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Umax SuperMac S910

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Got a pre-G3 Power Mac with PCI slots? Join LEM's PCI PowerMacs Group.

Overview

Umax S900L The S910 was Umax's most powerful, most expandable computer, differing from the S900 primarily in use of a socketed 1 MB level 2 cache and not having 16 MB of RAM on the motherboard. The S910 also reversed the order of PCI slots comapred to the S900, which helped video pros get around some PCI bridge issues found with the S900. The S910 was available with a single 250 MHz 604e processor or in a dual processor configuration.

NOTE: The second CPU slot only accepts a Umax SuperMac secondary processor card. You cannot use any other type of card in that slot.

Details

introduced: never officially released
requires System 7.5.3 through 9.1
CPU: PowerPC 604e, upgradable with standard daughter card
second CPU: ASPD slot for adding second CPU, allows for dual processing (see Second Processor for SuperMac S900/910 for more details)
bus: nominal 50 MHz (varies from 45 to 51.428 MHz, depending on the speed CPU)
RAM: 16-64 MB, expandable to 1,024 MB (1 GB!=) using 8 DIMM slots and 70ns 5 volt EDO or fast-page DRAM, can use interleaved memory
Video: ixMicro Twin Turbo Graphics Accelerator standard with 8 MB VRAM, resolutions to 1920x1080, 24-bit color to 1920x1080
L2 cache: 1 MB
hard drive: 4 GB Ultra SCSI or RAID
CD-ROM: 12x
Zip drive: optional
Internal and external Fast SCSI buses (internal upgradable to Ultra SCSI-3)
ADB ports for keyboard and mouse
two miniDIN-8 GeoPorts on back of computer
DB-25 SCSI connector on back of computer with SCSI-1 support
PCI slots: 6
Ethernet: built in, upgradable to 100Base-T

Accelerators & Upgrades

CPU daughtercards. See our Guide to G3 Daughter Cards and Guide to G4 Daughter Cards
Second CPU

Online Resources

Low End Mac's Compleat Guide to Mac OS 9, 2008 edition, Charles Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2008.05.12. Declared dead by Steve Jobs 6 years ago, Mac OS 9 remains fast and stable, but Classic software hasn't kept up with Web changes. What Macs support OS 9, where to buy it, and how to update to version 9.2.2.
Purposeful reincarnation for old Macs, Phil Herlihy, The Usefulness Equation, 2008.08.26. The key is to avoid spending more on upgrades than the final use of the machine can justify.
Hacking Mac OS 7.6.1 so many Mac OS 8 apps will run, Max Wallgren, Mac Daniel, 2007.10.30. With a little ResEdit work and a second copy of your System Folder, you can run a lot of OS 8 apps with Mac OS 7.6.1.
Mac System 7.5.5 can do anything Mac OS 7.6.1 can, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2007.06.04. Yes, it is possible to run Internet Explorer 5.1.7 and SoundJam with System 7.5.5. You just need to have all the updates - and make one modification for SoundJam.
Format any drive for older Macs with patched Apple tools, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2007.04.25. Apple HD SC Setup and Drive Setup only work with Apple branded hard drives - until you apply the patches linked to this article.
Musings on low-end SATA cards in PCI Power Macs, Nathan Thompson, Embracing Obsolescence, 2006.11.06. Thoughts on why the inexpensive SATA card might almost work in a pre-G3 PCI Power Mac.
Old Power Macs and SATA not a marriage made in heaven, Nathan Thompson, Embracing Obsolescence, 2006.11.03. The PCI SATA card said blue & white G3 or newer and Mac OS 8.6 or later, but maybe it would work in an older pre-G3 Power Mac....
System 7 Today, advocates of Apple's 'orphan' Mac OS 7.6.1, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 2006.10.26. Why Mac OS 7.6.1 is far better for 68040 and PowerPC Macs than System 7.5.x.
Mac OS 8 and 8.1: Maximum size, maximum convenience, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2006.09.11. Mac OS 8 and 8.1 add some useful new features and tools, and it can even be practical on 68030-based Macs.
Installing Linux on a PCI Power Mac, Part 1, Larry Stotler, Linux on the Low End, 2006.09.05. Preparing your PCI Power Mac (or clone) for Linux and getting openSUSE Linux installed.
Customizing Mac OS 9, Nathan Thompson, Embracing Obsolescence, 2006.08.01. Fiddling with themes, picking a browser, and making the Classic Mac OS work just the way you want it to.
The ins and outs of booting Linux on the Mac, Larry Stotler, Linux on the Low End, 2006.07.31. "Old World" Macs can't boot directly into Linux. They need to boot the Classic Mac OS first, then pass control over to Linux.
Preparing your PCI Power Mac for Linux, Larry Stotler, Linux on the Low End, 2006.07.26. How powerful a CPU do you need? How much memory? Do you need a faster drive controller? Are some video cards better than others?
Getting the Mac digital jukebox up and running, Nathan Thompson, Embracing Obsolescence, 2006.05.08. Connecting your PowerPC Mac to your rstereo and remote control options for running a headless digital audio jukebox.
System 7.6.1 is perfect for many older Macs, John Martorana, That Old Mac Magic, 2006.03.24. Want the best speed from your old Mac? System 7.6.1 can give you that with a fairly small memory footprint - also helpful on older Macs.
Web browser tips for the classic Mac OS, Nathan Thompson, Embracing Obsolescence, 2006.01.03. Tips on getting the most out of WaMCom, Mozilla, Internet Explorer, iCab, Opera, and WannaBe using the classic Mac OS.
The best browsers for PowerPC Macs and the classic Mac OS, Nathan Thompson, Embracing Obsolescence, 2005.12.16. Two browsers stand out from the pack: iCab 3 is modern and remains under development, and WaMCom brings Mozilla to older Macs.
How big a hard drive can I put in my iMac, eMac, or Power Mac?, Dan Knight, Mac Daniel, 2005.10.24. A lot of older Macs don't know how to deal with drives over 128 GB in size. We look at three options.
Sonata SD, Sonnet Tech, 2004.06.01. First new PCI video card for the Mac in ages sells for just US$99, supports OS 7.5.3 and later plus OS X 10.1.5 and later, works with VGA or old Mac monitors, 16 MB VRAM.
SuperMac Insider
Review: SuperMac S910/250, Anne Marie Feld, MacHome, January 1998
Umax E100 card compatibility reports, Accelerate Your Mac!.
Upgrades: SuperMac S910, MacSpeedZone
Mac OS 8.5 Issues on Umax SuperMac
Umax S900 Tips, Accelerate Your Mac
SuperMacs email list
Pulsar profile on IMC site (UK)

Troubleshooting

The J700 and S900 have a PCI bridge chip controlling all PCI slots except the first two, which use the normal Apple chip. As a result, only cards that are PCI 2.1 compliant can be installed in slots 3-6 (3-4 for J700). Problematic cards are usually older SCSI cards, and, for some reason, ixMicro cards such as Ultimate Rez (but not the older ixMicro Twin Turbo cards). There are claims that even ixMicro-branded cards have slot preference, and in a multiple-card setup at least one has to be in slot 1 or 2, while the other can be in slot 4 or 5.
Newer Tech recommends against using EDO memory in the J700 and S900, because these models have "occasionally exhibited some problems when running with EDO memory. These problems tend to become more pronounced when updating your machine with a G3 card. . . . Therefore, we are recommending people to stick with FPM (Fast Page Memory) in these machines. If you are already running EDO memory without apparent problems, we certainly don't mean to imply that you should be having problems, merely that you could have some."
Umax suggests updating the J700 and S900 to version 2.0.2 of the Licensing Extension if you're using Mac OS 8 or 8.1. <http://www.kennedybrandt.com/supermac_insidersupport/sw.html>
The version of FWB Hard Disk Toolkit that ships with most SuperMacs is not compatible with Mac OS 8 or later. You must use version 2.0.6 or later, available on the Umax software updates page. Be sure to install the new drivers on your hard drive before you run the OS 8 installer. Also, you must be sure that you do not update the driver on your hard drive during OS 8 installation. Using an older version of FWB HDT or the Apple driver on the SCSI drive that came with the SuperMac may so botch the hard drive structure that you will need to reformat it and reinstall everything. (As always, you should do a full backup before installing new drivers or updating your operating system.)
If your monitor is coming up green with extensions off or until the entire system is loaded, you can adjust the TwinTurbo card to change this behavior. Be sure the computer is off, disconnect the monitor, remove the cover, ground yourself by touching the power supply, the carefully remove the video card. Next to the video ports is a jumper marked JP4. Remove it from the two pins it's on and move it to the other end (it must still be on the middle pin). Reinsert the card, connect your monitor, and do a quick boot with extensions off (hold down the shift key while starting). If it's not green, shut down the computer, seal it up, and go back to work. If the green should persist, put the JP4 jumper back where it was. (According to Sync on Green Returns on Restart, the 8 MB card does not have a JP4 jumper.)

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