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Mac II upgrade possibilities

robin-fo

Well-known member
Hi everybody,

Recently I received a working Macintosh II logic board which I‘d like to put into a battery bombed IIfx case.

I already ordered a 68851 to replace the Hochsprung MMU to gain A/UX compatibility.

Is there any chance to replace the ROM chips with IIx (or even Quadra) ROMs to gain FDHD support without losing early A/UX compatibility? Could I even replace the 68020 with a 68030 (I guess not)?

Cheers,
Robin
 

Unknown_K

Well-known member
You need new ROMs and a replacement SWIM chip for superdrives.
68020 will not accept a 68030 (different socket).
 

Phipli

Well-known member
Hi everybody,

Recently I received a working Macintosh II logic board which I‘d like to put into a battery bombed IIfx case.

I already ordered a 68851 to replace the Hochsprung MMU to gain A/UX compatibility.

Is there any chance to replace the ROM chips with IIx (or even Quadra) ROMs to gain FDHD support without losing early A/UX compatibility? Could I even replace the 68020 with a 68030 (I guess not)?

Cheers,
Robin
Dove made a processor upgrade that replaced the 020 with a 32MHz 030 in the socket. There were also Daystar adapters that let you plug in a PDS accelerator.

Photos of the Dove device here :
https://www.applefritter.com/content/dove-computer-marathon-030-mac-ii-accelerator-board

Note that isn't the same as a Dove Marathon 030x/SE.

Attached are benchmarks from an old magazine article... Macworld circa 1991?? Its just something I had saved.
 

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joshc

Well-known member
With a Daystar Macintosh II Adapter, you could fit a Daystar 68030 or 68040 (I think) upgrade to your Mac II. The tricky bit is finding those cards...I had them at one point, and I must say, a 50Mhz 68030 Mac II is a cool thing indeed.
 

Juror22

Well-known member
My Dove Marathon upgraded Mac II came along with this upgrade as well:
batteriies.jpg
So, don't forget to pick up one of those :)
They make popping out the batteries so much easier.
 
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