.

You can learn a ton more about eWorld on Wikipedia.

In terms of accessing it today, a website called AppleFritter offers a download that runs on classic 68k Macs that provides an eWorld-like experience to their BBS. It’s pretty neat actually. You can check it out here on the AppleFritter website.

So there you have it – eWorld. A quirky service that just dripped with 90s ascetic. It’s long gone… but not forgotten.

One of the coolest visual mods available today for the SE and SE/30 has to be the custom transparent cases created by https://maceffects.com. In this post, I’ll walk you through the process of swapping out the stock case for one of these beauties.

A while back, a photo surfaced on the internet of a prototype Mac SE with a completely clear case. The transparent enclosure was was used to test airflow and troubleshoot hardware issues during the production of the SE.

MacEffects launched a successful Kickstarter a few years back and now produces and sells similar transparent cases in clear, blue, green, and red. They also produce an Apple II case and some other clear accessories for vintage Apple products.

The SE/30 is one of my favorite Macs of all time – and I’ve already blogged about some of the upgrades I’ve made here: A Green Jade Upgrade and here: Restoring a legend – these posts cover upgrades like RAM, SCSI2SD, ROMinator II, and Mac OS 8. I decided to take it to the next level and replace the stock case with the transparent MacEffects case. This also meant that I had to pretty-up the innards since they would now be visible.

When I originally installed the SCSI2SD and ROMinator, it involved zip ties and rubber bands. This didn’t really bother me when everything was snugly inside the case, but now that it’s all visible – I needed to do something about it. That’s where PotatoFi comes in. PotatoFi is an Etsy creator that 3d-prints various brackets, clips, cases, and accessories for vintage Macs. I used the ROM Clips and SCSI2SD drive bracket to pretty things up… Check out the before/after in the photos below:

Before I begin, I should just remind you that there are risks involved in working inside compact Macs. Not only are the components fragile, they can cause injury if proper safety protocols are not followed. One specific thing to highlight is the importance of discharging the CRT before any internal work is performed. If you attempt any of these modifications, you do so so at your own risk.

Besides being careful, another tip is to take your time and stay organized. I’d suggest labeling all of the screws you remove along the way. There are multiple different sizes and it’s easy to loose track if you’re not organized.

With all disclaimers out of the way, here is the process I followed to swap cases:

Disassembly:

• Remove the programmer switch (if you have one installed).
• Open the case via 4 Torx T-15 screws on the back: 2 on the top by the handle, and 2 on the bottom. The case is in two-pieces and separates towards the front.
• Discharge the CRT. Here’s a video showing the process. I made a tool similar to the one used in that video.
• Remove the thin shielding that surrounds the logic board. To be clear, the logic board is the main motherboard that has the CPU, RAM, etc. The so-called “analog board” is on its side attached to the power supply. This is used to drive the CRT and send power to the Mac’s various components.
• Remove the small metal bracket on the back held on by 3 screws. (This bracket is used to mount expansion cards, etc. In my case I didn’t have any so I just needed to remove the bracket.)
• Un-plug the cables from the logic board (there are a few: a harness that runs to the analog board, the SCSI cable, and floppy cable. There is additionally a speaker cable, but it’s easier to remove once the board is out in the next step.
• Remove the logic board by sliding it backwards. Be careful as the speaker wire may still be attached. With the board out, it’s a good opportunity to inspect your PRAM battery.
• Unplug the cables from the CRT. There is a small board on the CRT’s yoke that slides off the back, and the red anode cable pops off the side. There is also a black ground wire that attaches to one of the screws that mount’s the CRT.
• Unscrew and remove the ground cable for the power supply that attaches to the chasis.
• Unscrew the analog board (the power supply can stay attached to it) – There are 6 screws total. 2 towards the back, and 4 towards the front. As you remove the analog board and power supply, detach the wire harness that connects to the CRT.
• Remove the screws holding on the CRT – these use the same torx t-15 driver like the case screws had. Carefully remove the CRT tube – remember it’s extremely fragile.
• At this point, remove the chassis from the front of the case. I did not remove any of the drives from the chassis, just removed it as one piece. The case should be completely off now, and you should have a room full of Mac guts.

The Speaker & front panel

• The MacEffects case’s front panel didn’t have a hole for ejecting the floppy disks (the small hole that a paper clip would go into, to the right of the floppy drive slot.) I lined up the chassis to the new front panel and marked where the hole would need to go, and then drilled it out. The hole simply has to be large enough for a paper clip to fit into.
• You will notice the speaker is attached to the front panel, the plastic posts that hold the speaker on are actually melted to keep the speaker in place, so removal can be tricky. To remove the speaker, I used a Dremel to remove the melted plastic holding the speaker on. The speaker had a rubber pad in front of it which I assume is used to dampen vibrations.
• In my installation, I purchased a clear replacement speaker from MacEffects – but you could use your existing speaker if you wanted to. The clear speaker does look nicer with the transparent case. The new speaker did not come with a wire so I had to unsolder the wire from the old speaker and then re-solder it to the new one.
• My original speaker was oriented where the wires ran downward, which is how I installed the new one as well. This seemed to work fine in the end. I note this because I have seen installation videos where the speaker is mounted with the wires off to the left. I’m not exactly sure which way is best, it may be revisions to the SE/30 had different length speaker wires. (But that is just a guess!)
• To attach the speaker to the MacEffects case I used hot glue on the plastic posts rather than attempting to melt them. I also re-used the rubber piece that sat between the old speaker and case.

Putting it all back together

• Generally, the assembly is the reverse of disassembly.
• Lay the new front panel with the speaker on it face-down on a soft surface, and line up the chassis onto it. The speaker cable can run under the chassis for later. Note that the screws used to attach the chassis and CRT to the case do take some effort/force to seat properly into the MacEffects case.
• Next, the CRT goes into position. I attached 3 of the 4 screws – and waited to attach the 4th until the ground cable was in place.
• With the CRT in place, reinstall the power supply and analog board. This one was tricky, as there is not a lot of space to work between the CRT and the chassis. It was easiest to stand the Mac up, lay the bottom of the analog board in – then angle it into place. The chassis has a tiny bit of bend to it which helped me get it sitting properly. Note that the brightness knob fits into a notch in the front panel.
• The rest should be smooth sailing. Reattach the CRT cables, including the ground wire that goes onto the top-left CRT screw. Reattach the PSU ground cable on the back.
• Attach the speaker cable and then slide the logic board into place. Re-attach the logic board and drive cables.
• Re-attach the expansion card bracket to the chassis. (If you have an expansion card, reinstall it.)
• Put the back of the MacEffects case on along with the original 4 torx screws. The darker ones are on the bottom and the shiny ones are up at the top.

As I said, the SE/30 is one of my favorite Macs… favorite computers… of all time. I named mine Jade (since Apple’s internal code name of the SE/30 was “Green Jade”) so really it was only appropriate I went with the green case!

Plus, is just looks rad.

The PotatoFi clips and brackets worked like a charm and look amazing – I highly recommend if you use a SCSI2SD or particularly a ROMinator II on an SE/30.

And of course, the MacEffects case is also amazing. It looks great and the material quality is stellar. It feels strong, sturdy, and just looks flawless. The MacEffects speaker also looks wonderful, but perhaps a tad softer sounding compared with the stock speaker – although that could be my imagination! MacEffects also makes a high performance fan with LED, along with other goodies. I can’t recommend them enough!

I’m thrilled with how my SE/30 looks and runs. But why stop here? Next, my plan is to add LED lighting and replace my grey SCSI cable with a rainbow cable for extra pizzazz.

And that’s it! I hope you enjoyed this post and found it helpful or inspiring. If you have any questions, or have done this upgrade yourself, I’d love to hear from you. As always – thanks for reading!

• MacEffects – the manufacturer of the awesome, clear cases
• PotatoFi – 3d printed brackets, clips, and accessories
• A video covering the installation of the MacEffects case

Check out Flappy Mac, a brand new release for 68k Macs. It’s just like the mobile game Flappy Bird… except with Macs (and various other unlock-able characters.)

Hop over to https://gruz.itch.io/flappymac and check it out! Be sure to support the author and help keep the classic Mac community strong!

It’s not every day that new software comes out for antique computers – but a few days ago, the insanely cool “MacFilm” was released! With it, you can play full-screen movies on your black and white compact Mac. It seems to run well on the SE/30 and can even run respectably on a 68000-based Mac SE, Classic, or Plus!

You can download it, complete with instructions from the link below:

www.macflim.com/

37 years ago today, the first Macs went on sale – just a few days after the airing of the famous “1984” Super Bowl commercial that introduced them. With Macintosh approaching the big 4-0, could a 40th Anniversary Macintosh be right around the corner?