Projects
This page is where I post some of the machines I have worked on, along with what it took to get them running again. This is not a list of every single machine I have repaired, but does capture most of the bigger projects, along with some that I have found the most fun. If you are working on a machine with a similar problem to one described here, feel free to reach out and ask me questions. If you would like to see me write about more of my projects, also feel free to let me know that!
Linolex 3032 - September 28, 2025
This is a system that there does not seem to be much information on the internet for. It is a general purpose computer from the mid '70s, built by Linolex, which was later acquired by 3M. I am missing the CRT/Keyboard unit that would have connected to the main machine, and am also missing the floppy disk controller card. If you have any further information about this machine, or know of any surviving software or documentation, please let me know! We currently do not have any software or documentation archived for it, so it will be a big reverse engineering project. It has two Shugart 900 8" floppy disk drives, which are a proprietary interface. We plan to start making schematics of the logic boards in the near future. Updated 10/19/2025
Power Macintosh 9500/150 - August 8, 2025
This Mac was purchased from Garrett over at BitHistory.org. It is a bit of an odd one, considering that it was downgraded to a 100MHz 601 PowerPC processor at some point in its lifetime. After reseating the processor card, the machine sprung to life and booted an install of MacOS 8 from its IBM 2Gb SCSI hard disk. It appeared to have been used in a realtor's office, with photos of houses, Photoshop and other editing software, and all software was licensed to "Iowa Realty". The disk has since been wiped and moved to my Macintosh Classic II. The PM9500 will receive a BlueSCSI with a fresh install of MacOS 8.5, and will run as a file server for my various vintage Macintosh systems. I plan to recap the logic board and PSU in the near future. Updated 8/14/2025
Macintosh 512k Hyperdrive - August 6, 2025
This Macintosh was purchased from Free Geek Twin Cities as being mostly functional. The computer does boot off of the hyperdrive, but the install is corrupted, and the display wobbles. It will be fully recapped eventually, but for now it waits its turn in the line of repairs. Updated 8/14/2025
Macintosh Color Classic - July 25, 2025
This machine was in rough shape. The logic board was covered in grass, dust, capacitor goop, and the battery had started to leak. Thankfully the battery leakage was contained to just the battery holder, and the capacitor corrosion cleaned up nicely. The logic and analog boards are completely recapped, and the machine is back in service. The RAM will be upgraded at some point and the display could use some geometry adjustments, but for now I am just happy it is running and booting off its original IBM hard drive. Latest Update: The floppy drive has now been cleaned and lubricated, and the hard drive swapped for a BlueSCSI to give the machine network capabilities and a solid state hard drive option. Updated 8/24/2025
Macintosh SE/30 - June 22, 2025
This computer is an ongoing repair project. I started by removing all capacitors from the logic board and cleaning up the corrosion. Thankfully the battery had not yet leaked in this unit. After that, I installed new capacitors and the machine runs and boots, but has video issues. I will be ordering more parts to repair the video circuit and will update this later. Updated 8/14/2025
IBM RS/6000 43P Model 140 - May 22, 2025
This was an Ebay purchase, as I had been looking for this model of RS/6000 for quite some time. It arrived to me in pretty good shape, but had quite a bit of rust along the top edge of the case and frame that needed to be dealt with. The whole machine was dismantled and cleaned while the frame and inside of the case was sandblasted and painted with a conductive compound. It is fully operational, and has been upgraded to have two 9Gb 68 Pin SCSI drives, 768Mb of RAM (Max supported), a 100Mb ethernet card, and was given an install of AIX 4.3.3. It now serves this site, running 24/7. Updated 8/15/2025
IBM PS/2 Model 57SX and 57SLC - May 16, 2025
I acquired 9 non-working PS/2 Systems as a set, all of which had dead power supplies. I tested all 9 system boards with a good PSU to confirm all of the rest of each system still worked, but the power supplies were definitely bad. After much troubleshooting, I found the diode packages on the output side of each power supply are prone to failing short, and sometimes that will blow up the transistors as well (I even had one fail this way on the bench while it was running!). I have drawn up the board layouts for all of the components on the 3 PCBs in this model of power supply. I have since sold off 7 of the machines (keeping one of each for my collection), but am working through PSU repairs on all of them. I have repaired two so far, by replacing all electrolytic capacitors (some were leaking), the two transistors, two resistors, and the commonly failed diode packages. Units that have been repaired have been working reliably since! Feel free to reach out if you are also working on such a power supply- I have spent way too many hours with these and may be able to help. Updated 8/15/2025
HP 9000 K220 - May 16, 2025
This server is an absolute beast. When it was new, the cost in its current configuration (four processors, 2Gb of RAM) would have likely been over $100,000. This machine was acquired from Garrett over at BitHistory.org. It has been cleaned inside and out, has had its four hard drives wiped, and HP-UX 11.00 was installed. It now has an IBM 5150 that sits on top of it as the terminal. The machine pulls upwards of 400 Watts while running, making it the most power hungry machine in the collection (and is definitely the loudest!). Updated 8/15/2025
IBM RS/6000 Model 7011 and Xstation 130 - March 23, 2025
I got these machines as a set- two Model 7011 RS/6000 servers and one Xstation 130. One of the RS/6000 machines is a parts machine, missing the front plastics, floppy drive, hard drive, RAM, and other parts. The other is a complete machine with a frame buffer card, and is operational (although it very much needs a PSU recapping). The Xstation was difficult to find a monitor for, but once I found a monitor for it, I found that the PSU had failed, so I recapped that. The Xstation 130 now works very reliably, and is set to boot from my RS/6000 43P. Updated 8/15/2025
Sun SparcServer 20 - December 6, 2024
This is my second UNIX machine that I have picked up. It came with two processor cards, no frame buffer, and no hard drives, as it was set up to run as a server rather than a workstation. I have since acquired a Sun keyboard, mouse, and frame buffer card, as well as the proper hard drives and display adapter to make it all usable. One of the processors and one of the RAM modules ended up being faulty, so they have since been removed and the machine now works great on one processor. It is currently running Solaris 2.6. Updated 8/15/2025
Apple Network Server 500/132 - October 4, 2024
This was a very special machine for me to acquire. It has been my introduction into the world of UNIX (which I now find very cool, especially AIX!). It is fully operational, running AIX 4.1.5 on a 9Gb hard drive. When I first got it, it was running on its 2Gb IBM hard drive. I have learned a lot from working on it, and will continue to work on it in the future. It is on the list to get a recapping soon so it continues to be reliable, and the hope is to eventually make it available for public login! Updated 8/14/2025
Apple IIe Systems x2 - September 15, 2024
I acquired both of these systems at the same time, and remarkably, both just worked. I replaced the RIFA filter capacitors in both power supplies, and sold one machine to make back some of the cost of the lot, but I still have the second one and it works great. The disk drives have had their heads cleaned and have been tested, all four drives worked. I am very impressed with the build quality of the Apple IIe, no wonder they were sold for so long! Updated 8/14/2025
Macintosh Classic and Classic II - August 6, 2024
These two machines were given to me as a pair, and neither one worked when I acquired them. They have since been both fully recapped, the Classic needed some bodge wires on the logic board and a new optoisolator on the analog board, and the Classic II had its logic board sent out for processor replacement. Both are now fully operational and will stay around as part of my compact Macintosh set. Updated 8/14/2025
Macintosh 128k - April 5, 2024
This is the second vintage Macintosh I have acquired. It is a Macintosh 128k that was upgraded to 512k of RAM on the logic board, had a Dove MacSnap RAM upgrade, and an 800k floppy disk drive. The Mac needed some work, I had to remove the RAM upgrade board because it had a fault and had to change a few capacitors on the logic board. The internal frame has also been sandblasted to remove the corrosion. This is a neat machine, but likely won't be with me long term. The floppy disk drive was the worst I have ever worked on, but it is now fully operational and may actually be one of my most reliable drives. The display is quite nice and bright with minimal burn in. Updated 8/14/2025
Toshiba T3200SX - March 27, 2024
This is my first vintage PC. It is a Toshiba T3200SX with an Intel 386 processor. It came to me without a hard drive, and I had to purchase a replacement ROM to allow it to use another hard drive other than the specified Conner hard disks in the bios. Once it got the new ROM and a CF to IDE replacement hard drive, the machine worked great. The gas plasma display is nice and bright and works well. It is currently running DOS 5.0 with Windows 3.1, and makes an awesome Tetris machine. Updated 8/14/2025
Macintosh SE Superdrive - February 19, 2024
This is my very first vintage computer. I purchased it from the original owner, who said it had worked just a few days before I picked it up. By the time we bought it, the internal Maxell battery had exploded and destroyed much of the logic board, but we were determined to make it run again. I eventually got the machine running on its original logic board, but I decided to replace it anyways for sake of reliability in the future. The machine is now fully recapped and serviced, and gets a good amount of use thanks to the BlueSCSI V2 giving it a new hard drive and networking capabilities. I use it quite a bit to telnet to my server and even view my website. Updated 8/14/2025