PowerMac 6500 revival
Among the numerous items that I transported from my parents’ place was their old PowerMac 6500/250, which has spent the better part of 15 years in a closet. I remember the day we brought it home from Circuit City. I was no stranger to Macs back then, but this computer was the first that my family purchased for their own use. We used dial-up, if I’m not mistaken, to get this beast online.
This afternoon, I spent some time cleaning up the machine. I dusted out the insides using my trusty DataVac and used some Clorox disinfecting wipes to clean its exterior. The computer in pretty decent shape, considering its age. This particular Mac was later outfitted with two PCI cards which added USB and Ethernet ports to the machine.
While it appears to power up just fine, I currently have no way of viewing what’s on the Mac’s drive. I’m currently researching options on how to connect a VGA compatible display to the PowerMac 6500 so I can see what’s on its hard drive.
When and if I’m able to do that, I’ll be able to unlock some of its secrets.
-Krishna
gjb
July 15, 2017 at 10:21 amhttps://www.amazon.com/DB-15-HD-15-Female-monitor-Adapter/dp/B001I22L9C
I actually think I still have a few of these sitting around from the old Mac display days. Although if you want, you can have an Apple 16″ display from me, just for the cost of shipping. :D It’d work with that PowerMac.
Krishna
July 18, 2017 at 8:37 amThanks for the offer, GJB – I’ll hold off on that monitor lol.
Incidentally, I did happen to receive the video adapter from Amazon yesterday. I’m prepping a post about delving back into MacOS Classic after so many years away from it.
gjb
July 19, 2017 at 7:58 amI’ve kept MacOS Classic running for quite a while. For a long time, needed it to play Civ 2 Gold, Heroes III and MOO2. All but Heroes III now have either a modern version that is actually interesting enough to play, or have modernized the old version. And I do sort of feel like playing Heroes III. Just not sure if I want to break out the G4 Wind Tunnel to do that.
I also have an old Quadra 650 sitting around. It did file sharing for my IIGS and I was going to look at doing TCP/IP over localtalk, but never got that far.
Paul
July 17, 2017 at 10:59 amYou might also be able to use a VGA to HDMI adapter, possibly with a couple gender changers. It is a bodge, but what they heck?
Or hit the Goodwill and pick up an old monitor with a VGA connection. :)
Krishna
July 18, 2017 at 8:38 amI found an adaptor on Amazon for about $7. Worked like a charm with my LCD display. More details forthcoming soon. Thanks, Paul!