9600/8600 mix and match

[cr2sh]

So I posted in For Sale the other day that I had a 9600/300 and a 8600/300 for sale, but I knew very little about them.

Well tonight I cracked them open and started playing with them. The 8600 booted, first try into os9.. but it wasn't the 9 I'm used to. Turns out the machine was used by a major animation company and had early sketches and other art work on it from movies that were released fairly recently. Most of the files were dated before 2001. The 9600 will not go past the "OS folder ?" thingy.

Obviously the files on the 8600 need wiped before I sell it, but how much of the 8600 and 9600 can be put together? Is there any difference between the cpu in the 8600 and that in the 9600? Is the ram exchangeable?

Quite a neat find, though I did feel guilty about snooping thru the harddrive.

 

[cr2sh]

so then...

So then, I'm pretty thrilled about my little find, and I crack the 9600 and start taking parts out of it. I got five 128meg sticks of memory and two 64s plus a Pinnacle Systems microMotion DC30plus out of it....
Considering this machine has been sitting unused for close to two years now, I really wish that harddrive would work.. I'd love to see what's on it.

Put all of that ram into the 8600 and it works great.. now just need to know in the CPU will swap, or if they're identical. Anyone?

 

[funkywhat2]

If you want to see whats on the other drive, just install it in the 8600 and boot. It should work, should it not?

Assuming that both processors are on cards with ZIF sockets, then it should work - in theory that is. But don't take my word for it, I don't exactly rip machines apart (other than my PC to fix it) nor do I know much about swapping parts.

 

[cr2sh]

I think its the drive that is bad, hence the "OS Folder ?" error message. I haven't swapped the drives yet, but I'll do that in a bit.
No big loss, when I combine the two it'll make a nice little system to sell. Anyone know for sure about the zif thing?

 

[Gus]

Hmmm.. well, first, the "?" means that it can't find a system folder on the drive, not necessarily that the drive was bad.

Secondly, both the 8600 and th 9500 had a 604e processor, and I really don't see why, if removable, they wouldn't exchange. Of course, I've never actually performed that switch, so your results may vary.

Regards,
Gus

 

[cr2sh]

I had hoped that it was the hardrive that was bad, and not the SCSI on the 9600... turns out you're right Gus. I'm posting from the 8600 equipped with 9600 machine right now actually.. feels vaguely speedy.

 

[mc68k]

Re: 9600/8600 mix and match

Originally posted by cr2sh
Obviously the files on the 8600 need wiped before I sell it, but how much of the 8600 and 9600 can be put together? Is there any difference between the cpu in the 8600 and that in the 9600? Is the ram exchangeable?

These machines are essentially the same thing the major difference being the A/V card in the 8600.

Everything in both machines should be interchangeable. Be careful with mixing RAM. These machines can take either FPM or EDO dimms, but don't mix both. Go either all EDO or all FPM. You can interleave DIMMS with identical size and manufacturer in the slots with matching letter suffix i.e. A1 with B1 etc.

The processors can only be used in Mach V (604ev) or Kansas based 86xx/96xx motherboards (300 or 350 models exclusively). These CPUs have 1MB of inline cache and the motherboards have no cache, unlike most other PowerMacs and clones of the same era.

The stock processors are not ZIF based but rather soldered-in CPU removable daughtercards. Make sure when swapping parts to make sure they're firmly seated. Those CPUs like to jiggle loose or not fully make contact with the socket.