Thanks for the well wishes, comrades. I think I've finally come up with a new approach to the seemingly insoluble PExBootProblem!
I have a friend at work who's working on his degree in Computer Science and I've offered him one FabHack of his choice in return for help on this latest attempt to scale the PEx summit. I've got PLCC ROMs that'll bring the system up to the Boot Chimes level with the 9500 card or my 30 day trial limited SonnetTech Crescendo PCI/G3!
I'm going to have him look at coding a bootstrap routine (on the model of a system level batch file) that'll go on a new ROM SIMM PCB along with PLCC sockets for my two PLCC ROMs. The new ROM SIMM (?) Card's PCB layout and the enabling system level hackage would then be copyrighted, and the new ROM SIMMs could then be offered for sale (with said PLCC Sockets shipped empty [}
] ]'> ) 
The aim of this project is to force the PEx MLB/PLCC ROM, semi-booted system, to load the Sonnet PCI/G3's Drivers from another ROM. Then more code on the new ROM SIMM is intended to persuade the driver enabled Crescendo to poll the I/O Bus's Floppy/SCSI/IDE subsystems for media and then to load the OS.
Hopefully, at this point, OS 9.x will look for the on-board ROM on the ATI Video Card for its default resolution driver. This, in theory, will also poll whatever else is on the PCI Bus and any other extensions required for whatever else I want to do with the infuriatingly obstinate ProtoMacPOS.
This may stretch beyond the 30 day test period, but I know the G3 card enables the ATI Video Card on the "9500 Control System" in the same configuration that the PEx won't.
We'll see! }
Worst case scenario (excluding total failure
) ) will be to buy a SonnetTech I/O card and have the PCI/G3 bang the snot out of THAT sucker until OS 9.x loads from one of the freakin' I/O Card's ports and then shoves OS 9.x down said ProtoMacPOS's throat, or alternately, up any other available port of entry! [}] ]'>
MuaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =8-D
:approve:
BTW, before I start Googling, does anybody know if Apple ever published a PCI Architecture version of the NuBus Architecture level Designing Cards and Drivers for the Macintosh Family Hardware Third Edition sitting on my shelf?
< Dashes for home to see if there's a PCI section in DCaDftMFH3e >
< folds laundry >
< 8-o remembers to check for . . . nope, PCI isn't in the index :-/ >
< Dashes back to the coffee shop for caffeine, lunch, and WiFi >
Nope no PCI, just NuBus and all the PDS cards in that tome.
If there's no book in print, does anybody know on which developer CD such info might reside?
I have a friend at work who's working on his degree in Computer Science and I've offered him one FabHack of his choice in return for help on this latest attempt to scale the PEx summit. I've got PLCC ROMs that'll bring the system up to the Boot Chimes level with the 9500 card or my 30 day trial limited SonnetTech Crescendo PCI/G3!
I'm going to have him look at coding a bootstrap routine (on the model of a system level batch file) that'll go on a new ROM SIMM PCB along with PLCC sockets for my two PLCC ROMs. The new ROM SIMM (?) Card's PCB layout and the enabling system level hackage would then be copyrighted, and the new ROM SIMMs could then be offered for sale (with said PLCC Sockets shipped empty [}
] ]'> ) The aim of this project is to force the PEx MLB/PLCC ROM, semi-booted system, to load the Sonnet PCI/G3's Drivers from another ROM. Then more code on the new ROM SIMM is intended to persuade the driver enabled Crescendo to poll the I/O Bus's Floppy/SCSI/IDE subsystems for media and then to load the OS.
Hopefully, at this point, OS 9.x will look for the on-board ROM on the ATI Video Card for its default resolution driver. This, in theory, will also poll whatever else is on the PCI Bus and any other extensions required for whatever else I want to do with the infuriatingly obstinate ProtoMacPOS.
This may stretch beyond the 30 day test period, but I know the G3 card enables the ATI Video Card on the "9500 Control System" in the same configuration that the PEx won't.
We'll see! }
Worst case scenario (excluding total failure
) ) will be to buy a SonnetTech I/O card and have the PCI/G3 bang the snot out of THAT sucker until OS 9.x loads from one of the freakin' I/O Card's ports and then shoves OS 9.x down said ProtoMacPOS's throat, or alternately, up any other available port of entry! [}] ]'>MuaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =8-D
:approve:
BTW, before I start Googling, does anybody know if Apple ever published a PCI Architecture version of the NuBus Architecture level Designing Cards and Drivers for the Macintosh Family Hardware Third Edition sitting on my shelf?
< Dashes for home to see if there's a PCI section in DCaDftMFH3e >
< folds laundry >
< 8-o remembers to check for . . . nope, PCI isn't in the index :-/ >
< Dashes back to the coffee shop for caffeine, lunch, and WiFi >
Nope no PCI, just NuBus and all the PDS cards in that tome.
If there's no book in print, does anybody know on which developer CD such info might reside?