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Retro Mac computing, anyone interested?
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D0g Cow
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Nov 1, 2009, 06:21 PM
 
Is there anyone here who is interested in tinkering with old Macs (or even Apple II)? Say, anything before 1998 or so? System 6, GS/OS, etc.

I've built up quite a collection of these old Macs over the years!
     
nonhuman
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Nov 1, 2009, 06:32 PM
 
Nah, I'm quite happy with my KayPro and TRS-80.
     
reader50
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Nov 1, 2009, 07:00 PM
 
Do you have one of the ROM4 GS prototypes? I'd bite for one of those.
     
D0g Cow  (op)
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Nov 1, 2009, 07:38 PM
 
Unfortunately, no, but there's a guy who is going to sell his.
     
vcutag
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Nov 1, 2009, 07:56 PM
 
I'd be interested to see if I can make an old 15" TiBook run System 7.5.
     
D0g Cow  (op)
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Nov 1, 2009, 10:40 PM
 
Oh yes you can! See here for some Mac emulators. I'd recommend either SheepShaver or Basilisk II.
     
downinflames68
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Nov 2, 2009, 12:17 AM
 
Originally Posted by vcutag View Post
I'd be interested to see if I can make an old 15" TiBook run System 7.5.
I have a 15" Tibook for sale, if you want it. It's the 800mhz version. Battery is toast but other than that it's okay.

- Rob
     
vcutag
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Nov 2, 2009, 01:24 AM
 
Originally Posted by downinflames68 View Post
I have a 15" Tibook for sale, if you want it. It's the 800mhz version. Battery is toast but other than that it's okay.

- Rob
Oh, I have a TiBook in perfect working order; I just need to figure out how to make System 7.5 work on it, if possible. I'm thinking the "most retro" I can get is OS 8 or 9, though.
     
vcutag
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Nov 2, 2009, 01:25 AM
 
Originally Posted by D0g Cow View Post
Oh yes you can! See here for some Mac emulators. I'd recommend either SheepShaver or Basilisk II.
I'm looking to make it the native operating system, not emulate an older OS. I can do that on my iMac.
     
Hawkeye_a
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Nov 2, 2009, 07:19 AM
 
I was just shopping around for a system that can run System 7.5 ( i was thinking Mac Color Classic II, as it has a color display as well).

I want to experiment to see if i can get by using a system of that era for all my productivity needs.... and just sentimentality i guess. Any clue on where i can get a hold of systems from that era? eBay seems relatively sparse
     
shifuimam
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Nov 2, 2009, 08:00 AM
 
It's pretty unlikely you're going to find a Color Classic anywhere for sale, from what I've read.

I haven't hauled my Classic II out since we moved, but there are still some things I want to try on it - namely, getting it online (I want to see if I can share my G4's TCP/IP connection via AppleTalk or something). I still haven't figured out what else I can even do with it.
Sell or send me your vintage Mac things if you don't want them.
     
Goldfinger
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Nov 2, 2009, 08:13 AM
 
Originally Posted by vcutag View Post
I'm looking to make it the native operating system, not emulate an older OS. I can do that on my iMac.
Wouldn't that mean that you'd need to write your own drivers/system enabler ?

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memento
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Nov 2, 2009, 10:31 AM
 
have you searched eBay? I've gotten a few classic macs there. Mac Plus. eMate.
"Destroy your ego. Trust your brain. Destroy your beliefs. Trust your divinity." -Danny Carey

MacPro Quad 2.66, G4 MDD dual 867, 23" Cinema Display and 17" LCD, G4 Quicksilver dual 800, 12" Powerbook 867, iMac 300 Grape, B&W G3/300 with G4/450 running yellowdog, iPod 5GB, iPod mini, PowerCenter 150, Powercenter 132 tower, Performa 6116, Quadra 700, MacSE, LC II, eMate 300
     
Eug
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Nov 2, 2009, 10:51 AM
 
Not 90s era, but...

Got a Cube 450 running Leopard and a GeForce 6200 (for Quartz Extreme and Core Image), in the guest room.
Even though no Macs exist with the GeForce 6200, the flashed PC card works perfectly in Leopard.

I have another Cube with the same GPU but a 1.6 GHz G4 upgrade and a region free SuperDrive, that I use in my home office as a second computer too (second to my iMac).
     
olePigeon
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Nov 2, 2009, 12:48 PM
 
Color Classic, Mac IIci, and a vat of Retr0Bright.
"…I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than
you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods,
you will understand why I dismiss yours." - Stephen F. Roberts
     
D0g Cow  (op)
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Nov 2, 2009, 02:54 PM
 
Originally Posted by Hawkeye_a View Post
Any clue on where i can get a hold of systems from that era? eBay seems relatively sparse
As long as you can get them on to 1.4 MB floppy disks, here are a bunch of old systems.

Originally Posted by olePigeon View Post
Color Classic, Mac IIci, and a vat of Retr0Bright.
One of these days I am going to try making some, but I am still worried about whether it makes the plastics brittle or not. :-/
     
finboy
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Nov 2, 2009, 03:21 PM
 
I've tried the WP Appliance to try to get access to some old documents, and I think it's based on Basilisk II. But I keep running into trouble with the creator code problem, and it's been too much hassle.

I really need something that will run some old statistics software, and I thought COI Chubby Bunny would do it, but nope either. The images get corrupted without warning.

So the search continues.
     
CharlesS
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Nov 2, 2009, 03:44 PM
 
The trouble with emulation these days is that Apple removed the write ability from the HFS Standard drivers in Snow Leopard, so now it’s really hard to get stuff into the virtual machine from outside it.

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finboy
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Nov 2, 2009, 04:43 PM
 
Originally Posted by CharlesS View Post
The trouble with emulation these days is that Apple removed the write ability from the HFS Standard drivers in Snow Leopard, so now it’s really hard to get stuff into the virtual machine from outside it.
Yet another reason to delay upgrading (Rosetta being another, for me at least). I'll keep Leopard std as long as I can.
( Last edited by finboy; Apr 14, 2012 at 08:41 PM. )
     
imitchellg5
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Nov 2, 2009, 04:49 PM
 
Originally Posted by Eug View Post
Not 90s era, but...

Got a Cube 450 running Leopard and a GeForce 6200 (for Quartz Extreme and Core Image), in the guest room.
Even though no Macs exist with the GeForce 6200, the flashed PC card works perfectly in Leopard.

I have another Cube with the same GPU but a 1.6 GHz G4 upgrade and a region free SuperDrive, that I use in my home office as a second computer too (second to my iMac).
Sigh, I still want a Cube in my room.
     
Powerbook
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Nov 2, 2009, 06:33 PM
 
Originally Posted by vcutag View Post
Oh, I have a TiBook in perfect working order; I just need to figure out how to make System 7.5 work on it, if possible. I'm thinking the "most retro" I can get is OS 8 or 9, though.
That would be MacOS9.2.x... the last MacOS8.6 notebook was the G3 Lombard.

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vcutag
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Nov 2, 2009, 09:20 PM
 
Originally Posted by Powerbook View Post
That would be MacOS9.2.x... the last MacOS8.6 notebook was the G3 Lombard.

PB.
That's what I was afraid of. Looks like I need to find an old LCII...

EDIT: Unless someone knows how I could find a copy of an OS 9 install disc. It looks like the stuff below OS 8 is freeware these days, but I can't seem to find an OS 9 disc image available.
( Last edited by vcutag; Nov 2, 2009 at 10:25 PM. Reason: Added bit about OS 9.)
     
Eug
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Nov 3, 2009, 08:38 AM
 
Out of interest's sake, what would you do with OS 9? I know it's a retro thread, but I'm just wondering. Internet Explorer 5? 7.5 sounds interesting though...

BTW, my TiBook 1 GHz came with 9.2.2 and 10.2, but I never really used OS 9 for anything meaningful. Well, not quite true. I used Photoshop under Classic. As for my Cubes, I just used OS 9 for firmware updates.

---

     
D0g Cow  (op)
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Nov 3, 2009, 10:24 AM
 
Originally Posted by Eug View Post
Out of interest's sake, what would you do with OS 9? I know it's a retro thread, but I'm just wondering. Internet Explorer 5? 7.5 sounds interesting though...
There's always games and old programs. OS 9 will run stuff from 1984, even (as long as the program was written to Apple's guide-lines of course!) Also, OS 9 is a lot more customizable than OS X, especially with extensions, control panels, and themes.

Originally Posted by finboy View Post
Yet another reason to delay upgrading (Rosetta Stone being another, for me at least). I'll keep Leopard std as long as I can.
Yeah, definitely. That and the Guest account bug are going to keep me from upgrading for a looong time.

Originally Posted by vcutag View Post
EDIT: Unless someone knows how I could find a copy of an OS 9 install disc. It looks like the stuff below OS 8 is freeware these days, but I can't seem to find an OS 9 disc image available.
It used to be that Apple had a "secret" server where anyone with an AppleID could login and download all the old System versions and apps (pre-OS X stuff), but they've since closed it off to Apple technicians only.
     
finboy
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Nov 3, 2009, 12:12 PM
 
Originally Posted by D0g Cow View Post
There's always games and old programs. OS 9 will run stuff from 1984, even (as long as the program was written to Apple's guide-lines of course!) Also, OS 9 is a lot more customizable than OS X, especially with extensions, control panels, and themes.

Yeah, definitely. That and the Guest account bug are going to keep me from upgrading for a looong time.

It used to be that Apple had a "secret" server where anyone with an AppleID could login and download all the old System versions and apps (pre-OS X stuff), but they've since closed it off to Apple technicians only.
It was up this summer. I got 6.0.8 off of it (disk images).

There's LOTS of retro stuff on LowEndMac. Enablers and updaters etc. Happy hunting.

Here's a lowendmac linky that hits System 7.5.3 free download immediately:

http://lowendmac.com/macos.shtml
( Last edited by finboy; Nov 3, 2009 at 12:34 PM. Reason: Added linky; promoted LEM)
     
D0g Cow  (op)
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Nov 3, 2009, 12:34 PM
 
Originally Posted by finboy View Post
It was up this summer. I got 6.0.8 off of it (disk images).
We probably aren't talking about the same thing. There's this page: AppleCare Support - Older Software Downloads
Which is probably what you're referring to. That page has always been around and open. The server I was talking about required an AppleID to login (and still does, of course).
     
vcutag
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Nov 3, 2009, 02:14 PM
 
Originally Posted by Eug View Post
Out of interest's sake, what would you do with OS 9? I know it's a retro thread, but I'm just wondering. Internet Explorer 5? 7.5 sounds interesting though...

BTW, my TiBook 1 GHz came with 9.2.2 and 10.2, but I never really used OS 9 for anything meaningful. Well, not quite true. I used Photoshop under Classic. As for my Cubes, I just used OS 9 for firmware updates.
I've got some old programs I want to play around with, and mostly just a nostalgia thing. The first Mac I ever used was an LC in 1991, and I think it had System 7. OS 9 is probably as close as I can get, but like someone said downthread, it'll run some of the older programs.

I just broke out the system disc that came with the TiBook and couldn't figure out how to get it to boot in OS 9.2.2 (If that's even possible)... I think I'm going to have to find an OS 9.2.8 install disc somewhere.

And yeah, I know I can run Classic mode; that's not the point.
     
Eug
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Nov 3, 2009, 02:19 PM
 
All TiBooks can boot OS 9 AFAIK.
     
ShortcutToMoncton
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Nov 3, 2009, 02:20 PM
 
I have some retro stuff - a Classic, an Apple ][+ from '79 - but it's all stuffed away in a closet somewhere. I'll haul it out in 10 years probably....

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D0g Cow  (op)
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Nov 3, 2009, 03:28 PM
 
Originally Posted by vcutag View Post
I've got some old programs I want to play around with, and mostly just a nostalgia thing.
Old programs, eh? You may find this interesting. It's the oldest Mac application in existance!

It was written by Andy Hertzfeld in 1982 (two years before Mac was released) and was a demonstration of the Window Manager.

Download it here: Andy Hertzfeld "Pepsi Caps" Window Manager Demo
and read about it here: Bouncing Pepsis.
     
Powerbook
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Nov 3, 2009, 04:56 PM
 
Originally Posted by Eug View Post
Out of interest's sake, what would you do with OS 9? I know it's a retro thread, but I'm just wondering. Internet Explorer 5? 7.5 sounds interesting though...
Back then:
- Internet Explorer 5.5 ("secret" beta)
- many many classic games (without CarbonLib)
- maximum power in classic 3D games
- maximum power in Virtual PC or other emulations
Aut Caesar aut nihil.
     
vcutag
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Nov 3, 2009, 05:01 PM
 
Originally Posted by Eug View Post
All TiBooks can boot OS 9 AFAIK.
Hm. Maybe I'm doing something wrong; when I tried to boot it into OS 9, I got a happy mac and it froze there. This is with the OS 9.2.2 install disc the TiBook came with.
     
   
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