Recreateing the Apple TechStep

[KGLlewellyn]

Thanks

Opening up the designs is something that will be considered in the future but is not something we can do right now

Could I politely ask why you are not able to do so at the moment? There's a tonne of dead Macs out there and while I've gotten somewhat able to probe these things via the diagnostic mode and serial, it'd be far more helpful in repairing these machines and ultimately preserving them with a TechStep recreation. I'd be sure happy to purchase one off you once budgets permit, but I'm thinking for the future, when you're not able to/willing to sell them anymore that these things will still be unobtanium and ultimately leave more boards to being sent to the trashcan. Open-sourcing would ensure that no matter what we'd have a fighting chance of building one if needed, availability of components permitting of course.

 

[max1zzz]

Could I politely ask why you are not able to do so at the moment? There's a tonne of dead Macs out there and while I've gotten somewhat able to probe these things via the diagnostic mode and serial, it'd be far more helpful in repairing these machines and ultimately preserving them with a TechStep recreation. I'd be sure happy to purchase one off you once budgets permit, but I'm thinking for the future, when you're not able to/willing to sell them anymore that these things will still be unobtanium and ultimately leave more boards to being sent to the trashcan. Open-sourcing would ensure that no matter what we'd have a fighting chance of building one if needed, availability of components permitting of course.

It's a matter of finances, Getting a reverse engineering project like this to the point this is at is very time consuming and often expensive so being able to sell them afterwards justifys that time / cost. Additionally projects like this help support other ones that will likely never make any money (e.g Reloaded boards).

There is also the consideration that for devices like this where the original is worth such a high amount that if we just uploaded the designs to GitHub etc it is very likely someone else will take those designs and start producing them commercially (regardless of if the designs where licensed for non commercial use only) making it further harder to recoup development costs.

However you can rest assured that it is more likely than not that the designs will be released some day, I too do not like designs like this to just disappear so once this project has ran i';s course the designs will likely be uploaded to GitHub

 

[KGLlewellyn]

It's a matter of finances, Getting a reverse engineering project like this to the point this is at is very time consuming and often expensive so being able to sell them afterwards justifys that time / cost. Additionally projects like this help support other ones that will likely never make any money (e.g Reloaded boards).

There is also the consideration that for devices like this where the original is worth such a high amount that if we just uploaded the designs to GitHub etc it is very likely someone else will take those designs and start producing them commercially (regardless of if the designs where licensed for non commercial use only) making it further harder to recoup development costs.

However you can rest assured that it is more likely than not that the designs will be released some day, I too do not like designs like this to just disappear so once this project has ran i';s course the designs will likely be uploaded to GitHub

I appreciate the honest reply and that you're keen to preserve it for the future too. Thank you for your efforts, I hope to catch one on a future run that you might do, that being said I think I just fixed the IIfx that I would've needed it for. I may be good, for now! xD

 

[atax1a]

I'm interested in the second run, definitely

 

[max1zzz]

I'm interested in the second run, definitely

Drop me a Pm and I'll get back to you when I have some more ready

 

[point5]

Might be late to the game, but I’d be interested in a kit when available.

 

[max1zzz]

Might be late to the game, but I’d be interested in a kit when available.

Unfortunately I am no longer selling these in kit form, Although I know lots of people like kits I found the ones of these I sold in kit form required allot of support during assembly and remote debugging afterwards which I just don't have the time to do. Going forward I am only going to be selling these pre assembled and tested

 

[Samuel_Saady]

ah, if thats the case where and when can i buy one? and whats your asking price?(in USD)

 

[Johnnya101]

So does your sale of the unit controller include the rom disks or whatever is needed to scan each model?

 

[robin-fo]

The kit I bought included everything except the battery

 

[max1zzz]

Te clones have all 5 rom packs built into the unit, as @robin-fo says all that needs to be added is the battery (Which I can't include due to shipping restrictions)

 

[robin-fo]

Be aware that the battery needs to be installed for the device to work. At least it was in my case…

 

[max1zzz]

Indeed, the battery charger IC gets upset if there is no battery installed

I had hoped to get around this by using a higher power charge IC in the newer revision but this still can't cope with he peak demands with no battery fitted. I may look at installing some kind of battery sense circuit that bypasses the hole charger / boost regulator circuit if there is not battery fitted (or perhaps just some jumpers) for future versions

 

[atax1a]

Also you'll want a flat-top battery — being used to AAs, we bought an unprotected button-top and found it to be a little too big to fit without stressing the battery holder.

 

[markgeek36]

where can i get this?

 

[jajan547]

where can i get this?

You can get one HERE, looks like none in stock but if you message @WillJac he can create you one.

 

[max1zzz]

I believe CayMac is out of parts, I still have a few more boards waiting to be built up but I am waiting for more MCU's from china. Should be here in the next month or so

 

[nathall]

I’d be really interested also.

 

[WillJac]

I believe CayMac is out of parts, I still have a few more boards waiting to be built up but I am waiting for more MCU's from china. Should be here in the next month or so

Correct, I have built all that I had boards and parts for. I have send 2 people over to Max already. Not sure if anything coming there from that.