Restoring One of Apple's Weirdest Vintage Macs!

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The Macintosh IIsi was a midrange model from late 1990 meant to go up against PC clones in business environments. But some of the compromises that its engineers had to make to hit its price point meant for some very interesting quirks.
Branchus Creations: www.recapamac.com.au and / branchuscreations
BlueSCSI: bluescsi.com
MeowTOAST: github.com/Stephen-Arsenault/...
Hakko FR-301 desoldering iron (affiliate link): amzn.to/3mNuER6
Sources:
MacUser, December 1990.
"Can new Macs restore shine to Apple's future?," Computerworld, December 24, 1990.
IIsi NuBus adapter card photo: www.recycledgoods.com/apple-8...
IIsi NuBus adapter card scan: www.applefritter.com/node/2076
DayStar dual-socket PDS and cache card riser photo: www.applefritter.com/node/10199
"Mac IIsi," Macworld, December 1990.
00:00 - Introduction
01:52 - Disassembly
03:08 - Recapping the PSU
05:33 - Completely pointless soldering montage
06:04 - PSU surface-mount caps
06:30 - Tanta-lizing motherboard repair
08:23 - Quirks and features, part 1
08:59 - It blew up! (Not really.)
09:37 - Further testing
10:31 - BlueSCSI version 2
11:52 - Tidying up
12:51 - Uh oh
14:51 - Quirks and features, part 2
17:17 - One-slot wonder
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Music by Soundstripe (www.soundstripe.com) and Epidemic Sound (www.epidemicsound.com).
Intro music by BoxCat Games (freemusicarchive.org/music/Bo....

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2 июн 2024

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Комментарии : 222

@stixpjr Год назад

Wow! Memories! I really didn't think the "IIsi RAM-Muncher" would still be alive almost 30 years after I wrote it and released it into the wild around May 1994!

@gammaleader96 Год назад

I love how the internet and youtube especially at that manages to bring together people even for the most obscure topic. Very cool to see the people behind old stuff like this.

@oceanmew 11 месяцев назад

omg amazing

@just_passing_through Год назад

I still think Macs of this era are the most beautiful computers ever created. The still look amazing all these years later. True works of art.

@ricl7413 Год назад

Silicon graphics computers were pretty nice and had some colour to them. For those that remember when these were available they were easy to open and easy to upgrade and fix when needed. Far more eco friendly than anything you can get now and certainly what companies claim to be.

@just_passing_through Год назад

@@ricl7413 True. In all honestly, nothing thrills me quite like a Burroughs B205 console. I don’t think anything ever will. (google it)

@goclunker Год назад

@@ricl7413 the crap we get now is built with planned obsolescence, mostly, because we reached a performance plateau

@xerzy Год назад

This era in general had outstanding industrial design. SGIs are indeed remarkable, and so were, say, the NeXTcube and the Sharp X68000. Guess people got tired of having good things in life, though ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@SproutyPottedPlant Год назад

The Acorn A5000 was pretty cool too 😊

@goclunker Год назад

Pro-tip from the car world: to release those plastic cable holder connectors that have the two teeth (look like a tree), use a socket from a socket wrench set. A small one will squeeze the tabs at the same time making it easy to pop off

@nickwallette6201 Год назад

In the computer world, screwdriver kits usually include a nut driver for hex-headed screws, which works pretty well. Or the tube from a pen. :-)

@goclunker Год назад

@@nickwallette6201 pretty much the same thing, yes, a e-hex bit for standoffs will usually work

@EvilyoshiJAPAN4 Год назад

My Dad had one of these for work (he was a graphic designer at the time), this got me into computers heavily, he even trusted me to install a RAM upgrade!

@RikerJoe Год назад

I completed a restoration of a IIsi where the PSU was a gooey mess from cap juice that even ate some of the traces on the logic board PSU connector. Yuk! I also made the same mistake on needing to provide external power for a BlueSCSI to work. Thank you for the explanation on using the RAM muncher to use up the extra RAM not used by the onboard video and thus improve overall performance, which I’ll add to my IIsi when I return from Spring Break vacation. Nice video, Colin!

@vintageMIDI Год назад

Excellent video. There's something quite satisfying about restoring well-engineered electronics. The 80s/90s offered quality equipment that was built to be repaired and restored and appreciated. Quite obvious you love these classics. Keep it going!

@bryans8656 Год назад

I always enjoy watching you work on old Macs, but I especially like that desoldering gun. That is clearly worth the investment.

@KYUBIMATIAS Год назад

Great episode. That BlueSCSI seems like a life-saver for these older systems.

@PotatoFi Год назад

It is, and it’s cheap enough to easily outfit an entire collection of vintage SCSI-based Macs. I love mine, and plan to buy many more.

@volvo09 Год назад

The convenience looks great, however I like leaving spinning disks in my retro machines. Part of the charm is listening to the drive click away as the system loads software. New hard drives are super quiet so I don't have that same fondness for newer mechanical drives, but the old ones are always satisfying to listen to.

@PotatoFi Год назад

@@volvo09 This is a 100 percent valid reason to stick with spinning disks.

@kaitlyn__L Год назад

@@volvo09 yeah I think if my first computer didn’t have that clunky head motor so I could “hear it thinking” it wouldn’t have had half the charm for me. Plus the distinctive noises it made as it unparked, and less-so when it parked.

@OldAussieAds Год назад

@@volvo09 I agree with you there. How’s this for irony? I have a real Commodore 64 connected to a modern flash based disk drive. It lets out the occasional beep so you know it’s working. On the other hand, the VICE emulator on my Raspberry Pi (Retro Pie) actually emulates the sound of the 1541 disk drive when loading. My brain gets more of a kick loading up games on the emulator as a result. Sound was a huge part of the memories.

@helfire23 Год назад

Thanks for featuring #BlueSCSI v2! I'm actually getting a IIsi from Joel today too so perfect timing to review all the things I'll need to do.

@GarthBeagle Год назад

Nice restoration! The IIsi doesn't get the recognition it deserves

@TDub_ADV Год назад

The IIsi was a good machine. I always enjoyed working on those tool less cases back then. The LC, Si and Ci were just a joy to work on.

@toddholcomb1 Год назад

Great video! The IIsi was my first color Mac, and I recently restored one and upgraded it with a Daystar 50 MHz 68030 accelerator and Ethernet card, so it's no longer an lower-end Mac. You can also easily add a HD activity light by hooking up another wire to the lead by the speaker.

@theshadowman1398 Год назад

Simply love retro Macs. That's why I have a G4 MDD that has a dual 1.25 ghz CPU an OS9 install and a very hard to find serial expansion card if I need to use a serial device.

@gabrielledebourg2487 Год назад

IIsi was the first computer I ever used! We had one growing up. So many fond memories of that computer.

@TheJurassicJunkie Год назад

Great video! I always love your Macintosh in-depth coverage.

@jonathankleinow2073 Год назад

System 7.1 with the desktop pattern of green boxes is my favorite version of System 7. It's what I had as a kid on my LC III and Quadra 650, and it reminds me of many happy hours spent playing SimCity 2000. Very good job!

@OldAussieAds Год назад

I also used that desktop pattern on our LCII and Performa 5400. I was so lucky to have such kick arse computers throughout my schooling.

@static-san Год назад

I'm coming to love your video style. Covers lots of ground at a decent clip and a nice voice to listen to.

@TheOriginalCollectorA1303 Год назад

90s Macs are always interesting, even if they were considering “obsolete” soon after they were released. Just something you don’t see nowadays, the fact you can disassemble the entire machine without tools is very cool to see. The only thing holding it back is really just the plastics, but still a cool machine regardless. Great video!

@Markimark151 Год назад

The Mac IIsi is one of the best old school color Macintosh computers! They were the first color Mac computers our schools ever used.

@robsquared2 Год назад

Ah the Macintosh Twosey

@markalancirino Год назад

My first color Mac was a IIsi. I was lucky enough to be working for an Apple developer when it came out and got to go to the release party at the Apple factory in Fremont. I remember they had literal towers of prawns and lobster tails and tons of other food and liquor. A few days later, I went down to University Ave and bought my IIsi and 13" color monitor. It was the most exciting Mac purchase I ever made!

@magmajctaz1405 Год назад

I was "introduced" to the Mac Plus in middle school. Then we worked on LCs and LCIIs. In high school my Turbo Pascal teacher had a IIci. For that reason, when you first booted the wrong image in your video, I realized the boot screen was "too new" for this vintage of Mac. Thanks for this flashback!

@BRBTechTalk 8 месяцев назад

Nice to see a niche event get so popular, it bodes well for those of us that like to make the retro PC videos. I hope they sort out the growing pains for next year.

@Raintiger88 9 месяцев назад

I've been watching a lot of these retro Mac vids lately and you guys kinda make me jealous. From the days when I fell in love with the ][+ to my first PC purchase of an LC. . .I miss those days and this community makes me want to try to find an LC with a ][e card. Problem is, I lost all my apple/mac disks long ago and doubt I can relive those glory days.

@andrefelixstudio2833 Год назад

Excellent video I used to have a LC 475 which I use to use to put a 114 page magazine together!

@Fifury161 Год назад

Worth mentioning the "special" soft power button. It has a slot in it and the little graphic above it hints at it purpose. If you turn the button it will remain in the powered on state - it removes the soft power option.

Год назад

What a trip down memory lane! I owned a IIsi back in the day and I have great memories attach to it. I specially remember the time I decided to replace the internal hard drive with 2 newer and thinner ones. That was my first incursion tinkering inside a computer. That was it, I was hooked! I became the resident expert on IIsi updates and repeated the upgrades on many of my friends machines. Since then I became a computer technician and made a career outta it. Thanks for this video.

@tomdfrog Год назад

ahhhh, many memories of making the most out of these in the 1990's. The IIsi made me LOVE the IIci!!! And then I worshiped the Quadra 700.

@TMS5100 Год назад

@4:09 one of my best purchases ever. i no longer dread repairs.

@alextirrellRI Год назад

I got one of these as a hand-me-down of sorts when my dad's company was cleaning out its warehouse. It was around 1998 and aside from his work PowerBook 1400, the only other computer we'd had at home was a Mac Classic, which was comparatively quite limited. My IIsi was paired with a greyscale monitor, but it still could do a lot more than the Classic. It was the first computer I had that was exclusively mine.

@Vaskomyr Год назад

Always super relaxing to watch. Even if I never use some of the older pc/macs, always relaxing watching them get repaired and spring back to life.

@PCUSER486 7 месяцев назад

The iiSi was a great unit/machine. I still use mine to this day! ❤❤

@johnlarro6872 Год назад

Got me pining for the old days lol... Miss my Quadra 840av... but even the old LCIII that served me through half of the 90s.

@MotownBatman Год назад

Love the videos brotha! Keep em coming!

@insanelydigitalvids Год назад

Excelllent video, Colin. I've got a Mac IIsi ready for restoration, and there were some great tips here! One other thing "unique" about the IIsi is its case. It was the only Mac that ever used this design -- one that I am very fond of!

@THEJapan Год назад

I only understand about half of what you are doing but I enjoy it a lot! Thanks for the interesting videos!

@retrotechguy Год назад

I got a IIsi recently with the portrait display - love it! I actually really enjoy the design of this case. The fact it was only used for the IIsi makes it all the more special!

@parastie Год назад

I love this stuff so much! You're getting to p play with the sane hardware I drooled over as a kid.

@alinosgg Год назад

Amazing video as always

@ChrisCam84 Год назад

I grew up with a IIsi, the nostalgia is overwhelming!! I wish my ten year old self knew about that memory issue and how to solve it, haha!

@nuclearmonster Год назад

Love this video and especially the lIghting on that wonderful IIsi

@markfernandes5674 Год назад

Cool video. Remember having a few of these at work when my IT group supported Macs & PCs. My recollection is that they were reasonable machines but I still preferred my IICi which was my daily driver. Had forgotten about the shared RAM issue.

@Realaudiosith Год назад

Great content. I look forward to your next video

@minty_Joe Год назад

Awesome job, Colin!

@rgdickenson Год назад

I repaired a IIsi last year. Fun project. I was aware of the video/ram issue but not of the IIsi Ram-Muncher init option. I'll be tracking a copy down for sure.

@sendark001 Год назад

Masterful macro shots and tasteful timelapses.

@MaxOakland Год назад

It has such a cute startup sound. I love it!

@brendanhoffmann8402 Год назад

Awesome! I had a IIsi from 1990 to 1997. I loved the hell out of it! I even had a co-processor card for it. Ah! the adapter to turn it into pds... that's why my co-processor card never worked! Or could have been because it was used and didn't come with software. (I got the card as a gift for doing work experience at a Mac store in 1995)

@SSR_RedDevil Год назад

Its good to see the old macs again. When I was in high school, in 1997 - 2002 these were abundant. Atleast 200 all over the school, as well as the PowerPC's. The main things I remember are the one mouse button mice and netscape.

@ITGuyinaction Год назад

👍 👍 👍 I really admire your videos and your collection! That's wonderful! I'm trying to do sth similar but first steps are so challenging... Although with Macs I don't have too much experience... Great video!

@StenIsaksson Год назад

I work in electronic manufacturing. SMD department. That flux you use, I think it's banned in manufacturing these days because it's way too strong and can corrode the board itself. These days it's mostly used in old repair shops, not in modern manufacturing.

@GianmarioScotti Год назад

Tantalum caps can fail, too. And when they do, they go with a bang.

@adamklopfenstein9440 Год назад

Loved my IIsi with a passion. Never knew about that memory limitation when I was using mine - certainly explains the speed hit so many apps took!

@miked4377 Год назад

beautiful machine..good job

@RetroHoosk Год назад

Thanks for the tip on the RAM Muncher INIT, had no idea that was a thing and I usually just increased the disk cache in the past. Will try this out on my IIsi later! :D

@aurance 2 месяца назад

The LC was the first computer I ever had, and I remember looking at the simultaneously-released IIsi with much envy.

@designingbywave Год назад

Solid is a good way to describe the IIsi, it’s a nice entry-level 68K Mac. Full color and none of the 16/32-bit issues that the LC had.

@stratonarrow Год назад

I remember these well! What a brilliant design in how it’s constructed, and a gorgeous example to boot! I long for the days of expandability and portability! A far cry from the 14” MBP I type this from.

@jace888au Год назад

Really great to hear the story of the Sydney trams

@Applecompuser Год назад

My Mac Centris 650 purchased at the right time for price, performance is one of my favorite computers. It was so well built and so easy to use and the chassis was also metal.

@PH96Official Год назад

I literally got so excited when I Saw You released a new video.

@brianehni5918 Год назад

I owned a model train store back in the 90’s, with POS running on an SE. We did an inventory sort and it took the whole weekend. After getting a IIsi, it only took 15 minutes. My old partner still has the IIsi.

@Ralph-yn3gr Год назад

I restored my own IIsi that I found at a thrift store a few years back. It came with a Daystar 33mhz 68030 accelerator and 16mb of RAM in the SIM sockets. It's easily one of my favorite computers. I love that thing to death.

@PL-px3gw Год назад

I LOVED my IIsi. I made so much music on that machine. It was such a workhorse for me.

@grandmaster1004 Год назад

Hey man, love your vids. I actually tried my hand at surface cap replacement on an old Apple CD Plus after watching countless of your videos! It was scary but I did it! Love your method. Next is the Macintosh Portable.

@teg24601 Год назад

I love that look of the IIsi. It is sort of cute. We just have to watch out for Action Retro, he'll get ahold of one, and figure out how to put an accelerator in it that will run a 604e. :)

@tonybossaller4074 Год назад

When I saw the title, I assumed you were tackling the IIcx with its weird 16/32-bit bus. The IIsi was a breeze in comparison. One of my jobs long ago had both and I could never make the IIcx work well. Eventually swapped it out for an LC II/III (can’t remember which).

@RETROMachines 10 месяцев назад

Wow, another useful video, keep it up...

@chriscutress1702 Год назад

I remember using a IIFX that was loaded with early ProTools software (4 channel Pro Deck & Pro Edit) which was SOTA at the time. Soon new combined software called ProTools was released which allowed 4 channels and later 8 channels using the IIFX platform. Great little computer for the time. We also had a IISI which was a second editing machine but it never expanded beyond the original software(Pro Deck & Pro Edit) and was much slower with the processing of audio samples.

@dennisud Год назад

Those 1990s Macs are my favorite 'Vintage' Macs. I had a IIci at that time in my classroom, even before they networked the school district (With Dells). So until they did, I had 6 Apple IIe's and 3 Macs all networked within my classroom. Great system back then. I wsh I had one to play my old games on!

@ChristinaKendrick 10 месяцев назад

The systems integration and design of the interior is really impressive. This was very expensive to develop

@richardthunderbay8364 Год назад

I feel a lot of nostalgia for Macs of this era. I had started a new job and was using a Mac LC at work, the first Mac had ever seen, let alone used. I eventually bought a Mac IIvi for home use. A big attraction with the latter model was the CD ROM drive. I have pleasant memories of System 7.1.

@joewarnstedt6748 Год назад

Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

@egmccann Год назад

The Mac IIsi and Quadra 700 were my introductions to mac ownership. The person I got them from was just getting rid of them, said it was "a mac and a hard drive or something." Given the state of PC cases at the time (sharp edges with the mandatory blood sacrifice to work on anything,) these were amazing. I'd had several - lost them as a result of a move. Still miss those systems.

@draggonhedd Год назад

Cool little machine! Little tip for those plastic retainers for the DC plug on the psu, use the tube from a bic pen and just shove it over top. makes it nice and easy.

@munnsie100 Год назад

My mum had a IIsi from new, here in Australia, but sadly gave it away before I was born. I would’ve loved to have it in my collection. This era of design, leading up until the PB G4/MBP was my favourite, unique, identifiable from afar, and still very svelte to this day.

@JourneyPT Год назад

I'm not a current Apple fan for "reasons" but I adore the vintage ones with all my heart. 💜🎩

@Ignore_This_Account. Год назад

The fact that those caps didn't leak is just incredible, they almost always leak.

@ekner Год назад

"Steven Jobs" at 0:40 🤣

@Leofwine Год назад

Steven Paul Jobs, yes.

@ekner Год назад

@@Leofwine wow, i didnt know that was his real name!

@kaitlyn__L Год назад

@@Leofwine I wonder if anyone ever annoyed him by calling him “Stevie-P”

@bradcr152 Год назад

the IIsi was my first Mac as a kid... and I've still got it to this day. I love that it fits a full height hard drive and can take 64MB of RAM. It runs well with an FPU Card/Ethernet card, and easily overclocked with a crystal replacement and runs stable at 25MHz.

@diebesgrab Год назад

The IIsi is the computer I grew up with; it continued to see plenty of use long after my dad upgraded to a beige G3, as it was set up downstairs for me to use for schoolwork (and for my mom to play Apeiron). Played a lot of Sim games, a lot of AmbrosiaSW games, and a lot of edutainment on that thing.

@RyanMartinez Год назад

My family bought one when I was 13 along with Aldus PageMaker 4, Lemmings, and Sim City. It started my love of computers and Macs.

@retrotechtive 9 месяцев назад

I had a very similar issue on my Macintosh IIci as you did with the BlueSCSI on this machine, just with the ZuluSCSI. It worked on the back port but not on the internal one - until I attached the power. The difference was that the drive would seem to work (the light would come on), but it would be completely unreliable, and never boot successfully. (I recapped it entirely, so it wasn't down to that either)

@compu85 Год назад

I've overclocked my IIsi to 25mhz. It required flipping the fan around, when some part on the logic board gets too hot it starts getting memory corruption. With the fan blowing directly on it it's completely stable. The internal video can drive a portrait display, too!

@calzonemaniacsvideocorner0804 Год назад

You said it best. These parts were really only rated for ten, maybe fifteen years, not almost 35.

@static-san Год назад

Seeing restorations like this kinda make me wish I'd been in the Mac world years and years ago. Although I could dip in to retro-ness, as I am perfectly capable of everything you did here, I don't think I'd enjoy it so much nowadays. But I'm happy to vicariously share your restoration successes.

@OldAussieAds Год назад

As a Mac user back in those days, I can confirm that it was a glorious platform to use back then. But you know what - none of us could have been into it all. So while I was immersed in Mac culture back then, I would have been missing out on Amiga or PC (or whatever you used back then) culture. That’s the beauty of the retro scene - We can get a glimpse of alternate paths.

@threethousandyen Год назад

The glue under the SMD caps comes off quite easily by prying a bit with a hobby knife. Nice work!

@TheInfamousLegend27 8 месяцев назад

love that you got the "glarses" gun hehe

@ronlevon4294 Год назад

So cool to see that Apple is used to use a glass fuses that can be easily replaced , and not soldered as now to the MB

@mactechnc 12 дней назад

Thank you for making this video. I have a IIsi in my building I am going to restore once I am finished with my Color Classis and Power Macintosh G3/233MHz Beige computers. Question: Is there a site I can order the MeowTOAST PCD you used? Also, did you only have to solder the CR2023 holder to the MeowTOAST PCB? Thank you! Randy

@TheSpatialTheory Год назад

The Mac ii si was my first computer, with the portrait display too!

@Madness832 Год назад

There was a bunch of those at my high school. And a few of my buddies, and I, changed the error sounds (on random machines) to burps & farts.😄😄

@kahlil88mph Год назад

This model was my first successful recap when I started collecting retro tech in 2019. I went ahead with the crystal upgrade tho and installed a socket. I worked around the slow onboard RAM by increasing the disk cache. Original hard drive still boots and the CPU is running stable at 25MHz.

@paulbruneau7379 4 месяца назад

I know you must get this every video but do give the twist method a try. It’s so good

@wdd6864 Год назад

I had one of these Macs. Use to love it till all my software needed an 040. Then got a Quadra 660av to replace it. All were used but was nice to use

@MisterStuzy Год назад

I got my entire team the IIsi. Was a huge jump from the SEs they were using

@cozywest0721 Год назад

IISi, LCII, Quadra 700 ! Once I dreamed New Computer world then.But now that is not what I expected .

@needfuldoer4531 Год назад

The IIsi's PDS is actually electrically compatible with the SE/30's. The only differences are that SE/30-compatible PDS cards don't have a 68882 (since the SE/30 already has one) and they're shaped a little different so they clear the steel chassis.

@PotatoFi Год назад

I’m stoked to see you make a video about this machine, and that you got it up and running! The PRAM battery was present when I received the computer; I pulled it out right away. It’s in a plastic bag with a bunch of PRAM batteries in an ongoing experiment that has become pretty spicy. 😅 One other IIsi in the stack wasn’t as lucky (but it looked to be recoverable). This was a great video. I learned a ton about the IIsi!

@sneekeruk Год назад

You could overclock that 030 with no issues, my first amiga 1200 came with a dkb cobra with a 20mhz 030 at 28mhz from factory, and I had it running at 40mhz, it even managed 46mhz but the mmu had issues. 030's don't really get warm even when overclocked. I think I just stuck a passive heatsink on it when it was at 40mhz.