SE video questions...

[bigD]

Hey all - I've been thinking of a project built around an SE, and had a couple of questions. One of the things I'd like to do is drive an LCD as the primary display, and the obvious way to do this is to obtain a PDS video card. But I'd also like to be able to run early versions of the System software - essentially anything the SE can run on its own. I'm worried that drivers for the card will require versions of the System later than I'd like. I don't need color, so are there any solutions (perhaps a TTL card?) that would fit my requirements?

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Well, the SE is technically capable of running System 1.0, and I guarantee you won't find a single hardware driver compatible with that, so that requirement makes your goal impossible.

System 4.0, Finder 5.4 were the current System/Finder at the time of the SE's release, and are the lowest "official" versions for it.

Unfortunately, other than a video card to run Radius' custom-interface portrait monitor, all the other SE PDS cards I can find info on require at least System 7. (And I can't even find reliable info on what the minimum system for the Radius card is.)

 

[bigD]

Hmmm...bummer!

 

[tomlee59]

For the cost of a connector, a simple hex inverter and an hour or so of work, you could build a TTL monitor interface (much like the Mac Plus Mystery Port in a recent post here). Then the problem reduces to getting an LCD monitor to work with that antiquated standard.

In a long list of things that I want to do someday, but will probably never actually finish, is a project to hook up a Planar Systems EL display (a nice, soothing orange) to a Plus/SE/SE30. I picked one up at a flea market long ago, and the specs seem compatible (or nearly so) with making this possible. I'd like to replicate something close to the first prototype McMobile described at http://www.macsensei.com/html/mcmobile_prototype.html

Can't seem to obtain a round tuit, though. Drat!

 

[bigD]

I know how to get an LCD to work with a TTL interface - a lot of LCDs built for industrial applications support TTL for older setups. One company even makes an adapter that takes a TTL input and converts it to a standard VGA signal.

So maybe there is hope!

 

[billtchr]

Well, the SE is technically capable of running System 1.0, and I guarantee you won't find a single hardware driver compatible with that, so that requirement makes your goal impossible.
System 4.0, Finder 5.4 were the current System/Finder at the time of the SE's release, and are the lowest "official" versions for it.

Not to hijack the thread, but is there anything involved in getting System 1 to run on the SE? Or do you just need to make a boot disk, stick it in, and away you go? I have a VERY early 2 floppy Se, if that makes any difference.

 

[tomlee59]

I know how to get an LCD to work with a TTL interface - a lot of LCDs built for industrial applications support TTL for older setups. One company even makes an adapter that takes a TTL input and converts it to a standard VGA signal.
So maybe there is hope!

Absolutely! IIRC, you just have to invert two signals (the horizontal sync and video signals). A 7404 TTL inverter chip will do the job just fine (and leave you with four extra inverters for other purposes). As long as the LCD monitor is able to sync to a somewhat high line rate (order of 30%), you should be good to go. Years ago, I hooked up a 7" TTL monitor to a Plus this way. I had to mod it trivially to pull the frequency up to enable sync. That was the only moderately challenging part of the operation (once I figured out that two of the signals were inverted, relative to what TTL monitors expected).

Be sure to post some pics when you get it working with the LCD!

 

[Mac128]

I know how to get an LCD to work with a TTL interface - a lot of LCDs built for industrial applications support TTL for older setups. One company even makes an adapter that takes a TTL input and converts it to a standard VGA signal.

Be sure to post some pics when you get it working with the LCD!

I think we need an update on this thread! This is exactly the application I would like to get out of the Power R adapter. An LCD running off a compact.

I found this, but unless I win the lottery tomorrow ... it remains merely a giddy dream: http://www.converters.tv/products/_563.html