Development

We need more developers! The biggest obstacle to this project is a lack of time on the part of everyone involved. If you're interested in the project, please consider lending a hand. Technical skills are nice, but not necessary.

On this page, you'll hopefully find technical information on mac68k hardware, current projects, and general information on development for mac68k. Also check out the list of current and future projects. If any of these interest you, send mail to the mailing lists to get started.

A better place to look for developer information is on the SourceForge project page.

Current Projects

This section has been removed as it duplicates what's done much better on the SourceForge project page. What remains is a wish-list of future projects that nobody really has time for.

• NuBus device info - any technical information on various NuBus cards is appreciated.
• DMA support for the 53c9x driver - this would speed up the Quadras significantly.
• Multiple monitor support - Multiple monitor support has always been a strong point of MacOS. Why can't we do the same for Linux?
• Port LinuxPPC to PowerPC-accelerated 68k Macs - This could be feasible by merging the mac68k and nubus-ppc projects. It could be a fair amount of work, though.
• Port uCLinux to 68000 Macs and the Apple IIgs - this would just be fun. :)

Technical Info

What info? On 68k Macs? Who are you kidding? Apple has not been very helpful about providing information on its old hardware, to say the least. Nonetheless, developers have managed to hack together some information. This area will serve as an "information dump" for any and all bits of technical info collected from around the web.

• 68k Mac basic specs

  Some basic machine specs..

• The Mac Almanac by James Olson

  This documents some of the low-level stuff under MacOS. It's current as of 1990 - in other words, perfect for m68k! :) This may be of use to anyone looking to write a new driver.

• IWM floppy controller info

  Provides technical info about the old 800k IWM floppy controller. It's written for the Apple IIgs, but the same might apply to the early Macs, including the II.

• Mac Plus technical info

  Anyone interested in porting uCLinux? Well here's a good start. Some of this information may also apply to the later Macs.

• Serial controller information

  This is an archive of GIF images scanned from info from Zilog about the 8530 serial controller.

• SCSI controller information

  Scanned info about the 5380 SCSI chip.

• VIA controller information

  Scans about the 6522 VIA chip.