Announcing broadATX for Mac II, IIx, and IIfx

[cjtmacclassic]

broadATX

b r o a d ATX for Macintosh II, IIx, and IIfx broadATX is the latest product from Anserine Machines, and aims to provide the same ease of use as our original beigeATX. broadATX was designed specifically for the Macintosh II, IIx, and IIfx series as a drop-in upgrade. It permits a suitable*...

anserine.co

Hello everyone,
I'm pleased to announce that my latest project, broadATX, is now available at the Anserine Machines store.
broadATX is a simple, drop-in adapter for the original Macintosh II/IIx/IIfx series that adds support for ATX power supplies, no soldering required.
broadATX supports the the original soft power implementation on systems with undamaged startup circuits.
For those with existing soft power issues, a set of 'Force' pins are exposed. These trigger the ATX supply directly, and the supply will remain active so long as they are bridged.

broadATX ships fully assembled and ready to install from St. Louis MO. Thanks to everyone who purchased a beigeATX in the past - your support enables projects just like this.

 

[ObeyDaleks]

Nice! Bought it.

 

[CC_333]

Using the force option, would this allow a MacII/IIx/IIfx to boot without operable PRAM batteries?

c

 

[MrFahrenheit]

I have a Macintosh II that won’t power up the normal way. I bought it on eBay and the seller said it boots with a jumpstart paperclip method, and I’ve never tried it. Something to do with touching a power lead to something else (the metal case?).

Is that what you’re “force” does ?

 

[cjtmacclassic]

I have a Macintosh II that won’t power up the normal way. I bought it on eBay and the seller said it boots with a jumpstart paperclip method, and I’ve never tried it. Something to do with touching a power lead to something else (the metal case?).

Is that what you’re “force” does ?

Very nearly, but with nuance:
The “paper clip” method generally refers to shorting two pins of the original, Apple-shipped PSU. That particular PSU is supposed to be triggered by a positive voltage from the motherboard - this is where electrolytic leaks and battery corrosion come into the picture. The motherboard may not be able to trigger startup as a result, so you bring the 5v trigger voltage directly where it needs to go to fool the PSU - with a paper clip.

The force pins on broadATX are further up the hierarchy so to speak. These pins trigger the new, off the shelf PSU to be used directly, by grounding the PS_ON pin of the supply when shorted, rather than going through the usual inverter circuit.

Obviously, I suggest doing everything possible to remedy the affected circuits before using the force option, but I have been using force-start on a IIcx for many months without issue.

Edit: The II series is unusual in that the voltage doesn’t come from a 5v standby rail, but a pair of batteries. That’s why the force option acts on the ATX side, but still allows ‘intact’ motherboards to use soft power normally.

 

[Phipli]

I have a Macintosh II that won’t power up the normal way. I bought it on eBay and the seller said it boots with a jumpstart paperclip method, and I’ve never tried it. Something to do with touching a power lead to something else (the metal case?).

Is that what you’re “force” does ?

I believe you need to apply 3.6 to 5V to the "/PWF" pin on the power connector to force start your stock PSU, by putting a battery (or other power source) with the negative terminal to gnd and the ~5V to the "/PWF" pin.

The pinout is here :

 

[cjtmacclassic]

Using the force option, would this allow a MacII/IIx/IIfx to boot without operable PRAM batteries?

c

That is the case, yes. The ATX supply is activated directly. You can even solder a switch and leads to the pads if you choose to go battery-free. I installed one in an expansion slot.

 

[Phipli]

I have a Macintosh II that won’t power up the normal way. I bought it on eBay and the seller said it boots with a jumpstart paperclip method, and I’ve never tried it. Something to do with touching a power lead to something else (the metal case?).

Is that what you’re “force” does ?

Basically this, where you can use any gnd pin between 7 and 12 (or gnd else where on the machine).

 

[Byrd]

Looks good, can you please show a pic of a setup inside a II case?

 

[plb007]

Any chance to order those outside USA ? (EU ?). Have plenty of old psu dying and recapping does not always fix the problem.

 

[fsmith2003]

I am interested in one of these but it shows sold out on the site. Will these be back in stock anytime soon? I am not far from St Louis. I could either pick up in person or have it shipped.

 

[cjtmacclassic]

Hi - I caught a last minute production issue and I'm currently in the process of getting reworked boards sent out to affected customers. I'll have them back in stock within a week.

 

[LazarusNine]

When the time comes, do you have any plans to add these to your eBay site for possible international delivery? I recognise you may want a certain amount of domestic orders first to make that worth your while. It’s just that you have another interested buyer across the pond! All the best.

 

[cjtmacclassic]

Hey everyone. Just wanted to announce that the redesigned boards have been received, assembled, washed, and tested. Just got back from the post office - everyone who purchased a first revision now has a replacement on the way. The past 2 weeks have been something of a blur, so I'll be pausing for a moment to restock materials for both beigeATX and broadATX.

When the time comes, do you have any plans to add these to your eBay site for possible international delivery? I recognise you may want a certain amount of domestic orders first to make that worth your while. It’s just that you have another interested buyer across the pond! All the best.

I intend to if beigeATX shows a similar demand in the internationally, but would prefer to make some domestic sales first, yes. So far I've received a few messages regarding international orders, so the outlook is favorable. In the meantime, there are currently 10 available for domestic sale.
To everyone who has ordered within the past week: Thank you for your exceptional patience, I'll be dispatching your orders the moment materials are available (and the post office is open).

 

[MrFahrenheit]

@cjtmacclassic Thank you so much for making these and offering them. I look forward to receiving my order and trying it out on my Mac II.

 

[cjtmacclassic]

I hope it serves you well!
I've just added temporary instructions on the site at https://anserine.co/blogs/instructions/broadatx-quick-start
(Photos coming soon)
If you've placed an order over the weekend, your orders have now been shipped. I will continue to take new orders, but they will backordered until at least the 25th while I restock inventory.