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#powerbook

2 posts2 participants0 posts today
Public
Sam

After more than a month of on-and-off work reading datasheets, routing traces in KiCad and ordering components from distributors I managed to put together my #powerbook 165c RAM expansion board! 🥳🥳

This was definitely the most challenging thing I've ever built, but super super satisfying to see completed.

If you want to know more: the KiCad project is up on Github (github.com/svkampen/ramdemptio), and I am planning on writing a big blogpost about the whole process, which I'll toot about when it's up.

A photo of a printed circuit board containing 20 RAM chips (9 visible), labeled Cyberslak PowerRAM 10MB.
A screenshot of Mac OS 7.1, showing 14 megabytes of total system memory, the maximum for a PowerBook 165c.
#VintageApple#retrocomputing
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Michel van der Burg
Coding 1995 Internet Access Macintosh • @1MEMO 20250515
IMAGE
Screenshot April 11, 1995 at 21:48 of the desktop with a Filemaker window (•Brieffile, correspondence) on my Apple Macintosh PowerBook 160. A PICT file image that I recently gained access to.
Desktop shows icon (renamed) SLIP of the InterSLIP application I used to get modem access (phone line) to the Leiden University gateway to internet, email, news, gopher, ftp etc .
I wrote the protocol (two scripts) required by this SLIP application to get access to the Leiden University gateway to the internet.
From May 1995 Leiden University distributed my scripts to the other Macintosh users of our University.

Below the two scripts published May 18, 1995 ....

For lack of space here , visit 1-memo.com for the scripts ... URL 1-memo.com/2025/05/15

TAGs :
#coding #script #modem #dial #Leiden #University #SLIP #Apple #Powerbook #Mosaic #internet #history #desktop #intransition

Citation info : Coding 1995 Internet Access Macintosh • Michel van der Burg • Miracles•Media • @1MEMO 20250515 • TakeNode cff0b589-f9ea-4ddd-82ff-3d7fae9627d1 • URL 1-memo.com/2025/05/15 •
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Daniele Verducci 🧉
I couldn't enjoy the last #marchintosh because I couldn't fix the #powerbook 170 in time, so I wanted to retrieve my #MacintoshLC that was in storage at my parent's. I got it yesterday and drove it to my home in #tuscany on my 1985 #fiat #panda 4x4, so at least it was a period-correct ride 😂
Unfortunately the box was a little wet and I spotted some condense inside, so it goes to the terrace for a little sun bath...
No corrosion inside, fortunately, and I was nice and removed the battery years ago. I'm relieved!

#macintosh
#macintosh
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Dave🌱

I'm very happy with the results. I went in not knowing if I was going to be able to succeed at all. This thing is just so brittle, and I had never attempted to replace a polarizing filter before. Given that I now have an almost fully working #PowerBook #5300C (sans working speaker, future project!) is so cool.

Move over, Jeff Goldblum. I now I have the power to save the world 🤓

Alright, that's the end of my nerd-spam. Hope you enjoyed it! 👋

Screengrab of the movie Independence Day (1996), which shows a prototype PowerBook 5300 with a count-down on-screen.
#MARCHintosh#Apple#Macintosh
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Dave🌱

For example, I left the filter larger than the display as I wanted to make sure it would cover everything fully and no dust could get in. I went a bit too far and this caused some parts of the filter to bend ever so slightly by the plastic frame of the display.
This doesn't cause stress on any of the parts, it just means the light reflects a bit differently in some places, which if you know what you're looking for can be obvious.
#MARCHintosh #Apple #Macintosh #PowerBook #5300C #RetroComputing

Continued thread
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Dave🌱

So, what does the result look like? Pretty good, I think! Even with the filter not directly applied, the result is quite clean and clear looking — especially keeping in mind we're dealing with a 30 year old active matrix LCD display with aging backlight.
It's definitely not perfect, though, and I have some ideas that I'd like to do next time I open this laptop up — as its speaker isn't currently working, which I have to fix too.
#MARCHintosh #Apple #Macintosh #PowerBook #5300C #RetroComputing

Photo head-on of the PowerBook's display showing the Lemmings video game. There is a slight blurriness visible in the photo, but this is actually my own inability to apparently focus correctly when making a photo. Sorry about that.
Close-up photo of the bottom right corner of the display, showing two lemmings approaching the level's ending and a third one in the middle of walking up its steps. Finer details of the display can be seen well in this photo, showing its pixels look crisp and clean, or as clean as can be expected from a 30 year old display. Technically it could look a small amount clearer still if I had succeeded in directly attaching the filter to the display, but it's surprisingly good looking as-is.
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Dave🌱

While I was here I used a bit of epoxy to sort of glue up a small broken part as best I could. It came to me in this incomplete and broken state so there's only so much I can do. It's something, at least.
The combination of now brittle plastics and very poor design decisions really do have this thing exploding parts left and right. If you want to work on these, a 3D printer is probably essential. Which, sadly, I don't have.
#MARCHintosh #Apple #Macintosh #PowerBook #5300C #RetroComputing

Photo of a particular plastic component of the PowerBook (the left hinge cover which wraps around the left hand side of the keyboard) being held up with the rest of the PowerBook showing in the blurry background. The part has a plastic lip sticking out that used to have a through-hole for as screw. This through-hole part has broken in half, but I epoxy-glued back the remaining half so that this piece can hold on to the screw at least a little bit still. It is not strictly a load bearing piece, fortunately, otherwise this would have not done any good.
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Dave🌱

Fortunately it was easy to remove this, err, mistake in confidence. You saw nothing!
For my second attempt I chose an easier route; Leave the protective film covering the film's adhesive on and simply attach the film to the sides of the display, and have it sort of hang in front of the screen.
I'd be sacrificing a bit of display quality, but I can revisit attempting to do it right again once I obtain the tools and/or skills.
#MARCHintosh #Apple #Macintosh #PowerBook #5300C #RetroComputing

Photo showing a close-up of the side of the bare display, showing a strip of Kapton tape, keeping the new polarizing filter in place. The polarizing filter appears to show a lot of air bubbles, but that's just the top protective film of the filter itself, as I had to temporarily remove parts of it when attaching the Kapton tape.
Another photo of another angle, showing more Kapton tape holding the other sides of the polarizing filter in place.
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Dave🌱

Another week later to get the 45° filter variant. Since I could only find (reasonably priced) adhesive variants shipped to where I live, I thought I'd try to see if I could actually get it to stick reasonably well. However, as mentioned before, I totally lack the skills (and tools!) to do this reasonably well, so the result was.. abysmal. So many bubbles! Who needs Marine Aquarium when you've got me slapping on this bad boy. Yikes.
#MARCHintosh #Apple #Macintosh #PowerBook #5300C #RetroComputing

Photo showing the process of sticking on the new polarizing filter from right to left, with the left-hand side still unattached. A clean cloth is laying on top of the screen that I was using to apply (gentle) pressure when attempting to remove all the bubbles while attaching the filter.
Photo showing the new polarizing filter attached with a bunch of substantially sized bubbles and streaks showing. This attempt utterly failed.
Continued thread
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Dave🌱

With that success under my belt, I felt hopeful. The next step was to find out the polarizing filter's orientation, as that varies by display. I wasn't able to find this online for this specific model, so I thought I'll just order a few in the obvious orientation choices. Easy.
I initially didn't order the 45 degrees variant, because I thought; surely it's not 45 degrees, right? That'd be a silly number.
Right?
It was 45 degrees. 🤦
#MARCHintosh #Apple #Macintosh #PowerBook #5300C #RetroComputing

Photo showing the PowerBook's bare display turned on, with a polarizing filter loosely standing in front of it. The number "45°" is hand written in the top left hand side of the filter (on its protective film)
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Dave🌱

But I digress.. the residue has to go, and no amount of alcohol was doing anything to it. I found this recommendation for a certain cleaning liquid designed for this very purpose, so I ordered that and gave it a try. To my surprise, it worked amazingly well.
I put two paper towels on the display, drenched these in the liquid, let it sit for a bit, and then wiped everything off. That's it, super simple. The screen looks gorgeous!
#MARCHintosh #Apple #Macintosh #PowerBook #5300C #RetroComputing

Photo of a white bottle called "Polarizer Glue Remover" with the number 8222 alongside it, held in my hand, and with the PowerBook's display seen laying in the blurry background.
Photo of two soaked paper towel papers laying on top of the display.
Photo of the bare display, now perfectly clean of glue residue.
Continued thread
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Dave🌱

And the smell! Don't get me started on the smell. I did this in front of an open window wearing a mask, but still had to walk away. Just the act of removing the film awakened this positively vile chemical stench that just can't be right.
Kind of terrifying we're normally sitting in front of this (while warm from being powered on!). I wonder if this stuff slowly seeps out too over the years? Yikes.
#MARCHintosh #Apple #Macintosh #PowerBook #5300C #RetroComputing

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