Price Advice 6500 Power PC and old macs and software

[ganett]

I havd two older 6500s. One is working fine with new system software the other I cannot seem to get it to recoqnize the hard drive... it has a internal JAZ and CD drive scsi 3 and 2 When I ran repairs programs trying to format or install new system software. It will start up with system 8 cd but will not allow me to install. I am really considering finding a home for all the software I have... disks, cables, SyQuest drives, jaz, zips... but need to get this running to remove personal information. If anyone can tell me how to get past just the happy face and install new system software that would be great. And if anyone needs old cables software... drives computers etc... Let me know your list of needs.

Willing to share information about old macs.

I need to start downsizing....

 

[bunnspecial]

You may be dealing with a dead hard drive, or a dead CD drive(although I would lean toward the former).

If you've messed around with the HDD at all, make all the cables are plugged in securely and that you have the IDs and termination set correctly(normally the HDD would ID 0 with termination on-everything else should have termination off).

As for value-honestly 90s PPC Macs are-from my observation-at a low point in value and in many cases the cost of shipping is more than what the systems are worth. You might get a few bucks to a local buyer.

I might be interested, although St. Louis is a bit further than I would normally travel for this sort of stuff.

 

[ganett]

Thank you for replying... you could be right. I have been able to start up witht he CDs but it will not recoqnise the drive... I thought about trying to use my other 6500 and networking it but that did not work either.

It eventually powers up but does not go pass the mac smily face by itself unless I use System 8 cd. But when I tried repairing or installing... it does not bring up the correct scsi address. perhaps I could take the Jaz drive out and put it in the working one. But the 6500s are so hard to take apart.

Anyway... I have a lot of SyQuest disks a drive., old software applications, cables, etc... I want to just find a good home for and a G3... I just have to down size. I work mostly on a PC now... but in the market for a new apple..and can not use all the STUFF (lifes work in art logos etc)

I guess I will start inventorying it all... and just list it on ebay or craigs list.
If you need anything let me know.

 

[MacTech68]

Agreed, could be a bad hard drive, but these models use an IDE hard drive (but the CD drive is SCSI).

The IDE bus only supports a single IDE drive set as Master.

Getting the drive out is a pain if you've never taken the front panel off one of these - it feels like the panel will crack AND at this age, it's just possible - but there is NO alternative.

The other possibility is a bad IDE driver or severe corruption on the HD. You could place it into an old Windows PC and format it, then put it back into the 6500.

Another SLIM chance is an odd one I saw a few times years ago, which is where the AppleTalk PRAM setting doesn't match the setting in the CD's pref file. The only thing I can recommend here is to "ZAP the PRAM". Hold down the "Command" "Option" "P" and "R" keys as you turn the machine on. Continue to hold them down until you hear the machine chime another 3 times then release them. (The command key is the clover-leaf/Apple key).

For the service manual, do a google search for "powermac.perf_6400.6500.pdf"

A side note about the IDE driver:- The motherboard contains a basic IDE driver for the hard drive. This driver is NOT update-able. The way to update it is to use Apple's "Drive Setup" to "initialize" the drive. This places a NEWER version of the driver on the hard drive itself. If you decide to do this, be warned that "Initialize" will destroy any data on the drive, leaving it empty. Also, it is VERY IMPORTANT to use Drive Setup v1.3.1 or later to initialize the drive. Earlier versions have a shutdown bug in them that can corrupt the drive.

Hope the above isn't too scary. Good luck!

 

[bunnspecial]

Agreed, could be a bad hard drive, but these models use an IDE hard drive (but the CD drive is SCSI).

Good info to know-I do have some experience with Macs of this vintage, but my experience is spotty and Apple made a lot of different models during the 90s(not too long ago I was watching one of Steve Job's first keynotes after he came back onboard where he talked about dowsizing the Mac product line from about 14 different models to 3)

I'll also add that I hold my breath any time I open up a 90s Mac, and no matter how careful I am almost always end up breaking something. Most of my computers from this era don't have power buttons, and many of them were lost before I acquired the computer. Thank goodness for power buttons on the keyboard!

 

[ganett]

Well, I struggled long enough and its too cold in the basement to fight it. So hooked up the other 6500 it starts up fine... but the floppy drive does not recoqnize the disks and keeps wanting me to format them.... So discusted I am going to just start getting rid of everything...I put a floopy in and nothing shows up on the desktop.

Its so cold here all I want to do is bake cookies and build a nice fire with a cup of coco.

I will have to fight this problems another day.

 

[ganett]

You know it occurred to me the batteries might be dead on both systems... would this cause these problems. At any rate, I sure appreciate your help... it would be nice to get them running in order to give them to a school or a kid without a computer at home.

I have loads of older software....too.

Thanks again

 

[havokalien]

schools and others

Not sure a school would take it but finding a home should be pretty easy especially if you look to post here or craigslist. Heck Id probably pay shipping for the floppies.

A couple of things tho,

The hard drives in the 6500 is an IDE or ATA just like PC's of the era so finding one may be pretty easy if you go to a recycler place.

The floppy drives probably need a good tear down and cleaning along with regressing as 20 years of age has probably turned the grease into concrete (not considering its cold even)

Good luck.

 

[ganett]

Well, I reset the PRAM and the floppy showed back up... I really think both computers need new batteries. I brought them upstairs were it is warmer.. and will work at taking them apart. I have SyQuest drives, jaz, disks., floppies, software of all kinds, CD system disks, two 6500s 1 G3 haven't tried to boot yet. Lots of books, cables, etc. I advertised on craigs list... I am going to start inventory tomorrow,. will sell for next to nothing or give to an educational program. Just need to go on with my life.

I have spent most of my life as a graphic artist developing logos in adobe and photoshop... so guess I will just throw it all away and try some other passion in my old age...

 

[MacTech68]

I completely understand your frustration with these beasts. It's never easy resurrecting 20 year old machines.

I applaud your desire to get them to a good home!

 

[ganett]

Thank you for replying... I love the Mac... the only reason I changed formats was because of work. Now that I am retired I am going to look into another MAC but right now these guys are so old, and I have forgotten many things that came naturally to me years ago. So I am having to learn all over again... like fixing things by trashing the system preference file... or removing items from the startup folder. I really believe these three beasts I have, can be resurrected... because an old Mac never dies. ha ha.... They deserve better than a land fill... they gave and taught me a lot years ago. I believe the first Mac I bought was a CI machine.. but use to work on SEs, etc. I am sure someone would really appreciate these power macs. The 6500 will not run system 9 or 10 I don't believe... because of the processing speeds. But they would be good for just getting on the internet or playing games or loading other programs on them. I have so much software... even have Pascal and Macro media. Doubt weather they could be used as a server but with a Ethernet card one could network them.

 

[orestes1984]

A PowerMac 6500 series is a road Apple with not that much potential in terms of upgrade options or anything much else, I wouldn't put it past being worth much more than $100, that's if it works. It's essentially an education mac like the PowerMac 5500, except without the built in display. They really are limited given that you can only install 128mb of RAM into them unlike the 7500, and they're IDE also not SCSI.

Given that the RAM is EDO RAM it's kinda hard to come by in large stick sizes. In this day with the IDE hard drive it means that you can find cheaper hard drives for them, but it does make them a lot slower these machines are only really suited for OS 8.6, OS 9 will use too much RAM for no additional benefits.

By now the battery won't be working which will make the machines hard to boot, you can go to your electronics store and buy a replacement battery over the counter, its a common and easy to fit battery and it will make your computer run smoothly again. It will also help your computer remember the date and time.

• The video is limited to thousands of colours with the fact that they only have 2mb of RAM. Although you can install a better video card in them and many people did. Look for things like ATi Rage 128 PCI cards and etc, if you buy one it will make the desktop experience more pleasant. They're quite cheap and readily available on ebay
  
  http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-ATI-R...648?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item3f321653a0
  
• A lot of people have fitted these machines with faster 10/100mbit ethernet cards, again being PCI they're not as hard to come by. Falaron made them and it will make the machine useful in surfing the net, transferring files, etc
  
  
• Installing a large 4GB internal IDE hard drive, these are easy to come by. Try to get one that spins at 7200RPM for the best performance. You can use a larger drive but you will have to partition it into lots of 4GB partitions. I really wouldn't be bothered with anything more than a 12gb drive.
  
• IF you fit the machine with 128mb of RAM as this will make it usable under OS 8.6 which will give you a chance to run something modern on it.
  
  http://www.ebay.com/itm/128MB-2x-64...7897?pt=US_Printer_Memory&hash=item2321aa8209
  
• By now the Auto Inject floppy drive and jazz/zip drive will need a good tear down and cleanout if you intend to use it.
  
• You can install a G3 upgrade card in the level 2 Cache slot, but with the RAM ceiling being 128mb it hardly makes it worth it unless you come across one cheaply.