Is there an upgrade path to CMBB for Gen One iMac?

[John Kettler]

With CMBB mere months away, I thought I'd ask whether anyone here, BTS or not, can tell me whether there is a way to upgrade a Gen One iMac

(233 MHz, 64 MB RAM (added 32), ATI Rage Pro video

board w/2 MB VRAM, runs OS 8.6) so that it can run CMBB?

Presently, I run CMBO effortlessly, but only at 640 x 480, even though my rig is below the BTS

minimum system specs. If it helps any, mine is a really early one with the so-called Mezzanine slot.

I'd appreciate any constructive input on this matter.

Sincerely,

John Kettler

[Schrullenhaft]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it seems that your iMac may be incapable of supporting CMBB as the specs warrant.

I grabbed this from a Google search:

Rev A and B iMacs -- the first "Bondi Blue" systems -- shipped with a mezzanine PCI connector called the Perch slot. The slot was never officially endorsed by Apple for third-party development, but one company -- a defunct manufacturer called Micro Conversions -- made an 8 MB Voodoo2 card for the slot called the Game Wizard.

The Voodoo2 card was only useful for 3D acceleration, since the Voodoo2 chip itself only did 3D acceleration, but it provided Mac gamers with a bit of a boost in 3D graphics compared with the slower RAGE Pro graphics chip included with the iMac.

The company has gone out of business and no one ever did step into their place to sell or support the card, including 3dfx, which itself went out of business for all intents and purposes last winter. By and large the Glide API, 3dfx's home rolled graphics technology that enabled the Voodoo2 card to work, has been supplanted by OpenGL -- although a few games still support the technology.

All subsequent editions of the iMac -- "fruit flavored" straight through to Dalmatian Blue and Flower Power -- have sported a motherboard design that no longer has the Perch slot in place.

I believe the Voodoo2 card that is mentioned here did work for some people here on the forum (I think that they had to disable/remove the Glide extension). However, if I remember correctly, Charles or Steve mentioned that they would be pulling support for Voodoo 1 & 2 series from the CMBB code for both Mac & PC platforms. The reason I believe is that the 8Mb and under (possibly 12Mb too) Voodoo 1 & 2s couldn't support the default resolution properly (despite having what would appear to be the requisite amout of VRAM).

It may be time to 'bite the bullet' and find a reputable used dealer of iMacs and get a later model that has more video memory. Here's one on eBay (a 400Mhz DV model with a legal copy of MS Office 2001 and a 2 year Apple warranty).

[ 11-03-2001: Message edited by: Schrullenhaft ]</p>

[Gyrene]

John, I was going to bring up the Game Wizard Voodoo2 card, but if the support is to be dropped then I think it's curtains for Bondi.

The Game Wizard was fully 2 times faster than the RageC 6mb cards found in the later iMacs (Up to the Rev D 333mhz model) and was a great addition at the time, but if CM will not work with it...

Some web retailers are offering CPU upgrade/Game Wizard combos for Rev A/B iMacs if you are still interested. Try dealmac for prices.

If you are going to get a new iMac, you should make sure you get one of the models with the 16MB Rage Ultra cards and skip the 8Mb card equipped models.

smalldog.com has some good prices.

Gyrene

[ 11-03-2001: Message edited by: Gyrene ]</p>

[John Kettler]

Guys,

Thanks for a quick response, even if much of it made bleak reading. Will have to look into this in detail later, when I have a fully functioning brain.

Regards,

John Kettler