My quest to see video output

[UnaClocker]

Yeah, I know that one time I got my LCD to kind of work (never could get it to work again, it was some kind of fluke), when I clicked 256 color, the sync went nuts and I had to click blindly to get it back down to 16 and sync back up. It seems like it's selecting a different refresh rate to me, one that the monitor is barely able to display at all (hence the dimming). Maybe I'll hook up my oscilliscope and check out what frequency the sync is running at in the two modes.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

The 630 is probably the weirdest, but it's both cost-reduced compared to everything else shipping at the time and (if I'm remembering correctly) it's graphics were a new design relative to the 475/605 on which most of its architecture was based. If it truly doesn't work, I'm guessing it's because Apple figured most people would be using them with new or displays or slotting them into the spaces occupied by older cost-conscious systems. 6200/6300 follow directly from 630 because they are the same overall architecture but with a PPC upgrade integrated.

Yeah, I was kinda upset that my Q630 didn't support the Portrait, but did a double take. Remember that the cooling fan blows hot the air straight up and out the top at the rear of the case. If that case form factor were to literally support a Portrait Display the computer would die of heat exhaustion right quick from the damping effect of the Portrait case bottom's close proximity. The case and any board that can be installed in it needs to be Portrait hostile by design for the cooling budget and its peculiar hardware setup.

The setup was spot on perfect for the computer desk I built for the rug rat's room, but still an odd setup nonetheless. It probably has a lot to do with parts commonality between the 6xx desktops and 5xxx AIOs. The way cooling is set up in those taller boxes made the exhaust fan in the lid trick by far the easiest solution. The back of the desktop machine is pretty much a little tuner drawer, a big CPU drawer face, a Power Plug, a DA-15 connector and a tiny inlet(?) vent for the PSU. No room at all for the usual fan blowing out the back deal. Very strange, but I've never had a one of my several iterations of that box fail.

 

[Gorgonops]

Maybe I'll hook up my oscilliscope and check out what frequency the sync is running at in the two modes.

Be sure to post the results, as there *should* be no difference in the sync output between those two modes since the system was designed for a fixed sync monitor. South of the RAMDAC, of course, the speed at which the video address circuitry is walking through RAM is going to double since the 256 color mode is going to go through twice as much memory in the same amount of time.

Not knowing anything about how much discrete circuitry there is between the various ASICs in the IIci I wonder if it's possible there's something wonky that's causing a clock to be stable when running at one divisor but unstable at another.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

FWIW, I started thumbing through the Mac II review in the April 1987 issue of Macworld where they're reviewing the Macintosh II, and it does mention the possibility of configuring a Grayscale system using a, quote, "12-inch Sony Monochrome Display". This legitimately raises questions about the Apple spec sheet since the 13" color display is *also* described as being a Sony device. Perhaps for some reason Apple just resold the Sony display for two years without slapping their label on it but did rebadge the color display the day the Mac II actually went on sale? (The various references pin the intro date for it as March 2nd, same as the Mac II itself.)

Not unless there was a completely undocumented video card to go with it, as the original Apple video card *only* did 640x480.

As to the one-bit display card, the PDF specifically supports the 1989 date. So... *shrug*, maybe the introduction of the explicit 1-bit mono card was the motivating factor to finally relabel the monitor?

As to what the one-bit card was for, my guess is it was sold specifically to be a cheap-as-possible option for Mac II-family machines acting in "basically headless" roles like file servers. That's the one thing that really makes sense.

This card just popped up in my eBay searches: Macintosh II Monochrome NuBus Video Card 820-0285-A 630-4385