The Dead Mac Scrolls
The Dead Mac Scrolls: The Macintosh Bible Guide to Saving a Fortune on Mac Repairs is a 1992 book by Larry Pina, published by Peachpit Press as a Goldstein & Blair book. ISBN 0-940235-25-0; Library of Congress TK7889.M33P54 1992, card number 91-42658. The hosted scan is of the second printing.[1] The Library of Congress record gives the extent as 484 pages.[2] Its cover subtitle is How to Fix Hundreds of Hardware Problems Without Going Bankrupt.[1]
Each page of the book describes one symptom, with text and a small illustration, gives a diagnosis, "generally to the component level", and a solution, and then three cost estimates: repairing it yourself, a third-party component-level repair, and a dealer's board-swap repair. The prices are from 1991 parts catalogues and a $65 hourly labour rate.[3] Solutions name the part by board reference and usually by type. For example, for an early Macintosh that starts normally but shows a dark or distorted display, whines, and then smells of burning, the solution is to "replace the flyback transformer at board reference T1 and check/replace the BU406 transistor (horizontal output) at board reference Q3 (may be burned). If possible, replace with a heavy-duty BU406D transistor."[4] Printed page numbers match the PDF page numbers.
Contents
[edit | edit source]Page numbers are from the book's contents list.[5]
- Introduction, p. 7
- Guides for do-it-yourselfers, p. 9
- 1. Early Macs, p. 11
- 2. Mac SE and SE/30, p. 144
- 3. Mac II, p. 221
- 4. Floppy disk drives, p. 243 (Problems and solutions, p. 244; Replacing disk drive heads without test instruments, p. 265)
- 5. Hard drives and other peripherals, p. 277
- 6. External monitors, p. 309
- 7. ImageWriter I (standard & wide), p. 348
- 8. ImageWriter II, p. 374
- 9. LaserWriter and LaserWriter Plus, p. 402
- 10. LaserWriter II SC, NT and NTX, p. 442
- Parts vendors and service providers, p. 466
- Symptom index, p. 470
What this book does not contain
[edit | edit source]Pina describes the book as "more like a collection of service bulletins" than a service manual: it has no schematics, no complete parts lists and no circuit theory.[3] He also calls it "a reference book, not a do-it-yourself repair guide", and points readers who want take-apart instructions to his other books.[6] The Macintosh Classic and Classic II, the LC, the IIsi, the PowerBooks and the Quadras are not covered, because when it was written every one of them was still under warranty.[3] The costings are 1991-92 US prices.
Many of the repairs are on the analogue board and involve the CRT. Follow the CRT Discharge Procedure before working on one.
Other repair documents it lists
[edit | edit source]The "Guides for do-it-yourselfers" section describes Pina's other books and several third-party sources. Among them are Sams COMPUTERFACTS folders CPB/08947 (29 pages, 1985) for the ImageWriter I and CP27/09005 (37 pages, 1987) for the ImageWriter II, each with a complete logic board schematic marked with reference voltages, a semiconductor cross-reference and logic charts. The same section says the appendix of Macintosh Repair & Upgrade Secrets has a complete parts list for the Macintosh Plus and SE power supplies.[6]
Pages that cite this book
[edit | edit source]- Early compact Macs: Macintosh 512K, Macintosh 512Ke, Macintosh Plus, Macintosh 128K/512K Troubleshooting, Macintosh 128K/512K Capacitor Replacement Guide, Macintosh Plus Troubleshooting, Macintosh Plus General Maintenance, Macintosh Plus Capacitor Replacement Guide, Macintosh Plus Service Source
- SE and SE/30: Macintosh SE, Macintosh SE Troubleshooting, Macintosh SE General Maintenance, Macintosh SE Capacitor Replacement Guide, Macintosh SE/30, Macintosh SE/30 Troubleshooting, Macintosh SE/30 General Maintenance, Macintosh SE/30 Capacitor Replacement Guide, Macintosh SE/30 Memory Upgrade Guide
- Classic and Classic II (for what the book does not cover): Macintosh Classic, Macintosh Classic II, Macintosh Classic / Classic II General Maintenance
- General: Floppy Drive Repair, Capacitor Failure Symptoms, Macintosh Repair Resources
- Related books by Pina: Macintosh Repair & Upgrade Secrets, Macintosh II Repair and Upgrade Secrets
Download: The_Dead_Mac_Scrolls_1992.pdf (56.1 MB)
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Larry Pina, The Dead Mac Scrolls (Peachpit Press, 1992), title page and copyright page (PDF pp. 3-4).
- ↑ Open Library, The Dead Mac Scrolls, record OL1561333M, from Library of Congress catalogue data. Retrieved 2026-09-30.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Pina, The Dead Mac Scrolls, Introduction, pp. 7-8.
- ↑ Pina, The Dead Mac Scrolls, p. 16.
- ↑ Pina, The Dead Mac Scrolls, Contents, p. 5.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Pina, The Dead Mac Scrolls, Guides for do-it-yourselfers, pp. 9-10.