My sister follows your channel and sent me a screen cap that said "isn't that the Mac you had?" :) Glad to see you get it working through this series. For anyone curious, the computer originally was picked up from a garage sale in upstate NY from an older couple. The computer belonged to their son who later went on to have a career in music production of some kind. All of the modifications were done for the purposes of him running music production software/creating music. Cheers!

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

Amazing, thanks Joe!

@keedah

3 жыл бұрын

how hasnt this gotten any replies

@nathanjbaptista

3 жыл бұрын

@@keedah this was posted 4 days ago amigos

@jordanzish

3 жыл бұрын

I am madly in love with it. I would definitely try and get it running mods in tact and maybe get a DAW or tracker going. Did Cubase run on Mac or was that Amiga only til much later?

@TristanSpeno

3 жыл бұрын

Action Retro joe mama

Keep the mods and go even further

@christopherwilliams9418

3 жыл бұрын

A color screen would be wild!

@Rolatnor

3 жыл бұрын

I agree

@bryceschug486

3 жыл бұрын

Dont forget an accelerator card.

@dronejunglistplatoon

3 жыл бұрын

YEP!!!

@budmeister

3 жыл бұрын

@@christopherwilliams9418 Make it a 4k hd screen

There was a lack of expertise, but man this thing is just full to the brim with love. Someone cared about this little machine deeply.

Keep on modding it, but clean up all the hardware and wires to make it less of a fire hazard. 😉

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

🤣🔥💥

@KiraSlith

3 жыл бұрын

This definitely. Although less out of safety and more out of reliability. It'd be really cool to see this old machine done up right and with the benefit of modern parts. Maybe swap the HDD for a CF card setup you can access from the front?

@KiraSlith

3 жыл бұрын

Looks like this mod was originally done with some guidance from a UK modder in 2001. "fantasticthings.co.uk" under the "Hacks&Mods" category.

Whoa!!! This is quite a crazy machine. I love the black look -- definitely keep it and see if you can make it look nice again. those speakers inside??! WTF!! I love everything about this!!

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

Hahaha yeah those speakers are crazy! I wonder if I can wire in some *nice* speakers in the same spirit :)

@organiccold

3 жыл бұрын

Hey Adrian, i was about to share this with you, but looks like you watched before me lol

@Inject0r

3 жыл бұрын

I’m definitely with Adrian! Though, I do strongly recommend replacing those capacitors! Also replacing that battery with a CR2032 battery holder (including a battery ofc) would be the best fix to undo that lovely machine from the danger of another leaky battery. You could probably just buy a tiny audio amplifier from China, which works on a 5 volt power supply. Either with an analog or digital volume dial/button. Adrian mentioned in one of his last video’s that he accidentally broke the neck of the tube on the Mac his family used. You might want to discharge that CRT and disconnect the neck board, before you get zapped, or worse: the neck of that tube breaks! 😩😋 That CDROM drive might be fixable, but it really sounds like a gear or a rubber band has deteriorated in there. There are quite a lot of SCSI CD-ROM drives popping up second hand lately. You might be able to obtain one, with audio features on the front and back, for a fair price of about $15. You’ve found a lovely project! I’m definitely following you on this one! Oh, and many thanks for the great content! 🤗🤗

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

@@Inject0r Hah yeah I do really need to be careful with that tube and neck. Great suggestion about the audio amplifier! I'm definitely going to have to look into that. Have you used one before in anything?

@brandonupchurch7628

3 жыл бұрын

@@Inject0r If a 3V battery will work why not just use a CR2 photo battery in the stock holder, they're the same chemistry of as the coin cell batteries and shouldn't leak like a lithium thionyl battery.

My vote's for black, there's plenty of "oem" macs out there, there's only one that looks like... that. :P Gives it some "style" :)

Fix the mods, and the paint job. That machine has a history and story, much better then stock IMO.

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

I agree!

@rubiconnn

3 жыл бұрын

It's a macintosh se. There are millions of these things, there is no need to treat it like a museum piece.

@cathoderay6826

2 жыл бұрын

@@rubiconnn you sure about that?

Back in the days where entthusiasts could actually pimp a Mac beyond a simple sticker on the back. This FrankensMac is ugly and beautiful at the same time :)

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

My thoughts exactly! It's so ugly, it's beautiful!

@esseferio

3 жыл бұрын

Or back in the days where cable management was not even a thing :)

@WhatALoadOfTosca

3 жыл бұрын

Now you pump an apple product and those nice folks who you've supported threaten you with legal action. What a great company...

@LambdaMiscellaneous

3 жыл бұрын

Action Retro Its not even ugly!

Follow the mod! Would love to see this black beauty living its best modded life.

@esseferio

3 жыл бұрын

Follow the mod... And go bigger if you can! That's the dream! :) Please?

I can just picture the original modder in my minds eye sitting at a desk full of components just trying to get the things to assemble properly.. That is some proper ghetto geek modding right there. :)

I think the CD drive's endstop sensor has died, causing it to think it's jammed

@ntsecrets

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah did you notice the disc never spun

@Dan-TechAndMusic

3 жыл бұрын

I think the Jaz drive might be pushing into the drive, causing the mechanism to get jammed. You can see the left bottom edge of the Jaz causing bowing in the middle of the drive's bezel.

@matthewtempest7756

3 жыл бұрын

sorry the old belt is not lifting the drive up

I would absolutely want to keep the outer appearance at the least. The black with the blue CD faceplate, and the red buttons on the Jaz drive look really cool! Actually, that would probably be less work than removing all the paint, and probably having to retro bright the case. As far as the interior mods and improvements, it looks to me as the the original owner had some great ideas, but wasn't able to implement them cleanly or well. As you pointed out, it may just be a work in progress that was far from complete. I would love to see it finished up and working as much as possible according to the original owner's vision. If you foo that, you have a true uniques and fascinating machine here, as opposed to another sick se 30. Good luck with it, and I am really looking forward to seeing where you take this.

@evknucklehead

3 жыл бұрын

Probably wouldn't need to retrobrite this case, as the paint would have protected the plastic from UV exposure. For that matter, depending on the method used to remove the paint, any existing UV yellowing may be removed with the paint.

Rewire, respray and replace that CD ROM drive. I’d like to see Darth Maccus brought back to glory with all the mods functional. I’d also like to see him on the internet too! Keep up to good work and keep us posted on Reddit!

This looks like the kind of stuff we did on the old Applefritter forums back in the day. Bet this guy was part of them. Another example of a se/CD mod www.applefritter.com/node/1359 I say fix it up, re-do the paint, and keep it as a period relic of making what you have work and DIY modifications.

@brostenen

3 жыл бұрын

Dont repaint. This have a story to tell.

@NikkiWraith

3 жыл бұрын

I was thinking the exact thing.

@YourIdeologyIsDelusional

3 жыл бұрын

I remember reading a post on those forums where someone soldered on a bunch of PCI slots to one of the low budget clones and they actually worked.

@draggonhedd

3 жыл бұрын

@@YourIdeologyIsDelusional yup! i remember that

@dialupdave6276

2 жыл бұрын

That guy's modding skills are far above my own.

That SE is... wow! You can tell whoever had this before had a lot of fun with it. (Also I spotted "PC compatibility card on the script paper in the intro! That would be awesome to see too!)

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

Haha yep I was all ready to film that - I have so many projects I'm excited about haha

Hello fellow Apple collector. I initially thought this was one of those ultra rare TEMPEST machines. It’s not but this is actually just as cool. Please do a series on how you restore it. I’m not too big a fan of the two tone aesthetic, I’d personally paint it all black (including that internal Jaz drive, if you can get it working) but do as you wish, I’ll watch the video anyway! The CD drive is probably a goner (the CD doesn't spin, the eject loop confirms that), and Apple did make black mice and keyboards that would look great with this SE/30.

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

Oh great idea about finding the real Apple black keyboard and mouse! They're from the Macintosh TV right?

@theapplechronicles9863

3 жыл бұрын

@@ActionRetro They made some for the Mac TV but also for the 5400/5500 "Director Editions". A couple years back they were still affordable (I just did a quick eBay search and that's no longer the case...), so you need to be patient and wait. I know a fella who did buy one for cheap on Yahoo auctions but it had a US/Japanese layout. So that's another option. For the audio part, please use a proper mixer (there are some cheap PCBs on eBay/alibaba) that will do the job much better than twisted wires.

@absalomdraconis

3 жыл бұрын

@@theapplechronicles9863 : And some proper connectors to match! The external speaker hookup isn't a bad idea, but the method...

@evknucklehead

3 жыл бұрын

I still have the remnants of a TEMPEST Apple II+ in storage. Haven't tried firing it up in years, though. Came with an interesting assortment of attachments, all in big green shielded cases. The keyboard was converted to external and has a joystick built in, with a socket for a Koala Tablet (sadly not included). Also came with a hard drive, VCR for backing up the hard drive, printer, color monitor, and a line-conditioning power supply. The manual for it also listed a number of other attachments that we didn't get, such as a second, monochrome monitor. One of these days, when I get time and space to do it, I'll probably try firing it up again.

I really love when people take something and truly make it their own.

Great score. The hanging on the extensions load is because the 7.5.5 Gusd hasn't been been modified, it won't boot a 32bit clean ROM without the MOD. Some of the BMOW ROMs made it by Steve without the CDROM driver installed, I received two of them like that. For the paint, Krylon Fusion adheres really well. Oh, I forgot to mention, BMOW ROMinator II Atom, it takes three minutes to initialize a drive because of the initializer Steve has put on the new ones, opposed to the forty-five minutes per drive it took for the earlier models! BMOW came through big time on this one:) This is if you are using SCSI2SD, above version 4.6.

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this info, it's really helpful!

refurb as per the original owners vision. but improve the jankyness on the inside.

@MaxOakland

3 жыл бұрын

That’s the ticket!

OMG what a mess of cables! That looks like a PC I'd have put together :-D I know I'm very late to this party, but please keep the frankenmac and see if you can get it going!

One man's cursed is another man's blessed.

the amount of modding that went into this mac is amazing

Keep the mods and colour! I'd go even further and install things like gotek SD2SCSI, upgrade speakers and so on. Go nuts with it! 👍

Must have kept using this Mac for at least 10 years, given the fitting of a Jazz Drive. Good going.

I feel like you found a true early work of modding art. I didn't know anyone during that era pulling off something like this. Glad it is in your hands and getting a breakdown/revisioning.

There are many stock SEs. There is only one SE like this. This is a rare opportunity to take something already "spoiled" from being stock and do something really fun with it, without the fear of "ruining" the SE.

Everyone can have a factory SE/30, but something unique, well nobody else has that.

I agree with your ideas for bringing this Mac to the vision of the original modder. This is clearly a labor of love

That's a neat looking system, I'd keep its coloring. The CD drive looks like the position sensor isn't working. You can probably get the it working if you take the drive apart. There should be a switch on the board which gets pushed to the side when the tray is open all the way or when the drive is fully loaded. Spray in some contact cleaner and wiggle it around, it should be good to go! If that doesn't fix it maybe you can find a different drive from the same manufacturer and swap the faceplates.

Definitely deserves to be kept as is or bettered! Could be a crazy CD player with an integrated amp or something.

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

I'm kind of wondering how big of a speaker I can fit in there haha

Reminds me of what projects I would attempt when I was 12, not knowing how to solder yet. I’d complete the mod, fixing what was done incorrectly and go a bit further. Not sure about the speakers. I doubt they even worked, the audio out of the cd drive is line level I believe, not enough power to drive 4 speakers.

"A for effort, F for execution" seems to apply to most of the mods on that mac.

Keep the mods. It is a part of that machine's history. Gives it some insanely cool character to it as well knowing it was all done for a specific purpose. Keep the paint as well.

I vote for keeping the mod going. For the outward appearance, I suggest changing the CD-ROM out for a working unit in black (or find a beige one and paint the faceplate to match the case). You may want to find some very fine sandpaper to smooth out the blemishes on the top and respray with a matte black. I used Krylon brand paint last year on a very badly yellowed luggable 286 and it turned out beautifully picturesque. It's still looking smart over a year later! I just found your channel and I'm subscribing now. Keep it up!

I would just fix the paint job, repair what's broken and leave that gem as is

@charleshines6155

3 жыл бұрын

It is too weird to do anything else with. I never had one of those SEs but you must be careful tinkering with them with that monitor in there. The capacitor on that CRT is dangerous.

Oh definitely keep on going down the rabbit hole. Excellent initial video, can't wait to see this evolve 🙂

Keep going!!! Subbed just now to see where this cursed Mac ends up. Love to see you do the original owners intended mods properly

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

I'm stuck inbetween both options, i would go with what feels best. Keep it up man! This channel was awesome to stumble upon.

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Andrew, that really means a lot!

Looks like something that belongs in an evil villains office!

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

Haha it's the Mac from the Death Star!

Don't need color to produce music. God what a beautiful mess of a modded machine, I love it.

This channel has grown so quickly! Great content as always

This is super cool. Whoever modded this obviously used this machine a ton and put a lot of love into it. Keep the black look for sure!

MOD MOD MOD IT TO DEEEEEATH

The Macintosh was so cursed that the KZread app crashed

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

🤣🤣🤣

This cursed macintosh SE, is just borderline insanity. but it's my kind of borderline insanity, it's like if Doctor Frankenstein created an apple computer with everything you see plus more, and you get this.

WOW, that brings back memories. I designed my first website using a Mac SE 30 with system 7.5.. I made my whole page 400 dots wide.. I still have the graphics and page template from the site. I continued using Simple Text even after I upgraded to Mac G4. How about routing all of the internal sound wires to Bluetooth so you can hookup external Bluetooth speakers.. It would be nice to have wifi

Ah, I was eagerly waiting for this one!

OMG! I’ve been familiar with the Cursed SE/30 for over a year, but had never seen the beginning of the series. NOW I see WHY you CALL it CURSED!!! lol

Just saw this in my recommended and had to subscribe to see where you end up going with it, and you have other retro things, and I'm a sucker for retro stuff, lol. I'd definitely personally keep it all as is and shore everything up, future proof it with new caps, etc, because for me if I get something that's been modded, especially like this etc, it feels so unique because it has a history and it's own little story, but that's just my opinion, haha.

It's a mad mod, I wonder how many people actually appreciate the effort & cost to achieve the end result. The Jaz drive dates it as early as 1995, still SE/30 where quite expensive back then (Apple ceased production 1991), it was maxed out with 128MB, running OS 7.5 (1994). I guess this is around the same era as Windows 95, most PCs at that time would be running with 2 possibly 4MB RAM and sound was still an optional extra!

It looks like the System Folder needs blessed on the internal HD so you can boot it. Open the System Folder and drag the System file to the desktop, then put it back.

Definitely needs a recap, you can tell with how dull the solder is on those caps that they've all started leaking and corroding. Interesting machine, I did an internal CD-ROM mod kinda like that one, but on a Mac IIci back when I was in high school.

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

That CD drive needs a good cleaning, perhaps even a complete replacement. You're right about the driver issue, as it's unlikely that the BMOW replacement ROM has CD Drivers in the system folder. A similar issue explains why MultiMoviePlayer wouldn't work, specifically that it couldn't find Quicktime. Not sure why it gave that generic error message instead of saying it couldn't find Quicktime, though. Your best OS option is probably going to be System 7.5.5, like the read me file on that hard disk suggests is already on it. I'm not sure if the SE/30 is supported by 7.6.1, and there's not much that requires 7.6+ that you'd be running on an SE/30 to begin with. Also, for those who didn't know already, System 6 won't let you use all 128MB of memory, as it only supports 24-bit memory addressing. This limits System 6 to 8MB of RAM for programs to use. As for the case, I agree with those who say to keep it black. Though it could make finding a replacement CD drive tricky, as not many SCSI CD drives came in black. You can find adapter boards that let you use an IDE CD Drive on a SCSI bus, but it's not ideal. By the way, it's entirely possible that it was an SE/30 case to begin with, as we can't see any original labels. About the only way to tell for sure is to see if there are any signatures embossed onto the interior casing and compare them to the ones from known SE and SE/30 cases.

Can’t believe it’s been 3 years since this came out I remember when these episodes came out during the pandemic

My dad painted a couple of Macs many years ago. My favorite was an SE/30 he painted black and called the "Stealth SE/30" he even made a custom label on the front. He sold it on eBay to see if there was any interest in custom painted macs, but it sold for about the going rate. He used a paint called "Krylon Fusion for plastic paint" that worked quite well on the cases but would rub off over time on keyboards/mice. You can see some of the mac stuff he painted back in the day here: www.nextcomputers.org/forums/index.php?topic=1180.0 The pics don't really do them justice, they were gorgeous in person.

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

Oh man those look awesome. I really love how the keyboard looks with the black plastics and stock gray keys too.

@wishusknight3009

3 жыл бұрын

Those really do look good. Really stunning actually! If I could pull off that clean authentic sheen I would probably finish mine. In the 90s I airbrushed some subtle highlights and trim lines into mine and it looks really good. Almost like a cell shading in a way. It was very time consuming as well to get the lines as sharp as I wanted them. lol.

Keep the mods and tight everything up! I just subscribed so I can follow this project haha, keep it up!

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

I saw this same machine on social media somewhere a couple weeks ago - so you're the one who got it!

If 2020 was a classic Mac...

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

🤣🤣🤣

The 6-Color Apple logo is STRIKING on the Black case!

Very cool find! Quite a FrankenMac. I vote to keep it black, and with the Jaz and CD-Rom mods. There are trayless, slot-loading SCSI CD-Rom drives - they are a bit pricier, but very cool looking. I'm enjoying your Mac archeology, keep up the good work!

@IoIxD

3 жыл бұрын

Wouldn't they be quite a bit thinner then the tray loading CD-ROM, though?

That thing looks positively badass! It kinda looks like the aio macintosh tv. Also kinda reminds me of the darth vader apple ii.

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

Haha yeah I love this wonderful hideous beast

@timkaragias213

3 жыл бұрын

I agree! Keep it going!!

Keep it as close to its modded glory as possible. This was clearly someone's pride and joy at one time or another.

Caps look more or less good? God, every single one of them has leaked! Look at the dark solder around them!

Oh good! A retro hardware youtuber who doesn't destroy rare machines in a lazy rush! Subscribed :)

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

🤣

You should add a small modern amp board to it and reattach the speakers, I would just drill the case and use black screws and nuts instead of glue I think. Then you could wire up proper cd audio once you have a working drive

Definitely keep the mods!! Just clean it up! For black paint, there are very good products for repainting car interiors (dash and other plastic pieces) which should be ideal for your Mac

This thing is awesome!! This kind of stuff was what got me into computers, though it was modding PC cases with windows, paint jobs, neons, exotic cooling, wacky fan grills and crazy bay devices etc. etc... most of this stuff has fallen out of fashion or standard features now so it's really cool to see a relic of a bygone niche, back when custom computers were actually custom, complete with the appropriate level of dodginess. I'm pretty sure the audio outputs on CD drives aren't amplified, doubt those extra speakers ever did much lol. Maybe that's an improvement you can make, adding one of those cheap mini amplifiers! Improve on the ideas of the past with technology of today. I'd like to see this thing fully working with all the mods, done _right_.

This mac has TONS of personality. I'd keep it as is as much as possible... but... I would try to "finish" the job with smart connectors and drive mounts. This thing is awesome, I call dibs if you ever decide you're done with it!

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

Hahaha sounds good!

I am so glad this machine can't actually be restored to stock because of the big holes in the front of the case. It will always show signs of the life it lived, no matter how much work is put into it. I mean, unless you swap the parts into the case of a dead Mac SE/30, I GUESS.

No matter what vintage computer. These old extreme upgraded machines, are just a thing of beauty. Too many machines brought back to mint condition. This on the other hand, have a story to tell. Be that Atari, Apple or Commodore machines then they are all awesomme.

I like this black and blue aesthetic keep the color scheme if you can : ) if not go with what you feel is a good color. cool video

Watching this on September 25. It's gonna be a spooky ride.

new suscriber here, love cursed computers. remember my AST286 dos computer, my very first computer. i was searching for a episode of "the cursed" and google recommended this channel. watching this video now.

Go all-in on the mods :-) See how far you can push it!

I would really love to see you repaint it and keep/repair the mods

This is my first video of yours, new subscriber here.. and yes please more of the darth mac

The black paints a shocker. But perhaps YT doesn’t do it justice. Somehow I dig it being even more multi coloured

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

I like this idea

@oscarcharliezulu

3 жыл бұрын

Action Retro I’d love yo see it tattoo’d like you!

Factory original stuff is cool but I'm way more interested in what people have come up with themselves over the years that the computer was actually used. Great video.

HOW DID YOU SUDDENLY GOT SO MANY SUBS?!?! Congratulations!! :D

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

Haha I HAVE NO IDEA!! Thanks man!

@oliversakic5907

3 жыл бұрын

Action Retro OMFG NOW YOU HAVE EVEN MORE SUBS?!! xD

@ActionRetro

3 жыл бұрын

@@oliversakic5907 🤣🤣🤣

this wasn't just well used, this was well loved

Man, you've got some seriously nifty tools! I've never seen anything like that FloppyEmu or the custom ROM chip. Where might I possibly acquire them?

Looks a little like the things I used to do. Replace the broken parts. add an internal external speaker switch. only reinstall One internal speaker. add your favorite type of speaker plug on the back. In the end you could have a really cool old computer.

Some of those modifications are pretty cool. I think Jazz drives and CD-ROM drive is cool. I'd try to keep them going *since* the case has *already* been painted and cut into. Maybe there's a gear off a tooth on that CD-ROM drive causing the repeated ejection.

Not sure if you don't show it on the video, but typically when servicing one of these, one would discharge the CRT first, as, if memory serves, there's a 9kV charge there, and that'd wake you right up. They've got a built-in discharge circuit (again, if memory serves, it's been a long time now), that'll bleed it down within a few minutes of it being turned off, but on something of this age, probably don't want to bank on that circuit still working properly. Pretty cool to see one of these again; used to see these serviced on a daily basis when they were the new hotness.

128MB of ram in a machine from 1989??? I would have never thought that was possible.

I am glad one of the drives works.

Continue making it live! The black look is great and the upgrades could be improved. Maybe a simple cage for the drives instead of tape. Maybe just a better more modern tape solution.

Follow the MOD, try boot of that external Jazz again.. see what's on that. The drivers for the CD-ROM could be functioning. Plus there could be all kinds of cool stuff on there too. And I'd leave the paint job the way that it is. Pretty cool find.

You must keep its soul alive. Don’t restore it back! You risk cursing yourself

Great video, subscribed! I think it’d be cool to keep it modded but clean up the work, maybe 3D print some custom brackets for components instead of the trusty tape.

I can't belive you want to fix that CD-ROM drive. That's a great way to pass time while you wait for the OS to load.

That cd-rom was pissed that you resurrected it. “I was finally at rest! Why did you bring me back?!"

The paint may actually be canned plastic dye, and you can buy it on Amazon and apply it just like spray paint. Some console modders use it for restorations

lol i love the clone keyboard, i love most of this actually.

Not sure why I was recommended this exact video by YT but I certainly won’t complain :D

set the hdd as the startup disk . Maybe the cd will show up. I bet the drivers are under the 7.5 os that is in the HDD and that software might run too.

I like the black and the mods.

Continue modding it!!!

There used to be a hidden control panel that had an option to disable the start up ram test. I had this problem when I maxed out the ram in a computer I owned. It took about five minutes to boot wile the POST test took place. I can't remember the key combination you have to hold when you open the ram control panel.

Paint it black, make it work with the mods and show us the music on there

@jaguarr314

3 жыл бұрын

Play it while painting the top.

@MaxOakland

3 жыл бұрын

I’d love to hear it