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--- blog:x68_super [2021/03/29 13:49] – [SCSI2SD] john
+++ blog:x68_super [2021/03/29 19:12] (current) – [Results] john
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 It looks very clean, without any of the normal blemishes, and clearly some effort has been put in to refurbishing it. Fingers crossed that when it arrives it is actually as good as it appears.
+The X68000 Super is the last and newest of the original 10MHz 68000 machines. It was superceded by the XVI & XVI Compact running at 16MHz and the X68030 & X68030 Compact models with their 68030 processor. Unlike previous 10MHz models (the X68000, Ace, Pro and Expert) it has proper SCSI-1 bus support and 2MB of RAM onboard, rather than the earlier (and slightly incompatible) SASI bus just 1MB (though all those machines could be upgraded to 2MB).
+It uses the 'Manhattan' tower chassis of the X68000, Ace and Expert, but in the later titanium grey of the XVI, rather than solid black.
 ===== Arrival Pictures =====
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    * Floppy drive 2: working
    * Keyboard: working (via Aranet PS/2 adaptor, Belkin Omniview KVM and Sanwa JPN PS/2 keyboard)
-   * Mouse: untested
+   * Mouse: untested **[update 29/03/2021]** - connected up the ClassicPC Club mouse adapter and it works great, including the pointer and on-screen virtual keyboard)
    * Joystick: working (via included Megadrive 2-button adaptor)
-   * SCSI: untested
+   * SCSI: untested **[update 29/03/2021]** - SCSI works perfectly both internal and external
 One problem I did encounter was a very, very loud power supply fan; both a combination of a squealing noise and just a very-tired-bearings-are-shot noise. It will //definitely// need replacing.
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 {{:blog:x68k:img20210324162802.jpg?400|}}
-Looking more closely, the two middle-side filter caps; C41 and C42, have been replaced with the original values (5600uF, 10v). //But//, the current recommended wisdom is to uprate these to 6800uF parts, which have been known to cut out PSU noises for several owners.... and this is exactly what I did:
+Looking more closely, the two middle-size filter caps; //C41// and //C42//, have been replaced with the original values (5600uF, 10v). //But//, the current recommended wisdom is to uprate these to 6800uF parts, which have been known to cut out PSU noises for several owners.... and this is exactly what I did:
 {{:blog:x68k:img20210329105003.jpg?400|}}
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 That's audio taken with the covers off, and the recording made approx 8 inches from the rear of the power supply. Boosted by approx +15dB. There's a tiny bit of white noise from the turbulence from the fan, but it's otherwise silent. I am //very// happy. :-D
+**[Update 29/03/2021]** - With the case covers back on, and the fan now exhausting through the rear grill, there //is// a bit of fan noise that wasn't apparent with the case off, but it's very low level and nothing horrendous at all. It's likely that the grill on the case is causing turbulence from the fan exhaust, so there's not much I can do about that, short of cutting out the grill - which I am //not// going to do.
 ===== Upgrades =====
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 After booting, initialise the 'drive' using the english-translated ''FORMAT.X'' tool:
-{{:blog:x68k:img20210329131606.jpg?400|}}
+{{:blog:x68k:img20210329131606.jpg?500|}}
 Choose the SCSI devices option, and after a second or two the SD card 'drive' should be listed:
-{{:blog:x68k:img20210329131624.jpg?400|}}
+{{:blog:x68k:img20210329131624.jpg?500|}}
 If this is the first time using the 'drive', choose the ''Initialize'' option. Then choose ''Create'' and make a new primary partition __no larger__ than 1000MB in size:
-{{:blog:x68k:img20210329131639.jpg?400|}}
+{{:blog:x68k:img20210329131639.jpg?500|}}
-{{:blog:x68k:img20210329131753.jpg?200|}}{{:blog:x68k:img20210329133225.jpg?200|}}
+If you want the drive to be bootable (of course you do!), then make sure you have the ''System File: Copy'' option selected:
+{{:blog:x68k:img20210329131753.jpg?500|}}
+You can, at this point, create a secondary partition, if you require - but, evidence on how large a partition will actually work, is //inconclusive//. There are reports (in Japanese), that installing ''GOVERHD.X'' will increase the maximum supported partition to 15-16GB, but this either isn't true, or most of the english-speaking userbase isn't aware of it.
+You then need to tell the X68000 to boot from the drive. Run ''SWITCH.X'' and set the 'Boot' option to be the ID of your SCSI drive. Save it and then reboot:
+{{:blog:x68k:img20210329133225.jpg?500|}}
+You can also access external SCSI drives on the X68000, using a utility called ''SUSIE.X''. I've detailed [[blog:x68_scsi_drives|how I use it with a SCSI Zip drive]].
 ==== Sharp CZ-6BM1 MIDI Card ====
+This is a genuine Sharp MIDI card. I've got it connected to one of the free '**IN**' ports on my [[https://kentonuk.com/product/merge-4/|Kenton MIDI Merge-4]] box which takes the signals from each computer I have a MIDI card in (two PC's, a PC-98 and now the X68000) and sends the one combined signal via it's '**OUT**' ports to my set of MIDI synths.
+Of course, the box is 'dumb', so it's wise never to try and have two computers sending MIDI messages at the same time. This isn't a problem in practice, as I'm unlikely to ever want to play games with a MIDI soundtrack on two computers at the same time!
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    * Full overview of the XSimm10SS configuration, here: [[blog:x68_xsimm10ss]]
+This is the absolute maximum amount of RAM you can have in an X68000, short of local high-speed memory on something like the 68040 or 68060 CPU accelerator; but that isn't normally usable by the average X68000 application or game.