SE/30 Daystar adapter issue

[Gary_W]

I have a Daystar SE/30 adapter, but it doesn't work. With a powercache card installed, the display goes all wonky. With the adapter installed by itself, all is ok. Close inspection reveals a solder bridge across a couple of the pins. Should it be there? Perhaps one of you folks that has one could take a look and let us know.

Please see my flickr photos for reference: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gary_w/

I am afraid of frying my Turbo040 by trying it without checking first!

Thanks for any info,

Gary

P.S. Feel free to copy any of the photos. I put them out there for all to use as a reference.

 

[JDW]

Gary,

Your close-up photo is too small for me to see anything. And it is not possible to tell from a Daystar manual photo if those two pins are supposed to be soldered together.

Do you see flux around the solder point? If so, someone clearly did the hack themselves. If no flux and if the joint looks professionally soldered, it very well could be from the factory.

Also, keep in mind that not all Daystar Powercache cards will work in the SE/30, regardless of your adapter. I have photos of just one incompatible card and sad Mac screens.

Per your kind permission, I have put a link to your photo from my Daystar manual photo page.

 

[Unknown_K]

I would think if the solder was shorting anything important then the display would be wonky even without a accelerator card installed on the other end.

Could be just a ground that didn't have the proper connection at the factory so they tied it to the next ground pin (reworked adapter).

 

[equill]

Gary

You may have had in mind my statement in another thread

Physical as well as electronic considerations impelled DayStar's dedicated adapter for the IIcx, but the SE/30 and IIsi share a PDS electrically, if not the geometric orientation of an attached adapter card. I have two (differing) IIsi/IIci PDS adapters, one of which is more suited to the SE/30 in its shape. Was there a dedicated IIsi/IIci adapter for the SE/30? Or have I misremembered what JDW's monochrome pic. is about?

I have to disappoint expectations by adding what I did not above: the unsuitably long DayStar IIsi dual adapter (IIci PDS and IIsi PDS), in addition to being a vertical adapter to horizontal cards, has a 68882 socket. The shorter and better-fitting (in an SE/30) is by MicroMac. It is also a vertical-to-horizontal dual PDS-slot card, without a 68882 socket, but the card is scarcely longer than the IIsi PDS connector.

Neither card shows your puzzle-connection, but Unknown_K has advanced as plausible an answer for what you show (if both points are designed as ground-points) as any.

Is your PowerCache card using a 33MHz (2x) or 50MHz (3x) 68030? Could your display problem stem from a 100% or 200% faster delivery of video data by the system to the analogue circuitry?

de

 

[Gary_W]

Ok, I updated my flickr photostream with better pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gary_w/

There appears to be no flux or anything out of the ordinary near the solder bridge, but then again I am no expert.

The powercache card I tried with it has a 40Mhz oscillator on it, and a 33Mhz 030. I do not know if it works, as I have not tried it yet in another machine. I should have tried it in another machine before posting. When I get my IIci put back together I will test it.

At any rate thanks for looking and I will update when I have something to report. Hopefully someone else out there will find this and confirm if their card has the same solder bridge.

I will most likely try my Turbo040 and hope for the best.

Gary

 

[wally]

My untested card has the identical connection in the same positions as shown in your high resolution photo. The connection on mine appears to be a bridge of thin tinned copper wire inserted alongside the connector pins and into the soldered plated thru holes.

 

[JDW]

Gary, I think Wally's post seems to settle the matter. Even so, your Turbo 040 is an older type that resembles my B&W manual photo. The 40MHz Turbo 040 I own has the newer ASIC design. So I would think your Turbo 040 should work just fine in that SE/30 adapter. Please try it and let us know.

 

[Gary_W]

Thanks Wally! I just tried it with my 2 known working Turbo040's and I get the same screen that comes up when a powercache card is plugged in. Again, with the adapter installed by itself, it boots ok. I have ensured the cards are insulated from the frame too.

The screen looks like this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gary_w/3400363460/

bummer

Gary

P.S. The adapter card is slightly warped and I wonder if it is just enough to cause problems with the connections of the cache slot to the board itself.