Processor Upgrade

artforceone

Registered
I have tried to install a G3 processor upgrade by Sonnett. I have worked with the Sonnett tech people but I would like another opinion. This unit goes into a 7600 PowerMac with a 9.1 OS. Here's what's happening. The processor is working and my mac chimes on start up but the monitor refuses to come on. We tried various things including zapping the pram. Any help would be appreciated.

Paul
 
Was there any software that was required to make the processor upgrade work? Sometimes that's included since it's not actually a replacement for the stock CPU (unless the stock CPU came in a daughtercard).
 
nixgeek said:
Was there any software that was required to make the processor upgrade work? Sometimes that's included since it's not actually a replacement for the stock CPU (unless the stock CPU came in a daughtercard).

Nixgeek, thank you for your reply.
Yes, there was software to install. It would not install until about the third attempt. You have to remove the original processor and plug in the upgrade. Of course I restored the original unit and everything works normally.
 
The 7600 should work with the processor upgrade card even without the additional software (the software is designed to point the system at the cache).

Have you tried booting off a Mac OS 9 install CD with the upgrade card installed?

If your system doesn't come up booting from the CD, then it is a hardware issue with the card. If it does come up... then a clean install of Mac OS 9 is going to be needed on your hard drive.
 
I have seen problems similar to this....did you change the battery on the logic board? When the battery dies this can happen. Did you notice the date changing back to 1956 or something like that....if you did it's a clue that you need a new battery!
Sue
 
i had a problem like this on my 7500 with a both g3 and g4 upgrades. i had to pull the battery, pull the cpu card and push the cuda. then replace the stock cpu, then the battery and restart. all would load fine. then i shutdown and put the upgrade cpu in and then all would work well for whatever. i never could figure out why it wanted the stock cpu before going on. what drove me nuts was there was no pattern. it was random. in os 9 or os x, been on for a while or just 5 min in a week, gaming or not gaming, surfing or not. it would just happen. but when i got a 8600 and put the g4 in it, i never ever had a problem again. it must be something in the rom in those 7x00 macs.

just make sure the cpu upgrade software is installed before the cpu upgrade is.
 
Sinclair tm
Thank you for your reply. You mean the upgrade is not stable? Sonnet should let people know this. One more thing. I must be blind or not savvy enough, but I could not find the CUDA switch. The instructions show where it is supposed to be but I could not find anything to push, pull, toggle, or otherwise.
 
Here is a diagram of the logicboard for you to work from.

This is the standard layout of the 7500, 7600 and 7300 series systems.

Hope that helps a little more... I haven't seen the Sonnet instructions in a long time, so I'm not sure what they give for directions to the switch. This diagram is from one of my Apple service manual.
 

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Racer X,
Thanks, the diagram is a great help! I have to use my Mac everyday, so as soon as I can free up some time, I will see if I can get this thing cooking!
 
i wouldn't say its unstable. like i said, once it was in my 8600, i never had a problem. and i think that yours is only the third time i've heard of this problem ( mine the first, and some old post in another fourm long ago which gave me some ideas on what to do with mine ). i think that is might be a random bad hardware call by some software that causes the mac to get confused. or it could be a voltage spike to scrambles the pram. but for me it was never a big deal. only happened like 6 times in the 2 years i had it in my 7500. most of that after i installed 10.1 and would go between 10.1 and 9.1 alot.
wait, you know what, my g4 went into my 8600, and it replaced my g3. and i'm not sure if i had this problem with the g4. i installed the g4 and 10.2 about the same time on the 7500. maybe there is a small problem with the g3. the 7500 came with a 601. the 7600 came with a 604, which was based on the 601. the g4 was based on the 604. the g3 was based on the 603 which was a less capible 604. so could it be that the mac is sending instuctions that should work on a 7600 (604/g4) but because its a g3(603) it doesn't work once in a great while and locks the computer up when the g3 drivers can't translate it?
btw, i have had a 604 the same speed as my g3 (233mhz) and the 604 out did the g3. but at the time, i had to have a g3 to install os x.
 
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