Yahoo Japan/Buyee major score- SE/30 with extras

[JT737]

So the other week I bid on an SE/30 from Yahoo Japan. I new that it had a video card in it, but I didn't know what it was. It just came today; and not only does it have an Interware VDR-2j video card in it, but it also has an Interware 68030 50Mhz pass-through accelerator!

I don't think the SE/30 itself is in working order, but the MB is in good shape at least (no maxell battery bomb). Now to test the video card and accelerator and hope they both work!

 

[nottomhanks]

I’ve never seen this before!! Incredible find!!

 

[Franklinstein]

The accelerator is an especially good find. I have a bunch of those video cards; seems 90% of Japanese SE/30s ended up with one. They're pretty decent. Too bad they never did an internal video option with them like the Micron cards had.

 

[ArmorAlley]

@JT737 If there are drivers for those cards that are retrievable, would you upload them to the Macintosh Garden please? I seem to remember that they aren't the easiest to find.

 

[olePigeon]

@JT737 I made my first Buyee purchase last week. Do you have a problem with them putting in the address incorrectly for shipping? It is entered correctly on their website (country, state, city, zip, etc.) but DHL has the Sate and City mixed up.

 

[JT737]

@ArmorAlley -Other than the drivers for the Grand Vimage 24-16s Interware video card (which I've posted to the Macintosh Repository), I've never been able to find the drivers for any of the interware accelerators. They must be out there somewhere, but no luck so far!

@olePigeon -I haven't had any address issues! I've been on Buyee for a few years now....and have been pleasantly surprised by how fast things ship to me here in Massachusetts from Japan.

@Franklinstein - I have a bunch of Interware video cards as well. Mostly the VDR-2a, but I also have a Grand Vimage 24-16s (although I can't get it to work as the primary screen like I can with the VDR-2a) and now the VDR-2j. Overall I'd have to say the Interware cards are among the best for the SE/30.

 

[volvo242gt]

@JT737 I made my first Buyee purchase last week. Do you have a problem with them putting in the address incorrectly for shipping? It is entered correctly on their website (country, state, city, zip, etc.) but DHL has the Sate and City mixed up.

Like @JT737, I've done a few purchases through Buyee before. Photo equipment for me, but, never had issues with them. I suspect it'll be the same for you.

Anyway, @JT737, nice score.

 

[olePigeon]

Hmm. Maybe it was a fluke. Then again, DHL is probably the worst shipping company when it comes to the last-mile part of it. I don't think I've ever had a DHL shipment make it to my door. They always claim I'm not home, then I end up having to pick it up. I wouldn't be surprised if they screwed it up on their end.

 

[LaPorta]

Not sure what this cost you, but what a score! SOmewhat envious: I have basically never found anything of such interest in any Macs I have picked up!

 

[JT737]

@olePigeon -I usually get an email notification before my stuff gets delivered asking me if I want contact-less delivery. I electronically sign the email form, and they leave my stuff on the front porch without me ever having to interact with anyone. So far, I haven't had any problems.

@LaPorta -Thanks! I was kind of amazed by this deal myself. I mean, it did cost a bit......about $350 US between shipping, handling, and other fees, but just the Interware accelerator alone is worth that!

 

[volvo242gt]

The ASTEC power supply might prevent it from functioning, but, as evidenced by my experience with my latest SE, dead doesn't actually mean that it's dead. Seller said it was non-working. Only non-working item is the choked with dust and crud Sony floppy drive. Everything else functions fine on it. I did get lucky with it having a Sony CR-44 power supply in it, though.

 

[olePigeon]

@olePigeon -I usually get an email notification before my stuff gets delivered asking me if I want contact-less delivery. I electronically sign the email form, and they leave my stuff on the front porch without me ever having to interact with anyone. So far, I haven't had any problems.

If you opt in for contact-less delivery, you forfeit any assurances by DHL. So if your package is stolen and/or mishandled by DHL, there's nothing you can do.

 

[Aeroform]

Hmm that's interesting, never seen a VDR-2J before. Any idea on what the difference is between that and the VDR-2A? I've also come across a VDR-2L, exactly same hardware as the VDR-2A except all the oscillator slots are filled (and the rom of course) - leading me to believe that is the "Vimage CAD SE/30" and the VDR-2A simply is the standard Vimage SE/30. Would be super interesting if you could share some photos of this card without it's mounting hardware (and even better if you could dump the rom)

 

[Aeroform]

Hmm that's interesting, never seen a VDR-2J before. Any idea on what the difference is between that and the VDR-2A? I've also come across a VDR-2L, exactly same hardware as the VDR-2A except all the oscillator slots are filled (and the rom of course) - leading me to believe that is the "Vimage CAD SE/30" and the VDR-2A simply is the standard Vimage SE/30. Would be super interesting if you could share some photos of this card without it's mounting hardware (and even better if you could dump the rom)

Bump in case you missed this @JT737

 

[JT737]

@Aeroform -It looks like the difference with the VDR-2J is similar to the difference with the VDR-2L: All of the Oscillator sockets are filled on the VDR-2j, and it has different firmware- version 1.0.3 as opposed to the version 1.00 I usually see on VDR-2a. I would assume that this is so the card can display in different resolutions:

However, the last time I tried this card I didn't have any luck getting it to go to any resolution other than 640x480. Perhaps I should do some more experimenting!

 

[Aeroform]

@Aeroform -It looks like the difference with the VDR-2J is similar to the difference with the VDR-2L: All of the Oscillator sockets are filled on the VDR-2j, and it has different firmware- version 1.0.3 as opposed to the version 1.00 I usually see on VDR-2a. I would assume that this is so the card can display in different resolutions:

However, the last time I tried this card I didn't have any luck getting it to go to any resolution other than 640x480. Perhaps I should do some more experimenting!
View attachment 62830View attachment 62831

Thank you so much for taking the time to investigate. Super interesting. Checking here: https://archive.org/details/interware-vimage-macintosh-video-card-catalog/page/n2/mode/1up , the ”CAD” version should be able to do up to 1024*768 @ 8 bit. Given the osscilators there seems to be a chance your card would indeed be that version.

I have a VDR-2A coming my way, firmware 1.03-1. Would be really cool to test if adding the missing osscilators and cloning the rom would unlock higher resolutions.

Please let me know if you have the chance to check what it reports as in the monitor control panel or Tattle Tech. Also if you would have any chance to dump its rom. Will dump and upload my firmware once the card gets here from Japan.

 

[JT737]

Well, I've tried several operating systems with this, including O.S. 7.5.3....and I still cannot get this card to display in any other resolution other than 640x480. I found a mystery resistor on one of it's multiplexers (74f251ap). I de-soldered it to see if that would affect anything with the operation of the card; it did not, at least as the ability to display another resolution is concerned.

Not sure what else to do.....and to my knowledge, there was never a driver written specifically for this card.

 

[zigzagjoe]

Well, I've tried several operating systems with this, including O.S. 7.5.3....and I still cannot get this card to display in any other resolution other than 640x480. I found a mystery resistor on one of it's multiplexers (74f251ap). I de-soldered it to see if that would affect anything with the operation of the card; it did not, at least as the ability to display another resolution is concerned.

Not sure what else to do.....and to my knowledge, there was never a driver written specifically for this card.

On the grandvimage card, there is a separate utility to set the monitor type/resolution. Given this is older, I would expect it to require something similar. Have you tried the grandvimage software on yours? Long shot, but still...

Otherwise you could dump the ROM with SlotROM and disassemble to try to figure out what it's doing.

 

[JT737]

I actually have a GrandVimage 24-16s in my collection-man does that card have a bunch of video resolution options! Alas, the driver that works for that card does not work for any of the VDR-2x cards, including this one.

 

[cheesestraws]

It's not something like holding down space at boot time is it?