wraggster
February 6th, 2014, 00:27
http://hackadaycom.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/se.png?w=620&h=369
It’s been just over thirty years since the original Macintosh was released, and [hudson] over at NYC Resistor thought it would be a good time to put some old hardware to use. He had found an all-in-one Mac SE “on the side of a road” a while ago (where exactly are these roads, we wonder), and the recent diamond anniversary for the original mac platformconvinced him to do some major hardware hacking (http://www.nycresistor.com/2014/02/02/30th-anniversary-mac/).
Inspired by a six-year-old project from a NYC Resistor founder aptly named the 24th anniversary Mac (http://hackaday.com/2008/01/13/24th-anniversary-macintosh/), [hudson] decided to replace the old hardware with more powerful components – in this case, a BeagleBone Black. Unlike the earlier build, though, the original CRT would be salvaged; the analog board on the Mac SE has pins for video, hsync, vsync, and power.
To get a picture on the old CRT, [hudson] needed to write a software video card that used the BeagleBone’s PRU. The CRT isn’t exactly “modern” tech, and everything must be clocked at exactly 60.1 Hz lest the CRT emit a terrible buzzing sound.
With a software video card written for the old CRT, the BeagleBone becomes the new brains of this beige box. It runs all the classic Linux GUI apps (http://www.flickr.com/photos/osr/12183675003) including XEyes and XScreenSaver, although flying toasters might be out of the question. He also managed toload up the Hackaday retro site (http://www.flickr.com/photos/osr/12260464474/) with xterm, making this one of the best ways to make an old Mac SE useful.
http://hackaday.com/2014/02/05/the-30th-anniversary-macintosh/
It’s been just over thirty years since the original Macintosh was released, and [hudson] over at NYC Resistor thought it would be a good time to put some old hardware to use. He had found an all-in-one Mac SE “on the side of a road” a while ago (where exactly are these roads, we wonder), and the recent diamond anniversary for the original mac platformconvinced him to do some major hardware hacking (http://www.nycresistor.com/2014/02/02/30th-anniversary-mac/).
Inspired by a six-year-old project from a NYC Resistor founder aptly named the 24th anniversary Mac (http://hackaday.com/2008/01/13/24th-anniversary-macintosh/), [hudson] decided to replace the old hardware with more powerful components – in this case, a BeagleBone Black. Unlike the earlier build, though, the original CRT would be salvaged; the analog board on the Mac SE has pins for video, hsync, vsync, and power.
To get a picture on the old CRT, [hudson] needed to write a software video card that used the BeagleBone’s PRU. The CRT isn’t exactly “modern” tech, and everything must be clocked at exactly 60.1 Hz lest the CRT emit a terrible buzzing sound.
With a software video card written for the old CRT, the BeagleBone becomes the new brains of this beige box. It runs all the classic Linux GUI apps (http://www.flickr.com/photos/osr/12183675003) including XEyes and XScreenSaver, although flying toasters might be out of the question. He also managed toload up the Hackaday retro site (http://www.flickr.com/photos/osr/12260464474/) with xterm, making this one of the best ways to make an old Mac SE useful.
http://hackaday.com/2014/02/05/the-30th-anniversary-macintosh/