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PowerBook 540c black coffee edition
Posted by: jmacz on 2023-08-14 09:41:56
the game is running great, no probs there..
just the oscillator, like with the old Macs, except there's no space to solder in a socket, and this is a SMD.

Will add this to my todo list at some point.
Posted by: 3lectr1cPPC on 2023-08-14 10:41:59
I'm gonna have to do this too! Very cool. What's the link to the crystal you bought? And how tough are they to solder in.
Posted by: MacUp72 on 2023-08-14 10:57:00
I'm gonna have to do this too! Very cool. What's the link to the crystal you bought? And how tough are they to solder in.
I got that crystal from Bolle, so I dont know, I think its an obsolete Epson part. When I google '20 mhz sg-615p d152e', there come up some very similar ones:


Posted by: croissantking on 2023-10-08 12:54:55
yes, do it 😎 ..desoldering is a bit fiddly but doable..
Done it!

Seems stable so far.

The new crystal was almost too small for the pads, but I made it work.

This is a pretty tricked out 540c - max ram, bluescsi and 40mhz cpu.

IMG_4110.jpeg
IMG_4113.jpeg
IMG_4116.jpeg
Posted by: 3lectr1cPPC on 2023-10-08 12:57:52
Which part there is the crystal?
Posted by: croissantking on 2023-10-08 12:59:19
Which part there is the crystal?
The mouser part is 449-LFSPXO018787REEL
Posted by: 3lectr1cPPC on 2023-10-08 13:00:36
That’s good to know - I was wondering which part on the board physically that is.
Edit: it’s top right, isn’t it?
Posted by: croissantking on 2023-10-08 13:02:03
That’s good to know - I was wondering which part on the board physically that is.
Edit: it’s top right, isn’t it?
Ah, it’s G700 in the top right hand corner.
Posted by: 3lectr1cPPC on 2023-10-08 13:07:28
Well I’ve gotta make a mouser order in a couple days, so I think I’m gonna get two of these and overclock my 540 and 540c!

How hot is it getting? That would be my only concern.
Posted by: croissantking on 2023-10-08 13:10:56
Well I’ve gotta make a mouser order in a couple days, so I think I’m gonna get two of these and overclock my 540 and 540c!

How hot is it getting? That would be my only concern.
It’s certainly warm around the CPU after having it on for a bit - but that doesn’t really mean much without comparing to how it was before. I may run my 520c (@25MHz) alongside for a while and feel the temperature difference.
Posted by: 3lectr1cPPC on 2023-10-08 13:22:48
As long as it's stable... I think I'm gonna do it! Would certainly be a fun project.
Posted by: croissantking on 2023-10-08 13:23:45
As long as it's stable... I think I'm gonna do it! Would certainly be a fun project.
Go for it. Let us know how you get on.
Posted by: 3lectr1cPPC on 2023-10-08 13:24:48
I'll certainly update here! I'll likely also do a video on it for my YouTube channel at some point too.
It's perfect timing really, I'm anticipating a cap order in the near future. I'm supposed to be getting in something Tuesday that's gonna need work...
Posted by: MacUp72 on 2023-10-08 13:38:27
Done it!

Seems stable so far.

The new crystal was almost too small for the pads, but I made it work.

This is a pretty tricked out 540c - max ram, bluescsi and 40mhz cpu.

View attachment 63286
View attachment 63287
View attachment 63288

great, looks good, your crystal looks like newer part..and you alss have a BlueScsi in it..
did you solder your 32MB RAM yourself?
Posted by: croissantking on 2023-10-08 13:42:36
great, looks good, your crystal looks like newer part..and you alss have a BlueScsi in it..
did you solder your 32MB RAM yourself?
Yes, I did! It started life as a 4MB module.
Posted by: jmacz on 2023-10-08 14:31:06
The new crystal was almost too small for the pads, but I made it work.

Is there a slightly larger part on Mouser available?
Posted by: croissantking on 2023-10-08 14:33:01
Is there a slightly larger part on Mouser available?
Go rummage, haha. I couldn’t find a better option - seems this is the standard footprint nowadays.
Posted by: jmacz on 2023-10-08 14:59:59
Go rummage, haha. I couldn’t find a better option - seems this is the standard footprint nowadays.

You're right... don't see 4-SOJ package crystals on Mouser.
Posted by: croissantking on 2023-10-08 16:18:01
You're right... don't see 4-SOJ package crystals on Mouser.
I salvage them from dead PowerBooks, but I didn’t have a 20MHz part handy.
Posted by: croissantking on 2023-10-08 23:40:48
IMG_4114.jpeg

So with the overclock. Tattletech claims the bus speed is still 33MHz, but I wonder if this is erroneous. I would have thought the bus speed would be 40MHz as well.

What’s the best 68k utility (like Gauge Pro) for looking at this sort of info?
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