Monitor Compatibility for Performa 630

[Innes]

Many thanks for the assistance and suggestions here, its definitely sped up the speed of which i'v gotten this running by at least a factor of 4.

I have it outputting 832x624 to my cheap AOC LCD. No doubt i'll jump down should something require thousands.

Had a look at it's components, its got 32mb of memory complementing the 4 on the logic board, and the video and TV in cards. It's 12GB HD is split into a 2GB boot partition and a 10GB 'probably wont be used' partition. For sure i'll be getting the Ethernet card come next payday, burning software to CD is a pain, and now that I know I don't need a dedicated old monitor, a MultiSync can wait until I have more space.

One minor annoyance is that access to the mouse ball has been glued shut, unsurprising on account that it was in active use in Academia until 2003 (that's when the last electrical safety sticker expired). The mouse works fine but im not sure how I would go about cleaning it if gunk buildup were to hinder it's movement.

I'm now in the process of filling it up with software. 

 

[Macdrone]

1 or 2 screws and you can pop the top on the mouse and clean the rollers from inside.

 

[Themk]

You can consider 640x480 VGA to be the "native resolution" of the Quadra 630 "system" as it's the happy place for full screen VideoPlayer(?) windows in 16bit. But 16" is a friggin' Luxury.

The video player goes full screen and looks great at 640x480. If you have the IR remote (which I have), you can even control the video player from across the room!
For text work, or other GUI apps where colors arent important, popping up to 16-inch is the way to go. It is notably more spacious then 640x480 and even 800x600. Make sure you have MultiSync, with the right DIP switches selected on your DA-15 to VGA adaptor, you can change resolutions on-the-fly without rebooting.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Give it a shot at full screen at 12" RGB res and let me know what happens. I tested it a full screen with the 6x00 boards on the actual display, but I'm curious to  know how it compares with 640x480 pixel doubling on a single display. It's too bad you don't have a CRT MultiSync, but both will be interpolated on your Dell, but that's interesting to see as well.

 

[Themk]

My Dell has a neat "1:1" feature, where it will map the pixels from the output 1:1 centered in the middle of the display. No interpolation necessary

That being said, I let it scale the resolution up to the size of the panel, I like giant text!

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

HRM, I've got the 2003 versions of the 20 an 19 with the half moon base, I'll have to check for that feature.

 

[Innes]

Plugged a Gamecube into the video in port because why not

looks dreadful, but I love that I can do that. Interestingly, no noticeable input lag at all either

I figured with the help of color mac cheese i would add something caught from the video in to the desktop patterns selection

The machine also happily outputs to my capture card which is quite nice, as the image doesn't get stretched like it does on these monitors

 

[Themk]

Can we get a picture of the back of your machine, so we can see which AV input module is installed?

Also, there is no input-lag because the input from the AV card is dumped right into the Valkyries framebuffer VRAM.

 

[Innes]

Here be the back. Can you tell from this?

 

[Themk]

Yup. You just have the standard S-Video + composite, with RCA audio input card. You also have the TV tuner too. Cool, thanks for that. Whats interesting about your machine is that extra slot cover, I think those went with 6360 series Powerpc machines...

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Yep, the backplane plate lip protrudes from the vertical slot in the 6360. Dunno about the 5400, do they use a recessed cover like the 6400 or the same cover as the 6360?

 

[Themk]

Does 5400 have the dual PCI slots of the 6400? I think it is recessed like the 6400.

At least its not the uber RoadApple PPCs that were before it.

The 630 design is a good, 68040 design. The Power Mac "x200" series as it is known, is GARBAGE. Popping in a 630 logic into one of those would be an UPGRADE, even though the PPC CPU is faster than the 040, and runs at twice the clock speed!

One note on your Performa 630, the Serial Number sticker has fallen off, it is supposed to be right above the power supply, where the power cord is connected to the computer. It is clearly visible from the rear.

 

[Innes]

Yea I noticed that, theres a bit of discoloration where it sat. Theres a long number in pen on one of the unused slots which might be it.

 

[Themk]

XC68LC040RC33B? Nah, thats just the full name of CPU. Long number though, huh. My 630 has the "MC68040RC33". That being said, there is a serial number on the logic board inside the computer. No, it is not the same as the one for the computer overall, but it does give you some context.

Here's an example of a serial number, from my machine:

 

[Macdrone]

the 6xxx series desktops share the same back plane with the 63x series.  the 5400, 6400 and 6500 all share the dual pci riser and backplate.  You can switch the backplates and risers.  I have not tried an 040 in the ppc tower/all in one but i am sure it would work.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I didn't think that sounded right, 5400/5500 had single slot risers and backplanes similar to the 6360's with the protruding bracket lip.

6400/6500 had a standard, recessed backplane setup facilitated by the offset double slot PCI riser. The card mounted normally with the "Lip" screw into the recessed frame.

Never had a 5400/5500 so this piqued my curiosity.

 

[Themk]

Thanks for the info, it is okay to be wrong.

 

[Macdrone]

ya forgot I shoe horned a dual riser in my 5400.  It fits with a little effort.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Very cool hack.

 

[Macdrone]

Back before I really cared what I did to them.  I was pretty ruthless.  My first color classic we painted red and made green felt leaves on it.  I still shake my head at that.  That was 20 years ago tho.