LC520 accelerator

[macguy]

Upgrade LC520 accelerator with ?

 

[Byrd]

Upgrade to LC575 board with?

 

[macguy]

Are you saying remove the LC520 board and just slide in the LC575 board ?

 

[Byrd]

Yes, it's a straight swap - double your speed in a matter of seconds.

JB

 

[macguy]

Thanks for the clarification.

Now, i guess, is the problem to find a working LC575 board .

Perhaps someone in 68kMLA may have one .

 

[LCGuy]

If you get an LC575 board, make sure you also get the back panel off an LC575, as the LC575 board has the Communications Slot, which the LC520 and 550 lack. While it should be possible to use the LC575 board with your existing back panel, you won't be able to use the Communications Slot, and you might not be able to use the PDS slot either, depending on whether the PDS slot was moved in the 575 (its been a while since I've dealt with an LC575, I can't remember if they moved the PDS slot to make room for the Comms Slot or not)

 

[macguy]

Many thanks for your guidance and helpful instructions.

 

[olePigeon]

If you find an LC 580, you can also watch TV on it.

 

[macguy]

Are you saying that i can install the LC580 board into my LC520 ?

 

[LCGuy]

You can't use an LC580 board on an LC520 without performing some major major surgery - the LC520 (and LC550/575, and Colour Classic/Colour Classic II) use a different motherboard edge connector to the LC580 (which uses the LC630/PowerPC Performa style of motherboard edge connector), the only way around this issue is to replace the LC575's internal wiring loom with one from an LC580, which requires major major work, and a fairly decent understanding of electronics.

 

[macguy]

and a fairly decent understanding of electronics.

Not this guy here. Thanks for the detailed/informative info because it really helps me. When i bought the LC520 when it first came out in Canada i was impressed that so many ( if not all ) the major parts were what i call remove the old and plug in the new without having a PhD and a slew of toools.

Although in the end i have only replaced the battery and RAM. It still works and is used for several PG music programmes that were never ported over to OS 9 let alone OS X and some programmes that require "midi manager" that i can turn on and off with Conflict Catcher and restarts.

 

[LCGuy]

Yeah...basically, an LC/Performa 550 or 575 board will just slot straight in, and will allow you to use virtually any RAM or LC PDS cards you currently have fitted to the 520. The entire process takes about a minute, if that. Its only the LC580 board (and the PowerPC Performa boards) that is a no-can-do.

 

[olePigeon]

Oh, good catch. I didn't know that.

I've upgraded my Color Classic to an LC 575. It's pretty darn sweet.

 

[Quadraman]

Can't you also put a 5200/6200 motherboard in those?

 

[LCGuy]

Not without major, major modification. Do a google search for "Takky" or "Power Colour Classic". Definitely not for the faint of heart.

 

[yuhong]

If you get an LC575 board, make sure you also get the back panel off an LC575

In fact, Apple once sold both in an official LC 575 logic board upgrade for the 520 and 550.

 

[Bunsen]

Your left-over 520 motherboard is a plug-and-play upgrade for a Color Classic. It's not a huge leap in power: 16MHz '030 --> 25MHz, and 10MB RAM limit --> 36MB, but it's a cleaner designed board and should run a bit better than the original. Someone here might even want it when you're done.

 

[yuhong]

Yea, it is unfortunate that they released the Color Classic at the same time as the LC III, but they based it upon the much slower LC II! What is even worse, the Color Classic II that finally was based upon the LC III+ was not released in the US! Luckily it is easy to swap a LC III-based 520 or 550 motherboard into a Color Classic and get an equivalent.

 

[Bunsen]

left-over 520 motherboard is a plug-and-play upgrade for a Color Classic / Someone here might even want it

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