croissantking's conquests

croissantking

Well-known member
Hey I am arriving late at the party (as usual...) but... I am super interested in this! Can you tell more? batteries specs, what did you solder and to what, what else was needed (3d printed spacers?) ...
Alright I'll start a separate thread for this as there seems to be a fair bit of interest.
 

croissantking

Well-known member
I won a local auction for a Performa 631 logic board that comes with this 040 chip on an interposer. I’ve only ever seen PGA chips on desktop 040 Macs, is this aftermarket?

I may look at cloning the interposer as I have a bunch of 68040FE33 chips from my PowerBook 500 series project which could then be used in desktop Macs.

At some point in the future I’d quite like to restore the 631 board too, it looks to have corrosion around the removed PRAM battery.

IMG_9989.jpeg
 

Daniël

Well-known member
Odd, I don't think Apple would've used non-ceramic 040s in their desktops, especially not through an interposer.
The only thing I could imagine, is that it's a third party replacement for a defective original CPU.

I know QFP-to-PGA interposers were a bit more common on the PC side (AMD 386DX40s were often interposed QFPs rather than PGAs), never seen 68k ones.
Would be neat to have a clone, just so if any sources for full-fat QFP 040s show up, we could use those in desktops.

Maybe with a slightly larger PCB, there could also be a regulator circuit for generating 3.3V, so the lower voltage MC68040V could be used.
Those have a supply voltage of 3.3V, but do still work at 5V logic levels, meaning a lower supply voltage is all it needs.
 

LightBulbFun

Well-known member
I won a local auction for a Performa 631 logic board that comes with this 040 chip on an interposer. I’ve only ever seen PGA chips on desktop 040 Macs, is this aftermarket?
I think so, if I am reading things right its got a date code of 11th week 1995, I wonder what its story is, given its still a 68LC040, and not something like an upgrade to a full fat 68040, neat find :)
 

Durosity

Well-known member
is this aftermarket
I’ve seen a few of these on models around that time. Best guess is that they’re from the factory either because of a parts shortage or it was just cheaper.. let’s face it, Apple was haemorrhaging money at that time so even if it saved them a penny per Mac that’s still thousands in savings.
 

LightBulbFun

Well-known member
I think so, if I am reading things right its got a date code of 11th week 1995, I wonder what its story is, given its still a 68LC040, and not something like an upgrade to a full fat 68040, neat find :)
actually ignore me there slightly! I just checked Mac tracker and I see they where selling the 631 into July 1995! did not realise they where selling 68K macs so late! at the same time you could get a 631 you could get a PCI based 9500!
 

croissantking

Well-known member
When I get the board in my hands I will look at the interposer closely, maybe there is some kind of part number on the underside that would indicate if it was an Apple part or not. I hope all the connections are there for a full fat 040, I will have to check that too.
 

3lectr1cPPC

Well-known member
actually ignore me there slightly! I just checked Mac tracker and I see they where selling the 631 into July 1995! did not realise they where selling 68K macs so late! at the same time you could get a 631 you could get a PCI based 9500!
The PowerBook 190cs was on sale into 1996!
 

finkmac

NORTHERN TELECOM
yeah they sold 68k Macs rather late, you would have got barely a year of OS upgrade support

food for thought, the last PowerPCs and Intels were/have been supported for much longer...
 

LaPorta

Well-known member
Couldn’t help myself to do one more task before I head off on holiday for nearly a month.

I resprayed a tired looking SE/30 metal bracket with a can of ZG-90. This was after using wire wool to remove a few bits of rust, and masking off the bits that need to be soldered later. This is the second one I’ve done and it really lifts the finished look of a Reloaded board. The paint doesn’t scrape off easily, in fact it adheres really well, which I’m impressed by.

View attachment 77316

View attachment 77317
This really looks great…what is ZG-90? I could definitely use that.
 

croissantking

Well-known member
This really looks great…what is ZG-90? I could definitely use that.

Cheers, I am very new at using a rattle can but the good results here have given me the confidence to do some more projects.

Here’s a photo of it, not sure if it’s a UK brand or an international one but you’d definitely have an equivalent in the US I’d have thought?

IMG_9810.jpeg
 

LaPorta

Well-known member
I’m sure there must be, just wanted to see what it was and I can go from there, thank you!
 

olePigeon

Well-known member
Anyone else read "Action Can" and immediately hear the old "Action Man" commercials? We had those even in the States. :D

Action Maaaan!
 

Durosity

Well-known member
Anyone else read "Action Can" and immediately hear the old "Action Man" commercials? We had those even in the States. :D

Action Maaaan!
See now I’ve ended up going down a YouTube rabbit hole watching them which has lead me into GI Joe and the hilarious edited versions of those that flooded the internet 20 years ago… PORK CHOP SANDWICHES!
 
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