I have a Macintosh!! Not a 128K, but an original. Later to be know as the128K.

Mine is so old, that it was made in the last week of 1983!!

Sadly it doesn't work. But more on that soon.

Many Apple serial numbers tell you a few things. Some are simply numbers.

There may be a small M, or APL to the lower left of the s/n. I don't know what that means, but I can guess APL=Apple.

Then there may be an asterisk (*) at the beginning, and the end of the ms/n.

This is not part of the s/n, simply so that no one can add a character either side of the s/n, to make it look like a different s/n.

BTW: Apple have used many asterisk types, such as the 5-point, 6-point (containing a horizontal line), 6-point (containing a vertical line),

8 point (horiz., verti., and 2 diagonals), and the unusual ones...

Speaking of peculiar characters, rarely, they use a backwards 0! It is ma zero, with a slash in it, but the slash is backwards!

OK, so on to the main part of the SN.

If it starts with 2 letters, or 1 letter, then that usually indicates the

country/mfg. plant of origin.

SG=Singapore

C=Cork, Ireland

F=Freemont (California?)

etc.

Then the next character will be a number, which indicates what year it was made in. It's the LSD (least significant digit) of the year. So,

0=1990,

1=1991, 2=1992, and so on.

4 can be 1984, or 1985, and so on. I suppose 1 can be 1981, 1991 or 2001!!

This is the part where you'll have to guess/work out/know the era of the item - which decade it was made it!

Then comes 2 more digits, they indicate the week of that year, that the item was made in. This goes for motherboards aswell. You can often find

Macs were made in a certain week, weeks after their motherboards were made.

I think it can go up to 53 (53 weeks out of a 52 week year.... :) )

Then there are either numbers, or numbers and letters mixed, in a base36 (probably) system that indicates the actual unique item number for that

item. So, the first <whatever> to be made in the 25th week in 1984 in Freemont, might look like this: (the dots are for the rest of the s/n,

not yet described)

F524001...

The 10th might look like this:

F52400A...

The 16th might look like this:

F52400G...

F524ZZZ... would be the last they could make, using this system. At that point, they'd have to slow down, and take a break, until the next

week! :)

Lastly, there might be a model number, or order number. Model numbers usually look like this:

Model Number: M0001 or

Family Number: M1506

I guess the family number idea, is when Apple must've decided "we're gonna bring out a few of these products, similar in the same 'family' so lets just give them a family number" This is a pretty bad idea I reckon. As they have hundereds of products, and the potential for 10000 different model

numbers. Why call all PowerBook Duos, by the same Family Number M7777 (I think) Why not give them uniqued numbers!? Anyway... You'd expect Apple wouldv'e learnt their lesson, especially with all there business model ideas being changed.

But the still are using the Family Number, instead of Model Number system. They have been using Model Numbers since they used Family Numbers. An example is the iBook. They try to be cute, by using the phrase (on the iBook) "my family number is:... " :)

Well, at least Apple is still in business. Thanks Steve Jobs. I hope Apple doesn't go out of business, like they nearly did a few years ago!

I think the 1st Family Number was that of the PowerBook 100 (M1506). The order numbers usually have stuff at the end of them, such as X/A (rev a), X/B (rev b), LL/A, LL/B, Z/A, etc. I'd like to know what the LL means. OK! Last thing I was typing baout, before I deviated, and explained things, was this: "Lastly, there might be a model number, or order number."

So I'll continue: This will be easy to identify, as it has the Mxxxx(...) format, with the x's being numbers.

There are other serial number types, but I'm not gonaa type about them here, as usually, I don't understand much about them. And nearly all Macs are

covered by the above description.

Sorry if I bored you!

Here are some examples for you to practice on. BTW: I don't need your responses on the following, as I'll let you work it out. But if you need further help, just e-mail/contact me.

*F6496JQM0001AP*

*C6310ROM0001AP*

*F7365UBM5011*

*SG4196MT2WH*

*L50113264* (note: it's a mumboard)

*E241809V1ABA* (note: it's a mumboard)

*F3520UTM0001* <--- I'm very glad I've got this one! :)

Now. Back to the story of my Mac(intosh(128K)). I was working away, at work, when I was shown this Mac - dead! I was amazed to see it, and sad it was dead. Then I found out why. While I was out the back, a friend brought it in, and the technician

who was there, 'apparently' knew that it was a 120VAC machine, but thought "I wonder if our IEC (Australian, 240VAC) plugs would plug in to it?" And proceeded to plug it in! Apparently, it was already turned on, and went bang! Or perhaps let out a small whimper. But there was even a step-down transformer with it!

And many other things! After it had been blown, it was mine. But I wish it hadn't been!!! Simply replacing the analogue board is not good enough

for me. I'd like to FIX it. There's a book around, that tells you how to do low level repairs on old Macs, but I don't knwo where to get it. One day, I'll get it up. So the friend had brought it in for me, but the other techincian, who'd still a friend of mine, was the 1st to see it

:(.