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PowerMac 6100 Recently Acquired, need to find out some info

I

irishmike

Experienced Member
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Sep 21, 2006
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331
Location
Overland Park, KS USA
Greetings Guys:

I have been in Macintosh for a long time now! I started out using a Mac IIfx at work in 1993 and soon after bought my first Mac which was a PowerMac 7500. Recently, I purchased a great little PowerMac 6100/66 (no AV) and a monitor (so basically since it included the keyboard, a whole system -- I have several ADB mice around, so no mouse was no problem). Right away, noticed that the video is stuck at 640x480 (thousands of colors) or you can jump up to 832x768 (256 Colors) with the on board video.

Reading a little bit more on searches and info sites, there is the possibility of upgrading the video using a card in the PDS slot on board. I am lacking on knowledge here, but I found a compatible Apple HPV card on eBay and I am aware that somehow it needs to be adapted since it installs at a right angle in the "pizza box" case. I cannot find any information on these adapters and so I am hoping someone can tell me what they are exactly referred to by and possibly help me find a line on obtaining one. Also known working video card models would be helpful (by name and/or Apple Part Number if applicable)... need to be assured that whatever I buy will work in the 6100.

Thanks in advance for any info and indeed help on this!
 
Any HPV video card will work in the 6100 (two major types one with A/V capability and ones without that just differ on VRAM). Did you look inside of the 6100 to see if you have a PDS adapter in it? Some units have G3 upgrades (after market) that act as adapters where you plug the HPV card into them.

I hate the funky video/sound port on the 6100 series.
 
Hello!
Do you still have the 6100? If so, could you look into it and see which Power supply you have built in?

I am currently working on a PSU from a 6100 and I really need the capacitor list.

Thanks in advance and kind regards, Lukas
Apple Part Number from mine: 614-0022
 
I'm not the original poster, but I have a spare Astec 614-022 (from a 6100/60) lying around, that I could take apart and take pictures of, its not always possible to see the values, but I could give it a go.

I would like to ask a question, but I don't want to seem like a jerk, so please take this in the best way. I'm only curious.
How are you working on the Power supply and don't know what capacitors are in it? Did you remove the caps and throw them away?

Again, just curious.
 
tarzan0815 said:
Hello!
Do you still have the 6100? If so, could you look into it and see which Power supply you have built in?

I am currently working on a PSU from a 6100 and I really need the capacitor list.

Thanks in advance and kind regards, Lukas
Apple Part Number from mine: 614-0022
Click to expand...
FYI, the OP has not signed on since 2017. ;)

I've had to do a recap on a 6100 as well but I've long since discarded the list. why not open yours and just write down what you find? I mean, you have the power supply in front of you.
 
Juror22 said:
How are you working on the Power supply and don't know what capacitors are in it? Did you remove the caps and throw them away?
Click to expand...
While I understand the intention of your question, asking for a list of caps used in something you're working on is not as dumb as it may sound first. I mean, there's a reason why you can find such lists for many retro gear. You should think such lists are redundant since you see the caps while working on it. But the thing is, sometimes you have caps with hard-to-read values or which are otherwise hard to identify. Also, not everybody knows that an electrolytic cap is an electrolytic cap by the look of it or which of the values are actually matter when replacing. Such lists help people to know what to order.
 
You definitely need to recap the psu and mainboard. There are two styles of psu I am aware of so getting a list, may be the wrong list. The boards are all the same however. I think if I recall they use all 47uf 16v (replace with 25V if you can) I just restored a 6100 dos compatible. "Interesting" Machine, but badly cooled. And with the DOS card the power PC chip was directly below the 66mmhz 486 DX2 so its like an oven with no fan even though the bottom of the case has a round cutout where no fan was ever installed.

BE CAREFUL. This generation of MAC has plastic that is SUPER SOFT. It will crack, I had to melt pins into many placed to stiffen the plastic. I would also file down the two latch teeth on the top of the case so you can open and close without needing to pull the tabs; THEY WILL BREAK OFF. IT still has a tight fit without the teeth. The feet are a nightmare to take off (if you want to retrobright) there is a trick to it but its hard to explain in text.
 
You are assuming folks actually still have the feet on the bottom of their 6100. Mine have been missing since I purchased it back in 1998!
 
VERAULT said:
BE CAREFUL. This generation of MAC has plastic that is SUPER SOFT. It will crack
Click to expand...
I don't think you wanted to say "super soft". Soft plastic would not crack. Also, this is not related to a certain generation of Macs. The plastic used is ABS-FR. This gets very brittle over time when exposed to constant heat. The age alone doesn't matter. I have identical Macs with one's plastic brittle as hell and the other one's not.
 
No, I meant to say Super Soft.. That is why I said it. Its brittle. It breaks easy. Why would that be a point of contention with you? Pretty pointless thing to argue.
 
In general, Apple plastic of this generation can be terrible. I discarded a Mac monitor that was beyond hope--the electronics were fine, but the plastic spontaneously disintegrated--bits kept falling off the thing even while not in use. On the other hand, the last time I looked, the casework on my 6200 looked fine.
 
I know exactly what you mean Chuck. I have a mid 90s mac monitor i am going to try repairing with epoxy as the entire case has crumbled.
 
Tarzan0815, I'm still willing to open my spare Astec unit up and provide a list of caps if that is the type of PSU that you have.

If you have another type, it won't help, so let me know which you have.
 
VERAULT said:
No, I meant to say Super Soft.. That is why I said it. Its brittle. It breaks easy. Why would that be a point of contention with you? Pretty pointless thing to argue.
Click to expand...
Maybe it's a language thing, but plastic can not be soft and brittle at the same time. Soft, as in "flexible", is the opposite of brittle (see https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/soft#Adjective). Soft plastic would bend without breaking.
 
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Brittle plastic will bend, it will just snap or deform instead of going back to its original position.
 
Unknown_K said:
Brittle plastic will bend, it will just snap or deform instead of going back to its original position.
Click to expand...
"Will bend"
"Will just snap"
"or deform"

Three different words and only one applies to brittle.
A material is brittle if, when subjected to stress, it breaks with little elastic deformation and without significant plastic deformation. Brittle materials absorb relatively little energy prior to fracture, even those of high strength.
Click to expand...

Point is: Plastics used by Apple in the early and mid 90's are of a different formulation than found in machines from the 80's or the late 90's. Retrobrite will not fix it and likely soaking it in hydraulic fluid (this works on some other types of plastics but I have never seen or experimented on Apply plastics myself) will not either. Consider release tabs, feet, supports and anything using this plastic to be doomed to fail and impossible to reliably bond back together outside of rubber contact cement.
 
You assume a fairly thick piece of plastic degrades uniformly through the material with time. The tabs that hold the 6100 cover on are fairly thick and if you don't bend them too far they usually won't snap with age. I find the Powermac 7500 and 8500 series that uses thin plastics are far easier to break when they get brittle. The tabs that hold the PCI cards in place will break with any force. The tabs holding the faceplace covers on are thicker and you might have better luck removing them carefully. The power button in front tends to shatter.
 
njroadfan said:
You are assuming folks actually still have the feet on the bottom of their 6100. Mine have been missing since I purchased it back in 1998!
Click to expand...

I found someone had created new molds for the feet and had a batch of feet produced. The feet are available on eBay for not a terribly high cost.
 
Tarzan0815, I thought I would ask you to respond one last time. I'm still willing to open my spare Astec unit up and provide a list of caps if that is the type of PSU that you have.
If you have another type, it won't help, so let me know which you have.
 
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