I recently built QEMU from scratch on the Raspberry Pi 5 and wanted to document my steps. My goal was to run two different Mac emulations: a 68k and PPC Mac, specifically with AppleTalk networking functioning over Ethernet.
If you’re a classic Mac enthusiast, you know that it’s sometimes difficult to enjoy if you don’t have the right tools. Things like the choosing the right system software, the right version(s) of Stuffit Expander, and so forth. Then, getting that software to the machine can be a challenge. Floppy disks are problematic for a number of reasons. Using AppleTalk to connect your classic Mac to a modern network if challenging as support was removed years ago from MacOS X.
Luckily for us, there’s a great pre-made installation called “MacIPRpi” for Raspberry Pi. It delivers a suite of tools that are already configured and ready to use. I’ve used it for a couple of years and it’s worked great. For most folks, this will serve you well!
However, recently I’ve attempted to do certain things it couldn’t handle. This is mainly due to netatalk being updated since the image was created. This blog post contains my notes as I set out to create a newly updated version of this suite of tools from scratch.
Continue readingSeasoned Apple Macintosh pros have likely experienced the joy (and sadness) of using a large AppleTalk network. You know, the kind where the Chooser suddenly shows a Zone menu at the bottom left where there used to be none? When you first see it, it’s a shock– like you’ve suddenly unlocked a secret power up that your Mac has had all along.
This blog post is a repair thread from social media that began on February 24, 2018.
February 24, 2018
So, this happened. My latest retro delivery. Any guesses?
It is, yet, another plotter. An HP 7585B wide format plotter with a 36” wide paper path.
Unfortunately it failed the first power on test and now it smells bad. So it’s been taken to bits to find the culprit.
Continue readingHayes is best known for modems and for establishing the ubiquitous AT command set as the standard for all modems that followed. Their external modems, made of aluminum, fronted with jewel-like LED status lights were the top shelf of modems. As a kid, Hayes modems were a status symbol. Hayes also made other hardware products like the Chronograph, Transet, and InterBridge all with the same footprint designed to stack on one another– the “Hayes Stack” was a brief marketing campaign.
While you may be familiar with Smartcom, the series of terminal programs for their Smartmodems, you may be surprised to learn that Hayes also created a database application.
What follows is my journey over several months in 2021 in researching, salvaging, repairing, and archiving an unknown piece of computing history.
Continue readingI collect and use a variety of vintage pen plotters. My favorite type are the gantry style which are typically made by Roland. The DXY series of plotters were made to sit on top of a table, either laying flat or at an angle using the provided triangle wedges or built in kick stand.
Continue readingAlternate title: I want to print from an emulated Mac on a pocket computer to my ImageWriter II over AppleTalk.
I’ve had a PocketCHIP for several years now. I picked it up right after the Kickstarter campaign was finished sometime in 2016/2017. It’s a great little Linux-based handheld device that combines a lot in one package (touch display, keyboard, storage, battery, sound, USB port, WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.). The novelty wore off and I stowed it away in a box. The company Next Thing Co. went out of business shortly thereafter in March 2018.
Continue readingIn November 2021, I posted a short video on Twitter of my Roland DXY 1150 pen plotter drawing a generative wobbly circle design on top of a 5.25″ floppy disk. A few people responded that they would buy one of the floppies. This got me thinking about the medium of a floppy disk that I was using.
(This was originally a Twitter thread from May 7, 2019.)
May 7, 2019
New addition: Datavue 25 portable lunchbox PC. Keyboard stows on front, two 3.5 floppy drives, 13 pounds.
(This was originally a Twitter thread from January 24, 2022.)
January 24, 2022
Many of you know that I have an affinity for the Hayes Chronograph. I have several of them, I made a WiFi controller to set the time automatically, and I’ve repaired several of them. Here’s another page in the repair chapter.
