AWS95 PDS card ("Pisces") on eBay

[beachycove]

I have one, so am not bidding, but as some have been looking for a long time: http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=m38&_nkw=server+pds&_sacat=See-All-Categories

 

[Strimkind]

Rare and not overinflated like a lot of vintage mac equipment.

 

[paws]

I've got a few of these that I'm not using. PM if interested.

 

[Bunsen]

Are they any use under normal Mac OS? Or only when running AIX?

 

[beachycove]

The cache (up to 512k if you have the right chips) is said to work, but that is all. Under A/UX you got improved scsi with DMA plus cache.

It was designed with a view to improving performance of the AWS95 under heavy Appletalk server use, presumably involving the kind of small files mostly in use when the AWS95 was new and all the rage. There is a document somewhere showing remarkable increases in throughput with one of these installed.

 

[Unknown_K]

Most mac OS will not boot with the card installed (I think 7.01 might), most units only have 256K cache as the other SIMM was optional.

It does speed up Appletalk (Appletalk pro 1.x came with the WGS95 install disks), probably 2x faster then a 950 without the card at all from what I remember.

 

[Bunsen]

Oh, A/UX not AIX. My bad.

Still, that would make it somewhat useful wouldn't it, as you can run Mac apps on A/UX?

 

[Unknown_K]

A/UX 3 emulates Mac OS 7.01 limiting what mac software you can run, and most video control panels do not work (slow video).

If you want to run A/UX you most likely want to run a server, use the A/UX version of Retrospect, and want to run old OS 6/7.0 era apps.

There are apps written that will work under A/UX mac OS emulation, not sure how many A/UX native ones were made.