Category: Apple Computing

Chris Torrence shows how you can use John Keoni Morris’ new Applesauce Floppy Disk Controller to image copy-protected disks directly from your Disk ][ to your Mac. The video includes surprise guest appearances from Javier Rivera, John Morris, and Roger Wagner. Watch here!

The NetBSD project has announced the availability of the sixteenth major release of the NetBSD operating system.   NetBSD Version 8.0 includes a number of bug fixes and includes new hardware support as well as additional security features. NetBSD is designed to run on over 50 platforms including the Macintosh 68K and Power PC machines. Some of the fixes and enhancements included in the latest version are as follows: USB stack rework, USB3 support added. In-kernel audio mixer (audio_system(9)). Reproducible builds…

The third and final installment of the saga of the Rev 0. In the first two videos (here and here), Chris Torrence attempted to fix a Revision 0 Apple II which was stuck in an infinite loop of bells. Finally, in the latest episode, Chris tracks the problem down to a broken trace. See how he diagnoses and fixes the problem!

What’s wrong with Chris Torrence’s Apple II Plus? Check out his latest video to find out how he fixes not one, but two problems with his Apple II Plus! Then, dive into his next video for a review of Daniele Liverani’s new Apple II game, Genius 2. Plus, you can download both Genius games here!     

Chris Torrence continues his hacking on Mike’s Rev 0 Apple II. In this episode, he hooks up the Apple II to an Arduino to try to diagnose what’s wrong with the computer. Hilarity ensues…

Join Mike Maginnis and Chris Torrence as they try to fix Mike’s Rev 0 Apple II on the latest episode of the Assembly Lines podcast. Watch here!

The RetroMacCast episode #465 has been released.  This episode includes a preview of the upcoming Vintage Computer Festival Southeast 6.0 as well as James and John’s discussion on a variety of Macintosh related topics including: eBay finds: classic Mac iPad mini mount, Powerbook clock, and custom sneakers. John talks to Earl Baugh from the Vintage Computer Festival Southeast, and the news includes leaks, 32-bit saying good-bye soon and Mac OS 8 on iPhone. To check out the current episode, go…

Southern Stars released what is likely the best iOS satellite tracker available – Orbitrack, a successor to their Satellite Safari.  It tracks thousands of orbiting satellites, including military satellites, and has detailed 3D models, facts, mission descriptions, and when satellites will be visible for one’s location. Southern Stars has been innovating astronomy software for many many years.  I found it intriguing that one can see the perspective from the satellite’s view, complete with a 3D model, beyond seeing all of…

In his latest exciting video, Chris Torrence shows you how to build a volume control that goes to 11 for your Apple II, II+, or IIe. Watch here!

Don’t have enough retro reading material? Never fear, the new Paleotronic magazine has you covered! Chris Torrence’s Assembly Lines podcast does a video review of the new magazine from down under. Watch here!

AgileBits has released a beta of 1Password 7 with a plethora of new features they have been working on for several years.  Available now for Mac and Windows, this venerable password manager adds new features such as:  a dark sidebar, drag and drop between vaults, nested tags, pop-out items, an integrated Safari extension, and running as a single process for the first time. Additional standout features include notes with rich formatting and hyperlinks, a new “Courier Prime Bits” font for…

Manila Gear released the new 0soniq, which gives you zero channels of sound for your Apple IIgs, instead of the usual one. Each of the 32 oscillators available in the Apple IIgs’ Ensoniq Digital Oscillator Chip (DOC) can be assigned to play on any one of 8 output channels. The 0soniq blocks all 8 of those channels. If you would like to hear those channels, check out our 2soniq stereo or 4soniq quadraphonic sound cards. To enjoy no sound with…

MARCH 30, 2018 — KansasFest 2018, the 30th annual Apple II convention, is open for registration. Users, programmers, hobbyists, and retrocomputing enthusiasts are invited to Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri, from Tuesday, July 17, through Sunday, July 22, for six days and five nights of sessions, demos, announcements, contests, and camaraderie. The keynote speaker will be Roger Wagner. In 1978, Wagner started his own software publishing company and sold popular titles such as the Merlin assembler and ASCII Express….

Have you always wanted lowercase support in your Apple ][ or ][+? Chris Torrence shows you how to create new character ROMs for your Apple ][ in the latest Assembly Lines video. Watch now!

Publisher DotEmu has finally updated Karateka Classic to support iOS 11.  I’ve found it to be one of the more enjoyable ports and am very glad to have this Apple II game working again.  Speaking of DotEmu and their Mac / iOS games, they’ve also done very nice ports of the popular action/adventure Another World and Jordan Mechner’s adventure The Last Express.  Raiden Legacy and R-Type are also excellent, classic shooters.                  

Ever had a problem with your rev 0 or rev 1 Apple II keyboard? Chris Torrence shows how to diagnose problems and clean sticky keys in the latest Assembly Lines video. Watch now!

In the latest episode of Assembly Lines, Chris Torrence tests out ReactiveMicro’s new Mockingboard 2.1 kit. One major bug has been fixed, but one flaw still remains…

The Macintosh Repository recently added Mac OS X for the PPC based Macintosh machines.   For those Mac Users who have older iBooks and Power books with the PPC architecture, these disk images are key.  The Macintosh Repository has placed Mac OS X version 10.0 through 10.5 into the repository.  For more information or to download the older OS versions, check out their website at: https://www.macintoshrepository.org/45-mac-os-x-for-ppc-osx-10-0-10-1-10-2-10-3-10-4-10-5- Also, be sure to check out their wanted list for items missing from the repository…

We got the surprise of the week earlier today when we were testing one of the newer Unity-based apps for iOS.  We have assumed for a long time that Apple, Inc. was controlling all aspects of the iOS infrastructure.  That means all hardware, software, interfaces, advertising, and any other aspect of iOS device life with more than a billion iOS devices. Our assumptions though seemingly hit a major roadblock this week when we discovered that third parties were not only…

In the latest episode of the Assembly Lines podcast, Chris Torrence shows how to beat an Olympic record using only his index fingers. Is the mysterious package from Bulgaria involved? Find out here!