The chassis expansion anthology for PowerMacs

[supernova777]

Thanks RTInstaller for the excellent description. Will give
this a go on one of my MDD's.

how? its a quicksilver that he modded.. not a mdd..
?? how could u possibly do the same mod on an mdd

[acelera]

Someone should start offering the servicing of modding these damn MDD PSUs or something. I for one would be interested in such a service.

[paule]

Hi all,
I am glad that I found on ebay some years ago a G4 (1.25) with the legendary VeraxFanKit (M10+M11). It was one of my best decision to spend some money to get one of the last Verax-Fans-G4. It is a huge difference!!! To everyone who has the chance to get one. Buy it.

Best, paul.

[RTIInstaller]

Thanks RTInstaller for the excellent description. Will give
this a go on one of my MDD's.

how? its a quicksilver that he modded.. not a mdd..
?? how could u possibly do the same mod on an mdd

MDD has fans in it, so log as Silenx has fans of the same geometry and air flow you can figure out how to replace them. The MDD chassis will take a bit more work to cut away from the fan but it should be doable

[supernova777]

I've done the fan replacement on the mdd...
the fans are deep inside the power supply unit near the front of the machine.. not near the rear

i replaced my fans with R2 fans from Fractal Design
as far as i know mr happy has bough the same fans..
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=fractal+design+60mm&N=-1&isNodeId=1
i paid 9.99 per fan for mine


hows that going MR HAPPY?? still not done ??

[mrhappy]

Draggin' my feet BIG TIME on that one Chris!!!

[Syntho]

I'm back in the market for an expansion chassis. I need to do some research on this because I'm still confused on the different chassis boxes available. I'm gonna be running it with a 9600 and I think some of the later ones that were released don't work as well on the 9600.

[RTIInstaller]

I'm back in the market for an expansion chassis. I need to do some research on this because I'm still confused on the different chassis boxes available. I'm gonna be running it with a 9600 and I think some of the later ones that were released don't work as well on the 9600.

What ever you get make darn sure it has all the parts with it. a lot of those eBay chassis are incomplete.  I have a 7 slot expansion chassis with the built in card works flawlessly, but I still don't have a 7 node cable yet to work with my mix system. So I am currently stuck with just 5 cards.

[Syntho]

One of these days I'm going to get a chassis... it would work great with my 9600. I've got a few too many cards taking up my 6 slots so the chassis will definitely help. I only need about 3 Mix cards max for my own rig, so the 5-node TDM cable is enough for me. I guess I need to look into what the differences are between the 7 and 13 slot chassis. The 7 will do, but I'll take a 13 if that's what happens to be available at the time.

[mrhappy]

I guess I need to look into what the differences are between the 7 and 13 slot chassis.

Using my trusty calculator, the difference is 6!

I'm ALL audio at this point so I pretty much NEED a loaded chassis for any serious mixing! I'm using the Digi- branded SBS with the built in controller card and it's been working great.

I'm using a G4 and some of the earlier Chassis won't work with the G4, however that shouldn't be a concern with a 9600.

The earlier SBS and Magma need a 'interface'/'controller' card for the chassis itself... so for a 7 slot chassis, for instance, there will be 8 slots... one of which is for the chassis interface card and the remaining 7 for PCI cards. Most of the chassis I see for sale have this card already installed... as being installed in the chassis itself makes them harder to lose/ misplace.

Usually missing is the 'Host' card that plugs int the computer... these can be found on eBay ... The 13 slot Host cards seem to be more plentiful at this point in time for some reason.

The INTERFACE CABLE... Now THESE you don't find by themselves often as I don't think most resellers have any idea what they are for! The cable for the earlier chassis' is like a big fat ribbon cable with a protective outer sleeve (usually gray) that looks like some sort of SCSI cable. The connectors on the SBS and Magma are different from each other and NOT interchangeable so you need to find one for your specific brand. On these earlier chassis' I SUSPECT  that the 7 and 13 slot chassis use the same cable but don't know this as fact. Also the cable length is important, as longer cables (beyond 4-5-ish ft??) will cause problems and may not work properly.

SOOOO.... I LOVE having the expansion chassis and for someone like me who is using mainly audio, I feel like its almost a necessity for any modern style mixing on a PT5/OS9 system. It's probably not as important for mostly midi or tracking smaller projects or for editing.

If I was just getting into the chassis game I'd hunt for one that was complete with cable and cards!

Jump in there Syntho... Chassis' for everyone!!!

[Syntho]

I'm hardware myself so I need a chassis for sure. Hard to find these things. I'll stay on the lookout.

[mrhappy]

I'll keep my eyes open too!😁

[Syntho]

I'm trying to convince Knezzen to sell me his 

[Knezzen]

Took some pictures of the back of my chassis last night since Syntho noticed that it shouldn't work with my MDD.
Strange thing is that it has worked for 2 years now and through many recorded songs and albums

And to add to this: The bridge/magma card in the chassis is identical to the one in the computer.
Switching the cards places from the chassis to the computer doesn't do a thing functioning wise, everything works just as great as it did before the switch. So you could probably just buy two of the magma PCI cards with the connector you want and the cable you want, and it should work.

[mrhappy]

Took some pictures of the back of my chassis last night since Syntho noticed that it shouldn't work with my MDD.

Why is it that chassis "shouldn't work" with MDD??

[Syntho]

Wait, I think Knezzen gave me incorrect info. I was thinking he had a Digidesign-branded chassis, not a Magma. The PCI 7RX is Magma-branded. Plus it's a 7 slotter. I was thinking he had a Digidesign-branded 13 slot, so that explains the confusion. The Magma 7-slot PCI 7RX is indeed compatible with both 9600s and G4s, it's definitely the one with the most compatibility across different types of Macs.

[mrhappy]

And to add to this: The bridge/magma card in the chassis is identical to the one in the computer.
Switching the cards places from the chassis to the computer doesn't do a thing functioning wise, everything works just as great as it did before the switch. So you could probably just buy two of the magma PCI cards with the connector you want and the cable you want, and it should work.

Knez this is an interesting 'discovery!!

On your chassis model it would normally have:

 'P7B Backplane'... 01-03515-00 (the board with the PCI sockets)

'Interface Card'... 01-03522-00 (the card installed in chassis)

'Host Card'... 01-03521-00 ( the card installed in the computer)... going by memory here so I'm not 100% sure of the numbers

So Knez... are you using 2 'Interface' cards or 2 'Host' cards in your rig?? This could make things easier for someone trying to piece together a system, knowing that 2 of the same cards could be used!!

[mrhappy]

Wait, I think Knezzen gave me incorrect info. I was thinking he had a Digidesign-branded chassis, not a Magma. The PCI 7RX is Magma-branded. Plus it's a 7 slotter. I was thinking he had a Digidesign-branded 13 slot, so that explains the confusion. The Magma 7-slot PCI 7RX is indeed compatible with both 9600s and G4s, it's definitely the one with the most compatibility across different types of Macs.

I was thinking something like this might be the case...BTW... Digidesign put their 'Brand' on both SBS AND Magma chassis but they are easily distinguished by their appearance.

[mrhappy]

I was thinking he had a Digidesign-branded 13 slot

I thought Knezzen had a 13 slot too... at least a some point! 

[Knezzen]

Wait, I think Knezzen gave me incorrect info. I was thinking he had a Digidesign-branded chassis, not a Magma. The PCI 7RX is Magma-branded. Plus it's a 7 slotter. I was thinking he had a Digidesign-branded 13 slot, so that explains the confusion. The Magma 7-slot PCI 7RX is indeed compatible with both 9600s and G4s, it's definitely the one with the most compatibility across different types of Macs.

I didn't. It has a Digidesign front panel (with the Pro Tools logo) and Magma internals with the serial number from the picture above.
Picture attached of the front of the chassis. I also have a 13-slot Magma branded chassis, with picture also attached. This chassis does not work reliably with my G4. Hope this sorts out the confusion.