Thread

Lapis Technologies SE-DPD video card info?

Lapis Technologies SE-DPD video card info? Hardware 14 posts Dec 12, 2015 — Apr 2, 2023

#1 Sat, 12 Dec 2015 - 15:41

I recently came into possession of this video card and haven't been able to find much info about it just googling. What I could find suggests that it is capable of outputting to either an old school TTL display, one of those weird full page mac displays (that a Radius card drives?), or standard VGA. It has the headers for all three although I don't know if it is actually able to drive ANY of those or they just made a generic PCB and populated it differently for each. I am guessing the latter. Still it would be worth hooking it up to a VGA monitor to see.

The pin-out on the VGA header seems off. The h&v sync are in the right place but the RGB pins don't seem to be where I would expect them for either a generic VGA or Mac 15pin connector. This is just judging from following the traces back to the line driver chip nearby.

Does anyone have any experience with this card?

#2 Sun, 13 Dec 2015 - 10:47

Found Online:

Video cards for the SE: ask about pric. Note: unless noted, these SE Radius cards need a Radius Magic Bus adapter 630-5010-A for the SE, which we have available. Radius MPD/SE, video connector not available, two wires. (2) Radius TPD. BNC connector Radius TPD/FDP-ASIC, BNC connector Lapis Tech. Inc display server. 9-pin and 15-pin connector

http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/m_nubus.html

Also, here are some drivers:

https://web.archive.org/web/20140209171207/http://www.macdrivermuseum.net/video.shtml

#3 Sun, 13 Dec 2015 - 10:51

Can DPD be Dual Page Display ?

#4 Sun, 13 Dec 2015 - 11:01

Hey there

YES it's a Dual Page Display card.

I own the same card but for the SE/30. It has the same 9 pin connector as well.

I checked the Mac Driver Museum. And I don't think the driver for this card is on it. It could be the DisplayServer II - DPD but I'm not sure.

Anyway here is the link A collection of 16 Lapis drivers

BUT maybe the driver is the same for both SE and SE/30 ? Who knows?

I can't start mine up (its PSU is off to Uni) but as soon as I get it back I'll make an archive of the CDEV and I'll put it on Mega so you could try it.

I hope it still works, since it was left in the woods for quite some time, I think it may need some new caps (Especially C31!)

It surely is a great find, and you have the Video cable as well as I can see from your other post!

#5 Sun, 13 Dec 2015 - 11:09

Here I have found some more info about the DisplayServer II DPD:

DisplayServer II-DPD. (Hardware Review) (DisplayServer II video card for using VGA monitor with Macintosh) (evaluation)

Lapis Technologies' $549 DisplayServer II-DPD video board for the
Macintosh lets users attach a VGA or multiscanning monitor or even
a television set to an Apple Macintosh as a display device but
suffers from some compatibility problems with popular
applications. Versions of the DisplayServer are available for
every Mac model. The monochrome NuBus version supports nine
different resolutions and can run several Apple monitors. Users
add an INIT to the System Folder and configure an 18-pin jumper
block. The DisplayServer has standard DB9 and DB15 connectors; a
$15 adapter is necessary in order to use an Apple monitor. It
does not work properly with Word 4.0 and Excel 2.2, but produces a
crisp, clear image once running properly. DisplayServer is best
for those who want large-screen monitors; its is more expensive
than Apple's standard monochrome card and monitor, but far less
expensive than full-page or two-page displays.

It doesn't say if it was available for the SE though...

------

I had a closer look at my Lapis card: It just says SE/30 - DPD

There is hope! It might work! IIRC, the CDEV acts as a driver and will detect the card even though there are no display connected to it.

When I got my SE/30 the card was in there and could "see" a 19 inch B&W display even though it wasn't there ! AND I don't remember seeing some special 030 name on that CDEV.

But then I can't test it right now until I get the PSU back from Uni.

PS: I do think the massive CRT you found next to the SE IS THE MONITOR THAT CAME WITH IT

I HOPE IT STILL WORKS !

#6 Sun, 13 Dec 2015 - 17:47

So yeah it seems i can't read properly my own quote... The Displayserver was indeed available for every model of the Mac line in 1988. So it must be the Displayserver SE-DPD and the driver included in the archive (see above) is the one for your card.

Please, do let us know how it turns out !

#7 Sun, 13 Dec 2015 - 22:16

Thanks for the info! I will definitely post back when I get the chance to test this thing out. Im excited about it. Have a few recap projects going on right now though so it might be a while.