Apple STB1 Full Recap Guide

[jajan547]

 

[jajan547]

Realize this looks like nutrition facts

 

[jajan547]

PDF here:

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Would you happen to have a Logic Board photo of this one too?

 

[jajan547]

Would you happen to have a Logic Board photo of this one too?

I can take some photos but upload in a few, not a fun board to recap. Also those 100uF 10V leak very badly I've seen it on the STB3 too.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Alright, great! I really appreciate the help with the project
Also very lucky that you have both of these prototypes!

 

[jajan547]

Alright, great! I really appreciate the help with the project
Also very lucky that you have both of these prototypes!

One isn't mine but a friends and caps on that secondary board are bad. Unfortunately I've already recapped this one. The top board is an LC475 standard board only difference is the PDS connector is upside down so pins solder to the top of the board. the secondary board is where all the weirdness is.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Very interesting. I had heard before that the iTV was LC 475-based, but I didn't know to what extent that went. The STB3 is more custom compared to this one, right? Was there a STB2 revision?
Photo is still useful post-recap, I should still be able to label it with the proper values.

 

[jajan547]

Very interesting. I had heard before that the iTV was LC 475-based, but I didn't know to what extent that went. The STB3 is more custom compared to this one, right? Was there a STB2 revision?
Photo is still useful post-recap, I should still be able to label it with the proper values.

Yeah it's an LC475 but the secondary board acts as a giant PDS add on card. It also uses a iisi power supply. The problem with these is that when all connected it doesn't boot. There is no physical power switch but if you separate the LC475 board it will boot. The secondary board jumps the power back to the LC475 through an LC style power connector. It's a very strange design. As far as the STB2 there was I believe one render or a single photo of a supposed STB2 but even if it is a real photo a STB2 was never really released. I'd imagine it was prototyped in California or in Apple's Texas (forget the city but starts with a "C") facility where a lot of their chips were manufactured and stocked. The STB2 would've been an internal only unit with no known Dev Units/Test Units or actual photos besides the one below here. There are no known examples in any collection or museum.

STB2​

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

IIsi power supply and way more caps than other macs? Sounds like the perfect combination for a fun repair (sarcasm). Yikes.
I also heard these won't boot anymore due to the satellite server being gone - what can you actually do with one nowadays other than getting the LC board running standalone?

 

[jajan547]

IIsi power supply and way more caps than other macs? Sounds like the perfect combination for a fun repair (sarcasm). Yikes.
I also heard these won't boot anymore due to the satellite server being gone - what can you actually do with one nowadays other than getting the LC board running standalone?

STB1 I don't believe will do anything unless you just use the LC475 Board. STB3 Will boot I've been working on that with @Jockelill but it's a very difficult process. The main problem is video drivers. I do know the STB3 will boot off a floppy drive (if you solder in a header at J8) or a powerbook style CD-ROM Drive if connected to the rear of the STB3. I haven't tried loading anything from a floppy or CD-ROM but I do know it's possible. Apparently you can also use Apple remotes as well as third party with these, a printer, keyboard, and mouse. If you hold CMD and Option it will boot into a secret menu on mine (I have Red ROM SIMMs and both of my units came from Swedish based Telia) so I don't know if that is every example. Also The PDS Connector is similar to later Power-Macintosh interfaces. I haven't tried it yet but I was thinking maybe natively the STB3 would display video to a DB-15 Video connector if I wired the V Sync, C Sync, H Sync, Green, Red, Blue, and GND signals up. This is because it uses the same video and MemCjr chips as the LC475. I think maybe because the STB3 doesn't use any Macintosh standard video out it messes with Mac OS drivers

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

I'll bet @techknight could reverse engineer how the iTV got its software delivered back in the day and then rebuild it himself if he ever wanted to for whatever crazy reason. He did it for the WeatherSTAR 4000 which was a similar situation.

 

[jajan547]

I'll bet @techknight could reverse engineer how the iTV got its software delivered back in the day and then rebuild it himself if he ever wanted to for whatever crazy reason. He did it for the WeatherSTAR 4000 which was a similar situation.

I would imagine you could also Bypass the Server based startup using a custom ROM Simm with an LC475 image and a minimal system install paired with my DB-15 hack idea. But if @techknight could that would be an incredible achievement.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

That's a project only possible if it came out of true passion for the hardware in question, so unless he really wants to see an iTV running again, I'd doubt he'd go for it. I'm pretty sure the WS4000 project took him years. Reverse engineering the delivery probably wouldn't take that long, but re-creating the software would be. I also have no idea how much information is even out there on what the software looked like. For the WS4000, he had hundreds of video captures to base it off of.

 

[jajan547]

That's a project only possible if it came out of true passion for the hardware in question, so unless he really wants to see an iTV running again, I'd doubt he'd go for it. I'm pretty sure the WS4000 project took him years. Reverse engineering the delivery probably wouldn't take that long, but re-creating the software would be. I also have no idea how much information is even out there on what the software looked like. For the WS4000, he had hundreds of video captures to base it off of.

I believe software was uploaded to TinkerDifferent but alas video drivers remain the #1 issue of a ROM hack.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

What’s the challenge in specifically? Why would the software for the STB1 not support the video hardware of the STB1?

 

[jajan547]

What’s the challenge in specifically? Why would the software for the STB1 not support the video hardware of the STB1?

As far as I know nobody has been able to get a STB1 to boot fully assembled. It does have a floppy drive though but soft power doesn't turn on and there's no physical power switch.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

How did they boot originally? These were deployed in some hotels and resorts if I’m remembering right, had to be some method to do it.

 

[jajan547]

How did they boot originally? These were deployed in some hotels and resorts if I’m remembering right, had to be some method to do it.

STB3 was In a few hotels and resorts for the USA it was Disney, Sweden had a trial market with Telia, and British Telecom Had a trial run as well. I believe Telia was the last and almost production. The STB1 was an internal only model it was never tested or had a trial run outside of internal prototyping. So as far as booting a STB1 it's unknown but it will boot Mac OS natively it's just having the system fully put together and hooked up where it's unknown how it powers up. I believe there is a hidden power plug that if I recall when I was poking around is center negative and I think it may provide more power but haven't really messed with it too much. The STB3 is a different animal it was designed to mainly boot off of a server through an RJ-45 jack but It can also boot off of a CD-ROM and Floppy (although floppy isn't standard and required hacking).

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Interesting info. This stuff is some of my favorite parts of the vintage apple hobby. So many unreleased projects that had neat, unique ideas. Like the WALT for instance. Or the touchscreen duo tablet I forget the name of.