[Ca$h68]

Today I ripped apart both iMacs... I'll have pics up when I get some developed... uh.. it was pretty freaking easy actually... >20 screws involved, and it wasnt that big a deal as I thought it'd be. It runs UT beautifully, but I still want more. HEhehEHhE. Only tricky parts? Eh.. well... CDROM drive is tricky, make sure you get the back lip to hook on that wire thing... um... other than that, .. I cant express how easy this was. So yeah, switching daughtercards from any Gen 1 iMac works fine. I now have a
333mhz iMac
192 megs RAM
12 gig HD
Voodoo2 8 meg
ATI Rage II 6 meg

I'm planning on overclocking in the future, so we'll see what happens. Any questions? Ask.

Ca$h

PS: Getting a mezzanine connector soldered onto the board would be SOOOOO easy. The space for it is right there, and it wouldnt be that much of a problem AT ALL to someone with a small soldering iron.

[The Godfather]

Go Cash!

Are you going to post pics from the innards of your iMac? If so, please take pictures of the Voodoo card from EVERY angle, using the greatest resolution. I want to learn how the PCI interfacing was done through that Mezzanine port.

My iMac/A is a mutant too. I have a Stealth serial port and everytime I want to switch from playing with Lego Mindstorms and connect to my ISP, I have to rip it apart. I have done it like 6 times already. It used to be a pain in the wass, but now I can do the mod. in 20 minutes

[Zwilnik]

Sounds like you could design some sort of external switch there Godfather. That would probably be handy for other Stealth Port users.

[sine -''-..-]

Holy Sh*t batman!

Nice CA$H, I salute you....
now if only i could find a Rev A logic board.... HEHEHEHE

[Ca$h68]

Godfather- uh.... I took a picture of where the mezzanine connector could EASILY be soldered onto the rev D iMac board... we're talking less than 20 bucks labor plus parts. It has the holes and everything, and its possible. Sine, do NOT find a rev A iMac. Get a mezzanine connector soldered in. Seriously. If I had known this since the beginnning I wouldhave had a voodoo2 a LONG time ago.

Anyway, back to Godfather's post. Um.. I really dont see what you'd need pictures of. Oh yeah, and I just remembered why the whole mezzanine to PCI connector will never work. Ever. Voodoo2 is a pass through card. In order for it to work, you'd have to get a high performance PCI slotted pass through card. Pass thru? That means that the motherboards video signal goes INTO the card, via cable, and the monitor connects to the vid card. And what was the last card made like that? Voodoo2. So... you could get a gamewizard 16 meg voodoo2 PCI card, and that COULD work, but anything else wouldnt. Sorry. I cant believe I had this info and forgot about it. I'm going to the other "never heard of hack" thread to spread the news.

Ca$h

Disconnect monitor from rage II set, reconnect to your brand new Voodoo5 PCI. Sure, its gonna require a serious soldering effort, but I know screwing around with monitors is possible, thandks to the fellow who created the 21" iMac......

At least think about it, dude.....

Dammit

[sine -''-..-]

hmmm... soldering on a mez?

is there Clean uncoated pads to solder to?
cuz i kno i guy who would be able to do a job like that

if someone can solder a mezzanine slot onto a rev c/d, then can one not concievably make a PCI break out box for said iMacs? hmmm......

[wlonh]

boing! breakout box, now you are talking

go go go

[Ca$h68]

Dammit. Hey guys, none of that will ever work. Go read the "never heard of hack" thread. You can ONLY use a "pass through" style card. Guess what? THEY DONT MAKE THEM ANYMORE!!!!! So the only card you could use would be a PCI Voodoo2, since the voodoo2 was the last pass through ever made. Sorry to piss on your parade, but duh. Read the thread.

Sine: Yep, there are pads there and everything. Its almost exactly the same motherboard... but... hrm. NEW POST!

Ca$h

I know they used to make a PCI breakout box for older powerbooks that interfaced with the expansion bay. It added something like 3 PCI slots in a case that one could hook more stuff up to. I think that would be great for the iMac (second monitor???) or a scsi card??? worth researching, ultimately too exspensive though......

[Anthony the PC lover]

Hey Sine, you oughta submit your numerous new smileyfaces to MacNN. They're good enough to add to the Smiley Face list

[Ca$h68]

I agree. Your smilies rule.

Ca$h

PS: Anyone got any iMacs they want me to take apart? Heheheh. >

[sine -''-..-]

Sad to say,
Thoes smileys are not mine :*[



If u want, check them out urself at: http://geocities.com/r337m0nk3y/net/
and http://geocities.com/r337m0nk3y/net2/

they have inspired me tho, i think we should make some Personal smileys.....

So how would you be able to get a pass-thru like 3D card to work? *is* there a way to get the 16MB voodoo2 in an iMac?

[Ca$h68]

Probably. Mezzanine to PCI to Voodoo2. Then hook up the monitor out to the voodoo2 in, and hte monitor in to the voodoo2 out. Theroetically it should work. If anyone has a mac voodoo2 they want to donate I'll try it.

Ca$h

Well, I was looking at my microconversions card, and the connector from the mac to the 3d card is really weird looking. How does the connector transfer data between the card and the video? I looked on the 16MB voodoo2, and there isn;t any weird cable thingy on that. There is just a PCI interface to plug into a slot. How would you go about trying to make a PCI card work into the video in port on the iMac?

[Ca$h68]

bascially weird looking connector = Mezzanine

Mezzanine= PCI slot only smaller

So get a mezzanine PLUG (not socket) to plug into the mezzanine connector on your iMac (if it has one, otherwise get one soldered in), then use ribbon cable to solder a PCI SLOT to the Mezzanine plug. They are identical electronically, one is just smaller. THen plug the video cables like I stated. You'd have to run the vid cable outside the iMac housing, and the video card would sit next to the iMac... but it should work. Theoretically of course.

Ca$h

Would there be a way just to SLI another video card to the one I already have? (iMac gamewizard) instead of having to rip the card apart to get the plug out?

[oscar]

Umm, where did you get a Voodoo2 PCI?

no, i have the iMac card, but maybe I could get a voodoo2 PCI and do a SLI thing

[jaisun]

If there is a way to get any 'ol V2 to work on the iMac you can get SLI...but you'd have to get the Obsidian 24x card. It's a dual V2 card, runs a bit more in the $$ dept., and is quite hot temp wise...so I hear. You can read about it (and it's performance numbers) at xlr8yourmac.com.

[The Godfather]

Hey Cash, you should file a suit to PowerLogix for $10 (ten bucks) for paralleling a CPU upgrade with the Frankeinsten concept.

[Ca$h68]

Really. ARgh. a month ago, my computer was pimp. Lots ram, upgraded hD, voodoo2, and 333mhz. didnt have the 466 mhz upgrade though, was planning on getting one in a bit. now THIS>!?!?!? ARGH! I want it SOOOO bad though. >drool<

Ca$h