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Ultimedia Module

Ultimedia Module
Ultimedia Module PCB, Top
Ultimedia Module PCB, Bottom
Ultimedia Panel Parts & Cables
Adding Ultimedia Module to 85xx
92F0110 Interposer
Ultimedia Audio Port Pinout
DIY IBM Ultimedia-to-CT 5330

Based on content by William R. Walsh (original HERE). Edited by Major Tom. Photos from Supervinx.

Ultimedia Module

Ultimedia Module PCB, Top FRU P/N 41G3929

Ultimedia Module PCB, Bottom FRU P/N 41G3929

J2 - Plug / Socket on Ultimedia PCB

Provided by Daniel Hamilton.

Ultimedia Panel Parts & Cables

• Control assembly w/volume control - 92F0109
• Interposer (for connector P2) - 92F0110
• Cable, front panel to system board - 92F0111 (or 96F7762?)
• Cable, CD to M-Audio Adapter - 92F0112
• Cable front panel to M-Audio Adapter - 92F0113

It is not clear what version of the ACPA is being used. Revisions A and B lack the 16 pin Ultimedia header. The Rev C has the Ultimedia header.

The CD to ACPA can't be for the Rev A (no signal headers), probably a 3-pin cable for the Rev B, 4-pin for Rev C.

Adding Ultimedia Module to 85xx

You can add the Ultimedia Module to a non-premium 85xx machine (8-pin Control Panel header), but not without some additional steps. You will have to either modify the cable (smaller receptacle, external +/-12 V source) or use a special interposer (see below).

92F0110 Interposer | (photos from pleonard on Vogons and Supervinx)

IBM solved the Ultimedia/85xx incompatibility with an 8-pin receptacle -AND- an interposer to dog-rob +/- 12 V from the P2 Power-supply connector. You could get the +/- 12 V from a HD power plug, just keep in mind that the system board header probably sources low-power voltages, while the HD plug provides more power.

Note: the Control Panel header to Control Panel cable is ribbon cable. You will not be driving tower speakers with this.

Sound Cards with Ultimedia Port

The following sound cards feature the Ultimedia Panel header:

• IBM M-ACPA "Ultimedia" (Rev C)
• IBM Audiovation Adapter
• IBM MWave WindSurfer (unconfirmed)
• SoundPiper 16 & 32 (unconfirmed)
• ChipChat 16 & 32

Ultimedia Audio Port Pinout

Pinout of the header found on Ultimedia-compatible cards:

Odd # pins top, Even # pins bottom.

Pinout courtesy of Christian Hansen and pleonard on Vogons.

DIY IBM Ultimedia-to-CT 5330 by pleonard (original post on VOGONS)

Those of us (un)lucky enough to have collected an Ultimedia PS/2 know that the audio features of this machine are a mix of good and bad: great front-panel amplified speaker with volume control and headphone/mic jacks, coupled to a terminally-unsupported audio card (M-ACPA or AudioVation, choose your MWAVE DSP poison). The question is: how to connect that great front-panel speaker up to a useful sound card?

As you might expect, audio is connected through a proprietary 16-pin connector that plugs into IBM's own audio cards. A few 3rd-party boards (ChipChat among them) include this "Ultimedia Header", but Creative's own Sound Blaster (Pro) MCV does not.

But since we have the pinout, and since you can buy 2x8-pin dual row headers, it should be relatively easy to solder up a R/L/Gnd cable from the line out jack on the back of the SoundBlaster Pro:

(believe it or not, those pins aren't shorted :>)

Ed. pleonard connected Pins 1 (R), 2 (Gnd), and 10 (L). But the wiring doesn't quite match the pinout! Yet it supposedly worked for him... hmm. Needs verification.

As you'd expect, best results are obtained by disabling the built-in amp on the SBPro. The result is very clean sound - contemporary (1991) reviews of the Ultimedia mention how these machines' own sound hardware obviated the need for external speakers for most users. Best of all, you can completely uninstall the original DSP sound card. (Your sympathies for the original IBM sound card will dramatically decrease when you discover how many dozens of KB of RAM it requires to produce sound of any kind in DOS...!)