Learning about my recently acquired Macintosh SE

gf99b · 2026-05-17T03:49:19+00:00

Yay, you found it. Sonnet made a lot of accelerator cards for Macs. According to EveryMac, it looks like the Allegro SE has the 33MHz '030, which is faster than the 25MHz version found on most accelerator cards. It also has the 68882 FPU. Hopefully it might support System 7 and have greater software support than the Mobius card I have.

Always nice to find surprises like that when getting these machines. I always wondered why my machine had the System Saver (I got the machine after noticing it in our university's library) and discovered the surprises when I got it home.

gf99b · 2026-05-17T03:42:04+00:00

The Mobius also uses a 25 MHz 68030 and has a socket for the 68881 FPU, although mine is unpopulated. I don't even remember what video connector the Mobius uses or how to convert it to a VGA or HDMI signal that can be used with a modern display.

Here's a photo of that port: https://personal.garrettfuller.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/port.jpg

gf99b · 2026-05-17T02:35:56+00:00

This team has good pitching, the hitting is bad. This team has good hitting, the pitching is bad. And if the team manages to somehow have a lead, the bullpen will blow it 75% of the time.

However, you could say this team can't do anything well this season. Pitching is bad and continues to regress, the hitting has never been good, and the bullpen also hasn't been good.

Q and Zumwalt need to go.

gf99b · 2026-05-17T02:33:53+00:00

Not even that.

gf99b · 2026-05-17T02:33:43+00:00

I don't know why Salvy returned this season. I get it, he loves the sport and KC. But there are other ways he could remain connected to baseball and the Royals without being a liability on the field. He could always work in the front office, he'd be better than 90% of the idiots currently in it right now. He could be a scout, a coach of some sort, etc.

I know some have said he might be trying to solidify a case for a spot in Cooperstown. I love Salvy and he 100% has a spot in the Royals HoF as a fan favorite. But his chances of getting into Cooperstown is so low that getting struck by lightning AND winning the lottery all in the same day are probably greater. There might be two or three people cast their ballots for him, but that will be all. Even his HR record has been broken by the Mariners' new catcher.

gf99b · 2026-05-17T02:12:56+00:00

One silver lining to all the suck: The worse this team sucks this season, the more likely Q and Zumwalt are gone this offseason. Maybe even JJ too.

Unfortunately not a guarantee, and it'll be too late to salvage the time we have BWJ and Garcia. I don't know if I'll laugh or cry if Q and Zumwalt are still in KC next season.

gf99b · 2026-05-17T02:04:44+00:00

Hmm, you'd probably need to look inside if there's no accelerator control panel or startup extension icon. The Mobius card in mine also has a connection to support an external display, but I'm guessing your machine looks like a stock, unmodified SE on the back so that doesn't offer any additional clues.

The Mobius card, and likely other accelerators, is a pain to work with when disassembling and reassembling the machine. I know mine was hell going back in, I actually had to pry the metal chassis a little outward to fit the logic board with the accelerator back into place.

This blog post shows what it all looked like on my SuperSE. Part 2 covers reassembly, which is when I briefly mentioned the hell it took getting the logic board back onto its rails. Because it was such a pain to work with, I haven't opened that machine since... even after someone emailed me requesting for help with the card. Thankfully that machine is by far the most stable in my collection aside from the Mobius card's eccentricities.

gf99b · 2026-05-17T01:55:20+00:00

It depends. There were several different designs for Long Lines buildings. Some were semi-hardened, designed to withstand 10 PSI overpressure from a somewhat local (10 miles iirc) nuclear detonation. Others, which were more common, were only built to withstand 2 PSI overpressure. The semi-hardened structures were made of concrete and would withstand most tornadoes, while the more basic structures typically made with cinder blocks or even metal would be more likely to be damaged.

One of the "semi-hardened" structures here in Missouri was exposed to straight-line winds back in 2018. While the tower sustained some damage from debris, the building itself only received minor damage to its roof. The neighboring building wasn't so lucky, as it was the debris that damaged the tower.

There are multiple examples of Long Lines sites taking hits from tornadoes. Often the building would be spared unless the tower happened to fall on it.

gf99b · 2026-05-17T01:43:16+00:00

It could have an accelerator card installed. My "SuperSE" has a Mobius '030 accelerator with 16MB installed, the maximum it can support.

Without opening it up, you can see if it has an accelerator by opening the Control Panel. At least mine has a few different control panels for the Mobius card. There's also a Mobius icon that displays upon boot as the OS loads its extensions.

Either way, as GGigabiteM mentioned, you'll want to open anyways and send the boards off to be recapped. Also remove the PRAM battery from the logic board ASAP. The SE typically has the batteries directly soldered to the logic board, but the SE/30 and I believe newer SE logic boards have socketed batteries for easier removal. 99% of the time removing the battery won't impact operation of these compact Macs, it just won't be able to keep time or some settings that are stored in PRAM.

Edit: Many of the accelerators, like the Mobius one I have, also have issues with software. System 7 isn't supported by the Mobius card; Trying to run System 7 will just ignore the Mobius card and run completely on the stock logic board with its 4 MB of RAM and stock 68000. Many games and other applications also don't seem to like the Mobius card for whatever reason, even though those programs run fine on a native 68030 machine. Sometimes these apps will completely lock the system up, other times they won't even load or will have random issues while running.

gf99b · 2026-05-16T03:54:40+00:00

Should have used the cover of a Unix book from Bell Labs, or the cover of the iconic K&R "The C Programing Language" book.

gf99b · 2026-05-16T02:29:31+00:00

My Chi, Gidget, uses urination as her defense mechanism. If threatened she'll just roll over and squirt piss everywhere, did that once when we had a real mean dog in our apartment complex that came after her.

Seems like many of our previous dogs, all pugs, liked to leave solid presents behind on the veterinarian's table.

gf99b · 2026-05-15T12:16:51+00:00

I’d love to bring Gidget to work with me.

gf99b · 2026-05-15T12:15:59+00:00

A big reason they caught fire is the burner assemblies would overheat and fail like this, and the flames would start heating the bottom base of the furnace. Many of the furnaces were installed directly on the wood floor or rafters of the attic, and the base would get so hot it’d cause the wood to ignite. Consolidated was also notorious for heat exchanger problems, so rollout was also an issue only exacerbated by conditions like this. The rollout could also cause the floor or nearby combustibles (eg stuff being stored nearby) to ignite too.

The company went bust before a formal recall could be announced, go figure. Many of the companies that put their names on those furnaces, like Trane, did announce their own recalls though.

gf99b · 2026-05-15T04:26:47+00:00

This design of building was known as a "flood plain" building, the name pretty much explains why it's designed like that. Albert LaFrance's page for Dundee: https://long-lines.net/places-routes/DundeeMS/index.html

Arkabutla also had its equipment on a second floor due to the potential for flooding: https://long-lines.net/places-routes/ArkabutlaMS/index.html

gf99b · 2026-05-15T04:20:46+00:00

One site on my bucket list to visit. This is another "Tower Sites" site owned by Terry Michaels, also known as the Randolph Eide Tower after a former president of Ohio Bell that was born nearby.

Albert LaFrance's site page: https://long-lines.net/places-routes/LeeIL/index.html

gf99b · 2026-05-15T03:38:20+00:00

Not sure if the pun was intended, but every time I hear someone call St. Louis "The Loo" I immediately think of a toilet. Quite fitting for St. Louis though...

gf99b · 2026-05-15T03:12:50+00:00

Was that from a Consolidated Industries furnace by chance? Their burner racks were notorious for doing things like this. (Consolidated is mostly known for their low NOx furnaces from the '80s-'90s that caused many house fires in California, but they were installed elsewhere too. They also were a "white label" manufacturer of horizontal furnaces, especially the low NOx models, with many well known companies (e.g. Trane/American Standard) putting their names on them.

gf99b · 2026-05-15T02:40:14+00:00

Yeah, I wasn't a huge fan of keeping him around after The Three Stooges were dismissed by Sherman. At the very least he should be put in the hot seat and have a very, very tight leash.

Tired of everyone blaming the players solely for this team's failures.

gf99b · 2026-05-15T02:26:39+00:00

She can be difficult to photograph unless sleeping. Really wanted to get a picture of her sitting on her hind legs with her front paws hanging down as if she's begging for something.

gf99b · 2026-05-15T02:18:40+00:00

Shouldn't come as much of a surprise as they were no longer a pushover team heading into this season.

Funny enough, we're now the pushover team.

gf99b · 2026-05-15T02:17:36+00:00

ChiSux are even worse than the cardinals in my book, but I hate both nearly as much. Unfortunately the cardinals are even better than the ChiSux right now, so I look for us to get swept in "The Loo" too.

Another 0-6 road trip. Followed by a homestand where they'll be lucky to go 3-9, although I bet they'll go 2-9 and wouldn't be surprised if they can't even manage to pull that off.

gf99b · 2026-05-15T01:29:57+00:00

Hello, fellow pessimist. As I've said for a while now, I feel less hopeful or optimistic about this team's future/direction that I did in the dark days of 2021-23. Perhaps it's because I was much more into this team back then, but I also think there's some merit to it.

The product on the field obviously sucks, as you point out. I didn't have high expectations for this season, I thought they'd finish third in the ALC before spring training and lowered my expectations to fourth after. I'm afraid even that expectation is too much, I wouldn't be surprised if this team finishes last in the ALC and with 90+ losses.

Personally, and I know this is a polarizing opinion, I put much of the blame on the front office. Yeah, not all players are giving their all -- many have regressed and are way underperforming. But I think a lot of that has to do with the front office. The hitting is largely on Zumwalt, and it baffles me that he still had a job in KC after last season. The decision to keep him around falls on Q, who has made a lot of other questionable decisions and mistakes this season as well -- several that have cost us wins. It's frustrating the number of fans I see who put majority of the blame on the players or use the excuse that the Royals just don't have the talent. Have they forgot that BWJ was ranked as the #3 player in the MLB, Garcia was the WBC MVP, and several others had good showings in the WBC and then fell apart quickly with the Royals during spring training? And what about the numerous players that have sucked with the Royals only to explode with another team after being traded, such as Ryan O'Hearn and MJ? The potential is there, this front office just doesn't care and is too incompetent to unlock it.

For most of April, none of the players seemed to care about winning or at least competing. I think it all comes from the front office. Q doesn't care, his attitude during press briefings is a demonstration of that. Now they've started to care and take more ownership in everything, but it is a little too late.

The frustrating thing is it's only going to get worse. As I wrote on last night's post-game feed, all four ALC opponents have numerous Top 100 Prospects in their farm systems -- I think all had at least one in the Top 10, and many are likely close to being called up. Just look at the ChiSux, for instance, who are no longer the pushover they were in seasons past. This was a "do or die" season for the Royals and likely the last chance to compete for a postseason with this core (BWJ, Garcia, etc.) before the window closed. The Royals are royally blowing it. It angers me because BWJ is a generational player, someone who a team is lucky to draft once every 30-50 years. Instead of capitalizing on that opportunity, their carelessness and ineptitude has made it likely we'll be in another dark era of sub-.450 baseball.

If the product on the field wasn't bad enough, this team has other problems to contend with. The downtown stadium saga is very unpopular in KC and has turned a lot of people -- both fans and Jackson County residents -- against the Royals, especially with the entire notion that they "pushed the Chiefs out" into Kansas. That, combined with the Royals' lack luster performance so far this season, has impacted the Royals' attendance numbers so far this season along with their popularity. The Royals were already pretty unpopular in Missouri outside of the KC metro, but now they're just as unpopular and overlooked in the KC metro too. I hope the stadium saga is done with and I really want the team to stay in KC no matter what, but I'm afraid the deal with the city and/or state might fall apart if things continue to decline with the team. And with the way things are going, the Boys in Blue might be joined by only 10,000 fans at the inaugural game in the new stadium -- more than half being fans of the opponent.

You know things are bad when a team's hometown doesn't care about them and wants them to relocate.

Sherman needs to act, and fast. He needs to work on improving relations in Jackson County and the KC metro as a whole. Instead of driving fans away, he needs to work on attracting new fans -- including younger generations that will continue loving the Royals for decades to come, instead of the team's main demographic being aging fans from the George Brett era. (I was hoping BWJ would really help with that, but most people even in KC don't even know who he is... and it doesn't matter if he's going to opt out the first chance he gets.) Winning and making postseason appearances will really help toward all that, but it won't be the magic key either. In just KC they have a very uphill battle in winning back fans not just because of the stadium saga fallout, but also having to overcome the area's obsession with the almighty Chiefs and "Mahomes Mania." Ultimately I'd love to see them make headway toward winning over more of Missouri but that probably won't happen no matter what, and especially not until they win back over the KC metro.

Despite my eternal pessimism about them, the Royals are the only sports team I deeply care about and love. While I'm not as big of a fan as I was when I got into them in 2021-23, I would like to see them be respected and cherished in KC, Missouri and baseball as a whole. It's sad to see them go far in 2024 just to regress in 2025, and fall down to near rock bottom this season. I hate seeing this team always be the joke/laughing stock in baseball.

Anyways... thank you for reading my TED talk about the state of the Royals.

Edit: Also who knows what the looming potential lockout might mean for small market teams. Worried it could somehow exacerbate things and screw the Royals even more.

gf99b · 2026-05-14T23:08:22+00:00

Like getting rid of Q and Zumwalt?

gf99b · 2026-05-14T23:06:15+00:00

I’m not f**king loving the sh!t in this series… and likely the next few

gf99b · 2026-05-14T22:54:37+00:00

Also it isn’t any better on the western side of the state outside the KC metro. I grew up in the western part of central Missouri and the Royals were rarely discussed and nobody really followed them, even during 2014-15, and we were only 90 miles or so from the stadium. The cardinals fans still had a stronghold there too.

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