68k Soft/Hard Power and ATX conversions . . .

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Not yet, I'm trying to get the a boot drive sorted out to test the Rocket in the IIsi as the next step.

The PSU's been sorted out, I just need to build & test it. But, I've got another NIB HP-PSU that's a bit smaller that I want to give a good look see before barreling along with development based upon the original line of research as well.

Some day this spring or early summer the SuperIIsi™ PSU will work, catch fire or explode, depending upon the whims of the gremlins and my soldering skills.

[barana]

i have seen an old utube a few years ago, someone running sys 6.0.8 with a 030 mac with a 040 accellerator. it was fast.

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

IIRC, I Ran 6.0.8 on my IIx/Rocket33 until after the tuneup was released for 7.0.1. I'd have to check the date of release against the receipt to be sure, but the SE/Radius16 ran 6.0.8 until it was retired from plotter server duty by the IIx/Rocket33 when software compatibility forced me to make the jump to PPC. I bought a refurbished Duo 2300c which was eventually replaced by a refurbished 6360 that was slated for Sonnetization.

I don't remember much of a performance hit, because it was an Illustrator upgrade which forced me into System 7, making the comparison an apples & oranges thing

I had never run an unaccelerated NIB Mac until the day I got the G4/466 DA.
Windows 3.0 was the only OS I've ever run before a bugfix version release, but that was because I needed a Windows Box to run CorelDraw without messing around with Win286 . . .
. . . I'm a just a tad conservative when it comes to production machines and the OS under which they run.

[Bunsen]

Some day this spring or early summer the SuperIIsi™ PSU will work, catch fire or explode, depending upon the whims of the gremlins and my soldering skills.

If I may make a small suggestion - perhaps it would be a good idea to make up a straight pin-pin extension cable between your board and the Mac, so that testing can proceed outside the Mac's case?

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I've already got a Q700 PSU sticking out the top of the SuperIIsi ATM, as soon as I can get a Boot Drive set up (I just found all my old HDT versions and OS media) the Rocket will ride again.
After I test the setup with mine, IIfx's loaded Rocket will go in there and I'll hook up the VideoVision Studio Array box of SCSI II RAID Goodness!
These may be overkill, but they may work, the price was right and they arrived a couple of days ago!

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

OlePigeon just asked me about this project in PM, so I thought I'd resurrect it to ask for help again with the Soft Power aspects. This feature isn't necessary for a IIsi ATX PSU Conversion, but it is for his IIci project, and I'd really like my PCB to be able to handle both applications. It has been long enough since I've looked at this that I'm starting over from scratch on the Soft Power revision for the IIsi PCB, so . . .

. . . Help!

[olePigeon]

Thanks! I tried the Quadra 700 power supply, but even that one wasn't powerful enough to run my RadiusRocket. I tested all three of my Rockets in my Quadra 950, and they worked perfectly, so I know the cards are good. I'm guessing these old power supplies just aren't powerful enough.

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I'm betting you're right, I should check my paper docs on that. Check the ReadMe files in your software/driver installation files.

I just found a related, and very interesting, blurb in the VideoVision Studio 2.0 ReadMe.

[olePigeon]

So do I just connect Pin for Pin from the ATX to the IIci pinout? The 24 pin ATX obviously has a lot more wires, does it matter which of the three 5v wires I connect? Any of the 3 will work?

If so, then according to this wikipedia pinout, I would do:

Code: Select all

ATX...IIci
1.....NC
2.....NC
3.....5
4.....2
5.....6
6.....3
7.....7
8.....9
9.....NC
10....1
11....NC
12....NC
13....NC
14....8
15....NC
16....10
17....NC
18....NC
19....NC
20....NC
21....NC
22....NC
23....NC
24....NC

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Got links to the pinouts? Have they got the voltages/functions labeled?

I'll need to reread this thread and check out the 'fritter links especially before saying how setup will work out. Maybe one of our Boffins can be of assistance?

HELP!!!!!!!!!!

[olePigeon]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATX_power_ ... wer_supply

[olePigeon]

Found this on Google Groups. Looks like this guy just wired them up so the voltages match.

I'm not sure how relevant it is, but I've been able to do this with a IIsi. I don't have a way to use it anymore though, my screen went walkabouts. The modification was a simple matter if wiring an ATX extension loom to the psu socket, making sure voltages matched. It could be worth trying for yourself.

[olePigeon]

DERP! So I finished my conversion, and it works... so long as I hold the power button down on the keyboard.

I looked at the YouTube video, and the guy says to install an ATX power supply with the switch on the back. Mine doesn't have one. So I guess it only completes whatever circuit when I hold the power button down. Sigh.

I used wire nuts, so it shouldn't be too hard to take apart again. Other than that set back, it looks like it's going to work. Maybe I can modify the one I currently have. Anyone have an idea where I would install the on/off switch? Or should I just get a different ATX power supply?

[olePigeon]

Something I learned: you may have to get a slightly thinner fan. The one in my IIci's power supply was too thick to fit with the new ATX power supply. Luckily I found a thinner 12v fan of the same dimensions, so I could screwed that in and it fit perfectly.

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

The one you have should definitely work, they're all the same AFAIK. I don't recall seeing a single ATX PSU with a Power Switch on the backplane. That'd probably be either some kind of super heavy duty gamer or server kinda deal.

The PSUs with switches on the back are old fashioned AT PSUs, which are perfect for powering a tower full of I/O peripherals.

ISTR someone, (Zuiko or ojfd?) posting a pic showing him using a paperclip as a momentary switch between the two lines you need to wire up for soft power. It's in this thread, one of the linked threads, or I've got it in my War Room links list, IIRC. I'll give it a look.

Meanwhile, you electronics and EE types . . . HELP!!!!!

[olePigeon]

SUCCESS! I grounded the Power-On (green) wire, and it booted! It turns on as soon as I plug in the power. So my next step is to find a power supply with an on/off switch. However, if someone here can work out a circuit or something to allow for soft on/off, that'd be awesome. I'd buy one.

Now to test my Radius Rocket.

[olePigeon]

AND WE HAVE LIFTOFF! ZOOM! IIci with a Radius Rocket!

Now to build the ultimate machine... IIci with THREE Radius Rockets?! Can it be done?! We'll find out! ... tomorrow. Cuz I have to get some sleep for work tomorrow. Damn, I'm so excited. It's finally working.

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I hate to say it, but . . . I told you you needed to hack an ATX PSU in there to achieve liftoff!

Congratulations, buddy, it was a long time coming and it's a hack well done!

[olePigeon]

I'm gonna be tired tomorrow, but I wanted to get these pics up. IIci 040 with 128MBs of RAM running a RadiusRocket 040 with 128MBs of RAM. I'm going to try it as an accelerator, as well. Benchmark it against my Daystar. Since the Rocket is running 7.1, I'm going to go ahead and install System 7.1.1 Pro so I have a few more features that I take for granted on 7.5 (Drag Manager, AppleScript, etc.)

[olePigeon]

Shucks. System crashes if I have both my Rocket and the Iomega extension installed. I wonder if it's crashing from the SCSI-2 Booster. I'll try connecting my Jaz drive the SCSI-2 card tomorrow and see if that helps. Anyway, this is awesome. Can't wait to play with it some more tomorrow.

[olePigeon]

One more picture. Last one for tonight, I swear! My Block o' RAM, Daystar 040, Pirate ROM Arrr!, oddly-not-red PrecisionColor 24X, RadiusRocket 33 with 128MBs of RAM and SCSI-2 Booster, and the corner of my new ATX transplant.

[olePigeon]

The one you have should definitely work, they're all the same AFAIK. I don't recall seeing a single ATX PSU with a Power Switch on the backplane. That'd probably be either some kind of super heavy duty gamer or server kinda deal.

There, I fixed it!

I soldered on a switch to my power supply. Now I can turn it on/off like an LC. I had clip off the raised part of the switch there in that first picture, it was too big to slide in the power supply. In fact, the switch itself was a little too big. I had to force the case open a tiny bit get it to go in. Not sure if I'll be able to take it out.

[zuiko21]

Hi! Sorry for being so late to chime in -- very busy going back to work

ISTR someone, (Zuiko or ojfd?) posting a pic showing him using a paperclip as a momentary switch between the two lines you need to wire up for soft power. It's in this thread, one of the linked threads, or I've got it in my War Room links list, IIRC. I'll give it a look.

Yup. It was here. It's a very sophisticated paperclip but also the proof of concept that the ATX PSU can be soft-controlled by the IIsi... it's just a matter of placing an inverter between the /PFW line from the Mac and the /PS_ON input of the PSU -- they work just the opposite.

As you can see, there's no need to bother with a hex-inverter IC, a single transistor and a resistor will suffice. The complete schematic (sorry for the poor "scan") is:

Any small-signal NPN transistor will do, I had a BC-547B at hand but I believe a 2N3904 (and many others) will do -- but do check the pinout! The 10 Kohm resistor value (1/4 W, or even less) isn't too critical, either.

Pinout on the ATX side is numbered according to the 24-pin standard -- for a 20-pin connector, pins 11, 12, 23 & 24 disappear, and 13-22 become 11-20. Colours are those of the ATX cabling.

Hope this helps,

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

That's amazing, thanks, Z! I totally missed the link to that thread in my index. It's about time for me to post something like The Power Supply Dump thread I suggested at the top of that particular thread.

I'm going to have to re-think my notion for doing the ATX conversion for the Quadra 700/7600/G4/800_hack now that I've got the missing piece of the puzzle. Looks like I'll need to have a PCB in there after all.

How much heat will this circuit generate? I'm assuming not very much at all. It'd be nice to skip the custom PCB . . . and do this conversion with wires inside the equivalent of an epoxy encased dongle . . . new thought, already! I can use one of the small IC Breakout Prototyping Boards from CrapShack . . . or even a quarter of one!

I still like the notion of an epoxy dongle conversion of a standard ATX extension cable, that way we can nip off all the extra lines (there must be several?) on the female side of the converter(maybe break out Molex Connector leads to bypass the Mobo (limitations?) for internal drive power . . .

. . . just thinking in .TXT here, I hope his makes some kind of sense. I'm seeing a converter that can be wire spliced, for those who prefer that method, or soldered right to the MoBo's thru holes for Neanderthals like myself. I guess I could also mount the PCB inside the Q700 PSU's sheet metal for this particular hack . . . hrmmm?

Whatcha think?

[olePigeon]

So if I put a 10 Kohm resistor, I can get soft-power back? Mine is simply grounded, which is why I put on the switch.