X68000 ACE "Queen"?

[amigo-mexicano]

Wondering if anyone knows about this ACE model "Queen" that appeared on YJ. I didn't find any info about it.

Seller says it has 68030 cpu at 20 mhz (!) and 12mb of ram, but the hard drive was taken out (it's not ACE HD).

Is this a true "special" or custom model like the Red Zone?



http://page9.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/k189679539

[famiac]

Oh wow that is really unique! Jealous of whomever got it

Never heard of this thing

[amigo-mexicano]

Well, I couldn't resist, and I end up winning this rare ACE model.



I can see the QUEEN label is not home-made, it seems it was there from factory, along with the rest of the X68000 label.

Now, on the inside, I found some home-made mod, for speed I guess, too bad one cable got unsoldered on shipping. The mod goes outside to a switch. When turning on, boots fine just from one side of the switch, probably because that green cable needs to be reconnected, wherever it goes, I have no idea...



It has 1mb board installed, so total should be 2mb, since there is no other ram card installed (just a SCSI one), so that of 12mb ram on description was wrong.

I need to open it up completely to check the MoBo and see the processor, I doubt it's a 68030 as described.

Floppy drive 0 does not work, it ejects any disk inserted. FD unit 1 seems fine.

It had no HDD installed, and no SASI cable either.

The Power supply works great, and it's the original one. It seems to have all original capacitors, since I made a quick inspection and it looks pretty dirty. I will service that power supply ASAP.

It's pretty dusty... but hey, I am pretty happy with the fact that it's an original QUEEN "special" model. Never seen anything like it.

Anyone knows about that speed mod? There's a sticker with some indications in japanese, marks where each color cable goes (on the crystal, not the MoBo). I'll try to open it up to upload some photos of the motherboard.

[RobIvy64]

Definitely an overclock hack job.

If the shielding is on the motherboard, then there is no 68030 accelerator. You have to permanently remove that to install it.

[amigo-mexicano]

I am kinda surprised that the product was not as described. On my experience, it's quite rare that japanese sellers lie on descriptions of their items on sale...

[famiac]

Same. I hope you didn't lose too much money. Good luck servicing it! it looks pretty slick

[gypsie]

How much your Ace "queen" for info ?

[amigo-mexicano]

Ok, it is serviced now!

Battery was removed and changed for coin battery + diode. Some motherboard & sub-board capacitors changed, dusted away, and green cable location found, for the overclock. Now the switch works, but I am not sure at how much mhz it runs. Gradius II feels a lot faster when the switch is ON, but Valis II has bad music this way (plays too fast).

Anyone knows how to measure the actual Mhz the X68k is running at? Is there like a program to run that gives such info?

Thanks!

How much your Ace "queen" for info ?

Around $100 USD.

[netwalka]

Hmmmm.... I guess that "QUEEN" is from lettering sticker sheet.

You may damage letters with the tip of your nail.

Just a homebrew job...

[amigo-mexicano]

You may damage letters with the tip of your nail.

Aaaand yes, it did...

Mystery solved!