holy grails (no, not the usual one . . .)

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dankephoto's picture
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holy grails (no, not the usual one . . .)

I've got something cool . . .

(see next post)

dan k

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not about using 'Book LCDs . . .

but something nearly as grailish . . . for some of us anyway. It is hardware BTW.

I can't just spill it, y'all have to figger it out. Here's a clue or two:

Software overview
. . . Mac OS overview
. . . . . . Finder:. . . 8.5
. . . . . . System:. . . 8.5 US
-snipped stuff-
Memory overview
. . . Disk cache:. . . 4608K
. . . Virtual memory:. . . is off
. . . Built-in memory:. . . 144 MB
. . . . . . Location Size Memory type
. . . . . . Logic board 16 MB DRAM
. . . . . . expansion RAM128 MB expansion RAM
. . . External L2 cache:. . . 256K
Hardware overview
. . . Machine ID:. . . 306
. . . Model name:. . . PowerBook 3400 series
. . . Keyboard type:. . . PowerBook Extended Keyboard
. . . Processor info:. . . PowerPC 603ev
. . . Machine speed:. . . 240 MHz
. . . Nanokernel version: 1.01
. . . Nanokernel pool extends: 4096
. . . Nanokernel scheduled CPUs:1
Network overview
-snipped network infos-
Production information
. . . . . . ROM revision:. . . $77D.36F1
. . . Devices and Volumes
. . . Expansion Bay 1
. . . . . . ID = 0
. . . . . . . . . . . . DVD-ROM drive
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Driver version:. . . 1.0.3
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mac OS partitions:. . . 1
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Removable media:. . . Yes
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vendor:. . . MATSHITA
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Revision number:. . . AA12
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Product ID:. . . CD-RW CW-8121
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Serial number:. . . Not available
. . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mac OS 8.5
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Volume format:. . . Mac OS Standard (HFS)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Capacity:. . . 549.98 MB
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Available:. . . 73.37 MB
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Percent full:. . . 86
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Write protected:. . . Yes
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Is being file shared:. . . No
. . . Internal ATA 0
-snipped details-

Well? What's so flipping interesting about this, you ask? Mwahahahahahaha . . . .

:coolmac:

dan k

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FRIGGIN EASY!!!!BUT WOW...

Its so obvious.
You have a DVD-ROM/CDRW drive installed.That's amazing!

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DVD-ROM?

DVD-ROM?

Edit: Oops...beaten to the chase.

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Rats! I thought for sure it would take longer . . .

Its so obvious.
You have a DVD-ROM/CDRW drive installed.That's amazing!

DVD-ROM?

I should have left in all the extra ASP info, maybe it wouldn't have been so obvious? Anyway, yep, that there's a slotload combo drive from a TiBook installed in, and booting a PB3400.

The key was my acquisition of a super-rare MCE combo drive for Wallstreet series. I've been searching for an MCE WS optical for a loooooong time, finally snagged the rarest of the lot, the CDRW/DVD combo drive.

I've long known the Wallstreet shares its EB interface with PBs 5300, 3400 and Kanga, so first thing I did was rip the interface board out of the MCE EBM and cobble it together with a Matshita CW-8121, and stuff it into a 3400's EB. Wingo-zingo, booted right up.

Hmmmm, how hard would it be to have a batch of these IF board PCBs made? And would there be a viable market for 3400/3500/WS optical EBMs? I'm thinking the most problematic part of making up a batch will be sourcing the PB-side connector. ISTR researching sources for this part and finding it just isn't available. I could be mistaken, and hope I am! If not available commercially, the only real source will be from existing 5300/3400/WS EBMs, eg: all the floppy EBMs, which use the same connector part.

And what are the ethical considerations re: copying MCE's PCB? On the face of it, it sure looks like a direct copy would be some sort of intellectual property trespass . . . But the design is pretty straightforward, a bunch of traces linking the two connectors.

:?

dan k

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looks like a single EBM case design . . .

for 3400/3500/WS would be quite possible, with the only difference between 3400/3500 and WS being the outer bezel.

In both formfactors a slim optical just fits into the EB, so there can be no sides on the EBM. The MCE EBM has the top stuck to the mechanism with double-sided tape. The bottom is attached only at the right side, right under the 'wing'.

I'm constructing a page detailing the MCE design, I'll post the url when it's up.

dan k

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As I mentioned on the LEM G-b

As I mentioned on the LEM G-books list, the only real difficulty I can see is in sourcing the expansion bay connectors, as they haven't been produced in ages. The PCB itself is easy, just throw both the connectors plus the signal locations into an auto-routing program and get the boards manufactured by a prototyping service. Getting the connectors soldered onto the boards is also relatively straightforward -- although highly specialised equipment is required, there are any number of companies that can do it for a fee.

The product page for the connector is here: http://catalog.tycoelectronics.com/TE/bin/TE.Connect?M=CONTAINS&C=1&PN=787481-1&LG=1&I=13&button.x=23&button.y=9 -- I think the internal connector is the 787481-1, which means the EBM would need a 787046-1 plug.

If you can get anywhere with regard to the connector situation, I'd be very willing to bear some of the financial burden; the expansion bays on the Wallstreet are very flexible indeed, and it'd be great to be able to take advantage of that.

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Tyco (neé AMP) 90 pin CHAMP connector NLA

. . . the only real difficulty I can see is in sourcing the expansion bay connectors, as they haven't been produced in ages.

Yeppers Ben, that's the chief difficulty and likely the reason MCE dropped their line of WS EBMs. The most recent AMP docs I could find were dated from '99 or thereabouts.

I doubt there are any NOS on these floating about either, there probably weren't too many OEMs other than Apple using this connector. I wonder what sort of quantity Tyco/AMP would require for a new run, and what sort of fortune it'd cost?

As crazy as it sounds, probably the only realistic source for these connectors is from existing EBMs. I desoldered one from a 5300 floppy EBM's PCB, it got a little melted from my crude hotair gun technique but it's still usable. However I think with a little practice I could get 'em off very cleanly.

I figure if I produce a run of the PCBs, I'd have to charge $$ and an old EBM trade-in before customer gets their new EBM.

BTW, here's my page on the subject, just PCB pics so far.

dan k

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