Macintosh SE SuperDrive

Well, this one is a bit embarrassing...

I had this computer sitting on the shelf with a tag that read:

"Power, Chime
No Video, No Boot"

An unfortunate misdiagnosis on my part. I pulled the SE off the shelf as part of this project, since it is one of my non-working machines that I am most interested in getting running. So, I plug it in, hook up the keyboard and mouse, and fire it up. Sure enough as my trusty note said, the fan spun up, the computer chimed, but the screen stayed blank.

I give it a light tap on the side... Still nothing.

Then I notice the HD light start flashing. That doesn't sound like "No boot" to me. I give the brightness knob a turn. At first there is no change in the screen, but as I keep turning the screen brightens up to reveal a Macintosh System 6 desktop.

Hmm. Well, then. How could I have made a mistake like this?? I must have been hastily testing it and not really thinking about what I was doing. Regardless, I am thrilled relieved that it is working.

I honestly have no idea where this one came from. I've been sitting here racking my brain, but I'm drawing a blank. Possibly from OldMacMartin? Not sure. I opened ClarisWorks on the HD and it is registered to "Wyandot Middle School, Chippewa Valley Schools". Most likely the original owner, so at least I have a bit of back story on the computer, but I've never bought from them and they are not OldMacMartin's usual supplier. I guess how I acquired the SE will have to remain a mystery.

Now for the specs: System 6.0.8, 4 MB RAM, 40 MB HD. Microsoft Works 3.0 and ClarisWorks 2.0 are the only software packages installed on this one. Clearly a teachers computer, though it's strange not to see any documents on the HD. Either they saved their documents to floppy or they were wiped from the HD before the computer was disposed.

Other than a few blemishes, this Mac is in beautiful condition.

I'm glad it works.

I feel stupid.

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