DOS Compatibility Card

[oneboyarmy]

The best finds are certainly always the expected ones.

I was looking at my eBay feed on my iPad and stumbled upon a boxed DOS Compatibility Card for the 6100 series, in box! No software (which I already have) but the card itself and all of the manuals and software licenses. Cool! Put in a bid (I think I might have been the second bidder) and it was mine for $20. 

I haven't gotten a chance to test it out, as I need to go get my 6116 out of storage (climate controlled, of course) and see what I can do with it. I was going through another box a couple of weeks ago and found a 32MB SIMM, so I'll be able to install that on the card - the RAM slot is currently empty. The card itself smells new, even looks new. 

Does anyone have much experience with these? I know they'll run up to Windows 98 without much fuss, even though Apple never supported it. I love the pizza box Macs, and this way I can play some with old DOS games on "real" hardware without needing a PC... though I've got on in storage. The Mac just looks nicer. 

Box photo attached!

 

[djhaloeight]

Nice score!

 

[jholt5638]

 I was the other bidder on this lol. Did it include the video cable?

 

[oneboyarmy]

 I was the other bidder on this lol. Did it include the video cable?

LOL, I wondered if the other bidder was someone from the 68kMLA. Awkward?  :lol:

It did not come with the cable, which isn't much of an issue unless I want to do dual displays... and really, I don't need to.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

It's not all that bad to outbid, or be outbid, by another member in my experience. Just once a member complained to me in PM that I'd outbid him by a only buck for a lot of NuBus Cards. I guess he didn't realize that I might have bid a LOT more ( I had ) than eBay showed him. Machs nichts, I never mentioned it, he's long since banned for lots of other things.

.

 

[NJRoadfan]

Don't you need the cable to display any video at all? Mine is wired as a single monitor pass-thru setup, that and you get a DB-15 joystick port off the SB16.

 

[jholt5638]

no biggie, just shows the world is a small place

 

[oneboyarmy]

Don't you need the cable to display any video at all? Mine is wired as a single monitor pass-thru setup, that and you get a DB-15 joystick port off the SB16.

I guess we'll find out! I'll have to flip through the manuals later today.

 

[oneboyarmy]

I haven't gotten my Mac out of storage to test, but a cable showed up in my eBay feed last evening. I made an offer and the seller accepted it, so soon I'll have a proper setup!

 

[Superdos]

if you can make images of all the disks included, I would be a very very happy man.

I too have myself one of these cards, but I know it as the Houdini II (I think there was also a Houdini I?) and it's quite the card as I have it set up now, in storage. Mine went into my Quadra 700, since it had a compatible PDS slot-- works great, albeit silly looking since the Y cable went out the back of one of the NuBus slots.

in my trials and tribulations over the years, I lost the disks that came with this card, and although I can probably get them somewhere else online, I'd love to have an actual disk image of the files that are on the actual original disks and not upgrade files.

Mine's set up with a 32MB RAM stick and an SX-33, but I once had a DX2-66 on it which I stole for an actual 486 in need of an upgrade. I have a AND 5x86-133ADZ on the side with voltage regulator ready to go on it once I have the media, the Y cable, and the card all in one place... and the Quadra 700 out of storage. and of course, the acquisition of the hard drive caddy for such. mine's missing.

Note, if you're going to drop anything more than an SX-25 or SX-33 on it, the DX2+ NEED a heatsink. it also helps to have active cooling, so a small 40mm fan wired in someplace on a 5v rail will NOT hurt. in fact, it'll prolong the life of the CPU in use.

 

[oneboyarmy]

This card has the 486DX2, 66MHz. I have heard it can get a little toasty on its own so I may end up adding a fan. I might have a Cyrix 586 in my box 'o crap but I doubt I'll mess with changing it out. The stock should be totally fine for me. 

It didn't come with the software but I think the original disk images are on one of the Service Source CDs I have. 

 

[Superdos]

if you're going to drop a cyrix 586 on it, I think you need the voltage regulator module that goes under the CPU. else, it should be a simple drop and run. Yes, you will want a fan. the DX2-66 runs HOT.

Does yours also have the Vibra 16 daughtercard? mine's missing.

If you ever get Windows 3.1 or 95 running on it (not impossible, I've done it.) I'd love to hear some recordings of the vibra doing MIDI. onestop.mid and canyon.mid come to mind, but onestop is pretty much the de-facto standard when it comes to gauging the capabilities of what a sound card can do for MIDI sequencing. the Vibra likely doesn't have an OPL3 onboard the card or has a very rudimentary sounding softsynth-- but there's no recordings of the Houdini Vibra card's MIDI capabilities on Youtube for all I know, and it'd make a great addition to the other obscure cards and devices able to play the file.

 

[NJRoadfan]

If you are overclocking your 6100, better get it back to running the stock 60 or 66 Mhz. The card's 486 sits right on top of the 601 and heat is a big problem.

Download PC Setup 1.6.4 from Apple and install it. Then upgrade it to PC Setup 2.0 if you are running Windows 95. My card has the Vibra daughtercard, all Houdini IIs came with it. It does FM synth like any other SB16 card does, I don't recall it having a separate OPL3 though, so its likely the Creative Music Synthesizer clone chip. There is nothing obscure about it, just a miniaturized SB16. Also, install RAM on the card, it massively improves performance.

As for the original floppies, my card came with the following in the box.

-MS-DOS 6.22

-Windows 3.1

-Apple PC Setup

-Creative Labs Soundblaster 16 drivers

-DOS Drivers (CD-ROM, clipboard sharing, and Networking)

-Video card drivers (Chips and Technologies 65XXX series)

 

[adm567th]

i have a 6100/w dos i run 128 mbs in mine sharing 64 with the card

 

[oneboyarmy]

I picked up the Power Mac last week and finally got around to putting everything together. As of today, it's fully up and running with sound and all! (Powered off in the attached pic, though.) The case does get warm to the touch but not alarmingly so. 

I upgraded the Mac to OS 8.1... it was still running a very barebones 8 install when I powered it on. I don't think it has been turned on since 2011, the hard disk protested a bit (I took some interesting video of the horrible noises) but once it got going, it has been quiet as a mouse (relatively speaking) ever since! I acquired this one from another forum member a few years ago and it really is one of my favorites. 

Current configuration?

Performa 6116CD/60, 40MB RAM, 700MB hard disk, Mac OS 8.1.

PC Card

486DX2/66Mhz, 16MB SIMM (I opted not to use my spare 32MB for now), 40MB disk, MS-DOS 6.21 and Windows for Workgroups 3.11.

Now, if I could just find appropriate cache for this machine it would be a dream of a system. Still is, really, but I could go for squeezing a little more performance out of it!

 

[Bunsen]

All about upgrading these cards.

http://home.comcast.net/~gionpeters/hhhh/doscard.htm

 

[too many macs]

For anyone who might be interested, I have a DOS Compatibility Card in new condition for sale.

 

[james_w]

too many macs - where are you based and how much are you asking?

 

[too many macs]

I'm in CT. Still need to do some research on the price. Offers welcome.