SE/30 PDS Adapter Epic Blunder

[joethezombie]

Hey James,

Yes the chips are on their merry way to Germany.  Apologies I didn't get them out as soon as what you would have wanted-- I had an unexpected turn of events which caused a significant delay.

 

[Bolle]

Good news

Thanks Joe.

 

[Bolle]

@JDW your Turbo 040 is back in working order.

Awesomesauce. So the chips are real.

 

[JDW]

Holy cow!  I was expecting the worst!  
Amazing! Not only that the chip fixed it, but I applaud your repair skills, @Bolle

Bravo!

Were you able to find the root problem on the SE/30 motherboard too?

 

[Bolle]

Yes, I think all your stuff is fixed. I'll get it out of the box again and test everything as it has been some time... just to make sure I didn't miss anything or mixed stuff up.

Once I did that I'll let you know and we can arrange getting everything back to you.

 

[JDW]

You told me in a PM that it was the VROM on the motherboard. You said you were going to swap that chip. So after the swap it suddenly started working properly?

Please let me know by PM what I owe you for all your kind help, and for the return shipping.

 

[SE30_Neal]

Thats amazing work bolle! So glad you’ve got your card working too

 

[trag]

Fantastic.   And especially wonderful that the chips are authentic.  Who knew they were just laying around waiting to be picked up by the resourceful joethezombie.

 

[JDW]

@Bolle I was looking at your photo again and I noticed a blue PDS card with your name on it.  What is that?

Back to the Turbo040 though, I am still overwhelmed with emotion about that fix.  I thought it was gone for good.  I simply cannot convey how thrilled I am at your handiwork, @Bolle. I would also like to extend my humble and sincere thanks to @joethezombie for securing these chips.  You two gentlemen are amazing and will be mentioned in a future video I do about that card.  With all the depressing things going on right now and my job/salary in the tank, this is one positive that has brightened my day.  THANK YOU.

 

[pax]

What a great resolution! I’m happy to read some good news in the midst of all the bad. 

 

[Crutch]

This is awesome! I’ve been following this saga for months. Nice work @Bolle and @joethezombie!

 

[SE30_Neal]

I have no idea where you’d find those chips!!! they must be as rare as rocking horse poop. Good work guys, really impressive given the issue. 

 

[Bolle]

blue PDS card

I think I'll call it the Universal BolleCache  :lol:

 

[pax]

Take my money already.  :lol:

 

[PotatoFi]

Take my money already.  :lol:

I don't know what they are... but I want one.

 

[JDW]

I think I'll call it the Universal BolleCache  :lol:

A well-deserved name, to be sure!

Questions:

1. Is your blue card 50MHz? (I do see it is a 68030.)

2. It would appear to require the TS Adapter riser card, correct?

3. Is BolleCache being prepped for mass production, or are you waiting to see potential demand first?

4. Do you have Speedometer and MacBench benchmarks as compared with the Daystar version? (I assume they are the same.)

I don't have a PowerCache like your blue card, but I do have the socketed version made especially for the SE/30.  I have found that my 50MHz DiiMO PDS card is a bit faster in the benchmarks than the socketed PowerCache.  I wouldn't thinking a PDS card should be faster than something directly plugged directly into the CPU socket, so I am assuming the DiiMO must simply be better optimized for speed.  It's not a huge difference, mind you, but it is still noticeable in the benchmark results.

Anyway, I applaud your engineering skill and amazing dedication to vintage Macs!

 

[Bolle]

Some of them are fine at 50MHz.

I could not yet figure out what’s going on exactly.

When using „modern“ Atmel replacements for the GALs it is difficult to achieve 50MHz operation. With NOS Lattice chips it just works.

I will have to figure out what’s going on there.

Benchmarks are about the same as the original.

They are a 1:1 clone of the P33 universal PowerCache. So far I have tested it in the SE/30, IIci, LC, II and IIsi with the appropriate adapters and it seems to behave just like the original.

I have everything that’s needed to build the SE/30 CPU socket version as well but that one requires a 6 layer board and I am not willing to pay extra for no added functionality compared to the universal accelerator.

I do have a working clone of the SE/30 DiiMO as well. See here:



Problem with the DiiMO is that the FPU is only running at half of the cards speed which is kind of a waste - even on the original.

Both won’t be worth doing mass production as the SRAM Tag chips are not in production anymore from any manufacturer. I do have a small stock of them but once that’s used up we’re done.

Same goes for the CPU/FPU.

 

[SE30_Neal]

Wow have i missed something, are you making accelerated cards now? 

 

[JDW]

Problem with the DiiMO is that the FPU is only running at half of the cards speed which is kind of a waste - even on the original.

I wasn't aware the DiiMO's FPU only ran at 25MHz (i.e., "half of the card's speed").  Even so, my DiiMO still bests my PowerCache by a small amount in the benchmarks, every time I run them. Hmmm...

 

[SE30_Neal]

In the picture the diimo has a pass though which looks useful for popping 2 cards in. 
thats the only problem with the se/30’s 1 slot configuration.  Seems like you’ve done an amazing job.