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Clarifications for a (not?) takky mod

jessenator

Well-known member

So, I'm going about this in a slightly different way. I'm not going to takky a Colo(u)r Classic, but an Performa/LC 550. 57x logic boards are so sought after and scavved that if I'm going to juice up my abominable Rustic Rat, I may as well go upmarket, so to squeak.

So where I'm confused first in this guide is the motherboard/harness chart.
1644271022412.png
  1. So the harness doesn't matter? What matters the most is which logic board you're going with?
  2. The notes say "For this board its not worth to build a Takky" which I take to mean, "you may as well go PowerPC," yes? I.e. if I wanted an 040 Mac vs the 030 original, it's not really more work to go all the way to a PPC board?
    1. Subnote: if I really did want to go with a 580/630 board, would the harness need modification regardless?
  3. With the (most likely) differences between the CC and the 550, is the 3.3V regulator still necessary? I'm assuming it would be for the boards indicating the need, but I don't know what's supplied on the 550 vs the CC, how much more robust the PSU is, if the AB has different tolerances, etc..
Thanks for any advice
 

cheesestraws

Well-known member
With the (most likely) differences between the CC and the 550, is the 3.3V regulator still necessary? I'm assuming it would be for the boards indicating the need, but I don't know what's supplied on the 550 vs the CC, how much more robust the PSU is, if the AB has different tolerances, etc..

The CC AB can drive a 550 LB (since that's what a CC II is), so I would assume that the 550 AB also does not provide a 3.3V line, because it's clearly not needed. So you probably need the same power arrangements as you would for a CC.
 

Byrd

Well-known member
Hi jessenator,

Where is this guide from? I've not seen it around.

1) The 580/5x00/6x00 harnesses are the same pulled from a donor Mac

2) I suppose what they're getting at is by the time you've significantly modified to a Takky CC, you might as well go a PPC board. I've never seen a Takky 580 or 630, but am intrigued with something like a 630 DOS Compatible board in there (which is admittedly quite tall and can get hot).

3) I believe you can get away with not running a 3.3V regulator if you do not intend to have any PCI cards, but the regulator should be added regardless if going PPC. I've a Takky G3 which I has the regulator but there are power limitations, I use a 2.5" IDE HD and you will need 1 - 2 more fans inside which do make it noisier.
 

Fizzbinn

Well-known member
1) The logic board needs to match the harness and some logic boards need 3.3v power

The "CC harness", calling it that cause that's were it was first used, supports the following logic boards
CC
CC II
LC 520
LC 550
LC 575
(and their Performa equivalents)
These boards are physically smaller than the later ones and don't use/need 3.3v

The "LC 630 harness", calling it that cause that's were it was first used physically supports all the those different logic boards in the Takky chart. To use one of them in a LC 550 you need to remove the "CC harness" it came with and modify the case/structure to fit a "LC 630 harness".

2) Yeah, the harness work needed to support a LC 630 68040 logic board would be the same for *most* of the PPC logic boards. To get 3.3v support for the 5500/6500 logic boards there is more work but the that's on top of the harness work needed regardless.

3) From a logic board and harness prospective there is no difference between a CC and LC 550. You only need to worry about 3.3v if you intend to use a 5500/6500 logic board.
 

Trash80toHP_Mini

NIGHT STALKER
Pretty darn sure it's the 6360/5400/6400 boards that require 3.3v fed to the harness. 5500/6500 boards roll their own 3.3V on the logic board, but maybe not quite enough in some configutations per the info above. I'll try to dig up the "Frogeye" diagram for TAKKY harness conversion if nobody has it handy.

If you're going PowerCC/G3, I'd stick to the Alchemy boards, later Gazelle boards are like the TAM's, VERY finicky about expansion card compatibility.
 

Fizzbinn

Well-known member
Pretty darn sure it's the 6360/5400/6400 boards that require 3.3v fed to the harness. 5500/6500 boards roll their own 3.3V on the logic board, but maybe not quite enough in some configutations per the info above. I'll try to dig up the "Frogeye" diagram for TAKKY harness conversion if nobody has it handy.

If you're going PowerCC/G3, I'd stick to the Alchemy boards, later Gazelle boards are like the TAM's, VERY finicky about expansion card compatibility.
I think you are correct on that. My mistake.
 
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jessenator

Well-known member
Where is this guide from? I've not seen it around.
I think long LONG ago, when I had a Mystic (*steams with regret and stupidity*), I looked up how to do a Takky mod. I had even acquired a 62xx from the thrift store for scavving the harness. That site was the more comprehensive of instructions for the mod, and it only came back to me recently: I knew it was a Japanese-hosted site, anyway :) I think at that time I joined a googleSite for Vintage Macs and read up that 'Takky' is a portmanteau of two Japanese fellows who did all the legwork, so I figured it was the source.

To use one of them in a LC 550 you need to remove the "CC harness" it came with and modify the case/structure to fit a "LC 630 harness".
Thank you for the thorough reply! Sounds like I'll be doing work regardless, but it's good to know so that I'm not ferreting around for some phantom option.

I'll try to dig up the "Frogeye" diagram for TAKKY harness conversion if nobody has it handy.
If you're going PowerCC/G3, I'd stick to the Alchemy boards, later Gazelle boards are like the TAM's, VERY finicky about expansion card compatibility.
Good to know! Yeah, I'd like to see what you turn up. That Japanese site lauded the Gazelle, but given the amount of TAM quests I've seen here, I'm inclined to go for the Gazelle if I go PPC. I mean, once the groundwork is done, I could swap between, and with the Rustic Rat's Frankenstein nature, it might be good fun, too :)

This is the diagram from thepowercc site:
Q0JVrKY.png


Curious what the differences (if any) are.

Though the AB can drive both types of boards, I wonder if the 5xx and the later 550 is a bit beefier and could handle everything without the suggested Additional Power Supply.
 

Trash80toHP_Mini

NIGHT STALKER
That looks like it may be the same or maybe a cleaned up version of the same thing?

I was dong the same thing with one of a pair of 575(?) almost twenty years ago. Had to move and was so annoyed with the incredibly fugly things I just chucked them into a dumpster without thinking. Glad to have been rid of them, but should have at least stripped them.

But in my defense, I had just been released from the hospital. Was AWOL here for a few years . . . 🤪
 

GregorHouse

Well-known member
I'm looking to build a takky myself using a 5500 board, but I'm not sure what 640x480 mod is required. In PowerCC they talk about the VGA and the HiRes mods on the Takky page, which one is better? Do I have to cut and solder the transformer traces on both configurations?
 

Nixontheknight

Well-known member
I'm looking to build a takky myself using a 5500 board, but I'm not sure what 640x480 mod is required. In PowerCC they talk about the VGA and the HiRes mods on the Takky page, which one is better? Do I have to cut and solder the transformer traces on both configurations?
you have to cut transformer traces on both, I believe, but if you're scared about that, try sending your analog board to a professional to have them do it for you
 

Byrd

Well-known member
@GregorHouse either mod will function on a 5500 modified Takky, however you have the trade off of potentially stressing your analogue board with the easier to perform "VGA" mod or more work and adjustment using the safer "High Res" mod. The VGA mod is more reversible if you for some reason need to go back to stock.


Personally I've a Mystic with VGA mod and it's been fine for years, along with a Takky G3 with VGA mod that also functions well, but needs significantly improved cooling and power demands.
 

GregorHouse

Well-known member
@GregorHouse either mod will function on a 5500 modified Takky, however you have the trade off of potentially stressing your analogue board with the easier to perform "VGA" mod or more work and adjustment using the safer "High Res" mod. The VGA mod is more reversible if you for some reason need to go back to stock.


Personally I've a Mystic with VGA mod and it's been fine for years, along with a Takky G3 with VGA mod that also functions well, but needs significantly improved cooling and power demands.
Thanks! I'll go with VGA then
 

Franklinstein

Well-known member
Just to clarify:
At its most basic, if it has an ATA hard drive, you're going to need to cut up the CC's (or big ol' LC's, if you prefer) chassis to install a new (modified) wiring harness a few inches deeper into the case.

You can use any of the Q630-derived boards, or any of the non-PCI PPC boards, without the 3.3v regulator. In fact you'd better not put one in or you'll damage stuff. Don't worry about the "missing" pin on the harness in this case; it's just a ground and you've got 2 others there.

If you want to run a PCI board, basically you're going to need the 3.3v regulator. Use the chart above to wire it in since it's pretty accurate. If you plan on a G3 upgrade and/or a FW card or something, I'd probably suggest an additional power supply.

Any of these mods will require some sort of hi-res mod as well (though the LC models probably would be fine as they are). Later revision CC analog boards don't conform to the guide on this forum regarding simple component changes for VGA support on rev A boards, so keep that in mind.
 

Chopsticks

Well-known member
ive actually just mostly finished a collar classic conversion, my advice would be to do the Takky, its a bit more work with modifying the case, but its not to hard to do really. this will give you the most options for either 68k/PPC logic boards.
modding the analogue board to support 640x480 res only requires a couple small changes, though I have noticed the steps/photos shown on that powerCC website have missed/mucked up a step. it mentions running a jumper wire to provide -10v instead of -5v. however the way shown would just short the input to the output on a 7905 Vreg. when I did this it wouldn't boot and there's a jumper that also needs removing....

As for hires vs VGA differences:
hires is 640x480 at 67hz
VGA is 640x480 and 800x600 at 60hz

if you are using your original color classic analog board its really best to just go the VGA option. those analog boards are very underpowered/week so the hires mod really shouldn't be done unless you go around and change and uprate many components

in my case my color classic analog board was dead so I modded a lc520 analog board to physically fit and I went withe hires video option (the 520 analog board is already configured that way from factory
 
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