Quadra 950 really had some new custom IC Maddness

[uniserver]

The Apple custom ICs that are newly designed for the Quadra 950 computer are:

- BATMAN: a custom IC (replaces the Apple Sound Chip) that acts as a sound amplifier

- SPORTY: a custom IC that provides sound output functions

- CABOOSE: a custom processor that manages system power, the real-time clock, and parameter RAM

- DAFB (Direct Attach Frame Buffer): an IC that connects directly to the system bus and controls the video RAM or frame buffer

- ORWELL: a custom IC that connects to the system bus and controls burst-mode data transfers to the main RAM

- JDB (Junction Data Bus): one of two ICs making up the I/O Adapter, connecting the data signals from the system bus and the I/O bus

- RELAYER: one of two ICs making up the I/O Adapter, controlling the bus buffers and proving bus arbitration logic

- YANCC (Yet Another NuBus Controller Chip): a custom IC that controls the NuBus interface

Third-party ICs include:

- SCSI interface ICs: two NCR 53C96

- Sonic: the DP83932 Ethernet controller IC made by National Semiconductor

- Two VIAs similar to those in earlier members of the Macintosh II family

Read More:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TA27980?viewlocale=en_US#

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

Calling a chip Orwell, nice.

 

[uniserver]

good point… humm. trying to understand the association

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orwellian

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

Well, it controls access to information for the memory...

 

[uniserver]

Ah ha, those silly apple engineers.

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

Going back to this, I have a chip labeled YANCC on my 700 board, that can't have been a 950 exclusive then.

 

[trag]

It would be interesting to know which Apple part numbers go with those chips.  Caboose, for example, sounds like an earlier version of the CUDA chip (341S0788, IIRC).  I've seen a version of it labeled 341S0060 (again, IIRC) on a 68040 logic board which transplanted just fine into a PCI Power Mac which would normally have the 0788 part.  Makes me wonder if the 0060 is Caboose and 0788 CUDA.

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

So looking at this again, I have YANCC, Batman, Sporty, Sonic, Orwell, Relayer, DAFB, JDB...can't seem to find Caboose though. So there's that one.

I guess Apple's marketing guys were really stretching for new things on the 950 and the hardware team just sent them a list of chips.

 

[Unknown_K]

The Q900 and Q700 were introduced before the Q950, and the Q900 is just a 25mhz versions of the Q950 anyway.

 

[trag]

So looking at this again, I have YANCC, Batman, Sporty, Sonic, Orwell, Relayer, DAFB, JDB...can't seem to find Caboose though. So there's that one.

If my hypothesis is correct, then Caboose is relatively small.  It will be something like a 28 pin SOIC, IIRC.  About 1" long and 1/4" wide.