Another Turbo 601 / SE/30 Failure Report

[ants]

I know a few other people have tried getting a Daystar Turbo 601 working in their SE/30, but I thought I'd share my experiences.

I tried installing a 100mhz Turbo 601 in my SE/30 using a Twinspark Adapter. I experimented with various ROM's using the BMOW ROM Simm Programmer and here's the results:

IIvx / IIvi ROM: Zebra pattern, even without the Turbo 601 installed
IIci ROM: Zebra pattern 
IIsi ROM: Zebra pattern
IIfx ROM: You get the PowerPC "aaah" sound! But then Zebra pattern

So the IIfx ROM was the most promising, but still not much luck.

 

[Von]

Do you have the IIsi adapter for that 601?

 

[ants]

Do you have the IIsi adapter for that 601?

No I only have a IIvx adapter, but that belonged to a Turbo 040 - I'm not sure if they are compatible.

 

[kreats]

I guess there is the turbo040 + powercard 601 Frankenstein to consider

 

[TPope]

Hey Ant,

I assume you know that the Daystar 601 for 68030 computers requires specific ROM chips, (si or fx) the si PDS adapter and software. The software is an extension and maybe a control panel. I've never seen it just read about them.  It makes sense cause you need software to run Daystar's 040 upgrade cards. I have forgotten where I saw that but maybe Macintoshgarden or Lowendmac can help.  I will keep researching and will let you know what I find. Peace

 

[ants]

Thanks @TPope yes it appears the elusive IIsi PDS adapter is the missing piece of the puzzle. I'd love to know what this adapter does that the Twinspark doesn't!

I'd also like to see at least some shred of evidence that anybody has ever got a 601 working in their SE/30? I know it'd been mentioned online a few times, but never with photographic proof 

 

[360alaska]

Have you tried a video card with the 601?  Since you get a chime it sounds to me like the onboard video might not be ppc compatible.

 

[Crutch]

Have you tried a video card with the 601?  Since you get a chime it sounds to me like the onboard video might not be ppc compatible.

I guess one could test that by observing if there is HD access after the chime. I’m guessing not, though. 

 

[TPope]

Hello Ants,

I don't believe it's just the need of the adapter. I think you need the adapter and the software. For something as complex as a RISK chip I don't think it could be as simple as plug and play. However I am not an Electrical Engineer and I'm sure the people at Lowendmac would be more knowledgeable. Try:www.lowendmac.com/2016/daystar-turbo-601-powerpc-processor-upgrade-for-68030-pds-macs/ I too was in that auction that VON won last year. I don't recall if software was included. Perhaps you could contact him and see if he has it.  As far as the adapter maybe Rolle has a working prototype he could lend or sell you.  I believe it's just a matter of time before someone figures it out and reverse engineers the 601 PDS BOARD and adapter.  If I understand it correctly Trash has almost perfected the NuBus-SE/30 adapter.  (So it seems the need is there.) I don't know if Rolle will produce another batch of his. Let me know how it works out. Peace

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Not even close to NuBus in SE/30! A few of us are chipping away at it here and there as time allows. nickpunt scored an adapter that could have been a big break to get things rolling. That came to a screeching halt when a GAL on it was found to be dead. BTW, I can't really develop stuff in the skunkworks, I just line up interesting information for the magicians.

The Radius Rocket is the only processor upgrade I can think of offhand that needs drivers/software at startup. It does a double boot sequence, primarily for loading the hosts ROM into onboard RAM. A processor upgrade or accelerator pretty much needs everything required to boot a Mac in its own ROM. There are a few which do require the host to boot and hand over control. which would involve a driver.

Recent thread with related info:

 

[nickpunt]

@ants in this thread it was recently figured out that there's a pin that needs to be bridged on the twinspark to make it work like daystar adapters to enable cache on SE/30. Maybe this is the answer?

 

[ants]

Thanks everyone for all your comments and ideas. @nickpunt the thread you shared looks really interesting, I just need to find myself a paperclip so I can try it out!

I'll keep you posted.

 

[ants]

@nickpunt I added the jumper and tried the 601 again - but alas I had the same outcome. I tried with both a IIsi and IIfx ROM. Again I got the PowerPC boot chime with the IIfx, but got no further.

@Crutch  @360alaska I also looked for HDD activity, but no joy

But some good news is that I tried the new jumper with my Daystar Turbo and it gave me a 26% speed improvement! I added a screenshot to the other thread above

 

[ants]

I'll also say this - running the 601 in my SE/30 for even a few minutes and it's almost too hot to touch!

 

[TPope]

Hey Ant, 

By going to the Lowendmac site (www.lowendmac.com/2016/daystar-turbo-601-powerpc-processor-upgrade-for-68030-pds-macs/) I found links to The Unofficial Turbo 601 Site. From there I found additional links to "Other Resources". On that page there is another link to version 1.1 of the Turbo 601 Installation disk from Daystar which, unfortunately, is not archived by the Waybackmachine. But this does tell us there was a System Enabler needed for installation. (See bottom two lines of "About the Turbo 601".) Even if you can find that installation disk you have to have the one that came with your card and may have to ResEd hack it or your system, or both, so they recognize each other and work together. After all the product was not initially designed for SE/30's. (If you have ever hacked OS 8.1 for 030's or 040's you know what I mean. If you haven' t go to Jag's site for the info.

I have been working on this project off and on since 1996 and just hope that someone, somewhere steps forward with the solution. Also note the version of ROM needed. Will TX you later. Peace

 

[TPope]

Hey Ant,

I can't go over all the facts I've discovered  on The Unofficial Turbo 601 Site but it is very, very good and even gives hints on how to hack the system enabler: OS 8.5 update. Just check it out. There are a lot of 404 dead ends but a lot of knowledge also. Did you contact VON?

 

[nickpunt]

Too bad @ants but happy you got a speed up on 040! 

Re Tpope’s note about cpanel, see link below on the lack of need for system enabler in MacOS 8 as noted here. Maybe focus on getting OS 8 going on se/30? Or find that driver. Else you mayyybe could try setting gestaltID to 104 as noted in link:

https://wiki.preterhuman.net/DayStar_Turbo_601

 

[ants]

Thanks for all the info, however I can't help but feel like my problems are more low-level.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but zebra stripes at startup would indicate a hardware or ROM issue?

There is no disk access, so I don't think any software that I install will make a difference. Am I incorrect?

 

[Crutch]

You are correct, unfortunately. (If really in doubt you could prove this by disconnecting the HD. You should be able to start up to a flashing question mark [or, if no floppy is connected, not flashing]. If you don’t, it’s a hardware issue, of course.)