I have an old mac from 99 similar to the orange one in pic related and it's working without problems so far but after seeing many reports of flyback transformer failure I'm afraid to even turn it on, is there a way to avoid it or is it just a matter of time until it fricking dies on me?
Ask the 8-bit guy
no thanks
I stopped watching this guy after that.
Yeah, he's an insufferable homosexual and a huge moron
what did he do that was so wrong
There's a webm attached to the post that may be helpful.
>new in box rare prototype machine
>doesn't know how to use it
>takes a guess at how the psu works and puts a paperclip across its power lines
>pops the psu
>can't be fricked getting the right tool to open it, so dremels it out instead
>gets a SECOND rare prototype to fix his frick up
>blames the poor handling as pressure to make videos faster
>doesn't think it's a big deal because it's not a well known machine
I genuinely don't know what was going through his head but also it's the only time he made anywhere near that level of critical frickup, which makes me feel like something else was going on in his life on the side that made him so careless. Lord knows I know that feeling.
yes, i've seen a good chunk of his videos and this was unusually poorly handled
i mean his repairs have never been the best, but such poor consideration for something unique like this, even if it's "boring", is just strange to see
Sure, quick and dirty was always the name of the game but this goes beyond careless
wow what an incompetent moron
w8, what? did he really shave off the whole screwhead instead of just slotting it for a normal screwdriver? holy frick he's a true mongoloid.
Do you think making youtube videos and having a lot of subs makes you smart or something?
no, but I didn't expect him to be this inept after YEARS of doing this kind of shit on his channel.
you can repeat shit for years and not learn anything from it
>slotting it for a normal screwdriver?
That would still be moronic. Anyone used to working on electronics has a set of tamper-resistant Torx bits. He should have been able to unscrew that right out.
Imagine creating this huge mess and thinking to yourself:
>Ah yes, let's upload this to YouTube as "informative content", yes, I am very knowledgeable
The absolute state of retroomer YouTubers, holy frick.
But he says "this is not a guide, I'm just a dude doing shit" on most videos where he does shit like this
I get ya but he still comes off as a smug know-it-all butthole, so frick him, people should watch akbkuku (tech tangents) instead.
Put a 5v fan on it connected to a small power supply that gets power from the line voltage input.
Other than that it's hard to say. I don't know if the degradation is from temperature or just from the high voltage. High voltage is known to kill insulation with time so there really isn't any way to prevent it. Maybe you can find a compatible flyback model to have spares, or find a way to modify the circuit to fit another type of flyback or HV source.
The thing is that I believe in CRTs the flyback circuit also generates the horizontal deflection voltage so you will need to take care of that.
I see, thanks.
I really, really hope it's the heat and not the voltage, since I've never actually fixed a CRT before so I wouldn't really know what to do if it shat the bed.
yea a 120mm fan in there even at 5v or 7v will do wonders
if i remember correctly imacs were all passively cooled (no fans), so this will help a ton
also consider swapping its hdd for an ssd (faster, quieter, and importantly, cooler)
also should replace the PRAM battery (equivalent to CMOS battery in PCs) as well if it's still the original, they're getting pretty old
not to mention the original hdd will also be very old and they are often the first thing to go
nice
Clean any dust around the HV cup (discharge it before)
>if i remember correctly imacs were all passively cooled (no fans)
No, there's a 90mm fan on top between the PSU and the rest of the case
>No, there's a 90mm fan on top between the PSU and the rest of the case
ah ok, i actually have been inside one before but that was literally 20 years ago
i still kinda want one tbh, even though i've never been a macgay
Do I have to take it apart or could I just use a can of compressed air and dust it from outside?
Take it apart
not op but I heard that for ssds to work on these early imacs you have to frick around with the firmware
is that true?
no clue, sorry, i don't own one
i did see videos and tutorials for this while looking for a picture, so it should be easy to find out what's required
it's very likely considering they don't have sata connectors and I don't think they left a pci slot inside, at least not on the imac
the pictures i've seen show they use a sata > pata adapter board, to turn the sata drive into ide
there are some potential gotchas with using such a thing or a newer ide drive, like i don't know if the imac will handle cable select if the adapter can only do that, or perhaps there's an issue with LBA48 support, maybe it doesn't support drives over 32GB, all common issues which you would find even putting a newer (mid-00's) real ide hdd into an older (90's) machine
as for adapter-specific gotchas, i don't know, i haven't used such a thing (though i may soon if i decide to put an ssd in my ps2...)
there's another size barrier at 127GB as well
just getting a small ssd would avoid such issues, but this is about as small as they come now
i'm more familiar with PCs, i know for example up to windows xp gold (pre-service packs) does not support drives over 127GB (remember back then hdd's only went up to like 40GB tops)
What model is that one right next to the iMac?
Found it, it's the Power Mac G3 All-in-one. Such a weird combo of the earlier beige style and the later curvy style in one machine
l-lewd
Man that looks beautiful, way more serviceable than the iMac G3
The tradeoff is that it's even heavier too.
A small price to pay for a better computer
Yes and no. The computer side if it was easy to get to. The CRT set was just as bad, if not worse than the iMac. The translucent plastic on top also became brittle in sunlight and would crack apart.
t. at one point owned every Apple computer made from 1978-1998 except the Lisa and Apple III.
I hate the machomosexual npcs that always call it the "ugliest Mac" when it's pretty actually really neat.
see the filename, it's the molar mac
It was mostly a problem in only the LG manufactured 17 inch CRTs used in the Studio Display though.
And also the tray loaders
I meant slot loaders, not tray loaders, frick.
The slot loader were the passively cooled ones.
Proof? Just because they were manufactured by LG (?) wouldn't mean they have the identical chassis either.
Assuming the flyback has no issues from the factory, basic maintenance before it's too late, some things that can fry the FBT:
-excessive dirt and soot around the FBT and anode cup
-cracked solder joints around the horizontal deflection can cause arcs and stress the components, if the HOT goes bad it could take the flyback with it
If you've done everything prescribed above and you still hear crackles/pinging and the screen expands/contracts/darkens, then odds are the flyback is on its way out, but thankfully they're reliable components considering all the abuse it gets
If it dies gut it and install a PC SBC and LCD.
I have the same issue in my rev d. Model. Sometimes t will be on for 5 minutes sometimes 40 minutes before the CRT makes a zap and shuts off. I’ve been trying to sell it with no luck. It’s 333mhz 256m Ram purple version
Was it very dusty inside?
>333mhz
Oh frick, that's the exact same model that I have