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Rescued 68k Mac - It Works!

Finally it's the moment of truth; does the LC475 work? Yes it does.

The final part I was waiting for (mostly due to cost) is now here, an SCSI2SD v6. This clever little device emulates one to many SCSI disks using an SD card as storage (hence the name), and has added bonuses like being able to talk to modern computers using USB. I have paired it with a 16GB SD card; I'm only using 4GB across two volumes at the moment, but it was the only class 10 card (recommended) that I had spare.

LC475 internal

In terms of mounting, due to my impatience and lack of forward planning, I used part of the box it came in. This is a bare circuit board and I couldn't rest it where the HDD originally went as it's a metal plate, which would have shorted it out. I may revisit this in future but I'm not too bothered as the SCSI2SD isn't going anywhere and it's completely invisible once the lid of the machine is back on. The SCSI2SD can take it's power from a number of sources, but the most convenient is through the SCSI bus itself, so there's no need to reuse the HDD power cable.

LC475 internal

Now I have a HDD, I can have an OS. I've chosen System 7.6.1, as it's the last and arguably the best version of System 7. Whilst the LC475 can run up to MacOS 8.1, it's higher system requirements negates any potential benefit.

Regarding networking, I recently got a Farallon LC-PDS ethernet card, which slots onto the motherboard and provides a 10baseT connection.

LC475 internal

So now it's running System 7.6.1 with some productivity software installed (Office 4.2) and MacIRC so I can chat to people. It's working, but I wouldn't call it 'finished' just yet.

LC475 internal

Next steps:

  • The machine has 12MB of RAM at the moment (8MB stick plus 4MB built onto the motherboard). I quickly realised that this wasn't enough, as many programs refused to run once the operating system had taken it's cut. I've temporarily got around this by enabling virtual memory (using the HDD as extra RAM), which isn't ideal but allows me to make the machine more useful. I will be purchasing extra RAM in the future.

  • Finally, and this is completely optional but a 'nice to have', but I'd like to increase the VRAM from 1MB to 2MB.

At the moment I can have three screen modes: - 640x480 with 256 colours - 832x624 with 256 colours - 1024x768 with 16 colours

These are selectable by moving DIP switches on the VGA adapter. I prefer leaving it in 1024x768 as it's the monitor's native resolution, but then I can't play games like Flashback or Sim City 2000, which require 256 colours to work properly. Doubling the VRAM should give me 1024x768 at 256 colours, and increase the lower modes to 'thousands of colours'. However it's a little expensive and hard to find here in the UK, so a task for the future.