PDS ...modem?

[jessenator]

I wanted to ask: was there ever an internal/PDS slot modem made for the II-series? specifically the IIsi.

I'm fairly certain they meant ethernet card, and might just be an issue of nomenclature, but thought I'd ping the more knowledgeable on the forum if there ever was such a thing. This individual specifically said their dad "upgraded [a mac IIsi] with a modem at some point when he owned it." --And no, not LCPDS, as it's specifically about a IIsi.

Thanks

 

 

[Franklinstein]

I'm going to go ahead and say that there were no internal modems made for Macs (unless they were part of a multi-function card that I don't know about) that used a proper slot of any sort until the Comm Slot was introduced. It's possible that internal cards did exist that would tap into one of the serial ports or something but I've never seen any. With Comm Slot, that's basically what Apple did: provide an option for an internal modem that taps directly into the Modem serial port in a convenient fashion, hence the reason you couldn't use the Modem serial port for anything else if you had an internal CS or CS II modem installed. This arrangement stayed until the iMac and B&W G3, which changed over to the dedicated internal modem port (which some enterprising individuals discovered could be utilized to provide a proper legacy Mac serial port) that was shared with contemporary PowerBook and iBook models.

 

[jessenator]

Interesting. Didn't know about the imac modem to serial trick.

Yeah, I'm thinking it's nomenclatural. "This thing on the back that looks like a phone jack must be for a phone... Wait dad said 'internet' once. What did he mean? Oh, a modem!" might be a reasonable thought train to someone who cares nothing for computers.

 

[Cory5412]

None for the IIsi, but there were a hand-full of dedicated modem slots in PowerBooks and I believe the Mac Portable.

This arrangement stayed until the iMac and B&W G3

I believe the iMac G3's modem is soldered on board, but the beige G3 modem is either exactly or very close to a Comm Slot II modem, and the blue-white G3's modem port is serial lines, so it can be replaced with a serial port.

There is a serial port on the iMac G3, feeding the IrDA connector, I've never personally tested it to see if it'll work for anything else. Apple's own documentation claimed that it (and the monitor port, which I did test) were completely proprietary. It was awkward, but I was once able to get the iMac's monitor running from my Quadra 840av's video output.

 

[jessenator]

I've since seen an actual photo of the system in question, and it's indeed an Asante Ethernet card. ...with something else coupled to it. I'll have a reveal on Monday hopefully.

 

[Cory5412]

Hm, is there something plugged into the Ethernet cord or is the card plugged into a riser?

The IIsi's main slot is on the motherboard and if you're using a IIsi-specific card, you can run it directly in that slot and most of those cards have their ports on cabling routed to the slot opening in the back. There are also various risers available which provide you with a PDS slot and a NuBus slot. Many of those risers can act as accelerators or house FPU add-ons.

 

[jessenator]

Oh I know what it is  I'm just being cheeky and also don't want to spoil it in this thread. 

 

[Franklinstein]

None for the IIsi, but there were a hand-full of dedicated modem slots in PowerBooks and I believe the Mac Portable.

I believe the iMac G3's modem is soldered on board, but the beige G3 modem is either exactly or very close to a Comm Slot II modem, and the blue-white G3's modem port is serial lines, so it can be replaced with a serial port.

There is a serial port on the iMac G3, feeding the IrDA connector, I've never personally tested it to see if it'll work for anything else. Apple's own documentation claimed that it (and the monitor port, which I did test) were completely proprietary. It was awkward, but I was once able to get the iMac's monitor running from my Quadra 840av's video output.

Every 68k PB except for maybe the 150 and the 190 have a spot for an internal modem. These were likely simple serial port pass-thrus with additional power lines in the same way the CS slot eventually was. The 190, 5300, and 1400 did not have any modems available from Apple, but it may have been possible to find a 3rd party option, though I'm sure most people used PC Card modems instead. The 3400/Original G3 had that combo card that would do either Ethernet or modem duties depending on what was plugged into the RJ45 socket. The WS/PDQ moved to a more standard modem arrangement that kept the same protocol and in most cases the same form for the modem basically until they switched to USB-based modems in the iBook G4/AlBooks and later.

The beige G3 indeed kept the CS/CS II slot, but electrically it could only accept a modem; it had none of the lines for Ethernet cards.

The B&W G3 and Yikes! G4 used the PB G3 WS's modem in an oblong case with a long ribbon cable. I'm not sure what the original iMac used; it was either the WS or Lombard's modem. They all switched to the familiar rectangular modem with the Lombard/AGP G4 and kept that until, as noted above, they switched to USB-based modems a few generations later.