(Entries listed newest to oldest)
Over the last couple months I've been amassing a collection of applications and files to load up on the SE. I also bought a blueSCSI, which gave me a way to transfer said files. After setting up Basilisk II (a 68k macintosh computer emulator), I was able to mount the files on a virtual hard drive that could then be loaded onto a microSD card and be seen by my SE as an external SCSI drive.
After I got the file pipeline sorted out I went on a big spree of loading up recycled 800k floppy disks and drawing custom labels on them. I ended up scanning 'em and making a web gallery over here for them. Mere weeks after completing this though disaster struck...
My floppy drive's eject gear has unfortunately snapped.
Fourtunately I can still use the drive by manual ejecting, and this is a very common problem, which means someone's already taken care of it and made reproduction parts. The ones I want to get in particular are currently sold out, but they should be coming back in a few weeks according to some emails that were exchanged. I'll have an update once I'm able to obtain the floppy gear.
Removed the PRAM battery from the motherboard so I don't have the fear of that randomly exploding in the back of my mind anymore. It was soldered to the board instead of in a socket so I had to use some nail clippers I had laying around to remove it, but after putting everything back together and booting it up everything seems to have gone smoothly. I took photos documenting the process and added them to the photos section.
I was also finally able to get a closer look at the Prodigy SE board and wasn't able to gleam much new information, but I have found out that a diagnostics program exists so once I get a data pipeline setup to transfer files I can find out more.
Finished up the initial programming of this very webpage and typed up the first two log entries. I also added a photo of the computer (and my cat Chester) to the photos section.
First purchased the Macintosh SE from a very nice person on craigslist dot com. Used surface cleaners to remove most of the smudges and marks from the exterior of the machine. There's still a couple of dark scuffs left but those should be eliminated with a magic brush once I can go pick one up.
There's a custom logo on the boot screen that says "Prodigy SE". I figured since Prodigy was an old online service from the early internet maybe it was a custom networking computer, but after some research it turns out the Prodigy SE is an upgrade card that beefs up the processor and RAM. I can't find any diagnostics programs on the machine so I'm not sure how much ram or anything the card is adding exactly, but it boots up quickly for an 80s computer, you can measure the full boot to desktop time in seconds rather than minutes.
This upgrade card also takes the cute lil mac boot up icon and adds vampire fangs, and I'm absolutely enamored by it. I like it so much I ended up using it as the icon for the about section.