Holy of Holies -- Quadra 840AV!

[Hotdog Zanzibar]

Sorry, I'm a little excited. This machine has been my Eleanor for many years. I've wanted one ever since I was a wide-eyed teenager staring at one in the display window at Micro Center.

Seller says it has a CD drive, but the picture doesn't show one. His feedback rating is nearly 100%, so I doubt he's BS'ing... it's more likely his terminology is flawed. Here are the stats:

16mb RAM

1GB Fujitsu drive

supposedly a CD-ROM drive (no biggie if it's not there)

I'm hoping for a nice NuBus card in there, but the config doesn't suggest that this was a big digital workstation. Still, there's hope... I'm just tickled pink that I FINALLY found one.

 

[Byrd]

Nice score - welcome to the club! Can't say I've ever heard of an 840AV that didn't come with a CD drive, unless the blanking plate is wrong.

I picked up a very sick 840AV a couple of years ago, complete with smashed front panel (rattling box when you receive it = not good), and weird start-up issues. A donor 8500 case fixed up most of the plastics (and provided the elusive CD blanking plate as well), and provided a much beefier power supply. I recently replaced all the caps and she is running nicely again.

JB

 

[Temetka]

Enjoy.

 

[johnklos]

Just so you know, it's been said that the Q840av will take 128 Meg SIMMs, giving you 512 mega total. Give it a try, and let us know...

 

[ChristTrekker]

Just so you know, it's been said that the Q840av will take 128 Meg SIMMs, giving you 512 mega total. Give it a try, and let us know...

I didn't know 128MiB SIMMs even existed. I remember how long the RAM check used to take with 96 MiB. 512...yikes!

 

[Hotdog Zanzibar]

Just so you know, it's been said that the Q840av will take 128 Meg SIMMs, giving you 512 mega total. Give it a try, and let us know...

I'd be glad to -- any idea where I can find those? The Quadras used 60ns 72-pin SIMMs but the largest I can find on Mac sites is 32mb.

 

[johnklos]

Look for 128 meg 72 pin SIMMs for Cobalt Raq2 systems. They'll work, and they aren't ridiculously large like some 128 meg SIMMs. You can usually find them on eBay for $20 USD or less.

 

[beachycove]

Apart from saying that you'd done it, is there any good reason to put 512MB of RAM in a Quadra, especially if 128MB SIMMS cost $20 a pop?

I suppose that, with 512MB, you could run everything, including large graphics applications, from a RAM disk, which would be something to behold (a utility like Maxima would allow you to double the 512 to a full megabyte, by the way), or 101 programs at once (though the OS certainly will not like it). It would be fun to see one wet Saturday afternoon.

For real usage, however, 512MB would be entirely over the top. The thing would take an aeon to start up, and even longer to start up/ shut down from a Maxima RAM disk (which has to be loaded/ saved); there really is no 68k software that requires such a complement of memory; and the inherent limits of the processors, Motorola and AT&T, come into play. The idea of putting 512MB in a Quadra reminds me of those youngsters whom you encounter from time to time who want to put 9GB scsi drives into Classics running System 7.1: sure, it can physically be done, but the fact that it can be done does not change the fact that it cannot really be done for any good reason.

I have an 840av and find 128MB to be plenty, even for intensive graphics programs like Photoshop and the like, which can then be given generous RAM allocations (though I prefer to run my old version of Photoshop 5 on a 604e). Less than 128MB in an 840av and you can run into memory problems, say, when running the large Adobe products and a couple of standards like Word or ClarisWorks all at once.

I'd go for 4 x 32MB chips, which will also be a good deal easier to source, as well as cheaper because of the relative rarity of 128MB chips.

Having said all that, if I had 4 x 128MB SIMMS available, I'd long since have tried them out in my 840av one wet Saturday.

 

[Hotdog Zanzibar]

The thing would take an aeon to start up

An excellent point -- something I too often forget about 68k machines is the RAM check at startup.

 

[Unknown_K]

I have never used anywhere near 128MB running OS 8.1 and apps that run on a 68K. The extra RAM is just for bragging I guess.

 

[Temetka]

What would you even do with 512MB in a Quadra?

Would it be possible to install the OS to a RAM disk assuming you never shut the machine down? You'd have to reboot to use the OS from the RAM Disk and the contents would be lost on reboot, no?

Scratch disk for Photoshop or video importing?

Now 512MB on an 8500 or something like that I could see no problem.

 

[Hotdog Zanzibar]

What would you even do with 512MB in a Quadra?

I think it'd be pretty much like beachycove said -- you'd do it just to say you did.

If I ever come across some nice cheap 128mb sticks, I'll certainly give it a whirl, just for S&Gs. As for now, I think I'll just go to 128 and leave it at that. There's an ad on my local craigslist for $2 32mb 72-pin SIMMs.

 

[johnklos]

What would you even do with 512MB in a Quadra?

I run NetBSD on a number of m68k machines, and having just one machine which can compile those huge packages (even if it takes a few weeks) would be nice.

Just FYI, I've gotten lots of 128 meg SIMMs on eBay for $8 - $10, but if you want them without waiting for them, then $20 is a more common price.

 

[vassilizaitsev]

From memory it's doubtfull that 128Mb simms would work...

Still I'd love to hear that it did work...

I record video with my 840av sometimes & the more memory the better... but are the simms fpm? & paired?

 

[Bunsen]

The thing would take an aeon to start up

An excellent point -- something I too often forget about 68k machines is the RAM check at startup.

Which can be disabled

 

[Dennis Nedry]

Don't you hold down some modifier key as you open the Memory control panel and it gives you that option? I remember something like that.

Because really, RAM doesn't fail all that often. I don't know if I've experienced RAM failure as of yet, nor a real sad mac. Maybe if stuff acts weird you can temporarily turn it back on to test it, but I don't see much of a point of testing every single time the machine turns on.

 

[beachycove]

As far as I know, the memory check can't be turned off in the Memory Control Panel on a Quadra. I seem to recall that it requires a PPC and MacOS8 — possibly 8.5 or 8.6. It requires pressing Command and Option simultaneously while opening the Memory Control Panel. It's well hidden, anyway.

I can only assume that the feature was introduced when memory complements began to go way up, and then only for the select few who could afford a lot of RAM. It wasn't really needed when 64MB in a PPC was a lot of RAM.

 

[Hotdog Zanzibar]

Well I got a bunch of memory on craigslist the other day for REALLY cheap. Guaranteed to work or my money back. They're 72pin 60ns SIMMs, but they're EDO, and I wanted to make sure they'll work in the Quadra. Is that the case?

 

[Byrd]

So did you get the 840AV - hows it look?

I'm pretty sure I've a 32MB EDO SIMM in my 840AV - it won't hurt - give it a shot - but ideally you should go for FPM. ECC EDO RAM definately won't work.

JB