on 5/28/02 3:31 PM, Bill Brown wrote: >Labeling is typically sparse. "TOTAL SYSTEMS", "QUESSE COMPUTER CO INC", >and "COPYRIGHT 1989" is as good as it gets.
Total made accelerator boards for compacts incluing "Gemini" and "Mercury". >It has two of its RAM SIMM sockets above the board and two more below it. >The About This Computer window shows 4 MB so I guess I don't get credit >for those 256k thingees still on the motherboard. These type of accelerators relocated the system RAM from the logic board to the accelerator board because accessing RAM on the logic board was a bottleneck. A small amount of RAM on the logic board continues to be used for video. The SE ROM imposes the 4M limit. >Anyway, MacCheck says I have an 030 puttering along at 16 MHz but with no >FPU... For an accelerator card, this is not dramatic. Performance is what I would expect. Don't know why that software does not see the FPU, but once you add the Gemini software (called GemStart, should be available at the Mac Driver museum) the FPU may show up. Similar accelerators were available with CPUs up to 50 Mhz, but cost was very high. 16 and 25 Mhz versions probably sold best. >This card enhanced SE will not boot to any of the hard drives I use for >030 compact Macs. You are still running an SE ROM. Most boot systems that work on an SE should work just fine on the accelerated SE. BUT, Apple was not cooperating with these people and they had difficulty maintaining compatibility with System 7. System 7.0.1 is usually the newest version that is stable on 030 accelerators in 68000 Macs. >The last oddity: With this card removed, the SE audio is quite normal. >With the card in, any audio signal carries significant audible >interference. This audio problem occurred with just about every accelerator for the 8 Mhz Macs. All the manufacturers provided an extension or control panel to fix it. Gemini provided GemStart mentioned above. >The card? I dunno. It seems not to even fit very well in this SE. Those >pins on the card that I see from up above; those pins are within one and a >half millimeters of that toroidal core looking thing right behind them. >What would have ever plugged into it? What other Mac could this card >really be for? It was really for an SE. The board probably has capability to drive a large monochrome monitor (which was common with these accelerators), but yours was installed without that option. An accelerated SE was recently posted on the swap list, but I don't believe it sold. I have 5 of them (4 Novy 25's and 1 Novy 33) but have never tried to sell them. Bryan Kattwinkel <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -- Compact Macs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/>. Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Compact Macs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/compact.shtml> The FAQ: <http://macfaq.org/> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/compact.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
