Dream peripherals (the return)

[Bunsen]

OK we had fun with this one last time, so let's everyone post your dream 68k peripherals, internal or external. Let's start with a list of all those "I wish there was a _____ for _____". Discussions about the feasibility of hacking them up ourselves or getting them made will come after.

If you would care to bold your wished-for items as I have below, it will make it easier to scan through the discussion.

I'll start:

PDS/Nubus dual head video cards.

PDS/Nubus IDE/ATA/RAID

 

[Quadraman]

G3/G4 upgrades for 68k Macs.

 

G5 upgrades for G3/G4 Macs

 

Nubus-PCI adapters

 

[Unknown_K]

Firewire/SATA/PATA/USB Nubus cards

64MB PDS Video card for quadra with DVD decoder built in, 1600x1200@24Bit accelerated 85Hz refresh also has RAM board built in using common PC100 SDRAM.

High tech captures cards that use the 840AV build in DAV slot (same for the DAV in PCI Powermacs).

 

[LCGuy]

CardBus modification for PB1400s

WPA WiFi encryption support for Mac OS 9 (does that count?)

expansion card for PB1400s that allows them to take more than 64MB of RAM using standard SDRAM SO-DIMMs

CHEAP and EASY TO FIND IDE solutions for 68ks

 

[MultiFinder]

USB 2.0 support in OS 9.

 

Classic support on Intel Macs.

 

[coius]

68k/PPC/x86 Chips on the same board. that way, you could run a system like parallels type that under system 8.1 (for the 68k AND PPC support) you can use windows 2k Pro, and move them around much like you do under OS X

Dream OS? Unix backed 8.1! or rather, how about, OS X that runs on a 68k? that would ROCK.

I could also go for a Video card that supports Dual VGA or VGA and a DVI port under the 68k

All of this, in an iMac G4-like setup. The system is at the base, and at the top of the neck, it would have like a 13" or 14" 1024x768 Screen.

While we are at it, let's through in some PC-66/100/133 Memory slots that will run with both PowerPC/68k and x86 (pref Intel Pentium II 300-500Mhz) the Power PC can be a G4 if need be, and the 68k can run at 100Mhz!!.

I know I am totally off the wall, but just think of what you could do with this machine? you could run 68k Apps natively, and windows, and OS X like system. since it would do 68k native, the OS X doesn't need an OS for classic, but rather, it loads with boot, and will allow them to run them integrated.

 

[quicksilver]

Its just as much fun to try to remember seeing something that fits somebody's wish...even if it turns out you're remembering things that never existed! [] ]'>

Nubus-PCI adapters

As in Nubus cards in a PCI Mac or PCI cards in a Nubus Mac? You can do the first if you want to pay for the Second Wave expansion chasis.

CHEAP and EASY TO FIND IDE solutions for 68ks

If you're really after this, routinely search for Acard SCSI adapters. I've been looking for the higher end (Ultra2 SCSI and greater) models to use ATA drives in and have even stumbled upon an online store selling those more expensive boards for $35 dollars once. Considering that seems to be the typical price of a 50-pin adapter and about 1/2 to 1/3 the price of the faster models, with luck you could come across the 50-pin"s for a price that's more in line with what it "should" cost to use an ATA drive in an interface that slow.

WPA WiFi encryption support for Mac OS 9 (does that count?)

Don't know if this is available with any of the wireless "game adapters" and I'm too tired to check. 8-o I just think those things are fantastic. I've gotten many pre-wireless systems on my network even lent one to a friend who's notebook internal wireless died. If my Linksys WGA54g didn't melt itself I'd be using it right now...

High tech captures cards that use the 840AV build in DAV slot (same for the DAV in PCI Powermacs).

I used to have a Spigot Pro AV which I think used the DAV slot in the 840av. Can't think of anything that used the DAV in PCI Powermacs! [] ]'>

My own wishes...

- Software that took advantage of: all the special hardware in the IIfx, the DSPs in the 660av/840av, DSPs aimed at Photoshop (but if I remember right didn't accelerate all that many functions)

- Multi-processor 68K? Even possible?

- More uses for Radius Rockets w/ Rocket Share

- Dual 68K 840av with 6 Nubus slots split over two busses

- Faster x86 cards for 68K or PPC Macs. Even something like a 1 GHz P3 would be great. Plenty of power for basic apps in Win. Hell I'd even like to see something like that for PCs. All the boards I ever see for Mac, PC, Sun are all from back in the days of the 486, P1

- I always wanted a two-drive SCSI enclosure for my 840av (when I had one) that looked the same as the tower but about 1/3 - 1/2 as tall. And said "AV RAID" or something else cool on the front [] ]'>

 

[Quadraman]

Dream OS? Unix backed 8.1! or rather, how about, OS X that runs on a 68k? that would ROCK.

Theoretically, you could probably come pretty close if you could disassemble NeXTSTEP and recompile it for Mac II's/Quadras instead of NeXT boxes. The NeXT motherboards look like they stole a lot of ideas from Apple using a lot of the same components and expansion ports.

 

[Unknown_K]

I have the Spigot Pro AV in my 840av, there was a avid card that had a cable to the 8500 DAV slot but I never found the card with the special cable.

 

[Quadraman]

quicksilver,

Adapter to use PCI cards in Nubus slots.

 

[Bunsen]

Why? When it's probably impossible, and you can run Nubus cards in a PCI machine. Admittedly, with rare or hideously expensive adapters, but at least it's been done.

If you really want a real '040, add a Rocket.

 

[Bunsen]

Some more wishes:

dual PDS slot adapters

PDS/Nubus to PCMCIA

PDS to (other types of) PDS adapters

"MacLegacy" card - A PCI Radius Rocket with ports.

Full '040 at 40MHz; RAM, ROM, cache and VRAM slots; 660/840AV DSP, DAV and S-Video; old-school Mac video, SCSI (int/ext), ADB, and LocalTalk/GeoPort compatible serial ports.

For bonus points it has other older slots too, like Nubus, PDS, CommSlot and the AV/TV/FM slot, and an empty socket for another '040 [] ]'> Oh, and integration with OS X/Classic/Rosetta - in that OS X can scoot apps over to it seamlessly that it can't run in emulation.

G3/4/5 "RocketPCI" for Intel machines - with all of the above

 

[Bunsen]

Ahem: Now for a feasibility rant:

PDS/Nubus IDE/ATA/RAID

I wonder: take an existing Nubus SCSI card and replace [some stuff] to make it an ATA card ... that still looks like a SCSI card to the Mac. In my dreams it's a case of replacing one IC :

CardBus modification for PB1400s

Ain't gonna happen, unless Trash80 gets a lifetime supply of Jolt and a pet army of engineers.

PB1400s ... more than 64MB

CF+PCMCIA+HFS+VM

68k/PPC/x86 on the same board ... run a system like parallels ... under system 8.1 ... Pentium II 300-500 ... G4 ... run 68k Apps natively, and windows, and OS X ... doesn't need an OS for classic ... run them integrated.

You'd get close with a 7100/8100, a G3 upgrade, a Radius Rocket and a Nubus DOS card or VPC. Or a PCI machine with a G4, an OrangeMicro card and Basilisk.

68k can run at 100Mhz!!.

Liquid nitrogen?

Nubus-PCI adapters

...if you want to pay for the Second Wave expansion chasis.

...or you can source the near-mythical PowerComputing PCI+Nubus riser

- Software that took advantage of: all the special hardware in the IIfx, the DSPs in the 660av/840av, DSPs aimed at Photoshop (but if I remember right didn't accelerate all that many functions)

They were useable in some audio programs apparently. Apart from that, all it takes is for someone to write or port stuff to them...

- Multi-processor 68K? Even possible?- More uses for Radius Rockets w/ Rocket Share

I think you've answered your own question there

- Dual 68K 840av with 6 Nubus slots

Yes please

- Faster x86 cards for 68K or PPC Macs.

With updated drivers for OS X and WinXP/Vista - but Boot Camp and Parallels pretty much kill the business case for these

- two-drive SCSI enclosure for my 840av ... that looked the same as the tower but about 1/3 - 1/2 as tall.

Get a scrapped 840/8100 case and cut it down

Dream OS? Unix backed 8.1! ...

Theoretically, you could probably come pretty close if you could disassemble NeXTSTEP and recompile it for Mac

Or run NetBSD and the Just-In-Time build of Basilisk II

Uses UAE 68k emulation or (under AmigaOS and NetBSD/m68k) real 68k processor

The NeXT motherboards look like they stole a lot of ideas from Apple using a lot of the same components and expansion ports.

And they ran '030s and '040s so it shouldn't be an impossible recompile.

 

[Patrickool93]

I want a mini 68k mac that plug into my mini and uses it's ram, HD, etc, with a 68040 inside to run 68k apps natively... Basically an external processor...

 

[Bunsen]

Strip down a 475 or a 630 into a new case (no floppy, speakers, CD) and run VNC on both machines.

 

[quicksilver]

near-mythical PowerComputing PCI+Nubus riser

That reminds me. Wasn't there a PowerComputing model that had a socketed 604e? Maybe it was never produced or I have the wrong company. Anyway how about faster IBM PPC upgrades, single or more processors. They've got to beat a G3 at some speed lol.

- two-drive SCSI enclosure for my 840av ... that looked the same as the tower but about 1/3 - 1/2 as tall.

Get a scrapped 840/8100 case and cut it down

I've tried. Didn't work out. For one thing I had no idea how to join the top and bottom once some metal was cut from the middle - was told it couldn't be welded. Oh well that projects long past.

 

[Bolle]

64pin 128MB RAM sticks, 1GHz ´030 multiprocessor upgrade, ati radeon 9800 NUBUS... hehe.

run IIfx run... :

 

[Quadraman]

Oooo I almost forgot. Memory for 6500's. Either 2k refresh DIMMS in higher capacity than 64meg, OR DIMM risers with more slots that fit in the existing 2 memory slots that let you add more than 2 64meg modules OR a 4k refresh memory controller upgrade.

 

[LCGuy]

Wasn't there a PowerComputing model that had a socketed 604e? Maybe it was never produced or I have the wrong company.

IIRC there was a Umax Apus/SuperMac that did.