Hi All,
A month or so ago I was lucky enough to purchase one of zigzagjoe's 30Video Internal Greyscale bundles for my SE/30.
I just wanted to write about my experience and share some pics.
First off, my SE/30 that will be getting the 30Video treatment:
Stored in a barn for decades until I picked it up at an estate sale (along with an Amiga 500)
Restored and fully working
128MB of memory
ROMinator II
ZuluSCSI
Noctua fan
PDS DaynaPORT network card
100% recapped.
Sony power supply
Analog board
Logic board
The machine is mostly used for CodeWarrior 3 tom-foolery, ClarisWorks, BlackNight telnet BBSing and some SimCity / Carmen Sandiego / Print Shop banner making with the kids on the ol' ImageWriter II.
Although awesome, it could be a bit sluggish in CW and ClarisWorks.
I bought one of zigzagjoe's BOOSTER 2.0 PDS boards (I did a little writeup here on the forum somewhere about that as well) which increased the snappyness of the system quite a bit, even with 7.5.5.
Ok, that's the history and my setup going into the 30Video install... here we go!
Who dosen't love a good game of Lemmings!
The SE/30 as it sat before the upgrade. Great machine, but let's make it better!
Well packed and fast shipping to Canada.
Zigzagjoe sent everything required to install the 30Video in the machine, including a plastic adjustment tool and instructions.
The only unfortunate aspect of installing the new 30Video internal Greyscale PDS card, was that in order to continue using my BOOSTER 2.0 accellerator, I had to remove the DynaPORT ethernet card from it's passthrough PDS connector to make room for the 30Video PDS board.
Sad, but there are other options to keep my SE/30 connected, like the ZuluSLIM (will talk more about that at the end)...
If only a 3rd PDS card could be supported... hint hint..
The 30Video PDS card installed onto the BOOSTER 2.0's pass through PDS connector no problem, almost like they were designed by the same guy to work together...
Probably the most dangerous part, not due to stored voltage, but rather a 36 year old brittle glass tube...
The replacemenet neck board slid on easily. No "crack / woosh" sound... So far so good!
A nice plate is included to cover the slot on the rear of the SE/30 and provide a mounting location for the external VGA connector.
Installing the replacement wiring harness between the neck board, PDS card, analog board and logic board was straight forward thanks to the keyed, numbered connectors (plus each really only fits one way...)
Moment of truth... powering up the machine and watching for magic smoke that didn't appear, so I must have done something right!
I set the internal monitor to 256 and ran Sierra's Hero's Quest 1: So you want to be a hero? which requires 256 colours / greys.
How awesome to see the Hero's Quest title screen appear on the internal screen in glorious 256 shdes of grey!
Now, obviously the game is designed for 640x480, so the title image is cut off a little (the game itself plays perfectly on the internal screen) so...
Let's connect an external colour VGA monitor!
Beautiful!
I love the fact that flawless multiple moinitor support is built into a computer from 1989.
When in external 256 colour mode, the internal screen displays 1bit B&W, but works perfectly!
Great for holding toolbars, leaving the larger colour screen free for your workspace.
Here are the TattleTech screenshots detailing the PDS cards installed in the system for anyone interested.
As for network connectivity...
Since I lost the PDS slot to the 30Video card, my DaynaPORT had to be removed.
To keep the machine connected, I purchased an external ZuluSCSI Slim.
It was recommended to go with the external model, as it's WiFi radio isn't overly powerful and the RF pain on the inside of the SE/30's case could block the signal further.
SD card transfer speeds are fine, the old SCSI-1 bus is far slower then the ZuluSCSI can operate at.
I don't notice any difference in drive read/write speeds compared to the internal ZuluSCSI that was in the machine.
Network speed wise, it's not a wired connection, but the wireless network transfer speeds are decent for what it is and what it's being used for.
Perfectly fine for transferring files over FTP from my Synology NAS, and browsing a telnet BBS.
Now I can keep my BOOSTER 2.0, enjoy 256 internal Greyscale (or) colour external, AND stay connected.
Win Win Win!
Anyone wanting to keep the nostalgic feel of their SE/30 but expand the compatible software library (requiring 256 colours), I would highly recommend zigzagjoe's 30Video internal grey scale solution.
It's slick, easy to install and just works, right out of the box.
As always, zigzagjoe happily answered all of my questions and gave me some suggestions prior to purchasing the card from him.
Aaron/DW
Dark Systems BBS
A month or so ago I was lucky enough to purchase one of zigzagjoe's 30Video Internal Greyscale bundles for my SE/30.
I just wanted to write about my experience and share some pics.
First off, my SE/30 that will be getting the 30Video treatment:
Stored in a barn for decades until I picked it up at an estate sale (along with an Amiga 500)
Restored and fully working
128MB of memory
ROMinator II
ZuluSCSI
Noctua fan
PDS DaynaPORT network card
100% recapped.
Sony power supply
Analog board
Logic board
The machine is mostly used for CodeWarrior 3 tom-foolery, ClarisWorks, BlackNight telnet BBSing and some SimCity / Carmen Sandiego / Print Shop banner making with the kids on the ol' ImageWriter II.
Although awesome, it could be a bit sluggish in CW and ClarisWorks.
I bought one of zigzagjoe's BOOSTER 2.0 PDS boards (I did a little writeup here on the forum somewhere about that as well) which increased the snappyness of the system quite a bit, even with 7.5.5.
Ok, that's the history and my setup going into the 30Video install... here we go!
Who dosen't love a good game of Lemmings!
The SE/30 as it sat before the upgrade. Great machine, but let's make it better!
Well packed and fast shipping to Canada.
Zigzagjoe sent everything required to install the 30Video in the machine, including a plastic adjustment tool and instructions.
The only unfortunate aspect of installing the new 30Video internal Greyscale PDS card, was that in order to continue using my BOOSTER 2.0 accellerator, I had to remove the DynaPORT ethernet card from it's passthrough PDS connector to make room for the 30Video PDS board.
Sad, but there are other options to keep my SE/30 connected, like the ZuluSLIM (will talk more about that at the end)...
If only a 3rd PDS card could be supported... hint hint..
The 30Video PDS card installed onto the BOOSTER 2.0's pass through PDS connector no problem, almost like they were designed by the same guy to work together...
Probably the most dangerous part, not due to stored voltage, but rather a 36 year old brittle glass tube...
The replacemenet neck board slid on easily. No "crack / woosh" sound... So far so good!
A nice plate is included to cover the slot on the rear of the SE/30 and provide a mounting location for the external VGA connector.
Installing the replacement wiring harness between the neck board, PDS card, analog board and logic board was straight forward thanks to the keyed, numbered connectors (plus each really only fits one way...)
Moment of truth... powering up the machine and watching for magic smoke that didn't appear, so I must have done something right!
I set the internal monitor to 256 and ran Sierra's Hero's Quest 1: So you want to be a hero? which requires 256 colours / greys.
How awesome to see the Hero's Quest title screen appear on the internal screen in glorious 256 shdes of grey!
Now, obviously the game is designed for 640x480, so the title image is cut off a little (the game itself plays perfectly on the internal screen) so...
Let's connect an external colour VGA monitor!
Beautiful!
I love the fact that flawless multiple moinitor support is built into a computer from 1989.
When in external 256 colour mode, the internal screen displays 1bit B&W, but works perfectly!
Great for holding toolbars, leaving the larger colour screen free for your workspace.
Here are the TattleTech screenshots detailing the PDS cards installed in the system for anyone interested.
As for network connectivity...
Since I lost the PDS slot to the 30Video card, my DaynaPORT had to be removed.
To keep the machine connected, I purchased an external ZuluSCSI Slim.
It was recommended to go with the external model, as it's WiFi radio isn't overly powerful and the RF pain on the inside of the SE/30's case could block the signal further.
SD card transfer speeds are fine, the old SCSI-1 bus is far slower then the ZuluSCSI can operate at.
I don't notice any difference in drive read/write speeds compared to the internal ZuluSCSI that was in the machine.
Network speed wise, it's not a wired connection, but the wireless network transfer speeds are decent for what it is and what it's being used for.
Perfectly fine for transferring files over FTP from my Synology NAS, and browsing a telnet BBS.
Now I can keep my BOOSTER 2.0, enjoy 256 internal Greyscale (or) colour external, AND stay connected.
Win Win Win!
Anyone wanting to keep the nostalgic feel of their SE/30 but expand the compatible software library (requiring 256 colours), I would highly recommend zigzagjoe's 30Video internal grey scale solution.
It's slick, easy to install and just works, right out of the box.
As always, zigzagjoe happily answered all of my questions and gave me some suggestions prior to purchasing the card from him.
Aaron/DW
Dark Systems BBS
