I found an old computer...

Kawaii

Kawaii

Well-Known Member
A Mac Performa 450, to be specific. I saw it in a dumpster when i was throwing away some stuff, so i decided to take it home and test it... Works perfectly. Got a monitor, keyboard and mouse too. Sadly, it's only got one ps/2(or whatever they're called on a Mac) so i can't use a mouse unless i unplug the keyboard.
It seems to be using an OS called "At Ease", and i need to know how to:
a) remove the username passwords or
b) do something funny/cool/interesting with it.

Any ideas?
 
Kawaii said:
A Mac Performa 450, to be specific. I saw it in a dumpster when i was throwing away some stuff, so i decided to take it home and test it... Works perfectly. Got a monitor, keyboard and mouse too. Sadly, it's only got one ps/2(or whatever they're called on a Mac) so i can't use a mouse unless i unplug the keyboard.
It seems to be using an OS called "At Ease", and i need to know how to:
a) remove the username passwords or
b) do something funny/cool/interesting with it.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...
There is a port on the right hand side of the keyboard that the mouse plugs into. Probably has an old version of ClarisWorks or some such. You should be able to find out anything you want to know at MacWorld or some such.
 
Kudos, now i got the mouse working. I'm gonna see how much i can abuse it until it stops working... starting with the harddrive.
Hehe, this is fun.
Edit: I've extracted the passive fan... now all i need is a 12V extension cord and i've got myself a cute little fan for hot summer days. :)
Edit2: The harddrive cover has been removed and the drive is now running naked... Seems to be having a little bit of problem with the reading thingie, gonna have to fix that.
Edit3: Speaker removed, harddrive is now utterly and completely dead.
On a brighter note: It's now completely noiseless! Yay! Too bad all it can do is bring up some lame disk-questionmark-cursor thingie(even without a RAM stick!). Oh well, i'm gonna continue with the slow and painful torture now...
Edit4: Motherboard detatched. Working on power supply.
Edit5: Power supply removed. Gonna try to get it working without a chassi.
Edit6: Mission successful! Now, if i can mount the motherboard, power supply, fan and speaker on something i could hang it on my wall... Hmmm... Let's see...
 
It's finished! Picture will be up soon if i can get a sharp enough picture with my crappy webcam...
 
Kawaii said:
Kudos, now i got the mouse working. I'm gonna see how much i can abuse it until it stops working... starting with the harddrive.
Hehe, this is fun.
Edit: I've extracted the passive fan... now all i need is a 12V extension cord and i've got myself a cute little fan for hot summer days. :)
Edit2: The harddrive cover has been removed and the drive is now running naked... Seems to be having a little bit of problem with the reading thingie, gonna have to fix that.
Edit3: Speaker removed, harddrive is now utterly and completely dead.
On a brighter note: It's now completely noiseless! Yay! Too bad all it can do is bring up some lame disk-questionmark-cursor thingie(even without a RAM stick!). Oh well, i'm gonna continue with the slow and painful torture now...
Edit4: Motherboard detatched. Working on power supply.
Edit5: Power supply removed. Gonna try to get it working without a chassi.
Edit6: Mission successful! Now, if i can mount the motherboard, power supply, fan and speaker on something i could hang it on my wall... Hmmm... Let's see...
Click to expand...

Tsk, tsk. You just had to break it, didn't you? You know what, though? It can still be fixed. Just drop by your local Apple dealer, and check his 'junk' bin for usable parts. :shrug: You can even mount it in a PC case...
 
Gato_Solo said:
Tsk, tsk. You just had to break it, didn't you? You know what, though? It can still be fixed. Just drop by your local Apple dealer, and check his 'junk' bin for usable parts. :shrug: You can even mount it in a PC case...
Click to expand...
It's not broken. It's fully fuctional, i've superglued it to a wooden board. :) It's too bad the HDD doesn't work though, i might get a new one if i ever feel like using it.
 
Kawaii said:
It's not broken. It's fully fuctional, i've superglued it to a wooden board. :) It's too bad the HDD doesn't work though, i might get a new one if i ever feel like using it.
Click to expand...


EEEEEEE-bay...

EEE-bayyyyy...

E-bay auctions for my Apple drive...

E...me say E, me say E, me say Eee-bay...

:lol:
 
The "PS/2" is called the Apple Desktop Bus. The keyboard should also have a port on the left-hand side, which makes it nicer for left-handed people to use the mouse.

If I remember my Macs correctly, the Performa has a SCSI hard drive. Those aren't all that easy to come by, at least the SCSI interface the Macs were using at the time.
 
Gato_Solo said:
EEEEEEE-bay...

EEE-bayyyyy...

E-bay auctions for my Apple drive...

E...me say E, me say E, me say Eee-bay...

:lol:
Click to expand...

Gato Belafonte? I never woulda guessed. ;)
 
At Ease isn't an OS, kawaii. its an admin program for multiple users. if you're set on destroying it, I could use the keyboard and mouse from it. ADB stuff is getting hard to find. Shame I hadn't read this earlier. I could have sent you an HD.
 
Squiggy said:
At Ease isn't an OS, kawaii. its an admin program for multiple users. if you're set on destroying it, I could use the keyboard and mouse from it. ADB stuff is getting hard to find. Shame I hadn't read this earlier. I could have sent you an HD.
Click to expand...
Nah, it still works and all, i just did some 'creative remodeling' just for the fun of it... I wish i had a digicam so i could show you my masterpiece. The keyboard is missing its lower-leftmost button(I think it's ctrl, i could be wrong. I'm not very good at mac anatomy...) but otherwise it's fine. The mouse seems to be working fairly well too, considering it's about 11 years old.
I guess i could send them to you if you send me cash for shipping and such... Are you interested? If you are, i'll check with the bank and post office to see what it'll cost...
 
If you're gonna keep it to play with, you'll need those parts. but if you're gonna destroyit I really would like them. Thanks for the offer.
 
Squiggy said:
If you're gonna keep it to play with, you'll need those parts. but if you're gonna destroyit I really would like them. Thanks for the offer.
Click to expand...
Nah, i don't need them for the project i have in mind... Now, where do you live? The shipment fee varies with distance, you know. Send it via pm if you feel like it. I'll drop by the post office tomorrow(closed now, it's 21:30pm) and check if you send me the details tonight.
 
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