Finally! Success with an accelerator & ethernet in my SE/30

[ants]

I spent years trying to get my Daystar Turbo to work alongside an ethernet card. I tried every possible software combination, I recapped everything and even built a new power supply - all to no avail.

In a last-ditch attempt, I recently splurged on a DiiMo 50mz 68030 accelerator from Japan... and finally I have success!



Above is my Mac, with a DiiMo accelerator, Asante MacCon ethernet, 128mb RAM, Rominator with patched IIsi ROM to disable memory test, a Seasonic PSU, Noctua fan and an OpenWRT wifi card mounted internally.

I also retrobrited the case, keyboard & mouse using the "total immersion" method using diluted peroxide I got from my local spa shop. Although, it could probably do with a second treatment as I had bad luck with the weather.

I had to fabricate a new bracket for my Wifi card, due to the accelerator taking up the existing space:



It was a squeeze, but everything just fits!



I'm delighted with the outcome. My Spotify player now runs virtually on par with my modern PC! I'm keen to write some more internet enabled apps to run on my fast little SE/30.

 

[superjer2000]

That is AWESOME!!!!!  Congrats!

When you say you retrobrited with the "total immersion" method can you clarify exactly what you did?

 

[ants]

When you say you retrobrited with the "total immersion" method can you clarify exactly what you did?

I got some big, clear plastic tubs and filled them with water and a few big glugs of 20% peroxide (I wasn't that scientific).

I immersed my plastic parts in the tubs completely, and then covered the tubs. I then sat the tubs out in the Australian sun all day - although the clouds unfortunately rolled in for a lot of the day. I'd say I had about 3 hours of direct sunlight.

I took some photos:



By the end of the day there was a huge difference in colour, and no streaking whatsover. But compared to a few perfectly Platinum parts I have, my my retrobrited plastics are just not quite white enough.

Like I said, a few more hours in the sun and I think they'd be spot on.

One thing I learned is that next time I'd remove any rubber parts, such as the feet on the rear bucket, and also the keyboard feet. After sitting in the peroxide all day, they got a bit "sticky" - although they turned fine after a few weeks.

 

[superjer2000]

Awesome. Thanks!  The highest peroxide content I can get is 12% with 40 Volume Developer. I'll try your method next with lots of the 12% and water. 

 

[Crutch]

This is great to see @ants! Really glad that worked out. 

 

[joethezombie]

Awesome @ants!  Curious, did you ever try the Ethernet and Turbo with just the regular SE/30 ROM?  I ask because I have had some compatibility issues with multiple PDS cards and the Rominator as well, but the same combination works with a regular SE/30 ROM.

 

[ants]

Curious, did you ever try the Ethernet and Turbo with just the regular SE/30 ROM?

Yep I tried the regular ROM too. From memory, I believe I had success if 32-bit addressing was off - but then my 128mb RAM went to waste!

 

[maceffects]

@ants how did you do the WiFi on this?  I am working on developing a clear case for the Mac SE/30 and I think it would be neat to showcase the machine with WiFi!  Would you consider assisting with setting on up for a cost? 

 

[nickpunt]

Congrats @ants looks great! Glad this will inspire more of your amazing software hacking

Out of curiosity what was the ROM version of your Turbo 040, and what type was it (e.g. cache daughtercard or the newer ASIC variety)? Also did you try to recap it?

 

[ants]

@maceffects I've been following your clear case project and can't wait for the release date. I did a post on the wifi mod a while back:



I'd be more than happy to help you set it up for your project, PM me and we'll sort something out.

 

[ants]

Out of curiosity what was the ROM version of your Turbo 040, and what type was it (e.g. cache daughtercard or the newer ASIC variety)? Also did you try to recap it?

Thanks for the kind words.

The ROM version on my Turbo was older - so I even went as far as getting an EEPROM programmer and a PLCC32 chip and I upgraded the ROM to 4.11! It didn't help

I haven't tried recapping the Turbo - but it's worth noting that the Turbo works perfectly when no Ethernet card is attached. I guess it's a long shot, but I could try recapping it.

 

[ants]

This is great to see @ants! Really glad that worked out. 

Thanks, the fact that you had exactly the same problem saved me from losing my mind!

 

[olePigeon]

If you weren't in Australia, I'd be interested in letting you borrow my Turbo 040 & a different ethernet card.  I wonder if one or the other is bugged somehow.  Would be peace of mind to know.   Unfortunately shipping to Aussieland is prohibitively expensive.

 

[SE30_Neal]

Awesome job, my dream setup plus wifi, SWEEEEEEET!

 

[ants]

If you weren't in Australia, I'd be interested in letting you borrow my Turbo 040 & a different ethernet card

Thanks for the thought! I've already tried with three different ethernet cards with the same outcome.

I'm not alone with this issue, @Crutch had the same problem and I've also seen other comments floating around this site describing the same issue.

I'm now of the thought that some Daystar Turbo cards simply refuse to work alongside another PDS card. I have a Rev 2 Turbo, perhaps it's these cards that have the issue??

 

[Bolle]

The older non-ASIC Turbo040 cards definetly have problems when used in anything but a IIci.

They were supposed to be universal but only the latest non-ASIC (rev 3) and the ASIC version worked well especially in the SE/30.

 

[ants]

Thanks @Bolle, well there you go!

I still have the original box & user manual for my Daystar - both of which clearly say that the card is compatible with the SE/30. So I guess it's safe to say that the Rev 2 cards are compatible as long as you don't add a second PDS card.

After all, the official Daystar SE/30 adapter did not support a second PDS card.

The only workaround I can think of is to use a SCSI ethernet adapter with my Daystar Turbo.

 

[Bolle]

Good point on the official adapter.

Also the logicboard seems to be a factor as well.

Stacking the Turbo040 + MacCon + IIsi Pivot only works on one out of all the SE/30 logicboards I have.

On all other boards it crashes once I change the external screen from B/W to color or it doesn't work at all with the IIsi Pivot in place.

Took a while until I figured out it is indeed somehow related to the logicboard but I couldn't really figure out what causes the cards to work with one board but not all the others.

All logicboards are clean and recapped, all use the same type of caps, same manufacturer of caps, etc...

 

[ants]

Stacking the Turbo040 + MacCon + IIsi Pivot only works on one out of all the SE/30 logicboards I have.

Is it a non-socketed motherboard that works? Mine is socketed, but I have a non-socketed board laying around that needs a recap.

I know that technically it shouldn't matter, but I thought there might be subtle differences between these motherboards?