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Evinyatar · May 28, 2000, 09:00 AM

If we all work together we might find out how to solder in a mezzanine slot in the RevC and D's. If any one could just compare a Rev B with a C or D motherboard and post the differences that are near the mez slot (resistors etc) we could all put a Voodoo2 in our iMacs! That would kick ass! Michael Leu (ICQ# : 73395048) still has about 1500 of them for sale, all tested.

Misha · May 28, 2000, 10:30 AM

Out of curiosity, ow much are those little buggers selling for?

Evinyatar · May 28, 2000, 10:44 AM

Only US$ 130. That's fairly cheap if you consider the boost you're getting with them. I just played Quake III Arena on some unknown graphics card on a PC and even that was better than what I'm getting out of my Rage Pro.

shmerek · May 28, 2000, 10:50 AM

Other World Computing is selling them for 95 bucks now (I bought mine when they cost 135...)

sine -''-..- · May 28, 2000, 11:16 AM

Seeing as the Mezz was supposed to be an "Apple only" possibly test slot, Its most likely just hardwired to the bus, like a PCI bus. I think it could have been for diag as a "doctor slot" to test the logic board. So i highly doubt that it needed extra chips to run it. I would still like to see a list of components on the rev A/B-C/D to make sure the boards are identical in all other ways.

It reminds me of the ADB port on the iMac that just needs a choke and some diodes and stuff to run... the capability is there they just didnt make the plug for it....

so Lets GET A MEZZ ON THE REV C/D!!!!!!

Ca$h68 · May 28, 2000, 07:17 PM

Uhm... if you had read about half of my posts (ANY OF THEM) they deal with the internals of rev A vs Rev D iMac internals. And, if you had read them, you would have seen that I stated, YES, it is VERY VERY VERY possible to do, in fact, it would be very cheap to have it done for you, and you could probably do it yourself if you were handy with a soldering iron. The motherboards (Basically) are completely identical, (Ignoring the diff vid cards, and various chips, but the board itself is the exact same), and the mezzanine connector on the rev A is in the EXACT same spot as the Rev D. In fact, if you are bold enough to open up yer iMac (takes like 5 min), you will see the spot where the mezzanine connector SHOULD be, and its even labeled mezzanine.

SO... in conclusion, we dont need to come together as a group to solve this problem, as it isnt a problem at all. All you need to solve is to get some nutz, take it apart, and either get a connector soldered on or do it yourself!

Good luck! Ask me any questions you have, I'
ll try to help out.

Ca$h

sine -''-..- · May 28, 2000, 08:06 PM

I agree,
but therein lies the question,
do the different chips on A-D boards make a difference.
Sure they would leave the actual traces and wires the same, but maybe the rev D chipset dosent support a mezz...
somthin to chew on.

Ca$h68 · May 29, 2000, 06:25 AM

No. Nothing to chew on. its supported. Why? Remember Microconversions? Before they went caput they offered a $30 fee to add a mezzanine connector to a rev C or D iMac. How? Soldering one on. So it works. This topic has been debated enough. If you all keep buggin me I'm getting the mezzanine connecter soldered onto my old board (the rev D one), installing the voodoo on that, and showing pictures just to smite you. >

Ca$h

Evinyatar · May 29, 2000, 10:18 AM

Yes, please do because I'm really curious if it really is that simple.

Ca$h68 · May 29, 2000, 02:41 PM

Alright. You guys suck. I'm going to look for a mezzanine connector this week, buy it, and have it soldered onto my old iMacs motherboard. Its my grandmas computer now, but Im sure she wont mind if I put it outta commission for a day or so. So there. Once I do it, you guys can all kiss my feet.

Ca$h

sine -''-..- · May 29, 2000, 02:50 PM

Hey its not like Im sayin its not probable, I just would like to be Certain before hackin into my $1K machine...
I love my iMac, dont want to hurt it!

Evinyatar · May 29, 2000, 03:41 PM

Same here. I bought my iMac with the only money I had, and I don't want to have wasted it. I had to work very hard for it. But seeing the Rage Pro's performance is a big dissapointment so I really want the Voodoo2 in my iMac.

[This message has been edited by Evinyatar (edited 05-30-2000).]

sine -''-..- · May 29, 2000, 11:12 PM

I must say, Q3 runs acceptably on my rig (ie 30fps @ 640x480), but some nicer details sure would be impressive!

Ca$h68 · May 30, 2000, 07:03 PM

you get 30 FPS in quake 3?!? With a rage pro?! Wow. That must look like ass. Seriously though... anyone who hates their Rage Pro, get a gamewizard voodoo2. Have a mezzanine connector soldered on. Why will this work?!?

A. The boards look exactly identical (cept for a change of brands in some things...)

B. There is a place for a mezzanine connector to be soldered onto.

C. Microconversions offered this mod for 30 bucks.

IT WILL WORK. What is questionable will be if any of you get the guts to do it. It'll work. I'd bet my nuts on it.

Ca$h

Feathers · May 30, 2000, 08:27 PM

The visual similarity of the boards is meaningless. You would have to map the boards against each other square inch for square inch, checking the value of every component to be assured that they were the same.

However, I support Ca$h 100% in his statement about the service that Microconversions offered. Pure and simple A-D iMacs will physically support the Mezz slot. Period. (I do recall vaguely that one of the firmware updates or ROM updates prevents the system from recognising it though! - I hope I'm wrong though)

Also, repeat after me, the mezz IS a PCI slot, the mezz IS a PCI slot, it's just a different connector, it's just a different connector...

Can we move on now, and also drop this "unheard of hack" ******** . It's only unheard of if you're deaf, dumb, blind, comatose and (as Ca$h would say) smoking some weird crack!!!

sine -''-..- · May 30, 2000, 08:32 PM

I never heard of it!

oOo... i better lay off that crack i found on the street