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Tube❄️Time

it also turns out that MacOS wants to be the first data partition (i had the two ProDOS partitions first.) but it works now!

48 comments
Dean Segovis replied to Tube❄️Time

@tubetime Memories of SE30s, Classics and a few Quadras in a graphics shop I worked at in 92. I used Filemaker Pro to manage work flow and create job tickets. Great relational database program.

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

but I still need to repair the Apple IIe card.

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

only had these poscaps hanging around. yes they're very fancy but they'll work.

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

wow, it totally worked! is it an Apple IIe or is it a Performa 475? why not both!

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

i figured out how to change the startup sound to "Quack" which makes me think of the Quapple (my Apple II ISA card that i cloned a while back)

Tube❄️Time replied to Nate

@natemartinsf it's super clean! also dang you're on mastodon too, i will follow you asap

Nate Martin replied to Tube❄️Time

@tubetime I heard all the cool kids are here now!

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

time to check the capacitors on the motherboard. there really aren't that many chips on it! I was also able to remove it without any tools. just bend some tabs and it slides right out.

John Carlsen replied to Tube❄️Time

@tubetime copyright 1982 on the ROM--wow!
Was this unit among the first sold in 1984?

Tube❄️Time replied to John
John Carlsen replied to Tube❄️Time

@tubetime thanks!

I think Apple added the expansion port on the Mac SE; I recall working on a prototype add-on for that port in 1989. I think the port used a conventional DIN 41612 connector; this one looks like a newer, extended version.

Kevin Karhan :verified: replied to Tube❄️Time

@tubetime Definitely a #Macintosh #mainboard:

I've not seen and #PDS "slot" sockets anywhere else...

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

i found a tech manual. this is a very clean design. most things are tidied up into the two big custom chips, MEMCjr and Prime Time.

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

heh, they even put the bus sizing features in this chip. motorola removed that in the '040 (the '030 had it) and it caused innumerable problems for 68k computer designers.

The PrimeTime IC provides the data bus features of the MC68030 that the MC68040 does
not provide. Those features are byte steering, which allows 8-bit and 16-bit devices to be
connected to a fixed byte lane, and dynamic bus sizing, which allows software to read
and write longwords to 8-bit and 16-bit devices. Those features allow these computers to
work with existing I/O software designed for the MC68030.
Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

the Commodore folks solved this on their '040 Amiga CPU card by using a raft of ten (10) GALs, which burned a ton of power.

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

the one thing i haven't figured out is this chip.

8pin SOIC chip marked ©90🍎 0120
Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

based on the pinout i think it's a 24C01 serial EEPROM, probably for a unique serial number or something.

George R. M. 🇩🇪🇺🇦 replied to Tube❄️Time

@tubetime that's 343S0120, often found alongside the customized 68HC05 Apple calls Egret (Cuda in later models) used for ADB, housekeeping tasks, PRAM, reset (and NMI) management, etc. IIRC '0120 serves as a power monitor, switching the HC05 to battery power when system power is cut.

...as seen here on a 630 DOS/LC580 board.

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

yeah i'm wrong, this is a battery switchover circuit much like the MAX703. it provides voltage to the Cuda chip from the battery, and automatically switches to the 5V rail when power comes up.

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

I've 3D printed a drive bracket for the Performa. it's designed to hold the SCSI2SD.

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

it's a little loose but not a bad fit. I designed this based on photos of a real bracket, so the dimensions are probably slightly wrong

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

today's status: i'm having issues with the joystick port. the machine thinks it is pegged to the lower right even when it is centered.

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

the design is not an ADC. it uses a quad 555 timer with RC circuits composed of the external joystick resistance and 22nF capacitors. the Apple IIe just measures the time it takes to exceed the threshold.

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

it's just barely pegged at 250 or so. 2.8ms. the resistance is 87.8K, so this RC curve implies a capacitance of 68nF. that can't be correct.

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

inspecting the board reveals corrosion on the pins of an 'LS125, some of whose pins are wired into the joystick inputs (for some reason). i think the capacitor (already recapped C2) spilled electrolyte all over this area.

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

i removed the 'ls125. there was definitely a puddle of electrolyte underneath (it crackled and fizzed during desoldering). note that the potentiometer connection (red arrow) is right next to a pin tied to ground (blue arrow). electrolyte is conductive, so maybe it was creating a leakage current.

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

removing and cleaning the area helped quite a bit! it's not perfect so i think i have more cleaning to do.

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

i'm also thinking that the etched/oxidized solder joints in combination with the spilled electrolyte formed an electrolytic capacitor with about 45nF of capacitance. yeah that would do it.

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

so what does the 74ls125 do in this circuit? it's just discharging the timing capacitors. the NE558 also does this, so the 74ls125 is connected in parallel. I guess it... helps?

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

regardless i went and cleaned the board again more thoroughly, and it's working a lot better now. i'll replace the damaged 74ls125 later.

[DATA EXPUNGED]
Tube❄️Time replied to DELETED

@homelessjun the NE558 already does that though.

Karl Gutwin replied to Tube❄️Time

@tubetime Did you figure out what the ‘LS125 is doing there? I looked it up and guess it’s just a buffer. ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/sn54ls12

Tube❄️Time replied to Karl

@kgutwin it has the ability to pull the joystick lines low. no idea what this was for, none of the other apple II compatibles have it

William D. Jones replied to Tube❄️Time

@tubetime Ahhh, so IBM _wasn't_ the only company that used an RC circuit as an integrating ADC :'D!

Tevruden Dawnspear replied to Tube❄️Time

@tubetime I feel like that's the spiritual successor of the SE's BBU which turned a half dozen or so PALs into a single chip

William D. Jones replied to Tube❄️Time

@tubetime I wonder why a similar situation didn't cause problems in PC land when going from 8088 to 286 bus (and again from 286 to 386)? 8-bit ISA works (mostly) fine on newer machines. I wonder if this is a port-mapped I/O accommodation?

I remember hearing- emphasis on _only hearing_- the 286 has some _slight_ incompatibilities when talking to 8-bit devices with an I/O port at an odd address. But most cards in practice didn't run into this.

Tube❄️Time replied to William D. Jones

@cr1901 hmm, i don't know. intel was all about backwards compatibility, so probably the CPU handled it automatically.

Elosha replied to Tube❄️Time

@tubetime Really clean! I love that they put legacy MOS 8bit VIA clones on chip, just like PC people had Intel 8bit chip clones in their Chipsets ☺️

Tube❄️Time replied to Elosha

@elosha that is a Zilog Z8530, totally different

Elosha replied to Tube❄️Time

@tubetime No, I was talking about the Show Time chip „set“. It integrates two VIAs and even a SWIM (Super Woz I… Machine) floppy controller. Apple IIe personality should feel at home 😄

Tube❄️Time replied to Elosha

@elosha ahh gotcha, i need to investigate that chip more. thanks!

Dru Nelson replied to Tube❄️Time

@tubetime The Apple IIgs was the first to have this tool-less design. I don’t know why that is so. It made working on Apple products so nice.

Travis Geiselbrecht replied to Tube❄️Time

@tubetime Oooh that looks fun. Alas all I have in the classic mac world is a Mac SE with no slots.
But I do have a Apple IIe, so I guess that's second best.

Kevix (he/him) :debian: replied to Tube❄️Time

@tubetime
I'm on a apple ii group on facebook and in the 90s I had a Performa 475 I think but never had the apple II card. There is a mastodon apple program I think?

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