Is the mac se radius accelerator rare machine

[GiGaBiTe]

One side of the rails usually has notches in it so you can slide the board back just a bit and hinge it out. I can get my SE FDHD board out with the TotalSystems Gemini Ultra mounted to it out that way and I don't have to bend the case.

 

[siliboi]

One side of the rails usually has notches in it so you can slide the board back just a bit and hinge it out. I can get my SE FDHD board out with the TotalSystems Gemini Ultra mounted to it out that way and I don't have to bend the case.

There’s a black connector that connects to a riser card which goes past the crt , this connector only lets me slide the motherboard halfway to the notches before stopping it on the metal case so I can’t even get to the notches to hinge it’s screwed into the mobo from the top and there’s no way to get at the screws so far I don’t see a way to avoid bending

 

[NeXT]

I vaguely recall getting the board in was a total pain, so I think you are on the right track.

 

[olePigeon]

There’s a black connector that connects to a riser card which goes past the crt , this connector only lets me slide the motherboard halfway to the notches before stopping it on the metal case so I can’t even get to the notches to hinge it’s screwed into the mobo from the top and there’s no way to get at the screws so far I don’t see a way to avoid bending

Some upgrades require you to use leverage to remove the board as the upgrade itself will prevent it from being removed the normal way. Slide it as far as it will go to make sure the front edge of the board is clear of the chassis. Next, insert a spudger or (if you're careful) a flathead screwdriver in the gap between the board and chassis rail. Apply gentle outward pressure so you flex the chassis rail outward while pushing the motherboard upward and out of the chassis.

The chassis rail only has to move outward about a millimeter, and it'll spring back to its original position once you get the board out.

Do the same to get the board back in. Place one edge of the board all the way into one rail, then place the spudger between the board and other rail. Gently pull your spudger inward to flex the rail outward and move the motherboard downward back in place. Just make sure the front edge of the board is clear of the lip of the chassis before doing so.

I did it so many times at one point that I was able to do it by hand. The chassis rail really doesn't need to move outward that much.

 

[siliboi]

Some upgrades require you to use leverage to remove the board as the upgrade itself will prevent it from being removed the normal way. Slide it as far as it will go to make sure the front edge of the board is clear of the chassis. Next, insert a spudger or (if you're careful) a flathead screwdriver in the gap between the board and chassis rail. Apply gentle outward pressure so you flex the chassis rail outward while pushing the motherboard upward and out of the chassis.

The chassis rail only has to move outward about a millimeter, and it'll spring back to its original position once you get the board out.

Do the same to get the board back in. Place one edge of the board all the way into one rail, then place the spudger between the board and other rail. Gently pull your spudger inward to flex the rail outward and move the motherboard downward back in place. Just make sure the front edge of the board is clear of the lip of the chassis before doing so.

I did it so many times at one point that I was able to do it by hand. The chassis rail really doesn't need to move outward that much.

Oh boy lol I appreciate the advice we’ll get her out without breaking anything I’ve got a few spudgers

 

[siliboi]

Finally took it apart not that fun to take apart had to bend the case

Looks like its a 68020 with a two page display board i also have a mac se fdhd witht he same board inside but i think 68030 not sure what fpu

I wonder if these are valubal ive seen from 300-2500 on eBay it definitely makes the computer faster for sure

One has 4mb of ram too which is pretty crazy this one the battery didn’t bust but the other one puked kuckily the dust kept it from getting damaged im going to cut the battery off this one before i out it back together

Funny thing is the damaged one actually started first boot lol

I feel like once i get it all cleaned up and repaired it will run no problem but its very rusty so most likely even the psu will need a full recap as well on the puked one.



I’m very curious about this two page thing can’t wait to hook it up to a monitor what is the dip switch setting for mac se external monitors

Tell me more about these cards if you see anything popping out at you

 

[Istarian]

I wonder if these are valubal ive seen from 300-2500 on eBay it definitely makes the computer faster for sure

The "value" of anything, outside of it's immediate utility, is always fundamentally subjective...

Also, whenever you look at "ebay prices" it is essential to focus on listings that actually SOLD.

I could list a singlr toggle switch for $25K, but nobody in their right mind is ever going to bite (fishing metaphor) unless they're awash in untold riches and want to do something silly for the entertainment value.

-----

I suspect the lower end of that price range may reflect what an enthusiast might be willing to pay for a drop-in solution that results in a faster machine.

Coming from a modern perspective, many people find vintage/retro computers to be too slow for them (i.e they have no patience and aren't necessarily interested in an authentic experience so much as real/pseudo nostalgia).

The upper end is nonsensical except for a collector who has lots of spare cash and is missing that particular item.

 

[Istarian]

Also, I think the card itself is far more valuable intact than for it's a constituent components.

 

[siliboi]

Also, I think the card itself is far more valuable intact than for it's a constituent components.

Also, I think the card itself is far more valuable intact than for it's a constituent components.

Oh ya I’m just learning about accelerator cards I feel like a se30 fdhd with an accelerator card would be valuable who knows if it’s better inside the computer or out but I’ve been trying it out I feel like I should dump the roms as well for people to explore while I’m at it I usually retro bright and play with them I usually keep one machine out of a lot and I have a few more of these as well as a mac plus

The mac plus made magic smoke and I replaced that paper cap thingie.

Seems this card is missing the fpu or was made without it I wonder if the rom is always the same and I can just plop the piper one in there I don’t know anything about radius cards so I’m not sure what the proper fpu would be it is 68 pin

 

[Istarian]

Assuming the slot/socket is indeed for that purpose, a Motorola Floating Point Unit (FPU) such as the MC68881 or MC68882 (compatible, but faster) would typically be used with an MC68020 or MC68030 microprocessor.

I believe you want (need?) the CPU and FPU to be speed-matched (rated for the same
clock speed or faster).

 

[siliboi]

Assuming the slot/socket is indeed for that purpose, a Motorola Floating Point Unit (FPU) such as the MC68881 or MC68882 (compatible, but faster) would typically be used with an MC68020 or MC68030 microprocessor.

I believe you want (need?) the CPU and FPU to be speed-matched (rated for the same
clock speed or faster).

Oh I see well hopefully I have the original docs around somewhere I can look at

 

[siliboi]

Oh I see well hopefully I have the original docs around somewhere I can look at

I’m not sure what else would go there most accel cards had an fpu

 

[GiGaBiTe]

Assuming the slot/socket is indeed for that purpose, a Motorola Floating Point Unit (FPU) such as the MC68881 or MC68882 (compatible, but faster) would typically be used with an MC68020 or MC68030 microprocessor.

I believe you want (need?) the CPU and FPU to be speed-matched (rated for the same
clock speed or faster).

Upgrade board vendors were often naughty and overclocked lower speed rated parts. It wasn't uncommon to see 680x0 CPUs rated sometimes much lower than the speed they were actually run at. 6888x FPUs could and were often run asynchronously clocked from the 680x0 CPU. This obviously reduced performance, but floating point code was rare outside of scientific applications.

I believe Mac System Software did make some rare use of floating point code in the UI that would run much faster with a FPU installed.

 

[Rtt158]

You're going to have to be more specific. Radius made all sorts of accelerator boards. If you don't have an exact model number, take a picture of it. Any sort of compact Mac accelerator these days are rare, but more and more of them have been cloned and have gerber files available for them to be produced again.

If it has a CPU like a 68020/030 on it, it's a CPU accelerator. If it has a video port on the back of the machine, it's for an external display.

Any sort of CPU accelerator is highly beneficial on a compact Mac, because of their slow 8 MHz 68000s. They usually can't do anything about the maximum memory, but having a faster CPU makes them much more usable. I have a 25 MHz 68030+68881 TotalSystems Gemini Ultra in my Mac SE. It's one of the few accelerators that has additional memory on it, so it doesn't have to rely on the slow 16 bit wide memory on the main logic board. With all that effort going into keeping older Mac hardware useful, it’s nice to have simple modern conveniences as well. An app for tv remote can give you an easy way to control a compatible TV from your phone without adding another physical remote to the setup.

That's a good point about identifying the exact Radius board first. The old Radius Accelerator line included several different models, including 16 and 25 MHz 68020 boards for the Plus and SE, so just knowing it's a "Radius accelerator" isn't really enough to tell what it does.

If it's a CPU accelerator, I'd definitely keep it in a compact Mac. Going from the stock 8 MHz 68000 to a 68020 makes a surprisingly big difference in everyday use. And if the board has its own cache or RAM, that's even more interesting because it can avoid some of the limitations of the original memory subsystem.

A clear photo of both sides of the board, especially the chips and any labels, would probably be the quickest way to identify it. There are also still archived driver collections for Radius accelerators, which can be useful once the exact model is known.