Resurrecting a 5200 mobo

#1 Mon, 26 Dec 2011 - 23:31 68kMLA

Hi all,

I got a 5200 mobo for peanuts -- intended for a Takky mod. Like I do with any old mobo, I washed it, but still doesn't look that great...

Anyway, I've got the wiring harness, and the (mandatory?) ROM/L2 Cache SIMM so I hooked a known-good ATX PSU to the power connector (I know the proper pinout) in order to give it a try. Without load, the +5V line reads about 5.2 V, going down to 5.06 V with the mobo attached -- looks healthy to me.

But it doesn't work

No bong, no death chimes, no nothing -- there's only a faint plop on the headphones upon powering up, but that's to be expected from the audio amplifier. The 603 gets slightly warm, like a 75 MHz IC should, but U15 gets very hot after half a minute or so.

Most likely it's just toast but, just in case, am I missing something? Does it need anything else in order to boot? I have no PRAM battery, not sure if that would make a difference.

On the other hand, I've seen a similar mobo, guaranteed to work, at 120 MHz -- 5320/6320, I suppose. Will it need a ROM/Cache SIMM in order to work? If so, will the one from the 5200 do?

Thanks a lot in advance!

#2 Thu, 16 Feb 2012 - 03:36 68kMLA

No, it needs nothing else to boot. I had wired up an ATX power supply to a 52XX machine years and years ago when the main power supply had failed, and i had the external DB15 connector for a monitor.

it just worked. all there was to it.

#3 Sun, 19 Feb 2012 - 00:23 68kMLA

Uh-oh, that's bad news... would mean both of my 5200 mobos are dead xx(

On the other hand, I have no PRAM battery. Maybe they need either the battery or the ADB power line? I'll try to build a makeshift PRAM battery connector with a pin header.

#4 Sun, 19 Feb 2012 - 04:50 68kMLA

mine has no PRAM batt either. and they fire right up. But mine both have ROM cards. you have to have the ROM card. Too bad your in spain, or i would send you this 5200 board that I have. it works, but to me its junk. no machine to use it in. Spare.

#5 Sun, 19 Feb 2012 - 09:32 68kMLA

FWIW, the 5260 doesn't need a ROM SIMM - they have their ROM onboard. However, all other 52xx/63xx boards do need a ROM/cache SIMM.

#6 Mon, 20 Feb 2012 - 02:54 68kMLA

Right. the spare board I have is a 5200.

#7 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 - 13:53 68kMLA

Just my opinion, but for what it's worth, I think a 5200 series board is a cruel and awful thing to do to a poor old CC

Especially considering the amount of work involved in a Takky mod. Have you thought of finding a better board? (6360, 6400, 6500, 5400, 5500)

#8 Sun, 4 Mar 2012 - 17:52 68kMLA

Well, the 5200/6200 do have several quirks, and they definitely aren't the best performers out there... but still they are a great improvement over the sluggish original CC

The Mystic upgrade should be almost as snappy as those 75 MHz crippled PPCs, and it's a much simpler plug-and-play modification. But the LC500 series is almost unheard of in Europe, it seems; and the cost to ship one of those heavy machines from USA would be prohibitive -- unless I could find a bare, working Motherboard.

Another factor in praise of the x200 is the ability to run (even slowly) PPC-only software -- quite interesing since my first Macintosh was a 7500! Also, once the Takky work is done, upgrading that with, say, a 6500 mobo would be fairly easy.

But still don't know why can't I power up any of the 5200 mobos... it's unlikely that both went south! :?:

#9 Tue, 6 Mar 2012 - 04:34 68kMLA

once the Takky work is done, upgrading that with, say, a 6500 mobo would be fairly easy.

That's a good point.