Timid is perhaps unfair, but not wholly so...in any case, I've decided to start a new thread to recount my experiences in performing upgrades to my LC475.
First some history. I'm not perhaps the typical Mac enthusiast, starting my computing journey back in 1985 with a C64. I used Commodore 8 bit computers into the early 90's before moving into the PC realm. For brevity, I will say that somewhat by accident, I had a couple of years foray into the Mac world; 128K, Plus, Classic II and finally an LC475. This enabled me nearly exclusive use, while my boys gamed on the PC. Getting into used 68k Macs at the time was affordable, I even bought a PPC card for the LC475. I never went beyond this however, as new Macs were still too pricey for me...I could build my own decently powered PC much more affordably. Eventually, the Mac phase passed and everything was boxed up and stored away.
Fast forward to today. Somehow, I never got rid of much of the Mac stuff I had accumulated, although I did sell the PPC card (dangit!). Since I'm retired now, I recently had my Mac interest rekindled from watching YouTube videos. I've spent the last 5-6 weeks going through boxes, buying bits of hardware and trying to remember how to use these things (accelerated Mac Plus and LC475). Mostly this has been modern sd card replacements...floppyemu, SCSI2SD and BlueSCSI and then I saw JDW's video on Kay Koba's Spicy O'clock overclocking board.
I ordered one ASAP. Then, upon taking a closer look at the install instructions, I noticed that I had badly misinterpreted step 1. It's a little embarrassing...perhaps it was past my bedtime...anyway, I think I thought it meant...don't use this chip and I thought, 'no problem, I won't', but it really meant don't use the chip on your mainboard, replace with this one! Uh oh!
I'm not much of a soldering guy. I've done some over the years...badly. I felt that I would be able to remove the resistor required, and solder the connecting wires...but removing a 20 pin SMD IC and then soldering in another?!
I soon discovered this forum and posted a question about this and learned that the mod would still work with the original clock generator (MC88920) but be rather limited at the top end of the overclock range. In the intervening time, I ordered recapping kits for my LC475 and power supply and dug out some old PC mainboards and interface cards to destroy...err...practice on...both!
Spicy arrived over the weekend and I successfully installed it, sans clock generator swap. True to what Kay Koba told me, 39mhz is about as high as I was able to go. Even so, this is a great product for the community and I'm extremely happy with it!
In the coming weeks....months...??, I'm going to attempt to recap my power supply and logic board. I don't consider it a sure thing, but watching hours of YouTube videos, purchasing more gear and practicing, has me better equipped and cautiously optimistic! I even have 2 MC88196DW80 in transit!
I'm still doing a bit of tinkering with the current setup and have already had some...interesting...benchmark results. My next step, before recapping, will be swapping the BlueSCSI for the SCSI2SD that is installed in the Plus and rerunning benchmarks. I want to see which is the best performer for the LC475. Your words of encouragement or kindly meant advice, are welcomed!
Stay tuned!
First some history. I'm not perhaps the typical Mac enthusiast, starting my computing journey back in 1985 with a C64. I used Commodore 8 bit computers into the early 90's before moving into the PC realm. For brevity, I will say that somewhat by accident, I had a couple of years foray into the Mac world; 128K, Plus, Classic II and finally an LC475. This enabled me nearly exclusive use, while my boys gamed on the PC. Getting into used 68k Macs at the time was affordable, I even bought a PPC card for the LC475. I never went beyond this however, as new Macs were still too pricey for me...I could build my own decently powered PC much more affordably. Eventually, the Mac phase passed and everything was boxed up and stored away.
Fast forward to today. Somehow, I never got rid of much of the Mac stuff I had accumulated, although I did sell the PPC card (dangit!). Since I'm retired now, I recently had my Mac interest rekindled from watching YouTube videos. I've spent the last 5-6 weeks going through boxes, buying bits of hardware and trying to remember how to use these things (accelerated Mac Plus and LC475). Mostly this has been modern sd card replacements...floppyemu, SCSI2SD and BlueSCSI and then I saw JDW's video on Kay Koba's Spicy O'clock overclocking board.
I ordered one ASAP. Then, upon taking a closer look at the install instructions, I noticed that I had badly misinterpreted step 1. It's a little embarrassing...perhaps it was past my bedtime...anyway, I think I thought it meant...don't use this chip and I thought, 'no problem, I won't', but it really meant don't use the chip on your mainboard, replace with this one! Uh oh!
I'm not much of a soldering guy. I've done some over the years...badly. I felt that I would be able to remove the resistor required, and solder the connecting wires...but removing a 20 pin SMD IC and then soldering in another?!
I soon discovered this forum and posted a question about this and learned that the mod would still work with the original clock generator (MC88920) but be rather limited at the top end of the overclock range. In the intervening time, I ordered recapping kits for my LC475 and power supply and dug out some old PC mainboards and interface cards to destroy...err...practice on...both!
Spicy arrived over the weekend and I successfully installed it, sans clock generator swap. True to what Kay Koba told me, 39mhz is about as high as I was able to go. Even so, this is a great product for the community and I'm extremely happy with it!
In the coming weeks....months...??, I'm going to attempt to recap my power supply and logic board. I don't consider it a sure thing, but watching hours of YouTube videos, purchasing more gear and practicing, has me better equipped and cautiously optimistic! I even have 2 MC88196DW80 in transit!
I'm still doing a bit of tinkering with the current setup and have already had some...interesting...benchmark results. My next step, before recapping, will be swapping the BlueSCSI for the SCSI2SD that is installed in the Plus and rerunning benchmarks. I want to see which is the best performer for the LC475. Your words of encouragement or kindly meant advice, are welcomed!
Stay tuned!
.
I just finished removing the caps from the logic board...with a hot air rework station....even though I had watched numerous videos...I was not prepared! Now I know why people do twist and pull! The stink doesn't help, neither does the too close plastic parts...small amount if melting on the power connector...don't think it's a big deal. Must not have had the shielding all the way down.
Attached the BlueSCSI and no screen blanking, but it hangs at boot unless I don't load extensions. More experiments to come...don't touch that dial! 