Description

Designed by HKZ Lab, this board is a remix of the Micromac Performer reversed by Bolle, resized for installation on the Macintosh Plus, with added JCM exclusive extras to allow installation in your Mac Plus with no logic board modifications.

This design uses a 3D printed CPU clip that allows the accelerator to snap directly onto the 68000 CPU in your Mac Plus. Just plug in, install the Performer INIT into your System 7 or earlier System folder, and you’re off to the races.

Parts Not Included

Supply and costs on the CPU and FPU vary wildly, so these are supplied as a separate product with pricing that matches market availability.

Installation Notes

Installation is simple.

1. Remove your Mac Plus Board from the system chassis.
2. Clip the MiniPerformer+ over the 68000 CPU. Ensure it is firmly seated, and properly aligned (i.e. not off by one pin, etc!). You can check the proper orientation on the product pictures above.
3. Install your Mac Plus Board into your system chassis.
4. Power up your system and ensure it runs correctly.
5. Download the Performer INIT from Macintosh Garden [performer2.2.1.sit]
6. Extract the Performer INIT from the .sit file.
7. Copy the Performer INIT into your System folder and restart.
8. Notice how fast your Mac Plus is now!

Removal Notes

The Mounting Clip is held to the accelerator board by the friction of the connection pins against the 3D Clip. When you remove the MiniPerformer+ from your machine, it is very important to use use a prying tool (flat bladed screwdriver, for example) to pry between the 68000 chip and the Mounting Clip. DO NOT pull on the board itself. Failure to do so may result in the MiniPerformer+ assembly sliding out of the clip, while the clip stays behind on the 68000. Repairing the unit after this is difficult.

Sound Playback Issues

Most early Mac accelerators cause issues with sound playback. The MiniPeformer+ is no different.

Tips and Tricks for the self-assemblers

Assembly Order

We suggest starting with the Mounting Clip, then the GAL sockets, then the rest of the components.

The small “bird seed” components are already assembled for you.

Attaching the 3D Clip

Installing the Mounting Clip is a bit tricky. The basic steps are:

1. Remove the pins from all of the plastic pin shrouds.
2. Put the Mounting Clip over your 68000 CPU.
3. Align the MiniPerformer+ over the 3D clip.
4. Insert a pin at each of the four corners, and ensure they are fully planted as far in as they can go.
5. Insert the rest of the pins.
6. Solder each pin at the base.
7. Use snips to clip each pin from the MiniPerformer+. Beware flying metal pieces that may get into your logic board, or your eyes!
8. Repeat with the rest of the pins until all are soldered in place.

Soldering The GAL Chip sockets

We suggest the following process to make surface mounting the GAL Chip Sockets easier.

1. Cut the plastic bottoms out of the sockets.
2. Align the sockets on the pads. Watch the orientation marks!
3. Apply a liberal amount of soldering flux.
4. Solder each pin to its pad.

Assembly Tutorial Video