Quadra 950 (+ WGS95 card)

[Byrd]

Hi all,

picked up a Mac on eBay I've never seen in the flesh before: a Quadra 950, lovely condition and should come up well with a strip down and blast with my air compressor. Cost: $56 AUD, probably the most I've spent on a Mac for some time!

It also came with a Workgroup Server 95 card which apparently doesn't work (hope not), but the cache slots are all filled (512K?). No idea on RAM, HD or WGS95 status yet until tomorrow, when I've a day off. It does have the nice CD caddy bezel + caddy CD drive too, which I think was an aftermarket option?

As always, I'll look through my tub'o'mac crap and see what I can put in there, off the top of my head:

- 18GB SCSI drive: check (doesn't fit in my 840AV - about two inches high - so this is a fitting place for it)

- Have some spare 4MB 30-pin SIMMS (enough for at least 64MB, I hope)

- Have some full-length SuperMac video card to shove in there too

Quickly looking over the 950, it doesn't seem as heavy as I'd imagined (noting a Centris 650 on my wardrobe), the case design is very reminiscent of a Quadra 700 - only twice as tall and almost as wide. It's a keeper - noting its size and my dedication to getting rid of unused Macs, I suspect my 6500/300 and Centris may have to go ...

JB

 

[LCGuy]

Very nice! :O Sounds like a good score....I'd quite happily pay $56 for such a beast.

 

[Unknown_K]

Why do you think the PDS card does not work? It is made for A/UX only and while it will boot in OS 7.01 (wont work but the machine will boot), newer mac OS versions tend to hang/crash with it installed.

950's are one of my favorites, while I have enough for use I would pick up a dozen more if they were out on a curb somewhere.

 

[beachycove]

A smaller fan makes a Q950 a much better neighbour. As long as you don't stuff it full of Nubus cards and drives, it works fine with a smaller fan and without the wind tunnel produced by the original 120mm airplane propeller that was OEM equipment.

The CD Bezel is most likely from a 9150. Do you have the 5-drive shelf in it, by any chance? That would be a find.

The PDS (Pisces) card rarely comes with all cache slots filled. THAT too is a find. As has been said, it only works (fully) under A/UX 3, but the cache generally works under System 7, from what I hear. I have one in a 950 running A/UX, and haven't really experimented with anything else on the machine.

A/UX is fussy about hardware and cannot handle 18GB drives — or the JackHammer cards that make them really perform. So, some choices will need to be made....

 

[equill]

... It also came with a Workgroup Server 95 card which apparently doesn't work (hope not), but the cache slots are all filled (512K?). No idea on RAM, HD or WGS95 status yet until tomorrow, when I've a day off. It does have the nice CD caddy bezel + caddy CD drive too, which I think was an aftermarket option? ...

Kindly rub your throat along the edge of my outstretched index finger. The only reason that you got it at all, let alone so cheaply, was that the seller did not deign to respond to my request for a pic. of the WGS card. I was, of course, interested in its cache and TAG cards. Grrrr! Do enjoy your acquisition, but don't pass any dark alleys at night while you are alone ...

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=8044

de

 

[Temetka]

Do you know what shadows lurk in the hearts of men?

You've been tagged by Equill. You are going down.

 

[Byrd]

equill: I will avoid said dark alleys I'm surprised though you've not been able to find the cache cards - seemingly a leisurely trip in local hard rubbish would reveal a slew of 486 and Pentium 1 machines with the cache cards in tow?

Just fired it up - loud thing, isn't it? Basic specs are 100MB RAM (this will be fun working out what is what - or not!), 1.2GB HD, base VRAM, running a stock install of OS 8.1.

WGS95 installed: Mac chimes and attempts to boot up 8.1 (plugged SCSI cable into WGS internal SCSI connector), but freezes - from reading I believe OS 7.0x and 7.1 are the only two Mac systems that work with this card, and support the cache - can someone please confirm?).

Looking forward to cleaning it all up, replacing that 120mm blast fan, and having a potent OS 7.1 Mac.

JB

 

[LCGuy]

Very nice. As for the WGS 95 card...I'm fairly sure that you actually need A/UX in order for it to work. It'll run with 7.01 or 7.1 installed...but I don't think it'll actually do anything unless you're running A/UX.

 

[equill]

... I'm surprised though you've not been able to find the cache cards - seemingly a leisurely trip in local hard rubbish would reveal a slew of 486 and Pentium 1 machines with the cache cards in tow? ...

What I take to be the on-board cache of 128kB of SRAM (which Chipmunk doesn't go into in any detail) is all surface-mount chips: 16244CTPV by Integrated Device Technology. What is on the TAG and cache card(s?) is all DIP (through-hole) chips without legible markings. Given the discussion in the referenced thread, these latter, especially as made-up 68-pin cards, may be every bit as scarce as they seem to be, yet it is difficult to believe that the cards were made only to populate Apple's output of WGS cards.

Perhaps Unknown_K, who may have gone more deeply into the matter, can finger both the maker of the SRAM chips and of the cards?

de

 

[Unknown_K]

http://picasaweb.google.com/teozenios/NubusCards#5067908886640415122

The cache modules show IDT as the maker.

 

[Byrd]

The cache modules show IDT as the maker.

Thanks Unknown_K, this is the same as mine.

From what I've read online, the cache works under OS 7.01 and 7.1 but the enhanced DMA SCSI access does not (AU/X only); which is probably why is results in a hard crash with OS 8.1 currently installed. I will of course try AU/X, but I'm not terribly sure how useful it will be for me - NetBSD though ...

JB

 

[Unknown_K]

If you are going to run anything other then A/UX you might as well sell the DMA board to those who need it, they are hard to find.

A/UX makes a great Apple server and backup station (retrospect for A/UX is pretty fast using that DMA card). A WGS95 is the fastest Appleshare server I ever seen (68k).

 

[Bunsen]

A superlative score at that price! I did pass my eye over that auction, but decided one 950 (sans Pisces) is enough for now.

Was it in Melbourne?

 

[Unknown_K]

I have seen a couple of those cards pass through this forums forsale section over the years. I have one in use and a spare so I never bothered to snag another.

 

[Byrd]

Looking at the 950 on my desk Bunsen - I think anyone would be crazy to own two Now to decide what to cull ...

Yep, in Melbourne, pickup - nice seller.

 

[LCGuy]

Nothing wrong with owning two....put them a far enough distance apart, and put an old door or something on top of them, and you've got a perfectly good table.

 

[Unknown_K]

Afraid to mention how many I have then (4 I think).

 

[tom7447]

congrats on the purchase

i too was eyeing that up on ebay. didn't want to fork out for a courier to Queensland though.

enjoy it. personally i'd keep the 'windtunnel' of a fan in it as an originality thing but just clean it.

Feels more powerful if the fan sounds like a V8

just my opinion

 

[coius]

Nice score.. One thing I have always wanted however, an ANS 700 or so. Totally rocking thing, and looks totally wicked. Especially if you use it for it's purpose. a high-end web server, or a backup system.

If you could get like a few 74GB SCSI Drives, and RAID them all. you could have some wicked storage.

How many HDD Bays do those suckers have, and does anyone here have one?

The other machine I wouldn't mind owning is an RS/6000, but I can't lift that much on my own. After taking several of those HUGE White ones out of Home Depot on my last job, it's so difficult to haul them out, I would soon rather just throw them in a dumpster. But still, *nix on one of those beasts would rock.

Speaking of *NIX and Servers, has anyone actually gotten anything other than the ANS Server software on an ANS? Like Say linux?