128k Mac with Twiggy drive

[Dennis Nedry]

You can take a photograph of an image on a CRT if you put the camera on a tripod, set the shutter speed really slow, and set the F-stop really small, so as to allow lots of scans of the screen through the shutter. It also helps to use a time delay so you aren't touching the camera during the exposure. I did this in my high school photography class and it turned out very well, crisp and no lines.

 

[tt]

400KB Sony external?

Yes, to boot with, along with Twiggy compatible disks to try out.

What is the "Mac Man" character on the PCB's? Any info out there on the character?

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Agreed, it can be done, if that''s the only thing you're trying to photograph.

Such is not a priority in a photography session for publication, television or the movies. It was difficult enough to get a great set of usable shots of the rest of the set, the models and the equipment to be advertised or documented back in the day of pre-digital Polaroid proofing for film shoots. Cluttering up a shoot with a real computer that needed to display any kind of image at all would never have been a serious consideration. That image was almost always done in post production for video, movies and print.

Heck, the ads and brochure pages were done as paste-up comps for process photography and photo-lithographic plates in that way-pre-PageMaker era.

How many of you kids have even seen a process camera?

 

[Dog Cow]

What is the "Mac Man" character on the PCB's? Any info out there on the character?

Mr. Macintosh. Read Folklore.org for the story on him.

 

[tt]

Here is a YouTube video that contains footage of a Twiggy ejecting.

Thanks for the link. I had not seen a Lisa in operation before. It seems painfully slow...

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Has anyone been following updates on the TwiggyMac? :?:

http://www.applefritter.com/content/macintosh-128k-prototype-twiggy-drive

 

[Mk.558]

I'm sure it would make a nice discussion piece, coupled with a working demo and all that, could keep me interested for at least an hour.

For now though, it looks like a flop. Pity, since I was piqued by it. Then I noted the lack of twiggy disks on the 'net, and that was all I figured I needed to know. Unless someone has a stash of twiggy disks, and a way to put an OS on it, I see a pass-around orphan machine.

 

[Strimkind]

I'm sure someone has a few twiggy disks around. The original Lisa's were sold long enough for a good bunch of disks to be made before the Lisa 2/XL replaced it.

 

[Gorgonops]

I would swear at some point I saw a page where someone claimed at least some success "manufacturing" twiggy disks by carefully skinning standard 1.2 MB AT floppies, creatively cutting-and-pasting the jacket, and reassembling the disk. I don't know how wise/workable that actually is, but... could be worth a shot if someone were serious about fiddling with the machine. (Unfortunately Google is failing me in finding a reference to said process.)

Of course, call me jaded but I don't think the guy who has the TwiggyTosh is really that serious about *playing* with the machine.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

But, has anyb6dy seen 6r heard any news about this particular LisaMac?

I read a rumor that it was to be put up for sale . . . :?:

 

[Macintosh128k]

There has been Apple FileWare / Twiggy disks on ebay for months from this seller:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Apple-Lisa-1-Computer-5-25-Twiggy-Disk-c-1983-/370473987514?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5641f86dba

 

[Mk.558]

Then you need a Lisa that works or someone that does to copy the operating system to the twiggy disk.

And then what can you do next?

Networking, for a start. Since it is a 128K, it can't use the HD20 without the INIT, so then a working HD20 has to be procured and the INIT loaded. And then what?

 

[Mac128]

A couple of thoughts.

1) As Apple engineers were actively developing the 400K disk behind Steve Jobs back, the ROM likely supports the Sony driver found in a 400K external drive at this late date in the prototyping. Then again, they may have kept the Sony drive development ROMs under lock and key lest Steve accidentally stumble upon it like the ill-fated diagnostic port.

2) Even if the ROM supports the 400K drive, it may not support the production model that shipped, in much the same way the Rev. A ROMs do not support the 2nd generation drive that shipped in late 1984.

3) Assuming the 400K external drive would work, there is no guarantee any version of the available early Mac software would boot this Mac, depending on the ROM version. Likewise for the Twiggy drive. Do we really know anything about it for the Mac? The Mac did almost everything differently. Why would Jobs settle for an off-the-shelf implementation of the Twiggy drive? How would one even load an early version of the Mac software onto a Twiggy disk via the drive in that Mac in any reliable way? Assuming it is possible, considering the tweaks that were made in the 11th hour after the 400K drive had been adopted, would any of it actually work with the earliest Mac software available to us? Seems unlikely.

 

[Mac512k]

It's alive!...

I hope the following will set the records straight. Some of you may know me as eBay seller "wozniac". I just want you let you all know that over the past year I have exausted many resourses and went as far as I could go in order to facilitate the resurrection of this Twiggy Macintosh 128k prototype. To everyone's delight, yes - it lives! 2 disks were found.

I was able to have the disks shipped up to me in Canada, then sent over to James McPhail who was able to archive and duplicate the disks by means of the Basic Lisa Utility which he wrote. This is a truly amazing feat and discovery. I wish to share all of this with you.

More stories and information to come, This is "insanely great" !

Steve Sez...

 

[markyb86]

awesome. :'( (tears of joy)

 

[onlyonemac]

This thread should be locked-there's another, more comprehensive, thread on this around here.

 

[uniserver]

OOM - save it buddy…

You have no idea what so ever how much Mac512k put forth in order to share this wonderful information with us.

This man is as serious as they get. And all I can say is WOW, sir. Thanks for hanging in there and sharing this with us.

This really is Insanely great!

 

[Brooklyn]

OOM - save it buddy…
You have no idea what so ever how much Mac512k put forth in order to share this wonderful information with us.

This man is as serious as they get. And all I can say is WOW, sir. Thanks for hanging in there and sharing this with us.

This really is Insanely great!

I think what he means is this is posted twice in two different threads, let's organize all the information to one thread so information and questions don't get scattered.

 

[Cosmo]

Man you need to share these stories at Retromaccast!