Nostr notes by Scott Small 🇨🇦

Watching @npub1mn6…vg25 's latest video ...

2026-04-11T16:14:12Z

Watching Action Retro :apple_inc: (npub1mn6…vg25) 's latest video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiy5MIl03tY) this morning on building a router from an ancient PC hit me like whiplash because I did nearly the exact same thing, with the exact same machine, 25 years ago.

By the year 2000, our house had a whole bunch of computers in it:
- Dad's Power Mac G3 in our living room, which was the former family computer before the rest of us got our own
- my Mac Centris 610 and Intel Celeron 366 PC, in my bedroom
- my brother's 486 PC, in his bedroom
- my mom's 486 PC, in my parent's bedroom

Dad had run Ethernet cabling throughout the house the year before (Wi-Fi wasn't really a thing yet), terminating at a patch panel in the living room next to the G3. That panel connected to a 10/100 switch, which connected to the G3. Dad had installed a second Ethernet card in the G3, and we ran the VICOM Internet Gateway software on it to bring Internet access to the rest of the computers in our home.

But this setup had two problems - first, the G3 had to be on if we wanted to use the Internet from any other machine. And second, running the Internet Gateway software on it slowed it down quite a bit, to the point where Dad was getting frustrated when he was trying to, you know, actually _use_ the computer.

Meanwhile, I'd been reading online about these “linux servers" and decided we needed one to dedicate as our Internet gateway. And so one day, after school, I got a ride to a mom-and-pop computer shop in town and picked up an old Packard Bell tower - the same model in Action Retro's video - and brought it home with me. I think I only paid around 25 or 50 bucks for it, no monitor or peripherals, just the tower.

I settled on a Linux distribution called "ClarkConnect” (https://web.archive.org/web/20010204025700/http://www.clarkconnect.org/) - downloading the ISO, burning a CD, and installing it onto the Packard Bell machine. I moved the second Ethernet card from the G3 into the new system, and put it under Dad's desk in the living room.

It had some pretty cool features including a web server (where I put family photos up so the relatives could see them), and both Samba and Netatalk servers for file sharing support, making it really easy to transfer files between all the machines on our home network. I'm sure it was terribly insecure though - I didn't really know anything about Linux server adminstration, I mainly just followed tutorials that I read online.

And it ran, pretty reliably, all the way until 2004 when it got replaced by a Belkin Wi-Fi router. We took it to electronics recycling. And like all the old systems we had at the time, I wish I still had it today. Always loved the design of that case.

#RetroComputing

PC Maclan? I used that on Windows 98 back in the day to share ...

2026-02-25T01:32:07Z

In reply to nevent1q…mwfk
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PC Maclan? I used that on Windows 98 back in the day to share files between a 486 and a Centris 😁 It was a trial version that only worked for 3 hours at a time, but then you could reboot and get another 3 hours, as many times as you like.

Once you get a local mirror of jagubox downloaded, run the ...

2026-02-22T00:04:18Z

In reply to nevent1q…xzh7
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Once you get a local mirror of jagubox downloaded, run the systemupdate.sh script from https://github.com/smallsco/Apple_AUX_3.1.1_Setup to get essential packages installed (use my fork, it fixes some typos in the original that haven't been merged yet)

I've got A/UX running on the IIfx right now, have only played with it a bit but I would like to spend more time with it next month!

MAD DOG WILL IS BEST

2025-10-21T00:42:44Z

In reply to nevent1q…lj2u
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MAD DOG
WILL IS BEST

My Diablo guild used it on our membership list 😂 But I think ...

2025-09-05T03:24:28Z

In reply to nevent1q…n290
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My Diablo guild used it on our membership list 😂

But I think it was a later version though, or perhaps there were multiple customization options, because it was a much smaller version than what you have pictured - it just showed the ICQ logo and online/offline status.

EDIT: found it. Second one on this page: https://web.archive.org/web/20000815063103/http://www.icq.com/features/web/indicator.html

This is giving me “grandma got swindled by the salesperson” ...

2025-08-20T21:59:43Z

In reply to nevent1q…r6as
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This is giving me “grandma got swindled by the salesperson” vibes. I bet someone made a nice commission from selling her that rig back in the day.

Nice find!

Happy 40th to me~ 🥳 Some folks would celebrate this milestone ...

2025-08-17T00:16:08Z

Happy 40th to me~ 🥳

Some folks would celebrate this milestone with a midlife crisis car.

I’m celebrating it with a midlife crisis 3D printer.

The best part is that I both know _absolutely nothing_ about 3D printing nor do I have any room in my condo (especially in my office) for this. But hey, midlife crisis gadgets aren’t supposed to be practical 😂

Anyway, time to go watch some youtube videos on how to use this thing!

I used the “New” (1993) Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia back ...

2025-08-14T05:06:09Z

In reply to nevent1q…uu06
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I used the “New” (1993) Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia back in the day - it came bundled with the external CD-ROM drive Dad bought for our IIfx: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/the-new-grolier-multimedia-encyclopedia-release-6

This helped me through a lot of projects in Elementary and Jr. High school!

The Free-Net here is still alive and kicking, dial up and all ...

2025-08-10T01:07:38Z

In reply to nevent1q…rpym
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The Free-Net here is still alive and kicking, dial up and all 😁

And yeah, the prices are terrible. For comparison, in 1996, we paid $9.95/month to IslandNet (the only other local ISP at the time) for 10 hours a month of dial-up access: https://web.archive.org/web/19961107123157/http://www2.islandnet.com/services.html

Oh yes, I’ve been watching this development really closely 😁 ...

2025-07-06T15:48:37Z

In reply to nevent1q…2qx7
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Oh yes, I’ve been watching this development really closely 😁

As the author of what is probably the largest 68k MacPython project in 25 years, I’m excited for what this potentially means for the future of Macstodon. I’m getting excited to work on it again - potentially having it running on System 6, porting the code to Python 3 syntax for better maintainability, and maybe even having built-in SSL for higher-end systems.

And more generally, I’m excited for making 68k Mac programming more accessible to folks who don’t know C or Pascal, folks like me who work with Python exclusively in their day jobs.

A brand new 68k Mac emulator quietly dropped last night!! ...

2025-06-26T02:01:03Z

A brand new 68k Mac emulator quietly dropped last night!!

“Snow” can emulate the Mac 128k, 512k, Plus, SE, Classic, and II. It supports reading disks from bitstream and flux-floppy images, and offers full execution control and debugging features for the emulated CPU. Written using Rust, it doesn't do any ROM patching or system call interception, instead aiming for accurate hardware-level emulation.

Download link (Mac, Windows, Linux): https://snowemu.com
Documentation link: https://docs.snowemu.com
Source link: https://github.com/twvd/snow
Release announcement: https://www.emaculation.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12509

(edit: I'm not the author - just spotted this on the Emaculation forum and had to share it!)

#RetroComputing #VintageMac #Apple #Mac #MacOS #ClassicMac #68k #emulation

IIfx owners would like a word with you! 😛

2025-06-10T14:20:00Z

In reply to nevent1q…x4vz
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IIfx owners would like a word with you! 😛

Yeah, no problem with 256-colour PICTs. But if you set your ...

2025-06-10T13:18:06Z

In reply to nevent1q…rl28
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Yeah, no problem with 256-colour PICTs. But if you set your vintage Mac to “Millions of Colours” and take a screenshot, then bring it over to a modern Mac, it’ll come up completely white when you open it in Preview (or any other app).

The solution is to use GraphicConverter or Photoshop to remove the alpha channel from the image, which will make it show up correctly.

Now if only they can make their own format import work correctly! ...

2025-06-10T03:19:47Z

In reply to nevent1q…xut8
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Now if only they can make their own format import work correctly!

(Try opening a PICT captured from System 7 in 24-bit colour with Preview on a modern Mac - you’ll get a white screen)

I had a Logitech-branded version of this back in the day, that I ...

2025-06-08T03:07:06Z

In reply to nevent1q…hm76
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I had a Logitech-branded version of this back in the day, that I picked up from a garage sale in the late 90’s. Sold it when I sold my PowerMac 6100 in the early 2000s.

I remember the thing was quite picky to use, you had to keep it extremely straight and not move too fast (or too slow). A lot of my scans ended up coming out “wobbly” 😡

Also, this just unlocked a cringy memory of me scanning a photo of my high school crush from our student yearbook, and then drawing hearts around it in SuperPaint 😂 (people might find out if I decorated the actual yearbook, but they’d never know if I did it on the computer instead!)

Well, you knew this moment was going to come... pour one out for ...

2025-03-26T04:17:45Z

In reply to nevent1q…622s
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Well, you knew this moment was going to come... pour one out for the first casualty of my archiving project. 😢

This is the companion disk for "Macintosh Programming Techniques", which can be read online here: https://vintageapple.org/macprogramming/pdf/Macintosh_Programming_Techniques_1994.pdf

I don't remember this book, so I'm not sure where I got this disk from.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work. The disk shows up in the Finder, containing one file (a self-extracting archive). Trying to image the disk with Disk Copy gives a read error roughly 90% of the way through - irregardless of which format I select. Trying to copy the archive directly from the Finder fails as well.

This disk isn't on the Garden - but I'm hoping it's archived somewhere else and just hasn't found its way there yet. Given that it came with a published book, I'm sure there's a copy floating around out there, somewhere...

This is the companion disk to the "Internet Starter Kit for ...

2025-03-26T04:11:46Z

In reply to nevent1q…ggc3
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This is the companion disk to the "Internet Starter Kit for Macintosh" book, which you can read online here: https://vintageapple.org/macbooks/pdf/Internet_Starter_Kit_for_Macintosh_2nd_Edition_1994.pdf

I bought the book new when it came out. Dad bought a USRobotics 14.4 modem and told me to figure out how to get on the Internet. But then he stopped me when we realized trying to use the bundled offer in the book would involve dialing long distance into the USA!

A few weeks later we got set up with a local Internet provider and then were actually able to use the software that came with the book!

The included software on the disk is:
- Anarchie 1.2
- Eudora 1.4.3
- InterSLIP 1.0.1
- MacPPP 2.0.1
- MacTCP 2.0.4
- MacWAIS 1.2.9
- MacWeb 0.98a
- TurboGopher 1.0.8b4

and I've uploaded it to the Garden here: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/internet-starter-kit

A couple more disks that I'm not going to post a picture of ...

2025-03-26T03:56:17Z

In reply to nevent1q…042u
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A couple more disks that I'm not going to post a picture of because they have sticky labels on them with PII.

The first is labelled "RAM Doubler 1.6" and contains just that. Although, if I remember correctly, RAM Doubler could only be installed from its original disk due to some copy protection, so I don't think this disk actually works. Nonetheless, it's already on the Garden, so nothing for me to do here.

The second is labelled "APPLE HD SETUP / HARD DISK TOOLKIT / 1994" in Dad's printing. And just like it says on the label, it contains a copy of Apple HD SC Setup and a copy of FWB Hard Disk Toolkit PE. I checked the versions and both are on the Garden already, so once again, I can safely ignore this disk.

These are the installation disks for the StyleWriter 1200. I know ...

2025-03-26T03:52:38Z

In reply to nevent1q…dw53
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These are the installation disks for the StyleWriter 1200. I know these ones came from my aunt, when she replaced her LC with a PowerMac G3 in the late 90s, she bought a new StyleWriter 1200 printer to go with it.

These disks are already on the Garden, so I don't have to do anything with my copy.

Next is a copy of CD-ROM Toolkit from FWB Software. (no picture, ...

2025-03-26T03:49:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…ulmc
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Next is a copy of CD-ROM Toolkit from FWB Software.

(no picture, because there's a label affixed to the label with some PII. A few of the upcoming disks have this)

My copy is version 1.09, the latest on the Garden was 1.56 so this is a much earlier version that I was able to upload!

https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/cdrom-toolkit

I have these "Program" and "Utilities 2" ...

2025-03-26T03:39:58Z

In reply to nevent1q…ajne
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I have these "Program" and "Utilities 2" installation disks for Word 4.00D - but I'm missing the "Utilities 1" disk, so it's not a complete set 😞

I've uploaded them to the Garden anyway because they didn't have any original Word 4 disks at all - and my version (4.00D) is newer than the original 4.0 copy they had in a preinstalled folder.

https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/microsoft-word

Hopefully someone can find and archive the complete set!

Next, a bunch of OS disks: - a backup copy of System 7.1 - no ...

2025-03-25T04:20:05Z

In reply to nevent1q…26ra
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Next, a bunch of OS disks:

- a backup copy of System 7.1 - no need to archive. I actually remember my Dad making this copy, and running out of green labels on the last disk 😂

- StyleWriter 1.1 installation disks. I think these came from my aunt. The Garden only had the 1.2 installation disks, so I've uploaded 1.1: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/stylewriter-installation-12-original-stylewriter

- HyperCard 1.2.2 installation disks. These might have came with our IIfx? The Garden only had 1.2.5, so I've uploaded 1.2.2: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/hypercard-125

- an incomplete copy of System 6.0.3 disks. System Tools is missing, might be in another box. No need to archive these though, they were on Apple's FTP site for years and have made their way all over the net already!

For today's archiving efforts, we start with this copy of ...

2025-03-25T04:14:12Z

In reply to nevent1q…47rl
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For today's archiving efforts, we start with this copy of Norton Utilities. The Garden has version 2.0, but I've got a slightly newer version 2.0.6 (which someone was actually requesting in a comment) - so that's been uploaded now:

https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/norton-utilities-20

Remember these two HyperCard disks I posted last week (as part of ...

2025-03-25T03:56:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…wsps
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Remember these two HyperCard disks I posted last week (as part of a stack of System 7 disks)?

Turns out they're not quite identical!

Oh, the contents are identical, as are the front of the labels. But if you flip them over...

...the one on the left says that "HyperCard is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc." (and stops there). But the one on the right says that "HyperCard is a registered trademark of Apple Computer Inc., licensed to Claris Corporation."

So it would seem, sometime in 1991 is when HyperCard was transferred to Claris - with one of these disks being printed before the transition, and one after. Neat!

Just watched the video, nice restoration job! What solution did ...

2025-03-23T00:16:48Z

In reply to nevent1q…q3sv
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Just watched the video, nice restoration job!

What solution did you ultimately end up using for the internal hard drive? I've got a similar situation with a Power Mac 6500 that has first-gen IDE and needs a HD replacement, and I'd like to avoid the trial-and-error of buying different types of drives until I find one that works 😅

I'm currently using an external ZuluSCSI but I'd love to find an internal solution...

More updates to the Garden, from the Everything-You-Need System 7 ...

2025-03-22T23:20:00Z

These two disks are ones that I am especially excited to archive ...

2025-03-22T21:45:35Z

In reply to nevent1q…cqdc
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These two disks are ones that I am especially excited to archive - not to the Garden, because of personal information - but just to my own personal archive.

It's a copy of my "home folder" from my childhood. Dad gave every member of the family their own folder under the hard drive root to store our documents in. Mine has old school work, greeting cards and labels I printed for family and friends, some custom icons I made, recordings of my piano practice, and lots of HyperCard stacks (some of which play recordings of my voice!)

And I even made an installer for it because I knew I was going to be a software developer someday, lol 😂

So yeah, not making this one public, but I'll share a few screenshots.

This "Games 2" disk is written in Dad's printing, so ...

2025-03-22T21:24:12Z

In reply to nevent1q…pge2
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This "Games 2" disk is written in Dad's printing, so it's one of our own compilations.

In addition to KidPix, Print Shop, and SuperClock, which are written on the label - it's also got a copy of Let's Get Tanked and Morse Code Tutor.

These are all archived on the Garden already - however - the Morse Code Tutor is version 1.2, and the Garden only has 1.1, so I'll archive the newer version.

edit: v1.2 archived! https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/morse-code-tutor

These disks feature the games Solarian II and Patriot Command - ...

2025-03-22T21:16:43Z

In reply to nevent1q…f4hy
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These disks feature the games Solarian II and Patriot Command - both games that I played quite a lot of back in the day.

I bought these disks at K-Mart (if you remember when Canada had K-Marts, sorry about your back pain 😂) from a stand called "Explore the World of Macintosh" that sold a bunch of different shareware games on disk.

Both games are archived on the Garden already, with the versions I have.

This disk contains exactly what it says on the label: a copy of ...

2025-03-22T21:10:53Z

In reply to nevent1q…wjhg
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This disk contains exactly what it says on the label: a copy of Math Rabbit 2.0 - the old, black & white version that doesn't run on System 7 or later. I remember playing it in elementary school.

It's already on the Garden. The Garden entry notes that they are looking for an original disk still - unfortunately my copy is just the loose application file, so there's nothing further to archive.

BYTE's Mac Programmer's Cookbook - another companion disk ...

2025-03-22T21:08:00Z

In reply to nevent1q…euv0
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BYTE's Mac Programmer's Cookbook - another companion disk to a book that I don't have. This one's already on the Garden though 🙂

"Software for Symantec C++ Programming for the Macintosh" ...

2025-03-22T20:54:06Z

In reply to nevent1q…38s0
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"Software for Symantec C++ Programming for the Macintosh" is the companion disk to "Symantec C++ Programming for the Macintosh", which can be read here: https://vintageapple.org/macprogramming/pdf/Symantec_C++_Programming_For_The_Macintosh_1993.pdf

This is another book I bought as a kid, some time after the ResEdit book. But I flew too close to the sun with this one - it was definitely over my head at the time. I wanted to learn C, but was spoiled by the simplicity of HyperCard and ResEdit, and this book just frustrated me.

I've managed to keep it all these years though, so one of these days I'll get around to learning C & C++ and the Mac Toolbox proper 😅

This one's already on the Garden as well, so no work for me to do here either.

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Not much to say about this ...

2025-03-22T20:37:12Z

In reply to nevent1q…zv9v
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Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

Not much to say about this game that hasn't already been said - this is the original, black and white version from 1992. I got it for Christmas, I remember it came with a copy of the World Almanac that was used for copy protection.

This was a popular game and the version I have is already archived, so nothing for me to do here.

"The Everything-You-Need System 7 Disk" is another disk ...

2025-03-22T20:33:00Z

In reply to nevent1q…wqnv
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"The Everything-You-Need System 7 Disk" is another disk that, if I recall, goes with a book. I'm pretty sure I had the book at one time, but I don't have it any more - and I don't remember what the name of the book was.

However, this disk is just a software compilation like my VMUG disks. So I'm not going to upload it to the Garden directly, but I will check the individual software on it to see if anything isn't archived, including different versions.

The Diner Disk is the companion disk to the 1993 book "The ...

2025-03-22T20:24:47Z

In reply to nevent1q…s9cv
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The Diner Disk is the companion disk to the 1993 book "The ResEdit All Night Diner", which can be read online here: https://vintageapple.org/macprogramming/pdf/The_Res_Edit_All_Night_Diner_1993.pdf

Of course, I've got the physical copy 😁 I bought this book when I was 8 years old. Yes, seriously. I didn't know a thing about programming at the time but I loved messing around with ResEdit and changing icons and patterns. And the humour in this book combined with step-by-step tutorials makes it surprisingly accessible to children, even though that wasn't the intended audience for it.

(Fun fact: in second grade I brought a copy of ResEdit to school for show-and-tell. I'm surprised my parents let me because it definitely cemented me as the "nerd" and ruined my social life lol)

Anyway, I've just uploaded the disk to the Garden - though you'll need the book for the tutorial instructions that go with it: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/the-diner-disk

And there we have it. Spent another 2 hours capturing screenshots ...

2025-03-22T18:52:30Z

In reply to nevent1q…tn6m
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And there we have it. Spent another 2 hours capturing screenshots and creating new pages on the Macintosh Garden for the following software, which had not yet been archived at all:

- AnimalTracks font: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/animaltracks-font
- ComicsCartoon font: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/comicscartoon-font
- Cool Cursor: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/cool-cursor
- Coool Aberrations: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/coool-aberrations
- Crystal Cursor: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/crystal-cursor
- Easy Convert: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/easy-convert
- Folder Icon Cleaner: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/folder-icon-cleaner
- Funny Insults: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/funny-insults
- Little Icon People: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/little-icon-people
- Mauro's Desktop Patterns: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/mauros-desktop-patterns
- Pi's Cursor: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/pis-cursor
- PPPremier Timer: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/pppremier-timer
- PPP Thang Lite: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/ppp-thang-lite
- RandomDot: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/randomdot
- SmartSaver: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/smartsaver
- Startup Quotes: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/startup-quotes
- Stones: https://macintoshgarden.org/games/stones
- The ICON Wizard: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/the-icon-wizard

I'll be honest, when I started this project, I thought I'd only have like 2 apps that weren't on the Garden already 😅 This is way more effort than I expected, but I'm glad the software is getting archived.

Anyway, with that, the VMUG disks are finally complete - on to the next disks!

Love this. Dad and I used to play Lunatic Fringe together all the ...

2025-03-21T23:19:37Z

In reply to nevent1q…lr68
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Love this. Dad and I used to play Lunatic Fringe together all the time when I was a kid. He'd steer the ship and I'd man the weapons. It's one of my precious childhood memories.

almost 40 now and I still hate the Slicer. 😂

More After Dark is a wonderful collection. It looks like you have the original version too, which also came with Virex-D - a screensaver that's also a virus scanner, and it shows a voxel-like version of the application icon being currently scanned, with a laser pulse going through it. That was removed in later versions of the MAD bundle.

Spent the last hour updating a bunch of apps on Macintosh Garden ...

2025-03-21T02:26:18Z

In reply to nevent1q…dems
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Spent the last hour updating a bunch of apps on Macintosh Garden with missing versions.

These are all apps that already had pages on the Garden, with at least one version uploaded. I still have another 19 apps to upload that don't have a page on the Garden yet at all, those are going to be a bit more effort 😅

All of the below are sourced from the VMUG disks I imaged a couple days ago:

- CDIconKiller 1.3.1
- Click, there it is! 1.0.6
- Copland WDEF 1.0d7
- Fallacy Tutorial 1.3
- FileBuddy 3.1.1
- FindText 1.3.2
- Folder Icon Maker 1.2
- GifBuilder 0.4
- HoverBar 0.9
- Menuette 2.01
- Møire 3.02
- MooMooEncode 1.5
- MPj Astro 1.2
- PlugMaster 1.4.1
- PowerBar Pro 2.0
- Program Switcher 4.0.0
- SimpleText Color Menu 2.0
- SmartKeys 3.0
- Smashing Windows 1.02MW
- SoundApp 2.0
- TechTool 1.0.6
- Tex-Edit Plus 1.7
- The DiskTools Collection 3.3.2
- URL Manager 1.2v7

#MARCHintosh

Update on the #MARCHintosh Miracle Power Mac 6500: The new PRAM ...

2025-03-19T23:13:13Z

Update on the #MARCHintosh Miracle Power Mac 6500:

The new PRAM battery arrived yesterday! So I pulled out the motherboard, installed the new battery, reinserted the motherboard, and decided to test the system before re-assembling it. And... it worked! 🎉

I then pulled the motherboard out again, cleaned it off with some compressed air, cleaned out the rest of the case, reinstalled the motherboard, painstakingly re-assembled the case, broke some more plastic, put it all back together and powered it up again... and no video 😡

Unsure of what to do, I removed and reinstalled the motherboard again. And it worked! 🤯

So now I'm wondering, maybe the PRAM battery being dead never was the cause of the video issues. Maybe the motherboard just wasn't seated in its slot correctly all this time? In any case, it seems to start up reliably with video now.

I decided not to bother with a new internal hard drive for now. Instead, I bought a ZuluSCSI* Mini Slim (https://decromancer.ca/zuluscsi/index.html), attached it to the SCSI port on the back of the machine, and am using that as the primary hard drive for now, instead of the giant noisy LaCie drive that this machine came with.

Lots of stuff I want to do with this thing - but for now I don't want to get too distracted, and continue with my software archiving task instead.

(* I would have bought a BlueSCSI, but their Canadian manufacturer doesn't have any DB25 models in stock right now.)

Turns out that today's 12 disks alone are going to be a ...

2025-03-18T04:27:42Z

In reply to nevent1q…hune
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Turns out that today's 12 disks alone are going to be a multi-day effort. I managed to identify 45 pieces of software from them that were either missing from the Garden entirely - or didn't have the specific version uploaded. I'll see if I can get them properly archived there over the next couple of days.

Today's #MARCHintosh archiving effort is this pile of 12 ...

2025-03-18T01:52:59Z

In reply to nevent1q…kjtj
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Today's #MARCHintosh archiving effort is this pile of 12 disks. These disks come from my local Macintosh User Group, VMUG, that Dad and I used to attend back in the day.

At the monthly meetings, they would sell a "disk of the month" or "DOM" for $5.00. We bought a few back in the day, if the disk had any goodies we were interested in.

They're archived on my #GlobalTalk share in the "GlobalTalk Public -> Disk Images -> VMUG DOMs" folder.

I expect most of the individual apps to be archived on the Garden already, but I'll double check and of course upload anything that may be missing. I'm not going to bother uploading these compilations as-is there, though.

Alright, the Garden's been updated with today's archiving ...

2025-03-17T02:43:37Z

In reply to nevent1q…ceac
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Alright, the Garden's been updated with today's archiving efforts:

Mario Teaches Typing - v1.0 install disks added: https://macintoshgarden.org/games/mario-teaches-typing
DinoPark Tycoon - v1.2 install disks added: https://macintoshgarden.org/games/dinopark-tycoon
Scrabble Deluxe - v1.0 install disks added: https://macintoshgarden.org/games/scrabble-deluxe
AppleCD 300 - v5.0.1 install disk added: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/applecd-300300i-cd-rom-software
The NetPICT Disk - new upload: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/the-netpict-disk
The Mac Shareware 500 - new upload: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/the-mac-shareware-500

"The Mac Shareware 500" is a book that reviews 500 ...

2025-03-17T01:06:25Z

In reply to nevent1q…2mvx
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"The Mac Shareware 500" is a book that reviews 500 different pieces of Macintosh shareware. And it comes with a number of companion disks full of wonderful shareware for you to play with as well!

I remember buying this from the bookstore as a kid and being super excited because it also came with software 😂 Still have the book in my collection too!

You'll notice that it reads "4 diskettes enclosed" in the top right corner of the book, but there's only two here (labelled 1 of 2 and 2 of 2). The two 1.44MB disks here are from the second edition of the book, the first edition contained 4 800k disks. I am still tracking down the 800k disks from the first edition...they're in another box, I think.

Surprisingly, I can't find this collection on the Garden either, so it's going to get archived/uploaded as well. I'm making a lot of work for myself with this project and we're only 1/4 through the first box of disks! 😅

Oh - and despite the labelling, disk 2 doesn't _just_ contain AOL, it's got other goodies as well.

Next up is Scrabble Deluxe. I got this for my 9th birthday, I ...

2025-03-17T00:45:37Z

In reply to nevent1q…k0mj
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Next up is Scrabble Deluxe. I got this for my 9th birthday, I think? A little over 30 years ago now 😅

The Garden has this (and the same version), but it looks like they only have one of the three disks. So I'll make sure these get archived and uploaded later tonight as well.

As an aside... when I ran Stratego to check which version it was, ...

2025-03-17T00:31:26Z

In reply to nevent1q…mzvf
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As an aside... when I ran Stratego to check which version it was, it started playing a little animation, bouncing the flag around my screen (and transforming everything beneath it to black and white). And hey, I recognize that name in the about box…that's a neat little QuickDraw demo [@_the_cloud](https://mastodon.social/@_the_cloud ) !

This disk, I think, is another one that came from my aunt's ...

2025-03-17T00:30:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…rn5c
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This disk, I think, is another one that came from my aunt's LC. And just like it says on the label it comes with a copy of Crystal Crest, Strapeo, and Carmen's World.

Or rather, it comes with a copy of Crystal Quest, Stratego, and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego 😂

I checked the versions of each and they're the same as what's archived on the Garden already, so no need to archive this disk.

Mario Teaches Typing! Another game I played a lot as a kid (we ...

2025-03-17T00:02:56Z

In reply to nevent1q…qemj
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Mario Teaches Typing! Another game I played a lot as a kid (we had this at both home and at school). Let's face it, having Mario teach you how to type is much, much cooler than Mavis Beacon 😂

The Garden has version 1.3.1 but does not have the floppy images at all, only a pre-installed copy.

These are the original v1.0 floppies, so they'll be imaged now and uploaded later tonight!

DinoPark Tycoon! I played the heck out of this game with my ...

2025-03-16T23:50:37Z

In reply to nevent1q…me7x
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DinoPark Tycoon! I played the heck out of this game with my brother as a kid. It's a simulation game in a similar vein to SimCity, only you're building and running a theme park full of dinosaurs. It's loads of fun 🦖

These disks are for version 1.2 - the Garden only has the 1.1 disks and the 1.2 CD version, so I guess I'll need to upload these there as well? I'm not sure how important preserving the correct media is when they already have the same version available, but it won't hurt.

Next up we have "The NetPICT Disk". It looks like this ...

2025-03-16T23:45:07Z

In reply to nevent1q…7aaw
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Next up we have "The NetPICT Disk". It looks like this disk originally came bundled with a book called "Live Wired" (read here: https://archive.org/details/mac_Live_Wired_Networking_Made_Simple_1993/mode/2up)

I don't have the book that it goes with though, so I'm not sure where I originally acquired this disk from.

This is an interesting one, though. It comes with a whole bunch of PICT files showing off stacks for various Mac networking hardware, software, and protocols. I opened up a few that may be of interest to #GlobalTalk folks and took a screenshot.

It also comes with a HyperCard stack that supposedly lets you view the PICTs, but I couldn't get it to work - so I just used good ol' MacDrawPro.

I couldn't find this one on the Garden either, so I'll see about getting it uploaded there later today. For now, it's on my GlobalTalk share in the disk images folder.

This is a copy of the Apple CD-ROM Setup disk that came with an ...

2025-03-16T23:15:04Z

In reply to nevent1q…t4qm
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This is a copy of the Apple CD-ROM Setup disk that came with an AppleCD 300e drive, which my Dad bought for our IIfx back around 1993 or 1994.

It's slightly newer (5.0.1) than the copy on the Garden (which only has version 4.0.2). However just like the copy on the Garden, it is incomplete, and is missing the corresponding QuickTime floppy. It's possible that floppy will show up later, though.

Anyway, for now it's on my GlobalTalk share in the disk images folder.

Oh, forgot to mention, I also updated the Dave Dickel Blackjack ...

2025-03-16T03:16:07Z

In reply to nevent1q…agdz
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Oh, forgot to mention, I also updated the Dave Dickel Blackjack page with version 4.0 (only 3.1 was archived previously): https://macintoshgarden.org/games/blackjack-dave-dickel

Alright - I've identified the games from the disks that ...

2025-03-16T03:13:31Z

In reply to nevent1q…frum
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Alright - I've identified the games from the disks that weren't archived, and have uploaded them to the Garden (following a lot of testing on Infinite Mac since even System 6 was too new for some of them):

Fire Zone - https://macintoshgarden.org/games/fire-zone
Mac Pong - https://macintoshgarden.org/games/mac-pong
Space Artillery - https://macintoshgarden.org/games/space-artillery
MacFlip - https://macintoshgarden.org/games/macflip

and the one you've all been waiting for,

Owls of Vancouver Island - https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/owls-of-vancouver-island

These three disks are entitled "Games 1", "Games ...

2025-03-15T23:55:48Z

In reply to nevent1q…n7ly
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These three disks are entitled "Games 1", "Games 2", and "Games 3". And they all have their quirks.

The "Games 1" disk seemed to work fine, but Disk Copy would get read errors when I tried to image it in DC4.2 format. On a whim I then tried DC6 format and it worked fine...so then I removed the disk and used the Convert function to convert the DC6 image to DC4.2.

It has a bunch of super-old games, a few of which crash my IIfx when I try to launch them. I suspect they need System 6 or earlier, might not be 32-bit addressing compatible. Note to self - try these on the SE later.

I _think_ these disks came from my aunt, who used to own a Mac LC that she bought second-hand.

The "Games 2" disk reads fine, but every file on the disk is individually compressed with DiskDoubler 😧 so that'll be annoying to try what's on there.

The "Games 3" disk is the same as "Games 2" in that everything is DD-compressed, but it also seems to duplicate some of the games from "Games 1". Weird.

Anyway, the images are saved to my GlobalTalk share. I assume these games are all archived already, but I'll double check the Garden to see if anything is missing.

Next up: a set of System 7.0 install disks, and two copies of a ...

2025-03-15T23:27:53Z

In reply to nevent1q…w6kk
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Next up: a set of System 7.0 install disks, and two copies of a HyperCard Program disk. They all have the "7" branding and are all high density disks.

Of course, they're already archived, so nothing for me to do here other than verify if they work or not. They all seem to (but Disk Tools made some funny noises).

I've created a new folder on my GlobalTalk public share ...

2025-03-15T23:11:17Z

In reply to nevent1q…rvwg
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I've created a new folder on my GlobalTalk public share called "Disk Images" where you can find the archived disks!

I'll put them on the Garden later as that requires taking screenshots, capturing the author information and whatnot.

Okay we're starting with a banger (volume up!) So this is a ...

2025-03-15T23:05:59Z

In reply to nevent1q…pdc0
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Okay we're starting with a banger (volume up!)

So this is a HyperCard stack created by the University of Victoria and IBIS Software (and it looks like a prerelease version, which is why they didn't want it copied) about the Owls of Vancouver Island!

It has pages for six different types of owls, and for each one you can see a map of their range, notes about their habits, notes on how to identify one, and an audio clip of that specific owl's call.

Then there's a quiz at the end where you have to match the owl's call to the correct owl.

I don't remember this at all! But it's definitely getting archived!

OWLS. DO NOT COPY. I have no idea what's on this disk or ...

2025-03-15T22:48:28Z

In reply to nevent1q…kucd
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OWLS. DO NOT COPY.

I have no idea what's on this disk or where I got it from 🦉 so this seems like a great place to start!

So, here's my actually-planned-for-this-year #MARCHintosh ...

2025-03-15T22:37:19Z

So, here's my actually-planned-for-this-year #MARCHintosh project. Attached is a photo of four very dusty containers full of floppy disks. These are the actual disks from my childhood IIfx!

Most of these disks aren't original. The originals lived at Dad's workplace. He would periodically bring home software from work, make a copy of the disks, and return the originals to work. These were, I'm told, the "off-site backups", in case there was a fire at the workplace or something like that. But we also had all this software installed on the family IIfx so Dad could read any files that he brought home from work with him.

Of course, we also bought our own software for the home, and those are mixed in with these disks as well. And that stack of CD-ROMs in the top left are my MacAddict cover disks - those are already archived.

Anyway, because these are just consumer-grade diskettes, they degrade quicker than the professionally-manufactured original ones. I've already lost a few, so I want to get these archived! And of course, anything that doesn't already exist on the Garden will be uploaded there and shared on #GlobalTalk as well.

(expect this to be a long-ass foone-style thread with lots of updates over several days)

#RetroComputing #VintageMac #Apple #Mac #MacOS #ClassicMac

Not me - but I was the one who dropped the Tetris game on there ...

2025-03-15T01:21:04Z

In reply to nevent1q…ww2z
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Not me - but I was the one who dropped the Tetris game on there (the very one that you sent me a while back) 😂

Hmm, I had someone else reply to me a few days ago when I said ...

2025-03-10T00:49:11Z

In reply to nevent1q…um2l
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Hmm, I had someone else reply to me a few days ago when I said the video was intermittent, they said that's a symptom of a failing (or dead) battery, that you might only get video on some boots or not at all.

That said, I popped the old hard drive back in and still no video, so you may be right.

I really don't want to disassemble the whole thing if I can avoid it, this case is a nightmare to deal with. But I guess here we are so... 😅

More #MARCHintosh art has arrived via #GlobalTalk from ...

2025-03-09T19:57:02Z

More #MARCHintosh art has arrived via #GlobalTalk from Garth Beagle (npub1tgc…led9) !

Popped the front cover off the 6500 this morning (only managing ...

2025-03-09T19:27:38Z

Popped the front cover off the 6500 this morning (only managing to break a couple of the plastic tabs, lol) and removed the dead internal HDD (which is only 6GB contrary to what ASP was reporting).

It boots a lot faster now... unfortunately, it now also boots with no video every time 🙃

I've got a new PRAM battery ordered from eBay but it hasn't shipped yet (even though I opted for the express shipping). Hoping that will fix the video problems. Patience is a virtue 😅

#MARCHintosh

Does anyone know how to swap the Command and Option keys on Mac ...

2025-03-08T20:21:58Z

Does anyone know how to swap the Command and Option keys on Mac OS 8.6?

I tried following the instructions from here: https://macintoshgarden.org/forum/how-swap-cmd-and-option-windows-keyboards-classic-mac-os (which worked for me on System 7.1), but they had no effect on Mac OS 8.6.

I even tried modifying the other KMAP resources (and substituting their IDs in ROv#) but that had no effect either.

#MARCHintosh #RetroComputing #VintageMac #PowerPC #Apple #Mac #MacOS #ClassicMac

Got another #GlobalTalk print job this morning, coming from ...

2025-03-08T17:23:43Z

Got another #GlobalTalk print job this morning, coming from RetroSwim (npub1xwk…ymn2) in Brisbane, Australia!

I'm going to be doing a lot of floppy-copying this month! But more on that later!

#MARCHintosh #CopyThatFloppy

The new Power Mac 6500, "Miracle" has been moved onto the ...

2025-03-05T03:02:22Z

The new Power Mac 6500, "Miracle" has been moved onto the Tower of Power 😁

The internal hard drive is truly dead - Apple System Profiler is the only thing that is able to see it. So I connected the 4 GB LaCie SCSI drive up and formatted that to use for now, until I can pop in a new internal drive or a CF to IDE adapter.

There's still a weird problem with the video. Sometimes when I boot the machine, there's no video at all, and I have to power it off and back on again a few times before the video returns. But when it does have a picture, it's stable, and not flickering like it did on the TV or the monitor that it came with.

Finding an install disc to boot this from is troublesome. Most of my classic Mac OS install discs I burned 25 years ago, and turns out they don't work properly any more and just make the CD drive spin up and down a lot (like the 8.6 disc in the attached pic).

Eventually I found the original Mac OS 8.1 install disc from my Dad's old G3, which works, so I'm going to install that for now and see if I can upgrade the OS either to 8.6 or 9.1 later, once I have the machine on the network and can install from there.

#MARCHintosh #RetroComputing #VintageMac #PowerPC #Apple #Mac #MacOS #ClassicMac

I know, I was thinking about that guy on the way to pick it up, ...

2025-03-03T03:52:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…kns5
_________________________

I know, I was thinking about that guy on the way to pick it up, wondering if I managed to beat him for once. He's usually pretty quick on the draw when it comes to these, makes it hard to find good deals here.

Also, the seller didn't take the listing down yet so I hope that guy messaged him only to be told that someone beat him to it 😂

It's got curves! I think "sexy" is the right word to ...

2025-03-03T03:45:20Z

In reply to nevent1q…eljm
_________________________

It's got curves! I think "sexy" is the right word to describe it, haha. Definitely a lot better looking than the rectangular boxes with sharp lines and corners that were common at the time.

So this morning, I was laying in bed and doomscrolling, when I ...

2025-03-03T03:25:47Z

So this morning, I was laying in bed and doomscrolling, when I got a Facebook Marketplace notification that someone in the next town over was selling a Power Mac 6500/275, with a bunch of peripherals, for an _unbelievably_ low price.

90 minutes later I was loading it into my car. 😅 It's a #MARCHintosh miracle!

Anyway, presenting the newest member of my Tower of Power:
- Power Mac 6500/275
- 128 MB RAM
- 60GB internal IDE hard drive (might be dead)
- 4GB external SCSI hard drive, working (the smaller one in the pic)
- ?GB external SCSI hard drive, condition unknown (the gigantic one in the pic)
- internal ZIP drive
- includes a 10/100 ethernet PCI card
- includes a USB PCI card (probably USB 1.x)
- includes a modem (lol)
- includes an Acer AL1716 monitor

It does have some quirks:
1. I'm not sure what the condition of the internal IDE hard drive is. Apple System Profiler recognizes that there is one installed, but doesn't recognize any volumes, and I can't hear it spin up. Not sure if it's dead or just needs to be formatted. Also the serial number is showing up in ASP as garbage characters?

2. I can't connect the second external SCSI drive because I need to connect the first one to boot right now. Later on I'll see if I can find a bootable CD to get around that.

3. It came with two VGA cables and two VGA-DB15 adapters. One of them didn't work with the monitor at all. The other one worked but the screen would flicker on and off every couple of seconds. So I hooked it up to my TV instead (which has a VGA port). The adapter that "worked" with the monitor didn't work with the TV, but the one that didn't work with the monitor worked fine with the TV. The screen flickered a couple times on the TV, but otherwise worked.

4. One of the plastic tabs on the back used to slide out the logic board was broken off. I was able to get the board out to inspect it using a flat head screwdriver but it was annoying.

5. The case needs a real good cleaning.

6. ASP says that there's no modem installed... but there's definitely a modem installed in the machine. I'm guessing it's just missing a driver or something? The OS install doesn't look complete.

7. Battery is dead and needs replacing. It's a Rayovac 840 so not as simple as swapping one of my MeowToast CR2032 adapters in. Hmm.

Anyway, I guess I have a second project for Marchintosh now. 😂

#RetroComputing #VintageMac #PowerPC #Apple #Mac #MacOS #ClassicMac

Ooh, those colours sure came out vibrant!

2025-03-01T16:40:38Z

In reply to nevent1q…2nj0
_________________________

Ooh, those colours sure came out vibrant!

You know what would be really cool? If there was a webpage or app ...

2025-02-26T22:19:25Z

In reply to nevent1q…3smc
_________________________

You know what would be really cool? If there was a webpage or app that plotted each #GlobalTalk zone on a map, by parsing the location field of the spreadsheet.

Then you could time your print jobs to wake the owners up in the morning...or rather, for when the owners are already awake 😁

Ah, it wasn't clear to me if they still had the ability to ...

2025-02-14T18:36:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…wvr9
_________________________

Ah, it wasn't clear to me if they still had the ability to generate licenses for the 68k/System7 builds, or just the 5.x versions.

Do the licenses work with the old versions?

2025-02-14T18:28:47Z

In reply to nevent1q…laxx
_________________________

Do the licenses work with the old versions?

Hahaha, let's see if we can have a virus-free year this year ...

2025-02-13T21:57:26Z

In reply to nevent1q…reu8
_________________________

Hahaha, let's see if we can have a virus-free year this year 😅

IIRC the later versions supported TCP/IP which made this ...

2025-02-07T16:18:25Z

In reply to nevent1q…5gqw
_________________________

IIRC the later versions supported TCP/IP which made this possible. I don’t think it magically added AppleTalk support to Win95.

Wait what?!?!? I had no idea that they were giving licenses away ...

2025-02-07T16:17:18Z

In reply to nevent1q…w0l0
_________________________

Wait what?!?!? I had no idea that they were giving licenses away for free now. Will have to try this out later. I think version 2.5 is System 7 and up only, but earlier versions also supported System 6.

Woo hoo! You, my friend, are the GOAT!🎉 Now we just need to ...

2025-02-07T15:59:16Z

In reply to nevent1q…zytp
_________________________

Woo hoo! You, my friend, are the GOAT!🎉 Now we just need to find someone to crack it so that the whole network can participate…

It was a really neat little DA. I distinctly recall that the ...

2025-02-07T15:42:46Z

In reply to nevent1q…uzlc
_________________________

It was a really neat little DA. I distinctly recall that the Apple menu would flash with a mailbox icon when a new message was received. Dad's office stopped using it around 95-96 when they got Internet access and proper email accounts for the staff.

The older versions have become one of my "white whales" of software, I can't find a non-demo copy anywhere. Which is too bad because I think that it would be fun to try on GlobalTalk!

My dad used a version of this at his workplace back in the day, ...

2025-02-07T01:08:33Z

In reply to nevent1q…99j8
_________________________

My dad used a version of this at his workplace back in the day, before they had Internet. I can recall it running on compact macs using System 6.

It was a desk accessory called SnapMail, originally from Casady & Greene, later sold to Glass Bead Software. It had a whole Inbox and everything, it was like a combination of e-mail and instant messaging.

It still exists today in a form for OS X, but hasn't been updated in quite a few years: http://www.glassbead.com/snapmail/

Unfortunately the old versions aren't archived anywhere that I can find.

I haven't been able to find much information on it, but ...

2025-02-01T01:04:46Z

In reply to nevent1q…4pzn
_________________________

I haven't been able to find much information on it, but apparently Windows 2.11 (that minor version specifically) added AppleTalk networking support.

I assume you can map shares to drive letters via the same (or a similar) mechanism as Windows 3.x, through the File Manager?

Heh, well half the fun will be figuring out the answer to that ...

2025-02-01T00:34:33Z

In reply to nevent1q…tq59
_________________________

Heh, well half the fun will be figuring out the answer to that 😁

On a tangentally related note, any plans to try AppleTalk with ...

2025-02-01T00:28:57Z

In reply to nevent1q…yytg
_________________________

On a tangentally related note, any plans to try AppleTalk with Windows 2.11?

Apparently it supports the LocalTalk ISA card, but the support was dropped in Windows 3.x.

https://ftp.zx.net.nz/pub/Patches/ftp.microsoft.com/MISC/KB/en-us/63/769.HTM

Yeah I saw the multiple connection attempts but only shared the ...

2025-01-31T20:14:00Z

In reply to nevent1q…8mgn
_________________________

Yeah I saw the multiple connection attempts but only shared the logs from them. What's interesting is the AFPVersion 1.1 - I've never seen a version that low before in my logs. Even my Apple IIgs uses 2.0 - so I'm thinking there may be some incompatibility with Netatalk and the older protocol version. It's probably not something that they get to test much 😂

cc: [@dmark](https://hachyderm.io/@dmark ) - interesting edge case for Netatalk testing?

AIR hasn't crashed, so I'm not sure what's up with ...

2025-01-31T20:05:03Z

In reply to nevent1q…wl7y
_________________________

AIR hasn't crashed, so I'm not sure what's up with that. Maybe there's some compatibility issue with Netatalk 4.1?

Do you get that error on all the shares or just the drop box?

This is what I see in the Netatalk logs:

Jan 31 11:57:41.196060 afpd[2130] {afp_asp.c:226} (info:AFPDaemon): session from 117.117:132 on 180.69:149
Jan 31 11:57:41.351191 afpd[2130] {uams_guest.c:39} (info:ad): login noauth
Jan 31 11:57:41.351262 afpd[2130] {auth.c:245} (note:AFPDaemon): Login by nobody (AFPVersion 1.1)
Jan 31 11:59:54.652189 afpd[2130] {auth.c:827} (note:AFPDaemon): AFP logout by nobody
Jan 31 11:59:54.781920 afpd[2130] {afp_asp.c:60} (note:AFPDaemon): AFP statistics: 0.08 KB read, 0.09 KB written via ASP
Jan 31 11:59:54.782006 afpd[2130] {afp_asp.c:241} (note:AFPDaemon): done

You're crazy, and you should absolutely do this 😂 Bonus ...

2025-01-29T04:40:10Z

In reply to nevent1q…jrgr
_________________________

You're crazy, and you should absolutely do this 😂

Bonus points if you manage to have them all on GlobalTalk at once, with a screen capture from Trawl or a similar network-mapping app!

>Sick today, have been working on this computer >Goofed it ...

2025-01-27T22:36:00Z

In reply to nevent1q…2l9l
_________________________

>Sick today, have been working on this computer
>Goofed it up bad

I feel you, Pat 🫂 Nearly 35 years later and some things never change haha

(🧵 7/7) Life and stuff On a sad note, my grandma passed away ...

2025-01-08T04:34:06Z

In reply to nevent1q…trqj
_________________________

(🧵 7/7) Life and stuff

On a sad note, my grandma passed away over the holiday break, making it to 98 years old.

But other than that, 2024 was a pretty good year for me! My health's been stable (aside from that crazy 3-week fever in August) and I'm smashing my weight loss goals, reaching my lowest weight since 2020.

Anyway, thanks for reading if you made it this far, and happy 2025 🙂

(🧵 6/7) #Macstodon, REALBasic, and Proxies I've been ...

2025-01-08T04:33:46Z

In reply to nevent1q…k4jg
_________________________

(🧵 6/7) #Macstodon, REALBasic, and Proxies

I've been planning - since last April - to start work on Macstodon 2.0. This is going to be a rewrite using REALBasic instead of MacPython, in the hopes of getting around many of MacPython's limitations - poor performance and memory leaks, primarily.

But I discovered pretty quickly that REALBasic has its own set of problems - lack of support for custom LDEFs being a big one, unless you use a plugin. Fortunately there is such a plugin - Einhugur Software's CustomGrid, which incorporates the features I want. It has a big problem though, it corrupts the menu bar and window title font when running on 68k machines...and other plugins that provide comparable features don't work on 68k at all.

I have a hard requirement that Macstodon needs to run with System 7.1 on a 68020 system. Sure, things would be a lot easier if I wrote something that was for PowerPC only, or required Mac OS 8 - but I'm stubborn like that!

Anyway, after about 8 months (seriously) of trying different things, I've managed to find a solution that doesn't corrupt the menu and window title when rendering a custom grid with REALBasic. So now I can _actually_ proceed with the project... until the next roadblock, that is 😅

Meanwhile, there's another problem with Macstodon, which is that it doesn't work correctly with
Mastodon 4.3. Well...technically it's not Macstodon that's at fault here, the problem is that Mastodon 4.3 changed how the login page works, making it incompatible with vintage web browsers. So Macstodon can't do the initial login/authentication, unless you manually copy the authorization URL to a modern computer, log in there, and then copy the authorization code back into Macstodon. Yuck!

To resolve that problem, I've been looking into MacProxy Plus (https://github.com/hunterirving/macproxy_plus/) as a replacement for WebOne on the backend, via its' extension mechanism. In addition to SSL-stripping, this should let me "massage" the login form into a format that works with vintage web browsers. And not only that, but it'll also let me do things like transform the JSON that gets sent from the Mastodon API before it reaches the client, as some things are much easier to do with modern Python than in a vintage app.

I've already made a bunch of contributions to the MacProxy Plus codebase already over the last few weeks, including support for SVG rendering and a number of bug fixes.

So, between the MacProxy Plus work and the REALBasic work, things are _finally_ starting to come together for Macstodon 2.0. I'm sorry it's taken so long - and it's going to continue to be in development for a while - I'm taking things slow so I don't burn out, but work is picking up.

Oh, and one more thing - I'm looking into Bluesky support for Macstodon 2.0 as well. No promises yet, but I'd like to do it 🙂

(🧵 5/7) #GlobalTalk I apologize that my GlobalTalk node ...

2025-01-08T04:33:24Z

In reply to nevent1q…lydk
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(🧵 5/7) #GlobalTalk

I apologize that my GlobalTalk node hasn't been super stable lately. I'm not sure why, but the Apple Internet Router has decided to randomly start quitting, and refusing to come back up until I restart QEMU. I haven't really touched it since March, so I'm not sure what made it less stable - my guess is that it's a compatibility issue between QEMU and a recent Mac OS update.

I updated QEMU to the latest version a few days ago - I'm hoping that will make things more stable.

Meanwhile, I got my printer mostly working again. I set up my Raspberry Pi, reinstalled Raspbian, Netatalk2, and CUPS - all the same versions I had running during Marchintosh last year. However, the PPD file I was using then (and had backed up) doesn't seem to work any more - some print jobs get flipped, others would only print the corner of the page and blow up that corner to fill the page.

So I ended up switching to a generic PPD (for my printer model), which works correctly, however print jobs from certain apps (i.e. Print Shop) take 15-20 minutes to spool for some reason.

I also tried to set up a virtual PDF printer - and weirdly, it has the exact same failure mode as when I use the proper PPD file for my printer - some jobs get flipped, others print the corner of the page all blown up. So I'm wondering if the problem is CUPS itself or maybe something with the print driver on the Mac side - it's bizarre.

At some point I need to go through my GlobalTalk shares and organize them better. I'm sorry it's such a mess right now 😅

(🧵 4/7) The #Amiga 500 I brought my Amiga 500 to my dad's ...

2025-01-08T04:33:05Z

In reply to nevent1q…h2jw
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(🧵 4/7) The #Amiga 500

I brought my Amiga 500 to my dad's workbench over the holidays, and finally recapped the thing. It's by far the most difficult recapping job I've done yet - not because there's a lot of capacitors (there isn't), but they're really hard to get out. You have to use a ton of heat, and the holes are so tiny that you have to make sure every bead of solder's gone from the area or you're never going to get the replacement cap back in. It was painful.

And to make matters worse, Dad noticed that the serial port (the male DB-25 connector) was looking pretty rough. Some pins were bent, others were missing entirely, and it was pretty rusted on top of that. So we replaced it, and while that soldering job was even more troublesome than the recapping, we got it done. Only damaged one trace, which was fixed with a quick bodge wire.

I've got a loopback adapter coming in the mail so that we can double-check that the replacement serial port works correctly, by using the test kit software. Ordered a diagnostic ROM as well (though, silly me forgot to order the EEPROM adapter so I'll need to bodge it to get it to work with my Rev 5 board). Shout out to Retro Rewind, it's great to have an Amiga parts supplier in Canada so that I can get parts at a reasonable price 😁

The keyboard's mostly been serviced, the membrane has been replaced with a PCB that I got from eBay, and I ordered some new plungers from Retro Rewind to replace a couple that had broken as well. Fingers crossed that it'll all work again when I put it back together!

I also picked up an external Gotek drive a few months back from eBay (not sure if I posted about it already) - it works great. I didn't bother with a DF0/DF1 switch since I plan to get an ACA500plus in the future, which can do it in software. But before that, I want to make sure that everything is working stock. Almost there!

(🧵 3/7) The #Mac IIfx and Tower of Power Not a whole lot has ...

2025-01-08T04:32:46Z

In reply to nevent1q…6wjx
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(🧵 3/7) The #Mac IIfx and Tower of Power

Not a whole lot has changed with the IIfx, I did end up installing the Interware 24-bit video card I picked up off eBay a couple months back. Haven't benchmarked it yet but it feels roughly the same speed as the Radius card it replaced - but it also does 24-bit video, appropriately for a IIfx.

For my tower itself I'm running out of slots on my 4-port KVM, I'm thinking of replacing it with an 8-port KVM and switching from HDMI to VGA, since I've had troubles with the signal dropping sometimes. VGA should make it easier to connect older machines anyway, since I wouldn't have to worry about using an Extron or OSSC scaler (which always seem to introduce scaling artifacts despite my best efforts).

I'm playing a lot of Shanghai. Haven't found a Mahjong Solitaire game for modern Mac OS that's just as good (and I'm addicted to the punishing "Gravity Defier" layout 😂 )

(🧵 2/7) The #Mac SE Shortly after I got my Mac SE, I replaced ...

2025-01-08T04:32:27Z

In reply to nevent1q…unuz
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(🧵 2/7) The #Mac SE

Shortly after I got my Mac SE, I replaced the 800k floppy drive (which didn't work) with a 1.44Mb SuperDrive that I picked up from eBay. This also involved replacing the ROMs on the motherboard and the IWM chip with ROMs and a SWIM chip from another SE motherboard, which I also got from eBay.

The SuperDrive initially didn't work either, but I serviced it with the help of my dad and Adrian Black's excellent video guide (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pGhwtyFG2I). This got it to the point where it would work about 75% of the time, but the remaining 25% of the time the disk would either fail to eject, or the computer would think that there was a disk inserted when there was nothing actually in the drive.

So, after that initial servicing, I ended up ordering a new gear for the eject motor and replaced that as well... and the drive went from working 75% of the time to working 0% of the time... 😧 I'm not exactly sure what happened, but the SE doesn't recognize the SuperDrive at all now. Putting a disk in the drive has no effect, it doesn't even try to read or spin it up. We think there's some kind of electrical failure, but the voltages look good, and without a schematic to go on, there isn't much more we can do.

And yeah, we tried changing the gear back to the bad one, with no effect.

So yeah, that's now become a "parts drive", and I've ordered _another_ SuperDrive from eBay to start the whole process over again 🙃

Meanwhile, I've installed the Performer 030 accelerator board that I picked up a couple months ago. Haven't actually tried it yet as the whole machine's disassembled, but I look forward to seeing it in action.

As for that other SE motherboard that donated its ROMs to my main SE, eventually I'd like to build it into an SE Mini case (https://jcm-1.com/product/se-mini-desktop-case-for-macintosh-se-or-se-30/), but that's a low priority for now since shipping costs are outrageous.

(🧵 1/7) Happy New Year, folks! I've been on a break from ...

2025-01-08T04:32:09Z

(🧵 1/7) Happy New Year, folks!

I've been on a break from social media for the last six weeks or so, it wasn't really planned but it's been nice and refreshing not to be doomscrolling all the time, especially during the holidays.

That's not to say I haven't been busy, though! I did manage to get caught up, more or less, on my #RetroComputing project backlog. So here's something of an update thread with all the things I've been up to lately:

For my main project I settled on imgui, with bindings ported to ...

2024-12-06T05:57:21Z

In reply to nevent1q…wey9
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For my main project I settled on imgui, with bindings ported to Lua/Love2D. But because it relies on a shared library, it would break whenever Love2D updated LuaJIT, and then when Apple Silicon came out, you couldn't run it without Rosetta. Sigh. At least it looked nicer (and had more features) than anything else out there.

https://github.com/smallsco/mojave/

Oof, yeah, serialization is a big rabbit hole. JSON worked for my use case above, but obviously there are certain things that can't be represented with it. I've also worked with protocol buffers in Lua, although that was in the context of an OpenResty webapp, not a game.

Anyway, I'm impressed that you've done it all in pure Lua! Definitely looking forward to playing around with it once you've gotten a release out.

This looks really cool! I spent many years working with Lua and ...

2024-12-06T05:18:05Z

In reply to nevent1q…l3xz
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This looks really cool! I spent many years working with Lua and Love2D, and one of my biggest frustrations with it is that the UI toolkits are all pretty terrible. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with 😁

Is it all pure Lua, or are you relying on any shared libraries?

I think there's a couple locations in the USA that still ...

2024-12-04T01:49:23Z

In reply to nevent1q…0rsu
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I think there's a couple locations in the USA that still serve this.

Unfortunately my instance blocks that, despite it being opt-in. ...

2024-11-15T16:51:33Z

In reply to nevent1q…prps
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Unfortunately my instance blocks that, despite it being opt-in. They’re very anti-bridge. 😔

So what are folks using to cross-post between Bluesky and ...

2024-11-15T16:47:30Z

So what are folks using to cross-post between Bluesky and Mastodon?

Underrated for sure! It’s too bad there were never any more ...

2024-11-01T18:25:31Z

In reply to nevent1q…trmd
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Underrated for sure! It’s too bad there were never any more games made in that series.

I may have to try the Sega CD port at some point, I’ve only played the Mac and DOS versions. Did it improve on the graphics or sound at all?

I’m excited to see ScummVM finally get support for Rise of the ...

2024-11-01T18:21:53Z

I’m excited to see ScummVM finally get support for Rise of the Dragon!

I have fond memories of playing it on a Mac at computer camp in ’93 (same one from this story: https://oldbytes.space/@smallsco/109951024953632167 ). Although in retrospect there were parts that were a wee bit graphic for 8-year olds 😅

Nonetheless I got hooked on it and ended up buying a copy of the DOS version (which I still have the install disks for!) a few years later. Have replayed it a bunch since then, although not in the last 15 years or so.

It’s a shame that there were never any more “Blade Hunter Mysteries”. I recall reading that RotD was supposed to be the first in a series, but for some reason there were never any others made.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rise_of_the_Dragon

#RetroGaming https://manitu.social/@scummvm/113400231458632384

I accidentally typed “got doff” instead of “git diff” ...

2024-10-17T22:49:48Z

I accidentally typed “got doff” instead of “git diff” today and now I want to build a wrapper for git that takes the output and rewrites it as if it had a thick accent 😂

#programming #git