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Help identifying IIfx Nubus Cards
Posted by: ktkm on 2020-01-20 04:07:37
I bought an IIfx yesterday, probably none-working since the ad stated untested. What caught my interest was the Nubus cards, in this case, four of them. So far I have roughly identified three of them, I think, as one Ultra-wide SCSI controller card and two graphics card, but the fourth one was tricky for me. In my haste, I thought it was a Rocket because of the onboard sim slots and lack of output in the back. What could it be? I have yet to receive the parcel.

Thanks!
Posted by: Bolle on 2020-01-20 04:23:06
From left to right on the lower picture:

-Digidesign Audio Interface card

-some kind of graphics card

-Radius Thunder IV - you hit the jackpot here 😉

-Digidesign Sample Cell
Posted by: ktkm on 2020-01-20 04:42:21
From left to right on the lower picture:

-Digidesign Audio Interface card

-some kind of graphics card

-Radius Thunder IV - you hit the jackpot here 😉

-Digidesign Sample Cell
Radius Thunder IV, sweet! Thank you @Bolle good eyes (as always!). I’ll post some new pictures of every card on closer inspection.
Posted by: Byrd on 2020-01-20 15:45:55
Always good when a big box Mac comes crammed with cards!  And good ones at that.
Posted by: Unknown_K on 2020-01-20 15:53:31
Quite a few 950's come with cards like that. Its good to have a working IIfx even with no cards.
Posted by: ktkm on 2020-01-21 02:22:00
Always good when a big box Mac comes crammed with cards!  And good ones at that.
You said it! 🙂  

Quite a few 950's come with cards like that. Its good to have a working IIfx even with no cards.
Yes, it would be nice to get it started. I’ll keep my fingers crossed its salvageable by a simple cleaning and a re-cap. Does anyone know if the PRAM battery is soldered on directly the board?
Posted by: Bolle on 2020-01-21 03:30:37
Does anyone know if the PRAM battery is soldered on directly the board?
It shouldn't be on a IIfx board. The first revision of the Mac II had soldered batteries.

You can always jump start the II, IIx or IIfx power supply using a single 3V battery.

Connect a test clip to the rightmost pin on the logicboard power connector. Attach that to the + side of the battery.

Then touch the metal case of the power supply for a few seconds with the - side of the battery and the PSU will turn on.

I actually start my IIfx like that all the time because I don't want to have any batteries sitting inside.

I ran some wires outside the back and plug in a small board containing a battery and a pushbutton every time I want to start it up.

All my Mac II(x/fx) have those wires. No soft-power from the keyboard that way but I don't need that.
Posted by: ktkm on 2020-02-02 06:36:29
I documented all the boards. Thanks again @Bolle
Posted by: ktkm on 2020-02-02 06:41:02
I must say, the IIfx is a very clean machine! No leaky SMDs and the PSU seems to pretty solid! 🙂

32 MB RAM and FX ROM in place! I’ll try @Bolle battery hack another day!  ;-)



Posted by: Trash80toHP_Mini on 2020-02-02 07:55:23
Have you run TattleTech to get the exact specs on your cards. Wondering which of the three versions of that Radius card you lucked into. Digidesign stuff makes me think you've got the 1600 version with enough VRAM to do 1600x1200. Great haul you got there!
Posted by: ktkm on 2020-02-02 08:27:34
Have you run TattleTech to get the exact specs on your cards. Wondering which of the three versions of that Radius card you lucked into. Digidesign stuff makes me think you've got the 1600 version with enough VRAM to do 1600x1200. Great haul you got there!
It is the 1360 version 1.2. Should I upgrade firmware to 1.2.3?
Posted by: Trash80toHP_Mini on 2020-02-02 18:33:08
Don't recall offhand, but I wouldn't do anything at all to the setup until I'd have had it all figured out. Not the vaunted 1600, but FABULOUS card nonetheless. It'll do 1280x1024@24bit which is easy to come by and wider if you have the right panel. 1600x1200@8bit is plenty good enough for a Digidesign workstation.

https://lowendmac.com/video/thunder4gx.html
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