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Interware Booster 30-50F

JT737

Well-known member
So I've been browsing/buying Mac stuff on Yahoo Japan for over a year now, and I have to say it is amazing how much old Mac stuff is routinely for sale on it!  My latest item that I bought is this:  an Interware 68030 accelerator, with the original box.....for only $100!  Well, at least that was the auction price, it was roughly another $40 to get it to me from Japan. 

But still, considering that the same style Daystar 68030 routinely goes for $400 or more, I was amazed! 

The accelerator runs at 50mhz and has both an CPU and FPU.  I used Bolle's adapter to test it out; and while it works, it looks like I need the right driver to get it running at 100%.  I figured that since it came with the original box it would come with the original drivers, but unfortunately it didn't. 

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tommijazz91

Well-known member
Very nice find! I also find Yahoo Japan to be a good source of Mac items. Shipping can be expensive, but it can be well worth it.

 

JT737

Well-known member
@tommijazz91-Thanks!  In addition the the 30-50F, I also just won an Interware CV 40-40 booster that should show up here in a few weeks.  When it does and I get around to testing it, I will definitely make a post about it! 

In the meantime, I would be curious to know if anyone else here has an Interware 30-50F and what they think of it. 

 

micheledipaola

Well-known member
Hey! I scored an Interware Booster 40 pds card on Yahoo Japan too (a label on the card says Booster CL 40-40) , but I can't find any driver/extension/cdev or support for it anywhere. How did you make your Interware Booster cards work?
 

mrkirkby

Member
Hey! I scored an Interware Booster 40 pds card on Yahoo Japan too (a label on the card says Booster CL 40-40) , but I can't find any driver/extension/cdev or support for it anywhere. How did you make your Interware Booster cards work?
I have a booster 40. The one I have is for a IICi and just fits in the cache slot. No additional drivers needed.
 

JT737

Well-known member
@micheledipaola -Sorry it took so long for me to reply! Basically, all I did was plug it in....and it works! In a machine like a IIci, you can just plug it into the PDS slot and it should work just fine. With the SE/30. you'll need an adapter, such as a Daystar, Twinspark, or one of Bolle's adapters.

I still haven't found any drivers for it yet....I'm not even sure if any were ever written for it. I would assume that some were so that you can use the cache memory to it's fullest potential, but I don't know.
 

micheledipaola

Well-known member
@micheledipaola -Sorry it took so long for me to reply! Basically, all I did was plug it in....and it works! In a machine like a IIci, you can just plug it into the PDS slot and it should work just fine. With the SE/30. you'll need an adapter, such as a Daystar, Twinspark, or one of Bolle's adapters.

I still haven't found any drivers for it yet....I'm not even sure if any were ever written for it. I would assume that some were so that you can use the cache memory to it's fullest potential, but I don't know.
I guess there are two kinds of interware boosters, one for Iici / standard pds plug, and one for se/30 plug - it seems I happen to have the second one so I think no adapter will be needed... I finally got ahold on a SE/30 so as soon as I recap the board, I will install the card and let you know!
 

JT737

Well-known member
@micheledipaola -Sounds good! It looks like Interware made several 680x0 boosters; I also have an Interware 30-33f booster from them (that would need an adapter to work with an SE/30) that unfortunately doesn't work.
 

micheledipaola

Well-known member
I am installing the card on my SE/30 (labels say Booster 40 and CL-40-40) and I see a connector on the back which I had not noticed - I wonder what for? Any clue anybody?

EDIT: this does not fit in a SE/30! the RomSIMM is in the way!
Now I wonder where I could put it :D it has a 120pin PDS plug so no LCs / older SEs I guess - maybe it will fit in a IIci in the end?

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micheledipaola

Well-known member
Meanwhile, the CL-40-40 version of Interware Booster 40 sits comfortably in a LC III / Performa 450 which has a double length PDS slot (96 extended to 120 pins) :)

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Nathan_A

Well-known member
Replied in DM too, but... yep 👍. You figured it out. The slot on the back is for cache (mine has a 128k module). Mine came from (and will go back into) a Color Classic II. So, ostensibly it works fine with a 33 MHz bus too if you wanted to do the LC III to LC III+ mod to your machine.

I don't have any software for it that I know of. Though I suspect it's on the HDD of the machine I purchased, so I may pull that out and check if it still works.
 

JT737

Well-known member
@micheledipaola -I was gonna say, that looks like a card for one of the LC's! I have a CV 40-40 Interware Booster myself; somewhere I have the cache card for it. But yea, that connector on the back of it is indeed a cache memory connector. IMG_20211128_163441.jpg

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