Schematics - Mac IIsi and others

[RickNel]

I've been in touch with a guy who has an archive of reverse-engineered schematics, including for Mac IIsi and its PSU. I've told him I'm a restorer and he is willing to provide, but only by paper post and to a postal address in USA.

If any other IIsi owner wants these and has a US address, please PM me and we can see what's possible.

Rick

 

[Bunsen]

Would he be willing to grant permission to have them scanned and uploaded? As they're reconstructed by him, and not Apple-original copyright, it would be legit, and a load easier to get his permission than Apple's.

 

[RickNel]

I'm sure the docs are legit, but I doubt the owner would want to release them to public domain as they are part of a former business that he owns. PM for details if interested.

Rick

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Definitely interested.

 

[uniserver]

pm'd sent address. they can be sent to me. Then i can get them to you guys.

 

[olePigeon]

Does he have schematics for the IIci case itself? Or is it strictly electronics? I was thinking of making a custom reproduction case using a CNC router and some transparent plastic.

 

[tecneeq]

Aren't the mainboards multilayered? How does one reverse engineer those?

 

[bbraun]

It's http://www.bomarc.org/

I've purchased several schematics from him. He's a great guy, the schematics have been accurate for everything I've used them for, and the prices aren't outrageous. Rather than scanning and sharing them, they are still for sale and reasonably priced IMO.

 

[RickNel]

Does he have schematics for the IIci case itself? Or is it strictly electronics?

Electronics only AFAIK, and not PCB files (layouts would be copyright)

Rather than scanning and sharing them, they are still for sale and reasonably priced IMO.

Agree with bbraun - the guy should not be ripped off as he invested years into that work and you would not want to kill the goose that lays golden eggs. It's just that anyone outside USA can only purchase via somebody in USA. I'm following up PMs thanks.

Rick

 

[onlyonemac]

As they're reconstructed by him, and not Apple-original copyright, it would be legit, and a load easier to get his permission than Apple's.

Although it's not usually legal to reverse-engineer something in the first place.

 

[uniserver]

If you would like a IIsi OOM i can sell you one for a great deal.

let me know.

OOM- Read this graphic: substitute boss with mod.

 

[olePigeon]

As they're reconstructed by him, and not Apple-original copyright, it would be legit, and a load easier to get his permission than Apple's.

Although it's not usually legal to reverse-engineer something in the first place.

Only if you violate copyright or trademark. Clean Room reverse engineering is legal for the most part, it's how we got the first IBM PC compatibles.

 

[RickNel]

Well I haven't seen the product yet, but what I am expecting is not reverse-engineered layouts for the dies of proprietary chips. AFAIK this small operation did not work with clean-rooms and electron microscopes, just painstaking buzzing out of circuits, notation and deduction of values, and analysis of functions to chip pinouts. So a functional schematic created that way should not be any kind of copyright violation. Mind you, the intellectual property speculation mafia have been quite successful at convincing dumb judges and juries that you can patent a passing thought scribbled on a napkin.

Rick

 

[Bunsen]

Although it's not usually legal to reverse-engineer something in the first place.

Where on earth did you get that impression?

I agree with RickNel here, now that I have more information. This guy deserves a few bucks for his hard work.

 

[Charlieman]

A schematic is a street map of the board. It shows the lanes and alleys that connect buildings, but not the layouts of the buildings.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Clean room reverse engineering of code is legal, copying code is not. This usually pertains to OS and Firmware cloning. Schematics don't even remotely resemble a PCB layout, which is subject to copyright.

 

[MacJunky]

This was said already but I am going to say it again.

Please respect this guy and his work. Do not go and just pass them out everywhere. I understand that having information available may be nice, but to be perfectly blunt 98% of the people on this forum are not doing anything that would require these schematics.

I understand that communities like to preserve things, but again, if it is still available for sale then chances are it is going to be reasonably safe.

 

[onlyonemac]

Although it's not usually legal to reverse-engineer something in the first place.

Where on earth did you get that impression?

From software/hardware copyright notices:

You cannot redistribute, copy, or reverse-engineer (alternatively decompile) this software/hardware without prior permission.

 

[Bunsen]

That's a very strict and narrow usage of the phrase "reverse engineer" though, to mean directly stealing someone else's code and/or design. That's not the generally accepted meaning of the phrase.