SE/30 Upgrade Qs

[Byrd]

Hi,

I've two SE/30s here and I'm merging the best parts into one, then giving a mate the stock one.

These are the parts I've got to install:

- Daystar IIsi right angle PDS cache card (saved this from years and years ago ... never realising I had it until only recently!)

- Daystar Powercache '030 33 @ 40Mhz card (no math co-processor installed ... yet)

- PDS ethernet card

- 2GB SCSI hard disk, 32MB RAM in total

Questions:

- The Daystar IIsi right angle adapter has a 68882FW16A math co-processor socketed into the board; I'm assuming I need to remove this before plugging the card into my SE/30, or not bother?

- Will I be able to run Mac OS 7.6.1 with Mode32 installed (I don't have a IIsi or IIfx ROM SIMM)?

- If I remove the floppy drive + some of the steel harness I should be able to shove all the cards in the SE/30 and still have an internal hard disk? Has anyone tried installing say a slimline autoinject floppy drive into this space to make more room?

- Does anyone know how to safely remove the steel security lug from the back of the case? This metal lug slots into the "security" tabs. I've tried to remove it but afraid I'll snap the plastic tabs off. Might just have to leave it there

Thanks!

JB

 

[equill]

One of my SE/30s came with a security lug fitted. It offended me , but a couple of strokes with a new hacksaw blade showed that it had been designed to be un-removeable without doing severe damage to the Mac's case. The only feasible path is to cut the plastic tabs off inside the case bucket, which at least leaves no trace of the operation on the outside.

The surgery on the chassis needed to install the accelerator will make some of your fellow-soldiers blench, but it is your call on your machine. 003, who hasn't posted here for quite a while, installed an HDD vertically beside the PSU of his SE/30. I half-remember some discussion about the matter before The Fall, but that is presumably disembodied in the ether now. 003 also was exploring the use of a flexible magnetic/radiation screening to shield the drive, but heat dissipation from the swaddled drive would have to be ensured. My own belief is that keeping the HDD's circuit-board on the side remote from the CRT should be adequate, but I haven't tested that belief in practice.

As for your specific questions, yes, it should be possible to ignore the FPU on the logic board. It will be a pain to remove. Neither of two CPU-socketted SE/30 boards that I have (rev. A and rev.10) has a socketted 68882, nor has the IIci for which the DayStar cards are drop-in replacements into the PDS slot. Rather than overclock a 33MHz CPU on the card (2x), why not consider a 50MHz (3x) PowerCache card?

This link, which raises the matter of PDS slot addresses that you will have to attend when there are multiple cards, may give you some food for thought also about internal physical configuration:

http://home.earthlink.net/~gamba2/se30_pds_multiple.html#40ess

Given ethernet and SCSI, I should be strongly inclined to dispense with the FDD entirely, and attach the HDD cradle directly to the chassis floor.

de

 

[Byrd]

Thanks equill

A pair of rather substantial bolt cutters removed the steel wire security cable quite quickly but the security lug will have to stay. One SE/30 is in virtually unused condition (sitting in RMIT for years in an Apple bag, decommissioned due to a dead 80MB internal hard disk); this is the one with the security lug installed.

Looking at the internal floppy + hard disk skeleton inside the SE/30, I could simply remove the floppy drive where the cards will slide horizontally inside this opening, and keep the hard disk in place, hopefully without having to hack away at the steel frame. Considering I seem to come across many vanilla SEs I'm not bothered if I have to slightly cut the steel frame for this.

I'll post some pics of my progress; the Powercache card was sold to me as 33 @ 40Mhz (thanks to kreats!), since I've not come across any of these cards locally it will still be a fine upgrade for the little beast. I'm not sure what you mean by using a 50Mhz (x2) CPU in this card?

Regards

JB

 

[Byrd]

Some good news - both SE/30s have socketed CPUs So I'll be set if I ever can find a Diimo 030 upgrade, right?

JB

 

[JDW]

No, you cannot run 7.6 or 8.1 on your SE/30 with Mode32. To run OS 7.6 or higher, you must have a IIsi or IIfx ROM. There's no way around it.

 

[equill]

I misinterpreted you as meaning that you intended to overclock the PowerCache from 33MHz to 40MHz, but it seems now that you meant that the card had been overclocked by DayStar. I know (from reports) that this happened, but my own 40MHz card was made with a 40MHz CPU and FPU pair. My suggestion was that 3x the original (with a 50MHz card, using chips marked as 50MHz) CPU speed was preferable to a 2x (33MHz), whether as is or overclocked, assuming that no problems with, eg serial ports, raise their heads.

de

 

[Charlieman]

Does anyone know how to safely remove the steel security lug from the back of the case? This metal lug slots into the "security" tabs. I've tried to remove it but afraid I'll snap the plastic tabs off.

I removed one many years ago. With the rear case bucket removed, the plastic tabs can be opened up on the inside using thin bladed screwdrivers or putty knives. It'll take two people to open up all of the tabs simultaneously. A third person to pull the security lug free is helpful but not essential.