Pinout of PowerBase 200 PSU, and Replacement Options

[CC_333]

I'm excited to finally have a new logic board for the thing (my first not-new Mac Acquisition, bought sometime around 2005 or 2006), so that I can actually get it to work for the first time in nearly 9 years (a mouse built a nest in it in 2010 and fried the original board... yuck!)

However, I'm almost certain the PSU is shot by now (I had a hunch it was dead then too, but I couldn't do anything about it), but now I want to try to come up with a replacement, and for that, I just need some information before I can come up with a plan.

So, to that end, does anyone know what the pinout of the stock PSU is? Superficially, it appears to be ATX, but the wiring may be different. If it's as simple as plugging in a standard ATX supply, that would be ideal, but I'm not opposed to rewiring one to fit if I have to.

Or maybe it can simply be recapped?

It's an Alchemy-based machine, if that matters.

Thanks!

c

 

[CC_333]

Anyone??

c

 

[Franklinstein]

I have a PowerBase... in storage... about 6000 miles away. I do have a PowerWave on hand though; there could be similarities if i had more info. 

Maybe post a pic of the power connector? And/or of the label on the power supply. 

 

[jessenator]

According to LEM the PowerBase is part of the Tanzania based line of clones. If that's accurate, then it's the same pinout/PSU as the 4400 I'm working on:





Edit: maybe not... I'd go with Franklinstein's knowledgebase on this one. I'll clam up...

 

[Franklinstein]

Im pretty sure both PowerComputing and Umax developed all their stuff in-house and never used any of the common clone boards like the Tanzania. They used most of the same chips and ROMs, of course, but never outside boards. PowerComputing even had their crazy Stargate combo NuBus/PCI riser cards for the PowerWave, while Umax built custom processor sockets for their C/J series machines. Umax also had their custom multi-processor arrangement while PowerComputing was the only one to ever have a non-G3 system with a 60MHz bus (in one of the PowerTowers). 

 

[CC_333]

@jessenator I think LEM might be in error here, as on the board, it appears to be more closely related to the Alchemy architecture (EveryMac, for what it's worth, agrees with this).

What other Power Macs were Alchemy-based? EDIT: The only other Mac on EveryMac that I found which uses that architecture is the Power Mac 5440, which isn't much help, given its AIO form factor (and thus the PSU) has almost nothing in common with the PowerBase's standard ATX-ish layout.

If anyone knows of other non-AIO Alchemy-based Macs, let me know!

c

 

[AwkwardPotato]

I think the 6360 and 6400 are also Alchemy-based.

 

[Franklinstein]

The Alchemy-based boards as built by Apple are all drawer-style boards for their assorted 54/64xx/6360 models. They have the same chips in common with the PowerComputing variants but that's about it. 

The Gazelle boards are an evolution of Alchemy in that they're physically and electrically similar but a little bit faster. Again in Apple form these were drawer-style boards for the 55/65xx series machines. I don't think many clone variants of this board exist; they came in around the time the licensing program was ended. 

 

[Franklinstein]

So my PowerWave has a Seasonic SS-200GPX from the factory. According to the interwebs, this is a standard ATX power supply. Maybe try looking up your power supply's model number to see if any info pops up. 

 

[CC_333]

@FranklinsteinThanks for the good info!

At some point, I will find it in storage (to install the new logic board!) and take a look at the power supply. Perhaps it's easier to replace than I'm thinking.

Even if it is standard ATX, it'll likely be original ATX, which is somewhat different than modern ATX, so I'll still have to dig around, but even at that it should still be easier to find than some weird proprietary thing.

c

 

[Franklinstein]

I just tried a modern-ish ATX power supply (20-pin main with aux P10 and 4-pin 12v CPU connectors) in my PowerWave and it booted with no problems. 

The only problem with using after market power supplies is that the Seasonic units here, along with the non-standard units in the Umax S900, have additional mount points internally at the rear of the power supply case. Because these machines often use the power supply as a stressed member, the lack of these mounting points on a replacement unit may cause the case to flex more than it should. This probably isn't a huge concern most of the time, but may cause problems with case panel fit or slight chassis sag.

 

[CC_333]

I see, OK.

I have a few old-ish, ATX12V/ATX2.x power supplies lying around that, with some hacking to the wiring, will probably work well enough, then. I might even be able to gut the old power supply and put the newer innards in it, so I don't have the issues with lack of mounting points.

Or, I could go find an exact replacement. I found a few Seasonic SS-200GPX's on eBay, and the prices aren't too bad... until shipping gets factored in. $67 just for shipping. Yikes!

Once I get the PowerBase out and look at the power supply, I'll have a better idea of what to do.

c

 

[CC_333]

OK, finally got a chance to pull the PowerBase out of storage today.

The power supply is labeled as a Power Computing Switching Power Supply TCX-15D.

A photo of it will be here shortly....

c

 

[CC_333]

It looks relatively ATX-ish to me, but I can't tell for certain, as it could be slightly non-standard (Dell was infamous for this back then).

I suppose the only way to know is to check the pinout and compare it to standard ATX.

c

 

[CC_333]

OK, I just tested it out, and I think the power supply is actually OK!

It bongs, and attempts to boot from an extra DVD drive I installed with a Sawtooth Restore CD in it. I can't see what it's doing without a proper monitor, but I think it's working for the first time in almost 9 years!

Plus, I discovered while installing the replacement logic board that the CPU card it came with is 240 MHz (original was 200) and has the max RAM (160 MB), so it's actually better than it was before it died! The PCI riser card was quite a bit too tall, however (were there any other models that shared a logic board, but had different CPUs and PCI risers? I vaguely recall that the PowerBase was available in a tower configuration, within which a taller PCI riser would make sense).

c

 

[jessenator]

It looks like reverse 20-pin...?

edit; eh, I'm being a moron again. And it looks like you've got it sorted

 

[CC_333]

It looks like reverse 20-pin...?

Actually, the 20-pin and 24-bit are identical, aside from the extra 4 pins on the bottom, of course.

edit; eh, I'm being a moron again.

I guess that means you figured it out

And it looks like you've got it sorted

It would appear so! I'm eager to get a hard drive*, keyboard, mouse and monitor for it so I can run it through its paces!

*I'm going to use an IDE card for the hard drive, which will hopefully offer a much better experience, and to get around the limitations of the built in IDE bus (no master/slave support, slow speed, iffy support for newer drives). I will most likely still use said built in bus for the CD-ROM drive once I get it, however.

c

 

[Franklinstein]

*I'm going to use an IDE card for the hard drive, which will hopefully offer a much better experience, and to get around the limitations of the built in IDE bus (no master/slave support, slow speed, iffy support for newer drives). I will most likely still use said built in bus for the CD-ROM drive once I get it, however.

I noticed the limitations of the onboard controller on my PowerCity/StarMax clones (based on Tanzania, which used later versions of Alchemy's chips): some hard drives just absolutely kill it, resulting in a machine that sits there with a black screen indefinitely and requires a hard PRAM reset to get it back to life. Plus its SCSI cell is limited to 5MB/s. That chip and/or the ROM is crap.

 

[NJRoadfan]

Old ATX is the same as New ATX, just the latter lacks a -5V rail (irrelevant for Mac use) and has more power available on the 12V rails since newer machines rely on 12V powered VRMs for CPUs.