Powerbase
Well-known member
Thank you!!
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Updated 2023-07-12: Hello, Guest! Welcome back, and be sure to check out this follow-up post about our outage a week or so ago.
x86 card revival thread
- Thread starter jeremywork
- Start date
Byrd
Well-known member
I was given a PowerMac 7200/120 "PC compatible" (an odd breed of lowly PPC601 CPU yet PCI slots), with that gleaming 7" Cyrix 5x86 100Mhz PC compatibility card. The card had an 8MB DIMM installed, put in a 64MB stick and it POSTs with a 486 style AMIBIOS screen (detecting the CPU as 486 100Mhz). The Cyrix has some Pentium-style instructions and seems to run Windows 95 quite well with good video, I've not tried anything else yet.
It didn't come with any external dongles, but it has a daughter card that connects internally to a connector on the 7200 motherboard for internal, crisp switchable video between the Mac OS and x86 environment. The question ... the connector on the 7200 board appears to be the same connector as found on 5400/5500/6400/6500/TAM machines. However, on these later Macs, this is where an external video out cable can be plugged in. Does anyone know if this is the same; could internal video be routed through later Macs?
Thanks
JB
It didn't come with any external dongles, but it has a daughter card that connects internally to a connector on the 7200 motherboard for internal, crisp switchable video between the Mac OS and x86 environment. The question ... the connector on the 7200 board appears to be the same connector as found on 5400/5500/6400/6500/TAM machines. However, on these later Macs, this is where an external video out cable can be plugged in. Does anyone know if this is the same; could internal video be routed through later Macs?
Thanks
JB
jeremywork
Well-known member
Precisely, usually called the GIMO connector, and at least on the machines you mentioned it also provides an audio loopback. I think @jessenator reported the 7200's GIMO worked with video but without audio (and factory PC compatible models have been spotted with the two audio cables installed between the CD drive and the logic board.) There are a couple pictures of the Apple OE version of the PC compatible GIMO connector upthread.
The 5200/6200 and 5300/6300 have one too, though the version of the DOS card which interfaces with it uses a direct riser-style PCB instead of a ribbon cable. The 580, 630 DOS, 631CD, late model 636/636CD, and 640CD each have one too. Their DOS cards do use a very small ribbon cable for GIMO connection.
More recently I spotted but didn't win the aftermarket Radius version of the 7" card, "Détente AX" or "DOM / AX" which runs at 133MHz and includes a GIMO loopback with passthrough capabilities so you don't have to forfeit your DA-15 aux port or Focus Enhancements composite/S-vdeo if preinstalled.
jeremywork
Well-known member
You're welcome! Let me know if I can help with any ambiguity or troubleshooting.
jessenator
Well-known member
If there was anything in the PC Setup software to choose another audio source, I couldn't find it
but it's been a while since I was deep into this topic, or even tried it. Was it in Sound / Monitors & Sound control panel? I swear I didn't see another option there.Do the Alchemy and Gazelle boards route audio through the GIMO? Sorry , haven't delved into the topic in some time.
I mean, even if they don't do audio, the GIMO is nice on the other equipped PCI Macs so you don't have to use that space-sucking y-cable.
jeremywork
Well-known member
If my memory serves (no parity here either) PC Sound is selectable in the Monitors & Sound panel on the 6500, but simply listed as 'TV/Video' so it mixes with TV/FM/RCA sound.If there was anything in the PC Setup software to choose another audio source, I couldn't find it
Do the Alchemy and Gazelle boards route audio through the GIMO? Sorry , haven't delved into the topic in some time.
I mean, even if they don't do audio, the GIMO is nice on the other equipped PCI Macs so you don't have to use that space-sucking y-cable.
My running theory is they only added sound to the GIMO on the edge connector systems (since the CD audio routing is beyond the edge connector,) and not on the 7200 (which has easy access to the CD audio plugs and no video-in circuitry to share with.)
Also in my experience, SSW 7.x typically handles all the audio switching seamlessly, so it may not reflect transparently in the control panel which output channel is being used. In later 8-9x systems, that automatic handoff is basically broken (so TV or FM might not have any sound unless TV/Video is selected first in Monitors & Sound) and it's then easier to discern what's going on.
Byrd
Well-known member
Thanks for the info - I'm not sure if a 100Mhz Cyrix card in a TAM will be a permanent placement, but it sure sounds fun to try. The card seems a waste in a cavernous plasticky 7200/120. Audio could be routed via some hacked up CD-ROM audio cable to 3.5" out if I was super keen.
jeremywork
Well-known member
I've thought about trying this too- I just wonder what the LCD will do with modes other than 800x600. It doesn't use a scaler, even for TV/Video (unless I just haven't known how to use it.)
Since it's basically the same board as a 6500, I'm pretty certain you won't need to worry about the audio; it will route through the GIMO connector along with the video.
Byrd
Well-known member
Reporting back - installed the Apple 7" Cyrix 5x86 100Mhz PC Compatible card into my TAM, with the GIMO connector plugged into the motherboard. It's a fairly tall card and just touches whatever you have in the cache slot, so be careful you don't short anything out. A strip of cardboard saved mine.
Trialled with a fresh install of Mac OS 9.1 and PC Setup 1.6.4 running off original 603e CPU - card detects, however PC Setup control panel states "Not Supported" in the Monitor section.
Switching over to the X86 card, screen fades, LCD turns off with no video output. If you hold option + command on the "Monitor" section of PC Setup, you can alter unavailable monitor profiles and resolutions. I tried each one but they all exhibited the same issue, along with altering the resolution and colour depth on the Mac side.
I'm quite sure with the breakout cable + external monitor, it'd work fine, but that kind of defeats the purpose for an all in one unit.
I'll try PC Setup 2.1.7 next to see if anything changes.
JB
Trialled with a fresh install of Mac OS 9.1 and PC Setup 1.6.4 running off original 603e CPU - card detects, however PC Setup control panel states "Not Supported" in the Monitor section.
Switching over to the X86 card, screen fades, LCD turns off with no video output. If you hold option + command on the "Monitor" section of PC Setup, you can alter unavailable monitor profiles and resolutions. I tried each one but they all exhibited the same issue, along with altering the resolution and colour depth on the Mac side.
I'm quite sure with the breakout cable + external monitor, it'd work fine, but that kind of defeats the purpose for an all in one unit.
I'll try PC Setup 2.1.7 next to see if anything changes.
JB
mg.man
Well-known member
It's been a while since you posted - are you still looking?
I am also looking for a 040PDS adapter for C610/Q610 so that I can plug Houdini2 into Centris660AV.
It's hard to find.
micheledipaola
Well-known member
Just FYI, I created a specific thread in the Apple II section, where I am going to describe the process of setting up a PC Transporter card in my ROM03 Apple IIGS. The thread is here and in the main post I linked here as well:
Setting up a PC Trasporter on a IIGS
Hi everybody, I just made it to acquire the holy Grail of 16 years old me, the Applied Engineering (AE) PC Transporter card for PC compatibility on Apple IIe / IIGS. The card I got seems to be a rev. D, looking like this: I am setting it up in a ROM03 IIGS, and it's a learning process that I...
68kmla.org
dr.zeissler
Well-known member
Yes I am still searching for a complete Houdini1 card to put it in my Quadra610.
I am not interested in putting the DX2/66 Houdini2 in that machine...I want to keep it original.
Currently I am facing another problem on my quadra700 with the orangepc nubus card...If I copy files from floppy the machine locks up...I get a Bad f-line instruction...regardless if I copy via "copy" or NortonCommander, Volkovkommaner, Dosshell..so seems to me either OrangePC Software perhaps 3.8.2 is to new or it's an issue with the bluscsi...before I used a real SCSI-HDD...strange...
Phipli
Well-known member
Is the Q700 overclocked?
dr.zeissler
Well-known member
no and the issue seems to be floppy releated! put the original SCSI drive back in, same issue!
Installing the CD300 drivers and copying from there...everthing seems to be OK!
But it's hard to find working games/demos (quarter screen is useless, fullscreen is slow)...other programs seem to ne OK.
Installing the CD300 drivers and copying from there...everthing seems to be OK!
But it's hard to find working games/demos (quarter screen is useless, fullscreen is slow)...other programs seem to ne OK.
I was able to get the PDS adapter for Q610 that I had been looking for for a long time.
I can finally test Houdini II + Centris 660AV.
Attachments
dr.zeissler
Well-known member
Oh man, where did you get that one?
I bought this at a PayPay flea market in Japan.
It was $10 including shipping.
dr.zeissler
Well-known member
no words!
Anyway, I configured it with Q610 PDS + Houdini II + Cyrix 5x86 100GP.
Cyrix 5x86 100GP is an option from reply.
