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| Author | Database with Apple Part numbers? (Read 6260 times) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Bolkonskij
Administrator 1024 MB  Posts: 2023 
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on: June 24, 2023, 07:37
Hey all, I've been cleaning up my basement this weekend, in part to create a small remote space in the house where I can set up my 8600 with a good ol' (and big) CRT monitor. Talk about a man cave :-) While cleaning up the basement, I've inevitably ran into some packed up boxes of Mac stuff that I have no recollection of. It's cables, cards, logicboards, tons of hard disks, adapters. Does anyone know of a database of Apple products that allow searching by part number? Preferably offline / locally ? (I only have the 8600 available down here and would love to do the research on it) I assume some database like that must have existed for Apple retailers, with name, p/n, price, availability etc. ? But where to find it? |
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Last Edit: June 24, 2023, 07:58 by Bolkonskij
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wove
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1024 MB  Posts: 1363
Reply #1 on: June 24, 2023, 15:38
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This is something of a round about way to approach the problem. Apple provided service manuals for all of the classic Macs. I have the manuals for the machines that I owned or worked on over time. A great many of those manual are archived on archive.org and can be located via search. If you have downloaded these manuals which are pdf documents and you store them on a drive that has been indexed via Sherlock, then you can search via entering a part number you find on the part and Sherlock will surface the service manual that references that part. Not exactly a database, but a real Rube Goldburg solution to the problem that would be local. There are a few places that sell Mac parts on line, PowerbookMedic, Macpartsonline comes to mind and you can enter part numbers, which even if not something they have in stock, it is generally identified. Not a local solution though, but clearly they must have a database. Perhaps you could ask them to share. Overall it would be nice to have a centralized place to easily find the old service manuals.
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Bolkonskij
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Administrator 1024 MB Posts: 2023
Reply #2 on: June 24, 2023, 17:55
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Interesting suggestions, wove. Thank you! Before doing that I'll wait and see if something else turns up. I'm hoping for some CD-ROM image of Apple retailer info '98 or something like that which has a nice database with all the info ...
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MTT
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256 MB Posts: 394 SSW7 Oldtimer
Reply #3 on: June 25, 2023, 04:08
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My approach is very similar to wove's. In that I just go to the service manual that deals with the particular machine I'm interested in at the time. Then if it's parts I'm after, they're usually found in the Exploded View section. This shows all of the part numbers and the parts they represent, in a single page graphic. For example: PM8600.9600.ws9650.pdf. Looking at the parts list for that model, say if you just happened to be wanting part# 922-2594, on throwing that number into a search engine you might find one for sale today, for only  Even so... It would be nice to get hold of a database like you've suggested, though.
Last Edit: June 25, 2023, 10:25 by MTT
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Bolkonskij
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Administrator 1024 MB Posts: 2023
Reply #4 on: June 28, 2023, 11:00
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It's good ideas but with an exception - you need to know what machine the parts are from to pick the right service manual. Or at least have some idea what machine that could be. The problem is that I don't know that. I just have that stuff and while the copyright year is a vague indicator, I just have the part number (and not all parts even have a copyright year). I just need something where I can search for the part number and get the data as a result. A pity there isn't something like that. I'd imagine somewhere there would be at least some kind of Excel file with all the part numbers.
Last Edit: June 29, 2023, 10:38 by Bolkonskij
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wove
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1024 MB Posts: 1363
Reply #5 on: June 28, 2023, 19:18
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What you say is true. The service manuals are not that large of files and most of the service manuals cover families of computers. I was thinking of having a lot of service manuals stored on the hard drive and having the hard drive indexed. Under those conditions a search of some random hardware part number would stand a decent chance of being surfaced via search. A part number database would be faster and easier to just identify a part. However with the parts tied to service manuals a search would not only surface the part description, but visually confirm the part, as well as providing a picture of where the part fits into the machine. In the case of something like PowerBook memory modules the search would also surface the part numbers of all the compatible modules.
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MTT
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256 MB Posts: 394 SSW7 Oldtimer
Reply #6 on: June 29, 2023, 06:49
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Waaaal-whatdya-know  I was searching for some unrelated software at the Mac Garden and stumbled across a really nice HyperCard based database named "Service Source" in of all places, the Nordic Support CD from 1992. This covers every known Apple product from 1984 to 1992 complete with search, illustrations and product part numbers. Being HyperCard based this will look best on a mono compact Mac. Then I got to thinking, Apple must have kept updating this database, surely. And sure enough, there were more recent copies of the Service Source at the MG. Service Source (1993) HyperCard based, more Macintosh models and components introduced since the 1992 Service Source, a relatively smallish update. Service Source (1995) HyperCard based, now has several PPC Mac models listed. Final HC based database (from the MG). Service Source Europe (1999) This one is now FileMaker Pro 3.0 (run-time) based and very spiffy indeed. Great searching features (by part #) and good illustrations. Definitely worth investigating further. Missing from the 1999 collection, are CD's 2 & 3, but the FileMaker Pro database on this CD is 130MB's and seems fairly comprehensive. Some of the CD Toast/iso downloads have (empty) Windows hybrid partitions. I don't know why they are there, it's just an observation. Their Mac partitions are fine.
Last Edit: June 29, 2023, 07:30 by MTT
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Bolkonskij
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Administrator 1024 MB Posts: 2023
Reply #7 on: June 29, 2023, 10:42
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Exactly something like this is what I was looking for. I'll give that a try on the weekend - thank you, appreciated MTT!
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MTT
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256 MB Posts: 394 SSW7 Oldtimer
Reply #8 on: June 30, 2023, 02:09
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Oh great. Yes I think these will come in handy for myself as well. Some info gleaned from the onboard "readme" docs which might be of use to compact Mac users here, that is, if anyone is wanting to explore the HyperCard databases on these CDs. The Service Source database in 1995 CD listed above, is no longer supported on compact Macs like the Plus, SE, SE/30, etc... Quote from: from the "Startup Problems" doc found on the 1995 CD: Starting in August, the Service Source card window has been enlarged to 640 x 400 pixels, the standard size of a PowerBook screen. This larger size allows for the addition of several features and navigational enhancements that customers have requested.Bah Anyway, unless a Service Source CD produced after 1993 and prior to August 1995 surfaces, then the 1993 copy linked above, will be the best option here for compact Mac users and HyperCard. Note: The later FileMaker Pro 3.0 databases do run on compact Macs, but they also have larger than 512 x 384 pixel windows and require a bit of scrolling to get around in them. They do not look as good in monochrome as the HyperCard databases here, which are optimized to work best in a compact Mac's display. I've located another Service Source CD set, this one is from 1997. Web Archive https link: Service Source v2.5 (1997) This one has a full 3 CD set, the Service Parts database in disc 1 is FileMaker Pro 3.0 (run-time) based, but is not as comprehensive as the one found on the 1999 CD and is only 80MBs in size compared to the 130MB 1999 offering. The Service Parts database located on the 1999 disc is the better choice of the two.
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wove
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1024 MB Posts: 1363
Reply #9 on: June 30, 2023, 02:14
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Nice of you to hunt the Service Source CDs/Stacks down, MTT. I think this was probably the first time I have even downloaded such a big file while using System 7. My fastest internet during that period was a 28.8 modem and I never even tried to download a CD size file. My first try to download was via ftp and cyberdog could not connect to the server. That is most likely just a Cyberdog problem, but I thought I would mention it. It did download fine via http. Then I fumbled a bit, because I had no idea what a Toast image was, but I got sorted out as well. The included Service Source Hypercard stack opens as an application, so the standard Hypercard menu bard does not appear and one must use the menu in the stack. I could not find a search menu, but command-f does bring up a search box. However that does not seem to search the entire stack. It will take more digging around to figure out what the scope of that search is. You do have a great many manuals, Nice diagrams of the machines and the component pieces. The parts can be sorted via component types, so you can easily see all the comm modules and such grouped together. Each piece does nave a nice diagram which allows for easy identification. I could really have used the Service Source material 25 years ago, today not so much. It is always nice to have new Hypercard stacks just to see all the myriad of things that were created with that application. Thanks again MTT.
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MTT
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256 MB Posts: 394 SSW7 Oldtimer
Reply #10 on: July 02, 2023, 03:02
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Thanks wove. Gosh a 28.8 modem. I had almost forgotten about such things, and your post triggered a flood of memories back to those dial-up days. No way could have I contemplated downloading anything as large as a CD sized file back then. The online costs of that time, well, I think the hours a file of such a size would have taken to arrive would have blown the monthly connection allowance over into some serious overtime costs. I do however miss the hardware-handshaking noises that came from that modem when connecting via dial-up. Not sure why, I just found that binga-bonga-boinga-squeeeeee sound quite pleasing Come to think of it, my first online experience using dial-up and a Mac, was on an SE running System 7.0 or 7.1, and that Mac had only a 20MB HD. Now that would have presented a logistical problem (downloading wise)! I've had time to look at the structure of the HyperCard Service Source stacks. The 1995 version does have a search menu under the "Do" menu in the stack (it's the same as typing "Command + F"), but the search is primitive in that it can't find what you input unless you are in the particular stack that holds the info you are looking for. Being stack based with multiple stacks for the different subject criteria and not being a relational database is a limitation of the HyperCard based Service Source. The 1999 FileMaker Pro database does not suffer from this drawback, fortunately. Command + M brings up the "message" window where you can type one-line HyperTalk commands, such as "show menubar" which will cause the Apple menubar to show, as it's otherwise hidden when the Service Source runs. In doing so you can see that the Service Source is in Level 1 or 2 mode (so not much tweaking you can do there either). You can, with the message window open, type "set the userLevel to 5", and as long as you are using a full HyperCard suite and not the "player" version, this will give you full access. If you have the disk space and inclination, one could copy the Service Source into a hard drive and take control of it then take the Service Source apart and - find out what makes it tick.
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wove
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1024 MB Posts: 1363
Reply #11 on: July 02, 2023, 04:31
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I will need to give the FM Pro version a shot. One of the huge and useful advances in technology is search function. From force of old habits I do have a well organized file structure on my hard drives, but have found over time that modern search can often bring up a document faster than I can navigate to it in the Finder. My first Mac was an SE with a 20MB hard drive. I used it happily for a long time. Personally I like System 6.0.5 as an OS. The 28.8Kbps was an up grade from the 1200, and on my older Commodore I used a 300Kbps modem. But my first online experience was somewhere around 1966, when I was using a rotary phone and an acoustical coupler modem that used the original Baudet Code, which was 48bps. That was a teletype terminal. Today that seems hopelessly primitive, but for me that remains the biggest tech jump I have ever seen. To go from no computing power to having something that could do anything was simply earth shattering.
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