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olePigeon · Sep 13, 2011, 03:32 PM

View topic - Another IIci ROM hack – 68k Macintosh Liberation Army Forums

doug33 over at 68k MLA has accomplished one of the coolest Mac hacks of all time! Something that I've always wanted to do ever since I first saw a Mac, but lacked the technical ability: change the boot chime and the boot icons!

With a little help from others, he's designed and now ordered (they just shipped!) a custom ROM SIMM that should work in most Macintosh computers with a ROM SIMM slot (i.e. II, IIfx, IIcx, IIci, IIsi, SE/30, etc.)

Being a liberal arts major, I contributed in the only way I could: I created a project logo that he had screened onto the SIMM, a custom Jolly Roger. Arrr!

Check out these videos of the custom ROMs he's made:

Super Mario Bros. boot chime (probably my favorite): Mac IIci with Super Mario Bros startup chime! - YouTube

IIci with a Performa boot chime: Mac IIci - Another Custom Startup Chime - YouTube

IIci with custom boot icon: Mac IIci ROM hack (custom startup icons) - YouTube

I'll be ordering one for sure. My custom boot chime will be the "Arrrr!" from Pirates! Gold, and I'll have a Happy IIci for the boot icon. Haven't decided if it'll have a pirate patch or not.

Big Mac · Sep 14, 2011, 11:33 AM

I didn't know Mac ROMs came on removable SIMMs. It is a pretty cool hack.

olePigeon · 12:50 PM

Originally Posted by Big Mac

I didn't know Mac ROMs came on removable SIMMs. It is a pretty cool hack.

Most didn't, they're usually soldered onto the motherboard. However, many of them had a ROM SIMM socket that Apple had intended to use for future ROM upgrades. You just pull a jumper on the motherboard, and it bypasses the onboard ROM for the SIMM.

The point of using a custom SIMM is that it's a lot easier than desoldering the ROMs off your motherboard.

shifuimam · Sep 20, 2011, 01:14 PM

Oh, that's pretty awesome.

Is this also 32-bit clean? I'd love to add that to my SE/30.

olePigeon · Sep 20, 2011, 01:34 PM

It's whatever ROM you put on it, so it should work with an SE/30.

olePigeon · Sep 27, 2011, 01:24 PM

The first batch of SIMMs work! Apparently the IIsi is wired a bit differently, so it requires a little modification. However, revision 2 will work unmodified on a IIsi and will include the Pirate logo with LEDs. Arrr!

olePigeon · Sep 30, 2011, 01:08 PM

Mac IIci Mario Startup Chime Part 2 -- Long! - YouTube

Awesome video that also shows the new SIMM he made. With the expanded ROM size, he has the entire Super Mario Bros. song play for the boot chime.

OK, so it's a little bit long for a boot chime, but man is that cool.

Also, his hack was featured on Hack a Day!

Booting a 1989 Mac with Mario - Hack a Day

reader50 · Oct 3, 2011, 02:24 AM

I'd swear that computer looks familiar.

Does the longer chime delay bootup, or does boot continue while it plays?

olePigeon · Oct 3, 2011, 12:00 PM

It delays bootup until it's done playing.

reader50 · Oct 3, 2011, 12:31 PM

If you can give feedback to the programmer, I suggest a key command to terminate the chime and continue. In case someone needed to reach an old game for example.

olePigeon · Oct 3, 2011, 05:12 PM

Well, you can put any startup chime you like. Probably would be easier if you didn't put a 2 minute song as your boot chime.

olePigeon · Oct 18, 2011, 05:43 PM

Revision 2 of the ROM SIMM has been shipped, and will be assembled soon. This version includes the Jolly Roger I designed.

It should also work on a IIsi with no modifications. At least, we'll know soon if it does.

olePigeon · Oct 27, 2011, 01:08 PM

Revision 2 PCBs have been received!

View topic - Another IIci ROM hack – 68k Macintosh Liberation Army Forums

Those look awesome. I can't wait to see the eyes light up.

olePigeon · Oct 31, 2011, 12:51 PM

It's aliiiiive!

reader50 · Oct 31, 2011, 01:18 PM

LEDs in the skull eye sockets?

olePigeon · Oct 31, 2011, 01:46 PM

Yes indeed.

Mwuhahaha!

olePigeon · Nov 11, 2011, 03:40 PM

My SIMM running in a Mac IIci.

Skull and crossbones SIMM, graphics by olePigeon - YouTube

Coolest thing ever! Arrrr!

$29 (price includes shipping) for a fully assembled board if you want one! He also sells just the board for cheap, and you can assemble your own. I think he still has Rev 1 boards available as well which work perfectly fine in everything except the IIsi, which just needs a slight modification to get it to work.

euphras · 11:38 AM

Originally Posted by Big Mac

I didn't know Mac ROMs came on removable SIMMs. It is a pretty cool hack.

The Centris/Quadra 610 had the "primary" ROM soldered onto the mainboard, but there was an empty "secondary" ROM slot (64 pin IIRC) for later upgrade options. The Powermacintosh 6100 had the ROM in a slot physically identical with the secondary cache slot of this machine.

What a cool hack!

olePigeon · Mar 14, 2012, 01:57 PM

If anyone was wondering about the progress of the project, doug33 is making a EPROM programmer for the SIMMs plus some software. That way anyone can make their own startup chime & boot icons for their II series Mac. The board also doubles as a generic programmer if your SIMM is socketed.