SE30 Screen with vertical stripes

That's a new one on me, but then it's been a long
time since I used our SE/30.

Does the effect go away after the computer warms up?

A

MaxRays
Welcome to the Discussions.

As a quick glance at this and this shows, the
one-bit monochrome AIO Classic Macs have a heap of
potential causes of their video problems. Because
they have no dedicated VRAM, and pillage the main RAM
for video, and because their open, discrete-component
analogue boards and video control circuitry are both
old and crude, these are the places of most frequent
fault. Cold solder joints, burns, failed components,
loose RAM and grubby (corroded) RAM slots and
'fingers' on the RAM cards are very likely. The AIOs
are similar enough that their video faults are also
similar in cause and cure.

If a fault remains after macro-component inspection
and repair (clean RAM contacts, resolder, reseat,
replace), it becomes more likely that the logic board
is faulty. Washing with distinctly warm water
containing a couple of drops of kitchen detergent,
applied firmly from a spray bottle, is very
effective. Careful focus is needed on the areas near
the larger axial electrolytics, and around the much
smaller 'chip' capacitors. At least two warm rinses
with clean water should follow. Allowing the board to
dry thoroughly for several days is essential. And all
of this may still have to be followed by replacement
of a dozen-odd capacitors if you have not overcome so
far.

I would look first to the easy adjustment, re-seating
the RAM modules. I think I have seen the jail bars
while doing memory upgrades, and Denis's second link
above talks only about RAM problems for the jail
bars.

You may yet have to do some of the more drastic
measures, but start with the easy (er) ones.

MaxRays
Welcome to the Discussions.

As a quick glance at this and this shows,

MaxRays
Welcome to the Discussions.

As a quick glance at this and this shows, the
one-bit monochrome AIO Classic Macs have a heap of
potential causes of their video problems. Because
they have no dedicated VRAM, and pillage the main RAM
for video, and because their open, discrete-component
analogue boards and video control circuitry are both
old and crude, these are the places of most frequent
fault. Cold solder joints, burns, failed components,
loose RAM and grubby (corroded) RAM slots and
'fingers' on the RAM cards are very likely. The AIOs
are similar enough that their video faults are also
similar in cause and cure.

If a fault remains after macro-component inspection
and repair (clean RAM contacts, resolder, reseat,
replace), it becomes more likely that the logic board
is faulty. Washing with distinctly warm water
containing a couple of drops of kitchen detergent,
applied firmly from a spray bottle, is very
effective. Careful focus is needed on the areas near
the larger axial electrolytics, and around the much
smaller 'chip' capacitors. At least two warm rinses
with clean water should follow. Allowing the board to
dry thoroughly for several days is essential. And all
of this may still have to be followed by replacement
of a dozen-odd capacitors if you have not overcome so
far.

I would look first to the easy adjustment, re-seating
the RAM modules. I think I have seen the jail bars
while doing memory upgrades, and Denis's second link
above talks only about RAM problems for the jail
bars.

You may yet have to do some of the more drastic
measures, but start with the easy (er) ones.

MaxRays
Grant and I concur, especially in the case of
Jailhouse Mac. You will see cleaning the contact
fingers of RAM cards addressed in these Discussions,
most often in the context of 72-pin cards and later.
The 30-pin cards have solder-plastered copper
contacts, as opposed to the gold-flashed copper of
more recent production.

Apart from grounding yourself before, during and
after the cleaning, keep in mind that solder is
softer than gold on copper, that cleaning movement
should be along the 'fingers' rather than
across, and that a plastic scourer will be
more effective than the pencil-eraser used for
gold-on-copper. Scrupulously clean the card of
detritus before replacing it in the RAM slot. Lucky
you if you have an SE/30 board with metal, rather
than plastic, RAM clips. The plastic version breaks
even under your intent gaze, so be careful. The
retention force on the SIMMs in their slots is enough
for the solder to be penetrated by the mating
contacts, which, despite the oxidizability of solder,
should spare you repetition of the process in the
near future.