Vintage Mac II NuBus video card identification

[lynchaj]

Hi,

I recently came into possession of a vintage video card apparently for

a NuBus Mac II. Can anyone help identify it? I do not have a Mac so I

cannot plug it into anything.

It is a two card video board from Rasterops with an apparent NuBus

connector. The boards both say "RASTEROPS CORP MADE IN U.S.A."

The main board says "© 1987" and the daughterboard says "© 1988"

The back of the main card says "P.C.B. 0001-0013 REV. XB1"

The back of the daughter card says "P.C.B. 0001-0019 REV. 01"

There are no visible FCC IDs anywhere on the card but may be buried

under the circuitry. I have not disassembled the card.

Here are some photos of the card. Any information would be

appreciated, even confirming what Mac II NuBus video card this model

is NOT would be helpful. Based on an earlier post on

"comp.sys.mac.graphics" with responses and some clues, I suspect it to

be a RasterOps 24L card cannot confirm it.

http://www.geocities.com/lynchaj/img_3023.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/lynchaj/img_3024.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/lynchaj/img_3025.jpg

Thanks in advance!

Andrew Lynch

 

[Unknown_K]

Still looking for information on that card huh. Find somebody local with a Nubus Mac and stick it in, if it is indeed a Mac video card it should atleast power up a monitor or show up when using a utility to check the Nubus slots. I think there was more then one company using that type of Nubus connector, might not even be a Mac card at all.

 

[lynchaj]

Yep, I am still looking to figure out exactly what this card is. It hasn't been a priority but I have been trying different places to see if anyone recognizes or not.

I am fairly sure it is a Mac II NuBus card as RasterOps made several. They also made cards for other platforms but it looks a lot like a NuBus card.

Certainly, if I had access to a Mac II, I would plug it in and get an ID but no such luck here. There is a Mac store here in Dayton (The Mac Depot?) but I have been busy with other things and this is fairly low priority.

Thanks for the reply!

Andrew Lynch

 

[Unknown_K]

The old Mac magazines I have that go back to 1989 never showed anything like that card, and I have a few rasterops cards but none are multi layer like that.

Good luck with the search.

 

[Quadraman]

I doubt anyone working at the local Mac store would even know what it is. Most people working in computer stores these days weren't even alive yet when Rasterops was still making video cards. Unfortunately, the best way I think to narrow it down is to plug it into an old Mac and test what resolutions it supports. It may not be exact, but you will be able to eliminate some cards as possibilities.

 

[Charlieman]

It is probably a very early RasterOps 24 bit video card for the Mac II. The date on the card is earlier than the release for Color QuickDraw 32, so functionality will be limited. In a Mac II, it will probably work without drivers, slowly and incompatible with many System 5 applications. You need the drivers for it to work fully, and they only patch a few graphics apps to provide a 24 bit colour pallete. Try an ancient version of Pixel Paint from 1987/88. The card will hate System 6 or later.

My first guess is that the main board is a Colorboard 24 (ie 24 bit video via pallete matching drivers). The daughterboard is probably the NTSC or PAL card for TV display.

If the cards have been upgraded (check ROM labels), it may work with QD32 or System 6 or later Macs. 1988 is too early, I think, for the RasterOps frame grabber daugherboards.

 

[Charlieman]

RasterOps 24L -- nope. No multisync video cards for the Mac in 1987.

 

[lynchaj]

Thanks for all the replies! I appreciate your thoughts on identifying this video card.

Is there someone local to Dayton Ohio with a Mac II who would be willing to plug this in and read some sort of board ID code? (like a PCI ID for NuBus?) Maybe that would help solve the mystery.

Thanks!

Andrew Lynch

 

[Unknown_K]

I am in Youngstown Ohio, if you pay shipping here and back I will take a look at it.

I still get the feeling its not meant for the Mac, but the plug should be the same type as used on the Mac so it should not blow up anything.

 

[bigD]

My gut says it *IS* for the Mac. I can't think of another platform that used a Nubus connector like that for the same form factor that card is in. Curious!

 

[Unknown_K]

He originally said he had it in a lot with S100 parts or something like that.

 

[Maccess]

It is for a Mac, however, I don't think it will run on any system newer than 7.1, and most likely not on a PPC Mac.

those slim vertical SIPs are old style videoRAM chips.