Mac 68K Speedup tips here

[Maccess]

Post your Mac 68K Speedup tips here:

1) Load up on RAM. Max out. For some machines, mainly those using 30-pin simms finding 16MB 30-pin simms can be a challenge.

2) Get a cache card for your IIci. Note to those with IIsi's: Don't ever ever insert this cache card or any card for the IIci's PDS slot into a IIsi PDS slot. You'll destroy your motherboard.

3) Get a slotless cache card for your Quadra CPU, or if you can't get the slotless cache card, get a PDS cache card, but that may prevent you from using other PDS Cards.

4) Use System 7.1.2P for Quadras. 7.1.2P? What's that? It is not the System 7.1.2 that shipped with the first PPC Macs. It's the System that shipped with early versions of the Quadra 630. Hard to find, but I found it online.

It's the last evolution of System 7.1 before it became slow and clunky with 7.5.5. You can make 7.1.x like 7.5.5 with add-ons.

Use 7.5.5 only if you have a partition greater than 2GB, or need the machine to run network services. If you must, this page can help trim down System 7.5.5 for 68K (don't forget to run PowerPCCheck to remove PPC code)

5) If your PDS slot is still empty, get a Radius Photobooster and ImageBooster software (from Image Technology, it's a control panel) so that JPEG rendering is passed onto the Photobooster card.

6) Run PowerPCCheck and strip out all PPC code, except the PPC code in the LaserWriter driver. For some reason, the LaserWriter driver won't run in 68K if the PPC code is stripped out.

7) If you're using System 7.1.2, don't install LaserWriter 8.4 or later. It updates your finder and adds the sharedlib manager, which slows down your system.

To run modern apps on 7.1.x, you'll need Thread Manager. The last version is 2.1.5, for 32-bit dirty ROM machines, use Thread Manager 2.1.3

[MultiFinder]

Use System 6 when possible, or System 7 where 6 won't work

[aftermac]

Add an FPU/NuBus adapter to your IIsi. Then you can also add a NuBus Ethernet card.

[Quadraman]

Put a PPC601 upgrade board in whenever possible. With a little hacking, you'll be able to run at least up to MacOS 8.6.

[MacJunky]

Put a PPC601 upgrade board in whenever possible. With a little hacking, you'll be able to run at least up to MacOS 8.6.

Uhh.. why max the OS? That will only slow things down.

[macintoshman]

Dont use iCab. It sucks at rendering,loading, and is just plain terible. Even on a quadra 800 with 52mb of RAM! IE 3 is great by conparison.

[Quadraman]

Put a PPC601 upgrade board in whenever possible. With a little hacking, you'll be able to run at least up to MacOS 8.6.

Uhh.. why max the OS? That will only slow things down.

Why not? With the 601 you'll be running much faster than the original 68k so why not take advantage of extra features in an OS you normally wouldn't be able to run?

[luddite]

Drop in a 7200 rpm HDD... it really makes a huge difference.

[Maccess]

Another tip which I forgot:

Don't use Open Transport! It uses 2-4MB of RAM, and doesn't give any benefit for 68K Macs.



I'm not a big fan to using a PPC upgrade card to speed up a 68K Mac, unless you've already got one, and want to play with it. IMHO, you'll end up with a slow PPC machine that can easily be beaten by a cheap Nubus or early PPC Mac.

The challenge is to make your 68K Mac as fast as it can be as a 68K Mac!

[trag]

Put a PPC601 upgrade board in whenever possible. With a little hacking, you'll be able to run at least up to MacOS 8.6.

Uhh.. why max the OS? That will only slow things down.

Why not? With the 601 you'll be running much faster than the original 68k so why not take advantage of extra features in an OS you normally wouldn't be able to run?

My experience with the Daystar Turbo601 in the IIci was that it was not significantly faster (if at all) than a Turbo040 upgrade in actual use. This gibes with reports that a PM6100 doesn't really give you a speed improvement over a fast Quadra. There might be some PPC optimized operations for which it is faster, but in day to day use, the early PPCs just don't gain you much over a late model 68040.

Additionally, there is a world of compatibility issues when using the PPC upgrades in 680x0 machines. Maybe not in a simple stock configuration, but start adding a JackHammer (if you want performance, you want a JackHammer) and a fast video card, and you have compatbility issues to wrestle with. It's just easier to stay 680x0 in 68K machines.

Ultimately, I sold my Turbo601/66, which I had modified to 96MHz and just ran the IIci stock or with a Turbo040. If I want 601/66 speed, I'll get PMac machine.

[ianj]

Another tip which I forgot:

Don't use Open Transport! It uses 2-4MB of RAM, and doesn't give any benefit for 68K Macs.

For some reason I've never been able to get online using MacTCP.

[Bunsen]

Can we make this topic a sticky?

[ChristTrekker]

Can we make this topic a sticky?

If someone wants to summarize these in the wiki too, that would be wonderful.

[beachycove]

Post your Mac 68K Speedup tips here:

3) Get a slotless cache card for your Quadra CPU, or if you can't get the slotless cache card, get a PDS cache card, but that may prevent you from using other PDS Cards.

What are slotless cache cards? Can they get you money from broken banking machines?

Actually, it's a serious question - never heard of these, and I've been fiddling with Quadras and such for years. What have I missed? I am intrigued.

[alk]

Don't use Open Transport! It uses 2-4MB of RAM, and doesn't give any benefit for 68K Macs.

Er, ever heard of DHCP?

Peace,
Drew

[LCGuy]

Indeed...thats the main reason to use OT, besides the fact that MacTCP is a complete byatch to configure.

[bluekatt]

Put a PPC601 upgrade board in whenever possible. With a little hacking, you'll be able to run at least up to MacOS 8.6.

doesnt that kind of defeat the whole purprose ?
if you want ppc power get a real powermac

[pee-air]

Another tip which I forgot:

Don't use Open Transport! It uses 2-4MB of RAM, and doesn't give any benefit for 68K Macs.

For some reason I've never been able to get online using MacTCP.

Er, ever heard of DHCP?

That would explain why. If you use broadband with an ISP that assigns IP addresses dynamically, you need DHCP. MacTCP doesn't support the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol.

The workaround is to use a router between your Internet connection and your MacTCP using Macintosh, and to assign a static IP address to your MacTCP running Mac. Not a major obstacle, as any Macintosh that cannot run Open Transport is not well suited for Internet use anyway. And, odds are that you'd be using a more recent machine for web surfing, thus assuring that you probably have a router anyway.

[Maccess]

yep. System 6, System 7.x, and MacTCP work fine for me behind a router with a fixed LAN IP address for the 68K Mac. I've done this with an SE/30, Mac IIci, and Quadra 605, 650, 700, and 800. These machines have been used for LAN file storage, LAN DNS, LAN e-Mail, LAN Intranet, etc. You'd still do most real world surfing on a more modern machine.

The issues are discussed here. This may fix some issues. (but only works with System 7.x, not System 6).

[Unknown_K]

I would put a PPC card into a 68K only if absolutely needed. I have a Daystar 601-100 in one of my 950s because the AVID system needed PPC and 4 Nubus slots to work leaving me few options.

I also have a Quadra PDS 601-66 sitting around.

The faster 68k's would run 68k code faster then a 601 would in emulation, most PPC code would run better on a 604+ CPU. There is realy little need for a slow 601 in a 68k Mac.

[Maccess]

Post your Mac 68K Speedup tips here:

3) Get a slotless cache card for your Quadra CPU, or if you can't get the slotless cache card, get a PDS cache card, but that may prevent you from using other PDS Cards.

What are slotless cache cards? Can they get you money from broken banking machines?

Actually, it's a serious question - never heard of these, and I've been fiddling with Quadras and such for years. What have I missed? I am intrigued.

A slotless cache card fits in between the 68040 socket and the 68040 Chip. You'll end up with a processor that looks a like the G3 with some chips sticking out the side of the heatsink. Adds 128K of 68040 L2 cache (an 040 feature that is officially unimplemented. Thanks, Apple.). It's very rare. I think Sonnet, MicroMac, or Daystar made them once.

For a 25Mhz Quadra, a QuadDoubler (which replaces the 68040 CPU is better) since it replaces the CPU with a 50Mhz 040 and adds a 128K cache. They don't work in 33Mhz Quadras (maybe someone was able to hack them to work?)

Another intriguing slotless device was the Allegro 030 which replaces a socketed 16Mhz CPU with a 33Mhz 030. It was sold for use with IIx, IIcx, and SE/30. It won't work in an LCII, or LCIII, because these use a different form factor 030. Also very rare.

About the fast hard drive item: Has anyone tried running a 68K Mac off a flash drive? There were SCSI Memory Card readers, and an internal one here, with the low prices of flash drives (2GB CF at $20) these look like viable, fast alternatives to SCSI hard drives. Here's another manufacturer of solid state drives and CF adaptors.

[ianj]

The workaround is to use a router between your Internet connection and your MacTCP using Macintosh, and to assign a static IP address to your MacTCP running Mac. Not a major obstacle, as any Macintosh that cannot run Open Transport is not well suited for Internet use anyway. And, odds are that you'd be using a more recent machine for web surfing, thus assuring that you probably have a router anyway.

Another big advantage of Open Transport is being able to access file servers running OS X 10.4 (using OS 7.6 and AppleShare 3.8.3). My primary Mac is a G4 running 10.4.10 (as noted, 68Ks can only do certain things in today's world) and not being able to properly share files between the two machines was a huge inconvenience before I found out about AppleShare 3.8.3. Open Transport simply makes it much easier to deal with modern networks and the Internet on a 68K Mac. Not to disparage those that can't or don't run it, but saying Open Transport has no advantages for 68Ks is overlooking a lot.

[Quadraman]

I would put a PPC card into a 68K only if absolutely needed. I have a Daystar 601-100 in one of my 950s because the AVID system needed PPC and 4 Nubus slots to work leaving me few options.

I also have a Quadra PDS 601-66 sitting around.

The faster 68k's would run 68k code faster then a 601 would in emulation, most PPC code would run better on a 604+ CPU. There is realy little need for a slow 601 in a 68k Mac.

Speed Doubler alleviates the problem of the slow emulation built into the 601 based machines.

[ChristTrekker]

Speed Doubler alleviates the problem of the slow emulation built into the 601 based machines.

I've long wondered how Speed Doubler managed to do what it did. I can understand substituting various function calls with optimized algorithms that execute faster. But to achieve that marked an improvement would mean Apple's designs were bad to the point of incompetence.

[Quadraman]

Speed Doubler alleviates the problem of the slow emulation built into the 601 based machines.

I've long wondered how Speed Doubler managed to do what it did. I can understand substituting various function calls with optimized algorithms that execute faster. But to achieve that marked an improvement would mean Apple's designs were bad to the point of incompetence.

I think it was because Apple still had some Quadras on the market concurrently with the Nubus PPC machines and making the new machines blow the old ones out of the water under emulation would have meant Apple getting stuck with a lot of leftover 040 machines.