Home▸ Forums▸ 68kMLA▸ IIsi (onboard) ram upgrade.
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IIsi (onboard) ram upgrade.

68kMLA Hardware 33 posts Dec 26, 2013 to Jan 15, 2014
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#1 Thu, 26 Dec 2013 - 11:41 68kMLA
ok good news i removed the onboard ram from the IIsi.

and it still boots… just no onboard video. surprise, surprise

not to worry IIsi radius video card still works :)

Next, i have a dead powermac 6100 mb, looks like it has 8 meg ram… across 2 banks… removed one of the banks.

same amount of chips 8 … same pins too.

i will try to hot air flow those on to the IIsi and see if i now have 4 meg of faster onboard ram.

#2 Thu, 26 Dec 2013 - 13:02 68kMLA
ok did it…

I now have officially the only IIsi in the wold with 4 megs of onboard ram :)

* bows *

Not only does the new ram boot up, i noticed onboard video started doing 640x480 by default @ 256.

so that was kind of a nice screen resolution bonus.

pretty cool.. my testing continues.

some pictures.

[attachment=3]Screen Shot 2013-12-26 at 7.55.29 AM.png[/attachment]

[attachment=2]Screen Shot 2013-12-26 at 7.56.05 AM.png[/attachment]

[attachment=1]Screen Shot 2013-12-26 at 7.56.32 AM.png[/attachment]

[attachment=0]Screen Shot 2013-12-26 at 7.57.02 AM.png[/attachment]

#3 Thu, 26 Dec 2013 - 13:16 68kMLA
Cool, have at it! :approve:

#4 Thu, 26 Dec 2013 - 13:28 68kMLA
What were your thoughts on this man?

well i can verify the 4 meg's from the dead powermac 6100 board worked!

the video does seem faster too. the after dark fishy screen saver that is on there… seems to flow more smoothly.

how far do you think we can push this?

so there is 8 spots for ram chips…

one thing that confuses me…

this doc:

http://tim.id.au/laptops/apple/legacy/macintosh_iisi.pdf

it says the IIsi comes with 2mb ram.

but any IIsi i have ever seen only has one meg onboard.

Oh unless it came with one onboard and 4 256k's ….

also Everymac: http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_ii/specs/mac_iisi.html

Details: *Onboard video is capable of supporting a maximum resolution of 640x480. If the optional NuBus adapter card is installed, a second video card can be installed to support a second display. The NuBus adapter also provides a 68882 FPU.
Click to expand...
So looks like I got the 640x480 just by upgrading the ram to 4mb. interesting.

i was able to get 640x870 but it was pink only…. well now its blue only… (I'm booting 7.5.5 back up)

[attachment=0]IMG_1004.JPG[/attachment]

#6 Thu, 26 Dec 2013 - 14:20 68kMLA
i guess its hard to say until someone does it :)

#7 Thu, 26 Dec 2013 - 14:30 68kMLA
Is this your OC'd 29 si?

I have a 605 that needs recapping anyway... :)

#8 Thu, 26 Dec 2013 - 14:38 68kMLA
no that is my nice one.

This one has been playing a game of hot potato, I sent this one to mcdermd… but the sound was never right on it.

after he re-capped it, he got mad so i sent him another one. :-D

I'v tried to pawn this screwy sound one to couple people but when i tell them the sound is screwy that scares them off.

So i thought this would be prime candidate for some Ram testing.

Now its 4mb onboard ram ! :)

a q605 recap @ normal $ would be fine for now… I'm broke. :-)

#9 Thu, 26 Dec 2013 - 16:52 68kMLA
That IIsi board did indeed drive me mad. I never could figure out a reason for the issue beyond attributing it to half-rotten traces or something.

#10 Thu, 26 Dec 2013 - 17:17 68kMLA
So will you be upgrading your good board now?

#11 Thu, 26 Dec 2013 - 17:17 68kMLA
yeah i changed LEFT / RIGHT and ASC and it still does it :) Ah well its ok… if i leave it at "2" seems to be ok.. just slightly on the quiet side but no crackles.

#12 Thu, 26 Dec 2013 - 17:19 68kMLA
probably not right away… I am going to keep testing with this one and get different ram chip variations outta my system first… I think next, I would like to bump it to 8mb.

#13 Thu, 26 Dec 2013 - 18:20 68kMLA
So looks like I got the 640x480 just by upgrading the ram to 4mb. interesting.i was able to get 640x870 but it was pink only…. well now its blue only… (I'm booting 7.5.5 back up)
Click to expand...
That's because of the monitor you're using. LCD monitors with those things often come out in funny colours.
#14 Thu, 26 Dec 2013 - 18:41 68kMLA
Nope You're wrong. Sorry.

#15 Thu, 26 Dec 2013 - 23:03 68kMLA
should i try for 16 megs?

I have a 32meg simm here with 8 chips on each side …

should i go for the gusto?

#16 Fri, 27 Dec 2013 - 02:44 68kMLA
Why not, As long as it has enough available addressing in that circuit, i dont see why it wouldnt work.

#17 Fri, 27 Dec 2013 - 03:59 68kMLA
If you're going to try 16, you might as well try it first. Might save yourself the 8MB step!

#18 Fri, 27 Dec 2013 - 04:23 68kMLA
Try 640x870 again, but as GRAYS, not colors. [;)] ]'>

Awesome achievement, uni. :approve:

#19 Sat, 28 Dec 2013 - 11:59 68kMLA
Try 640x870 again, but as GRAYS, not colors. [;)] ]'>Awesome achievement, uni. :approve:
Click to expand...
tried it … for some reason its stuck on blue….

but you must admit even in blue … 640x870 coming outta the IIsi stock video port is kinda cool!!!

at-least i think so.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ok update on this ram upgrade!!!

the 1meg onboard ram in the IIsi consists of EIGHT, 128k 20pin ram chips.

the 4 meg onboard ram that i have just installed consists of EIGHT, 512k 20pin ram chips.

right now i am STUCK at 4 mess of ram, because i do not have any larger denomination 20pin ram chips.

Does anyone one a Powermac 6100 with 16 mess of ram?

if so will you please count the pins on the ram chips for me?

My hunch is any denomination above 512k per chip goes to a 24pin chip, witch would make it incompatible with the ram pads on the IIsi mainboard.

HOWEVER, it would be great!!! if the powermac had 1meg 20pin ram chips to make 16 meg's, then at least there is hope of getting 8meg's maximum(onboard) in the IIsi.

#20 Sat, 28 Dec 2013 - 13:02 68kMLA
in my checking on simms for the q605 ram upgrade, I did find this 16 meg simm

with EIGHT 20 pin chips…

just saying it would be kinda cool to 16 megs on onboard ram in a IIsi… :-)

but i wouldn't enjoy removing the chips from 16 meg 30pin simm :-p

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TWO-16MB-Kurzweil-sample-memory-30pin-SIMMs-for-K2000-K2000R-K2500-K2500R-/261359773444?pt=US_Vintage_Pro_Audio_Equipment&hash=item3cda41a704

[attachment=1]Screen Shot 2013-12-28 at 7.59.02 AM.png[/attachment]

[attachment=0]Screen Shot 2013-12-28 at 7.59.12 AM.png[/attachment]

#21 Sat, 28 Dec 2013 - 15:41 68kMLA
Yea, they are kind of pricey.

#22 Sat, 28 Dec 2013 - 16:47 68kMLA
I may have come up with a really sneak, very nasty hack to get around the limitations of the MoBo pads for Bank A on the IIsi . . . among others. [}:)] ]'>

#23 Sat, 28 Dec 2013 - 16:49 68kMLA
if i can use a heat gun I'm game… if i have to solder an ass load of wires…. not interested…. :-)

#24 Sat, 28 Dec 2013 - 17:28 68kMLA
if i can use a heat gun I'm game… if i have to solder an ass load of wires…. not interested…. :-)
Click to expand...
Id rather rip my eyes out and jump off a 20 story building than solder an ass load of wires.

#25 Sat, 28 Dec 2013 - 18:17 68kMLA
This is very interesting development, thanks Uni!

#26 Sat, 28 Dec 2013 - 19:24 68kMLA
if i can use a heat gun I'm game… if i have to solder an ass load of wires…. not interested…. :-)
Click to expand...
Id rather rip my eyes out and jump off a 20 story building than solder an ass load of wires.
Click to expand...
No worries, I feel the same way about soldering large numbers of wires. There are a bare minimum of wires involved in the new concept, just a few jumper wires, but it requires one to three thru hole connectors soldered to a custom PCB. Worst case scenario might include some surface mount ICs though.

Gotta do some research for the project if I can get my nose out of Illustrator for a bit. [;)] ]'>

#27 Sun, 29 Dec 2013 - 01:03 68kMLA
So how badly do you guys wanna see 16. Meg's of ram onboard a IIsi?

Or does 4 meg sound like plenty? For now?

#28 Sun, 29 Dec 2013 - 01:59 68kMLA
128MB or bust! [}:)] ]'>

#29 Sun, 29 Dec 2013 - 02:28 68kMLA
lol then you know something i don't :)

#30 Sun, 29 Dec 2013 - 04:01 68kMLA
Oh, I've mentioned it here and there several times, but I did my first pencil sketch hanging with the kid in his lab while he updated rodent data the other day.

trag signed off on trying for the 128MB cap on the IIsi in the discussion we had in that first link. [:)] ]'>

#31 Sun, 29 Dec 2013 - 13:01 68kMLA
That would be interesting. The Q605 definitely does at least up to 260 MB of RAM. I know that from experience. And the 4MB on board can probably be replaced with 64MB, so I imagine that machine could go to 256 + 64 = 320MB at a minimum, perhaps more.
The IIsi should go to 128MB. My understanding is that it's essentially a IIci with a microphone jack, so the memory pins should be there for 128MB.
Click to expand...
this was from here: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=15958

I guess this is good info for both of my threads… anything to help the cause.

#32 Sun, 29 Dec 2013 - 14:28 68kMLA
;)
#33 Wed, 15 Jan 2014 - 06:18 68kMLA
this ram,

2m per chip also does not work in the IIsi… even with running off the video card.

[attachment=0]Screen Shot 2014-01-15 at 1.16.43 AM.png[/attachment]

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