Color Classic II

[beachycove]

Some months ago, Mike Richardson at adoptamac was good enough to sell me an LC550 logic board, which promptly went into my Color Classic. The logic boards of the LC550 and the Color Classic II are, of course, one and the same. I also popped in a spare 68882 co-processor and an LCPDS network card, along with a 32 MB ram chip. The machine then went onto a shelf and I went on to other things.

Anyway, I just got around to installing a system, Word 5.1 and WordPerfect 3.5e. No doubt more software will follow, as it has a 1GB drive in there.

It reports itself as a Color Classic II. No jumpers needed changing. I really like this "new" machine. Unlike the original CC, which was so slow as to be almost unusable, the CCII is perfectly responsive — as it is basically an LCIII in the Compact's form factor. Specs here.

I would like to recommend this simple modification to all and sundry, in fact over and above the "Mystic" mod. The machine had previously been a "Mystic" Color classic (with Resedit hack so as not to damage the video circuitry), but there is something satisfying about seeing the 68030 live up to its potential in a well-designed machine.

I now have a 33 MHz Compact Mac with a 32-bit bus, 36MB ram (and ram potential up to 132MB with a compatible 128MB 72-pin simm chip — still to be located). It zips right along, which is only to be expected, as really, the CCII was the fastest of the Compact Macs. I like it so much that I may even start using it for writing purposes.

Now, if only I could find a Color Classic II badge somewhere.... I like 'em stock.

 

[slomacuser]

is the CC's mainboard exactly the same as LC550's? or it leaves its back open? any pics of back?

 

[beachycove]

The CCII logic board and the LC550's are indeed exactly the same, and the layout of the LC550 logic board is the same as that of the CC as far as ports and LCPDS go, so the original rear cover of the CC fits exactly. You basically get a complete CCII when you pop an LC550 board into a CC.

 

[slomacuser]

then the LC/Performa's 580 board (68LC040 33 MHz) would fit too, or no?

 

[beachycove]

No. A 575 board fits, but then the rear cover ist kaputt (or should that be, "Kaputt ist"?)

 

[alk]

The 580 board is several cm longer than the 575, 550, 520, CC, and CCII. It won't fit without some internal case surgery. Also, the wiring harness must be re-wired to support a different configuration (IDE and other signals are present on the edge connector of the 580 and up boards). And once undertaken, there is little point in not upgrading to PowerPC at the same time and going with a 5200, 5400, or 5500 motherboard. 5200 would be easiest as it works with the stock power supply. There is some debate as to whether a 5400 or 5500 motherboard will work to the fullest extent possible with the stock power supply.

Peace,

Drew

 

[beachycove]

The CCII logic board and the LC550's are indeed exactly the same....

Actually, I have to take that back - a little. There is this difference: the LC550 has 512k video ram base, and can be expanded to 768k, whereas the Color Classic II has 256k vram base and can be expanded to 512k.

Specs for the LC550 here, versus the Color Classic II referenced above.

 

[Mac128]

the LC550 has 512k video ram base, and can be expanded to 768k, whereas the Color Classic II has 256k vram base and can be expanded to 512k....Specs for the LC550 here,

Are you basing this only on Apple's specs? If so I would take them with a grain of salt, until proven otherwise. If you note the Color Classic & Color Classic II have exactly the same VRAM specs. It would not be unusual for Apple to copy and past a profile and change the most obvious major differences between the them but over look something minor. It would have cost Apple a lot more to create two separate boards that were otherwise identical.

Then again, it may have really taken 512K to drive an 8-bit 640x480 over a 512x384 display, since both jump to 16-bit with only 256K (though why doesn't the jump to 16-bit double as well?). If so, I suppose the board was designed for 512K built-in and Apple just put 256K on the CCII, so not a vast difference in manufacturing overhead if that was the only change, just a part substitution.

 

[beachycove]

I came across the difference first here, and I then looked at the Apple documentation/ specs. I haven't examined the specs of the physical machine itself via Techtool, but as you make a good point, I will when I get a moment and confirm the findings.

 

[equill]

... there is little point in not upgrading to PowerPC at the same time and going with a 5200, 5400, or 5500 motherboard. 5200 would be easiest as it works with the stock power supply. There is some debate as to whether a 5400 or 5500 motherboard will work to the fullest extent possible with the stock power supply ...

If a 5500 or 5400 MLB could either of them be shoehorned into a CC and find adequate power for their operation, the bind positively moggles at what could then be done with a Sonnet Crescendo G3/400MHz L2 Card. The display area of the CRT would make for a (very fast) through-a-keyhole experience, however.

de

 

[beachycove]

I haven't examined the specs of the physical machine itself via Techtool, but as you make a good point, I will when I get a moment and confirm the findings.

On trying this, I find that Techtool does not appear report anything about the amount of vram installed. Is there a utility that will?

 

[equill]

Broadly, perhaps, but accurately enough in that VRAM increments are numerically large but potentially few in number, a good idea can be gained from the number of colours that the Mac reports that it can use for display.

de