MacSD - Multi-device SCSI adapter with audio

[Kay K.M.Mods]

@JDW No, I thought it was impossible to change only 5V. It was a long time ago so I don't remember much, but I think it was the voltage adjustment before the regulator input. In other words, there is no function to adjust only +5V.

I also noticed that rather than taking +5V from the SCSI or SWIM connector line, it's better to take it from the MOLEX 4pin HD connector, it's pure +5V direct from the analog board, with no diodes or fuses. . Well, it doesn't matter which one you prefer.

 

[YMK]

SCSI TRMPWR should not be used as a measurement because of the diode, but I think @JDW's readings are valid.

I'm not all that interested in what comes off the Molex connector.

What counts is the voltage around the CPU, RAM and VRAM.

@Kay K.M.Mods Though there may not be a control for only 5V, is there one which affects 5V?

 

[Kay K.M.Mods]

SCSI TRMPWR should not be used as a measurement because of the diode, but I think @JDW's readings are valid.

I'm not all that interested in what comes off the Molex connector.

What counts is the voltage around the CPU, RAM and VRAM.

@Kay K.M.Mods Though there may not be a control for only 5V, is there one which affects 5V?

Yeah, What I meant is that the Molex HD connector goes straight to the analog board, nothing in between the 5V and 12V. Because of the structure of the Color Classic, it can be taken out from the back, making it convenient for measuring voltage.
I'm not good at English, so I'm sorry if there are any wrong expressions, but I express that we can do whatever we like.

Hummm...I can't imagine anything controlling only 5V...

 

[Jeff]

I'd like to see a screen and buttons on it, like the floppy emu

 

[YMK]

Hummm...I can't imagine anything controlling only 5V...

But which pot has an effect on 5V (along with other rails) ?

 

[JDW]

@YMK
In an earlier post in this thread, @Kay K.M.Mods said that PP7 changes the 5V rail and something else, but he didn't specify what else. I assume 12V too, but maybe something else also?

Also note that @Mu0n wrote this 68kMLA post about voltage adjustments where he indicates that PP1 changes the 5V rail, but that seems to conflict with what POWERCC says here, which says that PP1 only affects "+60V, +24V & +8.4V". I wrote him a PM to ask for his feedback in this thread, but he hasn't replied, so I will send him PM over the the 68kMLA right now to ensure he sees what I am asking. I want to know all the facts from people with first-hand experience (not just hearsay) before I start fiddling with those POTs. I haven't touched either yet.

 

[Mu0n]

@Mu0n
I found your 68kMLA post about voltage adjustments. You seem to indicate that PP1 changes the 5V rail, but that seems to conflict with what POWERCC says here, claiming that PP1 only affects "+60V, +24V & +8.4V". Which POT really affected the 5V rail, and did you turn it clockwise or counter-clockwise, and about how much did you turn it? (I'm trying to figure out what PP7 does versus PP1, before I touch anything.)

Thanks!

View attachment 9865

Hey @JDW. I won't be the one who has the magic solution to your issue, that is a certainty. Whatever progress I've done on the CC has been annihilated in the last months since I can't get my CC's CRT to energize anymore. The best I can do is to get back the correct soft power mechanism going with the keyboard. You should not treat me with any deference on this topic.

PP7 is the one you turn to affect the 5V rail in real time when it's powered. I don't remember offhand if clockwise increases or the other way around, but it was not that extremely twitchy that you'd break things if you mistakenly went the wrong way if you go slow. You can follow its traces all the way into the logic board. I wrote notes on a piece of paper months ago noting where I got GND and +5V, can't find it atm.

I did attempt to turn PP1 a bit out of desperation (trying to get a stable image with all colors), but that got old fast since I never risked it while the AB was installed in the chassis, it's too close to the CRT gun and various other things. I just brought it back close to its initial orientation based on reference photographs in the end.

 

[JDW]

Whatever progress I've done on the CC has been annihilated in the last months since I can't get my CC's CRT to energize anymore.

Thanks for the Feedback. Sorry to hear that. Do you think the problem you have now with the CRT resulted from your fiddling with those two POTs?

 

[Mu0n]

Thanks for the Feedback. Sorry to hear that. Do you think the problem you have now with the CRT resulted from your fiddling with those two POTs?

No. After fiddling with the pots, lots of reflowing and various other things happened over the course of a few weeks. Then I got a working state for a few days. They are not involved.

 

[retr01]

Hmmm. Those Sony Trinitron CRTs are built to last "forever." Energizing it should not be the problem unless it is not getting enough voltage. IIRC, it requires over 10k volts whipped up by the flyback to deliver sufficient energy for the firing of the photons. Could the pathways be messed up where the power fizzled before arriving at the photon gun part of the CRT?

 

[Mu0n]

Hmmm. Those Sony Trinitron CRTs are built to last "forever." Energizing it should not be the problem unless it is not getting enough voltage. IIRC, it requires over 10k volts whipped up by the flyback to deliver sufficient energy for the firing of the photons. Could the pathways be messed up where the power fizzled before arriving at the photon gun part of the CRT?

Who knows. I don't have confidence in measuring that side of the machine (don't have the tools) and after months of not getting help, I've put that aside. Also, electron gun, the photons happen once they hit the phosphor side.

 

[JDW]

@YMK
I installed Firmware update 2.0.2 successfully on one of my MacSD units.

MacSD Commander is really neat. I love the little animated rocket icon in the upper left corner of the About box! I do have a question about the Preferences though. When "Transfer priority" is set to "High" (default is "Normal") does that just reduce the CPU time to background tasks? Is that why the fastest speed is not the default?

Regarding MIDI...

On your website here, what is the Google drive download named "MacSD General MIDI Synthesizer Patch Set" and how do we use it?
(I am utterly ignorant about MIDI, which is why I ask.)

Also, when doing the Easy Install of OMS 2.3.8, it asks if I have certain MIDI hardware:

'Do you have an Opcode Studio 4, Studio 5, or Studio "X" series MIDI interface?'

I just clicked No and it proceeded with the installation. The MIDI Driver Read Me file made no mention of that question during the Easy Install, which is why I wanted to mention it.

I then proceeded to copy the MacSD MIDI Driver into the OMS folder inside my System Folder (System 7.1), but I did not Restart because your instructions don't say to Restart at that point. (I only Restarted after just having installed OMS, and then after that copied the MacSD MIDI Driver into the OMS folder.) But when I proceed with the instructions and launch the OMS Setup app, it throws an error dialog which says:

The OMS driver "MacSD MIDI Driver" could not be installed.
-54, File is locked

I quit at that point and checked, and sure enough the said file was locked. I unlocked it and then relaunched the OMS Setup app, and it worked without that error dialog.

I then proceeded with the instructions until I got past the serial ports (which I left unchecked), and I clicked Search. It then said "Searching for driver hardware..." and searched for about 5 seconds while scanning various files but when it came to MacSD MIDI Driver, my SE/30 froze and the black arrow pointer wouldn't move. I had no choice but to cycle the power and reboot. I relaunched the OMS Setup app and tried again, but it freezes at the same point. This time I pressed the Interrupt switch and typed "G Finder" and return, which took me back to the Desktop without a restart.

I then used the QT4 installer on MacSD's Legacy Installers CD to uninstall QT 4.0.3, thinking that new version may not be compatible based on your recommendation of using QT versions 2.5 to 3. After the QT4 uninstall, I installed QT3 and replaced the Sound Manager with the older QT3 version. Sound control Panel was already 8.0.5. I then restarted but it freezes at the desktop. I restarted with Shift held down, and it boots without a freeze. I spent over an hour selectively disabling extensions and Control Panels with Conflict Catcher to try to figure out what happened. Not sure why, but I finally found that Apple Menu Options 1.1.2 was causing the freeze immediately upon booting to the desktop. It worked fine prior to my QT3 install. Hmmm. Well, with it disabled, I can now boot. However, I still get the freeze at the same exact point when I try the OMS Setup app again.

Any thoughts?

My SE/30 currently does not have any accelerator installed (just the stock 16MHz 030), and it has 82MB RAM with 32-bit addressing ON. I have the Garrett's Workshop GW4402A ROM SIMM for Mac SE/30 installed, but that's the only thing non-stock on the motherboard.

UPDATE#1: I continued to get freezes when loading an app off my MacSD and then chose Quit. That didn't happen when I booted off my ROM Disk and loaded apps off that. I also connected a second MacSD externally with it's own SD card and the old firmware and found it to work fine. The seems to indicate that either the Firmware Update 2.x corrupted one or more of the images on my SD card, or doing the QuickTime uninstall and reinstall did. I restored images to my SD card from a backup and now it's working fine, but I need to go through the installation of the MIDI driver and related software again. I will update again when that is done.

UPDATE#2: After reinstallation and testing, it yet again freezes at the same point I mentioned earlier. So I'm throwing in the towel for now. Please let me know if you have any thoughts or suggestions. Thanks!

 

[YMK]

MacSD Commander is really neat. I love the little animated rocket icon in the upper left corner of the About box! I do have a question about the Preferences though. When "Transfer priority" is set to "High" (default is "Normal") does that just reduce the CPU time to background tasks? Is that why the fastest speed is not the default?

Thanks! The priority control determines how often Commander gives back control of the CPU. High priority does maximize transfer speed, but if you have other programs open, the response can lag, which is why it's not the default option.

Regarding MIDI...

One your website here, what is the Google drive download named "MacSD General MIDI Synthesizer Patch Set" and how do we use it?
(I am utterly ignorant about MIDI, which is why I ask.)

The macsd_synth_gm1.mps file contains waveform data needed by the synthesizer. It belongs in the root directory of the card. When the synthesizer is enabled, MacSD will look for this file. There's no need to supply the name in the config file.

I just clicked No and it proceeded with the installation. The MIDI Driver Read Me file made no mention of that question during the Easy Install, which is why I wanted to mention it.

'No' is fine, since you don't have this hardware.

How do you have the CD audio output connected on the SE/30?

I'll try to duplicate your setup in the next few weeks. I have to wrap up some other tasks first.

 

[JDW]

The priority control determines how often Commander gives back control of the CPU. High priority does maximize transfer speed, but if you have other programs open, the response can lag, which is why it's not the default option.

The macsd_synth_gm1.mps file contains waveform data needed by the synthesizer. It belongs in the root directory of the card. When the synthesizer is enabled, MacSD will look for this file. There's no need to supply the name in the config file.

How do you have the CD audio output connected on the SE/30?

Thank you for your time in answering my questions. And I hope you don't mind that I posted here instead of a private email. I thought our public back-and-forth might help other MacSD owners who are reading this thread.

In answer to your question, I currently do not have CD audio from MacSD connected.

By the way, I just now swapped the motherboard in my SE/30 for one with a stock ROM installed. Different RAM configuration too. I wanted to see if that made a difference, but it doesn't. Even with the stock SE/30 ROM, when booted into System 7.1, the OMS Setup app performs the "Searching..." part but the SE/30 immediately freezes when the "MacSD MIDI Driver" name is displayed, as I reported before.

No rush to confirm on your end. Just whenever you have the time. I certainly appreciate your help.

 

[YMK]

Preserving posts from the doomed Vendor section:


MacSD is a SCSI adapter for Macs, DOS, Windows and other platforms.

It's a bus-powered device in a 3.5" drive form factor.

General features:

• Reads up to 3.2MB/s, writes up to 2.5MB/s (PowerMac 6100, 57MHz clock speed)
• Hard drive images
• CD images - Data CD, audio CD, mixed mode, iso, bin + cue/toc
• Composite images - Allows mounting of multiple floppy / volume / MiniVMac images under one SCSI ID
• Move files from the SD card to your Mac with the Commander application
• Overclocking options - Choose a clock speed of 33, 48 or 57 MHz
• FAT32 filesystem for easy image transfer
• MBR partition-mapped images for >4GB disks
• Disc catalog allows rotating through CD images without rebooting
• Easy firmware updates via SD card

Audio features:

• CD audio output
  • Stereo 44100Hz at 12.45-13.28 bit resolution
  • Software volume control
• MIDI synthesizer
  • Stereo 32000Hz at 13.75 bit resolution
  • Up to 32 voice polyphony
  • 13 drum kits
  • 128 General MIDI instruments
  • Three reverb effects
  • 3D depth effect
  • Works with Mac over SCSI and with PC as SoundBlaster wavetable daughterboard
• MIDI routing system
  • OMS MIDI driver for Mac
  • SCSI, USB and MPU-401/DIN interfaces
  • Hanging note correction for Creative Labs cards

Fan control features:

• Up to eight temperature sensor channels (sensors not included)
• Up to two PWM fan control outputs
• Fixed speed or temperature-based fan control

USB interface:

• Serial terminal interface for monitoring and modifying parameters
• Bidirectional MIDI interface

Performance on a PowerMac 6100 with 57MHz overclock:

MacSD ships with the Commander application, which easily moves files from the FAT32-formatted SD card, to your Mac. This is a convenient way to move downloads to older Macs without networking or emulators:

 

[YMK]

(more from the vendor section)

JDW said:
But can pretty much any file be downloaded from Macintosh Garden be placed in the root (or directory of one's choice) on a properly FAT-formatted SD card, and then the user would put that SD card into MacSD on the vintage Mac, boot the vintage Mac, and then user the Commander app to select/move those files to the primary MacSD volume (and/or any connected SCSI drives)?

Yes, any file type can be moved. Commander does not filter based on type or extension.

tt-30 said:
I didn't know about the Commander and Midi applications since I don't recall those features being available when I bought mine a few years ago.

Yours must have shipped with pre-v1.0.0 firmware then. There have been many improvements since, including a significant performance increase.

Take a look through the manual. You might be interested in some of the other new features.

tt-30 said:
@YMK Is there any more info on the synth engine? The product page mentions it is sample based. Does it include Roland type samples like 808 drums?

The synthesizer does include 808 drums, sampled from the Roland SC-55 and the Yamaha MU100. These are all of the available kits:

There's more information about the synthesizer and options in the manual. If there's anything specific you'd like to know, feel free to ask.

As for mixing MacSD's output into the SE/30's audio circuit, I haven't looked into it. It may be easier to add another audio output at the expansion slot if you have that available. If you feed the logic board audio into MacSD's CD Audio In header, it will handle the mixing.

There's latency when using MIDI over SCSI of a few hundred milliseconds. This isn't a problem for games and .mid file playback, but it could be an issue for other uses. This latency does not affect MIDI received over the expansion or USB port.

Here's a sample of the synthesizer on an LC475: