I don't recall seeing anyone reply to this on-list, so here goes...
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Gregory" <gregorym_at_cadvision.com>
To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2000 7:51 PM
Subject: Re: NEXTcube, now what?
> >
> > OK I opened it up. Everything inside has been disconnected.
> > The main board seems to be missing all the RAM and cache.
> >
> > Did NEXT put RAM on the MB like Apple did?
> >
>
> IIRC, the Cubes used 30 pin non-parity SIMMs, either 1M or 4M, in banks of
> 4. Each bank has to have the same type of RAM. The memory is auto-detected
> by the OS; no jumpers to set.
Yeah, you can put either non-parity or parity 30 pinn SIMMS in the
Cube (since it doesn't care about parity). I think the maximum is 32 megs.
There
is no onboard RAM AFAIK (at least on the 68030 Cubes; I assume it is the
same for the 68040 series).
> > The second board is also missing RAM and has a large I860
> > chip and RAMDAC on it with another connector in the center
> > with nothing on it.
> >
>
> I don't know what this second board is; it's not related to the mainboard.
> The Cube has everything on one mainboard. Maybe someone else can recognize
> it from the description.
>From your description, this is a NeXTDimension accelerated 24-bit color
board. Nice find! The connector in the center was for a real-time MPEG
compression board that NeXT never really managed to get quite right
(apparently the chip they were trying to use neve really worked correctly
and there were some heat problems involved as well). I really have no idea
what sort of memory this takes. You'll need a NeXT color monitor and
cable to use this as well.
> > Any sites showing the internals of a CUBE?
If you go to
http://www.obsolyte.com, there is a page about NeXT equipment
with
some great links on the bottom of it.
> > There is a square air filter? Where does this go?
>
> Not sure; best guess, either in front of the fan, or behind the MO disk.
> The NeXT's drew air from the front of the system (through the vents and
the
> MO drive aperture), over the mainboard, and out the fan at the back of the
> case. Dust drawn into the MO drive by this airflow is a major reason for
> those drives to fail. Many just need a good cleaning.
This was a filter that NeXT sold in an attempt to solve optical drive
problems
caused by the fact that dust is sucked in through the optical drive slot and
ends up messing up the optical drive. If yours doesnt work, it may need a
cleaning, as suggested.
> > If the drive is a OM then why did I only get CD's ?
> >
>
> In later years, NeXT switched definitively to CDs, and it became very hard
> to find software on MO disk. Probably the previous owner got an OS upgrade
> kit that came on CD, and lost the MO carts with the earlier OS revs on it.
This could be plausible. Typically what you would do is boot up the system
with
a floppy and then load off of an external CD-ROM. I don't think the OS
CD-ROMs
are bootable (I wish! Then I could install 3.3 on my Cube with no floppy).
If you
have a floppy drive, you'll be set with any old SCSI CD-ROM that you can
hook
up. The NeXT doesn't want anything odd like 512 byte sectors.
> > There seems to be a cut-out in the grill work above the OM
> > is this a door for the floppy mentioned in the manual or
> > just a cut-out for a possible floppy?
> >
>
> Depending on the age of the Cube, it could be a floppy cutout (found on
> later Cubes only), but more likely it's a blank for a second MO drive.
NeXT
> thought these drives were the wave of the future, and assumed that
everyone
> would want two. Most floppies for Cubes were external SCSI floppies.
AFAIK,
> there were never any Cubes made with internal CD-ROM drives; only the
Slabs
> had those, but I might be wrong.
As said above, it depends on vintage. If it is another optical cut-out, you
should be
able to tell since it is the same width and height of the first optical
cut-out. If there
is a floppy in the system, this should be pretty apparent too from looking
at the
outside of the case, since there'll be a floppy slot there! I think NeXT may
have
just used a modified optical drive slot cover with a slot cut in it as a
bezel for
the floppy, but I'm not sure as I don't have a Cube that new.
> Mark.
--Sean Caron (root_at_diablonet.net) |
http://www.diablonet.net
Received on Thu Dec 07 2000 - 14:29:44 GMT