The meaning of Revision differences.

[Philee]

What are the differences in the revision letters such as from Q to QA, QB, QC and QE? Why are there so many differences to begin with? How do they effect the compatibility with the Mix Core card?

Also, what are the revisions done on the Mix Core card? How do they affect the compatibility with DSP Farm?

Your help is greatly appreciated.

[John_Toolbox]

Anything with a QC or later chip is compatible with PCI 2.1, which started with the blue G3's. All G4 towers have PCI 2.1 and require the QC or later chip to work properly.

All beige macs with PCI slots, including the beige G3's, are the only computers that will work with the earlier cards.

This applies to disk i/o, DSP farm and samplecell cards. There used to be an upgrade program where you could send in old cards and have the AMCC chip updated, but it's not cost effective any more, all of these cards sell for less than the $150 chip swap.

[milesofwire]

I would like to add that although I did source the chips to upgrade DSP Farms etc. to QC/QE, I found out the hard way that there was apparently a firmware change as well, ("hard way" meaning finding out after buying, removing and replacing the AMCC chip) Doh! lol.

Also Mix cards will run in all Macs with PCI slots.

[Philee]

Thank you all.
Does it mean that the Mix Core I/O or the Disk I/O on the Beige Mac will be compatible with any DSP Farm or Mix Farm regardless of the revision change?

[John_Toolbox]

Yes. On beige macs anything will work. G4's and blue G3's are the ones that will have a problem with the lower revs. It's also noteworthy that while unsupported, some people have gotten mix cards working in G5's, including milesofwire. Obviously the older cards won't work there either.

[Table Syrup Records]

"Q to QA, QB, QC and QE?"

Q: Quaint ?

QA: Quantum Accoustics ?

QB: Quarter Back ?

QC: Quality Control (Back when it still existed) ?

QE: Quizingly Excentric ?

I'm pretty sure those are all 100% correct answers. :)

Anyway... One interesting thing to note.

The last system I sold was running a DSP Farm with a Q
I had a Core and 4 DSP Farms in that system

2 were DSP Farms, the other 2 were DSP Farm II's

The one DSP Farm was a Q and the others were QC or QEs

The Q worked just fine.

So.... I was always confused about that.... but.... I guess that means that the AMCC Chip revision is NOT the determining factor.

Likely, when they say it must be a QC or later, it is probably because of some other change, and at that time they were using revisions of the AMCC Matchmaker chip... not meaning it is solely that chip.
(Maybe just as an easy means of identifying cards beginning those revisions?)

I have also had cards with ICs flowed directly to the PCB, and others with sockets. And both with variation of hand written stickers or not.

So there's a few things going on there.

I'm assuming the one I have now that has some ICs in sockets are probably those that make the difference, and they were probably upgraded????

I'm building two more mix systems right now... and I've been thinking of landing one in a G5 just to try it out. a 64 Channel system in a Qual G5 would provide plenty of balls for VIs and RTAS :)

Did they make Mac Pros in PCI ??? HAHAHAAA... they wouldn't run 10.3.9, but boy if they did.... :)

[John_Toolbox]

Originally Posted by Shorty Emcee

"Q to QA, QB, QC and QE?"

Q: Quaint ?

QA: Quantum Accoustics ?

QB: Quarter Back ?

QC: Quality Control (Back when it still existed) ?

QE: Quizingly Excentric ?

I'm pretty sure those are all 100% correct answers. :)

Anyway... One interesting thing to note.

The last system I sold was running a DSP Farm with a Q
I had a Core and 4 DSP Farms in that system

2 were DSP Farms, the other 2 were DSP Farm II's

The one DSP Farm was a Q and the others were QC or QEs

The Q worked just fine.

So.... I was always confused about that.... but.... I guess that means that the AMCC Chip revision is NOT the determining factor.

Likely, when they say it must be a QC or later, it is probably because of some other change, and at that time they were using revisions of the AMCC Matchmaker chip... not meaning it is solely that chip.
(Maybe just as an easy means of identifying cards beginning those revisions?)

I have also had cards with ICs flowed directly to the PCB, and others with sockets. And both with variation of hand written stickers or not.

So there's a few things going on there.

I'm assuming the one I have now that has some ICs in sockets are probably those that make the difference, and they were probably upgraded????

I have never been able to get anything with a rev Q to work in a G4, but I have had people tell me that they had them working before. I think you're right though, there's more than just the AMCC chip that needs to change. If anyone would know, it would be "good guys" in St. Paul. I know they've been able to re-flash ROM's for a lot of old gear for people I know up there.

I'm building two more mix systems right now... and I've been thinking of landing one in a G5 just to try it out. a 64 Channel system in a Qual G5 would provide plenty of balls for VIs and RTAS :)

I think the quad G5's were all PCIe. Assuming you could get one of those to boot 10.3.9, a chassis might work, but for that kind of money you might as well buy an HD system.

Did they make Mac Pros in PCI ??? HAHAHAAA... they wouldn't run 10.3.9, but boy if they did.... :)

Closest thing was the Hackintoshes, but they can't run anything earlier than 10.4.x... I think 10.4.6 was the first OS to support intel processors.

Those aren't really an option anyways, to me the whole point of buying a mac is that you DON"T have to tweak everything on it, and that it's supported.

[Philee]

Since I have a beige Mac, I suppose I won't have much trouble with all the revisions digi made for the past decade.

But what about the Digidesign's expansion chasis connected to the beige Mac? Will that be an another matter? I have a Digidesign expansion chasis with the bright yellow Digi logo on the faceplate that expose the power switch in the center. I just bought an Atto UL3D, too. The lowest revision I have on a DSP Farm is Q. Maybe I'll get another Farm or Mix Farm. Should I be concern about all the revisions of the cards that goes into the expansion chasis?

[John_Toolbox]

You're fine with pretty much anything as long as you stay with a beige mac. Like the DSP farms, the earlier chassis are not compatible with PCI 2.1, so you will run into a problem if you ever upgrade the computer to a G4.

[Table Syrup Records]

FWIW I think the chassis you have should be cool... where you're at and if you move up later

I think he is referring to a Magma? 7 or 13
The yellow logo, and door with switches in center.... sounds Magma

If I am not mistaken, either the 7 or 13 will work from a Beige up ?

If I am mistaken, John will correct :)