IIfx board with Spectrum Eng DT-1088 in ROM slot

[Von]

Hi All,

Long ago when I was seeking a 32-bit clean ROM for one of my SE/30's I grabbed an entire IIfx board with ROM attached.  This board has sat in storage and now that I have some skills with the SeaSonic PS, I was thinking of trying to get the board running on the bench sans its case that I do not have.  I am assuming that this is doable?

Now to the board...

Here is its ROM slot with appendage:



All of the chips have passive heat sinks on them.  The 030 on the left does not as I borrowed the 030 when I sent one of my SE/30 boards to AllMacs for a recap. The SE/30 had its on=board 030 replaced by Daystar so that a socked accelerator could be added. Its original no longer worked so it is sitting on the IIfx..

Here is the silk screen on the appendage:



DT-1088

Made in USA

SPectrum Eng

(C) 1992

And on the reverse side where the ROM attaches at 90 degrees:



I thought this might be a kit to up the clock speed but both the on-board chip that has the RD/BK wire exiting it and the similar chip on the appendage are 80.000MHZ.

My Google and site quest for more info came up with nada...



Anybody know what this is?

THx!

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

With heatsink mods and those two PALs on board coupled with the crystal clips, it has me wondering if Spectrum Engineering figured out a way to do a Dash30 fx overclock type hack through the ROM socket. All that logic makes me think the clock might have been variable and controlled from a driver communicating across the ROM lines?

Finding drivers for that puppy feels like a unicorn hunt.

Dunno, just guessing. Look for speedup/upgrade/accelerator articles and check advertiser indices in the magazine archives from 1990-92. Spectrum will com up a lot in keyword searching the PDFs, but might not be too tedious.

edit: DT-1088 0r DT-108B

 

[Von]

edit: DT-1088 0r DT-108B

Good eye.  I will look into this after I tend to the lawn...

 

[pb3623]

Virtually certain that's a Newer Technology PowerPump or Variable Speed Overdrive, but I didn't know they made them for the IIfx. I have one for a Q950 and another for a Q700/900. The ROM connects to pin 1 (IIRC) of the stock oscillator (Output Enable) and alters the clock speed. For the Quadra, the PowerPump includes a NuBus card that powers a fan that connects to the PPC 601 card...

The VSO is only the single piece (ROM SIMM) but both come with a utility/cdev that let you dial up/down the clock speed. The PowerPump NuBus card has a panic button in case the speed is too high and the system won't boot.  

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Dunno, seems strange. Isn't this a lot more complex than the PowerPump versionss you have? Also, I've never seen anything unbranded from NewerTech.

 

[pb3623]

Funny, I’ve never seen anything branded (as far as accelerators) by Newer Technology. But I’m virtually certain it’s a Variable Speed Overdrive, which is a little more complex than the ROM SIMM for the PowerPump, which I think only serves to synthesize the new clock signal for the OE pin. I’m out of town so I can’t take pictures of both of mine (not that either work); I spent quite a bit of time trying to research online (Wayback) and see exactly what these pieces were. 

 

[joethezombie]

Wow, that thing is super interesting!  Spectrum Engineering is Newer Technology, so it may be marketed as that.  It's not a VSOverdrive, @CC_333 and myself have one for the IIfx.  They contain multiple clock cans and a faster processor.  

EDIT:  I can't help but notice the similarity in model number.  DT-88 vs DT-108B.  I see reference to a VSO2.0 on the Newer Technology website, not sure if that is software revision or hardware.  Perhaps this one is version 2 and the others are version 1?  Wouldn't hurt to try the drivers and see what happens!

 

[olePigeon]

Try emailing Newer, maybe they have a bearded veteran who can answer the question.

 

[Von]

Email to Newer Tech has been sent.  I'll report back is there is any response.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Wow, that thing is super interesting!

Absolutely, the heatsinks on the board make me think overclocking. but the crystal is 80MHz as is the one on the MoBo. Something makes me wonder if the rest of the crazy circuitry might be a clock multiplier setup, especially the two PALs. Would a 68030 running at 50MHz or more drive logic board components running at 40MHz (or a tad more) hard enough that they'd need heat sinks? The 80MHz can on the Spectrum board would be an isolated reference in such a setup. Can a PAL tweak a clock rate? Waaaaay over the top caffeine dep. WAGs here, but curious enough to post it.  :blink:

edit: if it is a clock multiplier setup, apparently it's also tweaking the board's speed? Dunno lots of insane stuff going on there! []

Spectrum Engineering is Newer Technology, so it may be marketed as that.

I was thinking my NewerTech Performer pre-dated this board, but it's (c)1994, forgot about it being compatible with the Classic. When did Spectrum change its corporate name, spin off a marketing division as a new entity or just switch over to NewerTech branding?

If they were using the NewerTech brand in 1990, the Spectrum copyright notice could make this a Beta test unit of a product that was never released/marketed under the NewerTech brand?

 

[pb3623]

I thought maybe Newer Technology was the supplier but Spectrum was the manufacturer... for example, you might see a DATECS mobile printer made in Bulgaria that’s actually remarketed and sold under different names (depending on who holds the license in that country, like Infinite Peripherals in the US for the printer example)

I’m telling you, that looks like my VSO (Q700/900). I’m on a plane ATM but I think I may have posted about it here, or perhaps I can pull my eBay purchase history.

EDIT: Here it is: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Velocidad-variable-de-tecnologias-mas-recientes-Overdrive-Para-Quadra-700-900-/162396084032?_ul=BO&nma=true&si=2iYfWw2PcJoWgcPfrtBw%2B3eafDg%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

[joethezombie]

Yep, that's it!  Super cool sleuthing @pb3623!  Other than the ROM slot flipped to the front of the unit, it looks identical to what @Von has.  Nice!  Now, does that thing belong in the IIfx ROM socket, or is it for a Quadra?  I'm scared!

@Trash80toHP_Mini, As far as the relationship between Newer Technology and Spectrum, I'm not sure...  I see magazines that say "Newer Technology, a division of Spectrum Engineering".  I also see DBA listings detailing Spectrum Engineering DBA Newer Technology.  Other than that, your guess is as good as mine!

 

[Von]

Exciting stuff. My current focus had been on my new to me IIci however I am feeling currents taking me to see if the IIfx can be brought back to life. I got NuBus Radius video and Asante Ethernet card that can be borrowed from the IIci. IIci has a dead PS that will be replaced with a SeaSonic PS that has been discussed in several threads.  For now, I will turn this into a bench PS that can drive either the IIci or IIfx.  Since I don't have an IIfx case, some questions assuming I have some of the special IIfx RAM:

1. The IIfx can be run on the bench without its case, right?

2. Does it require the special black IIfx terminator if it just running a single drive?

I am hoping to get to this this weekend...

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Yep, that's it!  Super cool sleuthing @pb3623!  Other than the ROM slot flipped to the front of the unit, it looks identical to what @Von has.  Nice!  Now, does that thing belong in the IIfx ROM socket, or is it for a Quadra?  I'm scared!

Pretty slick. with double rows for the inside contacts they could install the SIMM socket on whichever side had clearance available in any given machine.

 

[pb3623]

Well, seeing as the ROM itself is electrically compatible between IIci, IIsi, IIfx, SE/30 and the Quadras, I think it’s safe to plug in without a fire, but then you have the matter of connecting to the stock oscillator. That’s the part that probably won’t work. 

And even for me in my Quadras, I never got it to chime, either the VSO or thr PowerPump. 

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

1. The IIfx can be run on the bench without its case, right?

2. Does it require the special black IIfx terminator if it just running a single drive?

1. No problem

2. No, only if running a drive on the external bus of an early production model as I understand it. Many of 'em are reported to work fine with standard termination.

 

[pb3623]

I thought there was an internal filter that sat between the 50-pin cable and the logic board AND the internal/single drive has to either have internal terminator or term at the end of the chain as usual?

Or SCSI urban legends? I have a black terminator on my external AppleCD and an internal SCA drive that doesn’t appear to need it. 

 

[joethezombie]

The internal filter I know nothing about.  My IIfx doesn't have one, and it runs fine with either a standard HDD or SCSI2SD directly connected on the internal header.  I don't think I tried it floppy only, perhaps it would be needed then?

However, externally was a different story.  I could not get a 300e Plus to show on the system without using the special black terminator.  I have several terminators, but only the black one allowed the drive to be seen.

 

[Von]

I am back in town and have hit a snag.  I have some odd RAM in a bag that I thought might be for the IIfx board but no luck.

Does anyone have some IIfx RAM they'd be willing to part with?