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Author Topic: Old Mac hardware?? Amiga??  (Read 3953 times)

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Offline Amiga1200UserTopic starter

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Old Mac hardware?? Amiga??
« on: April 11, 2010, 09:24:01 PM »
Maybe I'll get flamed to hell for this, but it seems to me that a lot of old Mac PPC hardware is floating around. I just pulled a Performa 5200CDS out of my garage. It has a built in CD, Floppy, monitor, 32MB of ram, a PPC 603 cpu and a ethernet interface. I HATE Mac OS 8 or 9. It would be FANTASTIC to load Amiga OS on this. Why has no one made a port? It would open up the available hardware for Amiga OS and breathe new life into old hardware. I'd much rather load Amiga OS on it.

Just a rant and a thought!
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Re: Old Mac hardware?? Amiga??
« Reply #1 on: April 11, 2010, 09:45:34 PM »
I hate all MAC Operating Systems.

I think the main problem with your suggestion is that in order to make a port to new (old) hardware, an investment is required in terms of programming resources.  Hyperion will probably only invest that time for platforms that will likely see widespread use amongst Amiga users.  A port to an old MAC system like the one you describe would be cool for you, but how many other people would it be cool for? Plus, the more systems they port to, the more problematic and time consuming it becomes to support all those systems.  So they have to be careful and sensible about the hardware they decide to port AmigaOS to.

Hyperion are still debating whether or not to continue support for classic Amiga systems, of which there is still quite a widespread use amongst the Amiga community.  So, if the classics support is in jeopardy, I think the likelihood of support for old MAC systems like the one you've described is slim to none.

But you're right, it would be cool to breathe new life into that old hardware! :)

Apple Hammer
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Offline Kronos

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Re: Old Mac hardware?? Amiga??
« Reply #2 on: April 11, 2010, 09:53:21 PM »
MorphOS (http://www.morphos-team.net/) is available for all G4 based MacMinis.

It has been announced for EMac and PowerMac-G4 (some details need to be cleared here).

It has been been demoed on some PowerBook, but it has been not confirmed that this version will ever be released.

Porting to even older (and completly obsolote) G3 or slower Macs is not planed.
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Offline Matt_H

Re: Old Mac hardware?? Amiga??
« Reply #3 on: April 11, 2010, 11:41:33 PM »
There's not enough bang for the buck on pre-OSX Mac hardware. The machines that the MorphOS team are targeting are more available, more powerful, more cost-effective, and more likely to have replacement parts readily available for the forseeable future.

And unlike the Cyberstorm and Blizzard PPC boards, there isn't already a large (relatively speaking) installed base of likely users for Mac classic hardware.
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Offline persia

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Re: Old Mac hardware?? Amiga??
« Reply #4 on: April 12, 2010, 03:50:08 PM »
Hyperion have a license for 3.1, Amiga Inc actually own it, although they seem to be pining for the Fjords of Norway nowadays....

Quote from: AppleHammer;553040
I hate all MAC Operating Systems.

Hyperion are still debating whether or not to continue support for classic Amiga systems, of which there is still quite a widespread use amongst the Amiga community.  So, if the classics support is in jeopardy, I think the likelihood of support for old MAC systems like the one you've described is slim to none.

But you're right, it would be cool to breathe new life into that old hardware! :)

Apple Hammer
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Offline ElPolloDiabl

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Re: Old Mac hardware?? Amiga??
« Reply #5 on: April 12, 2010, 05:00:00 PM »
Initially it seems like a good idea. The problem I see is the lack of Amiga software that can take advantage of PowerPC.
If you just want a browser and paint program you could buy a Netbook with Linux and GIMP (free) for same price as a 2nd hand Mac.
I also have issues with memory limits of older hardware.
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Offline redrumloa

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Re: Old Mac hardware?? Amiga??
« Reply #6 on: April 12, 2010, 05:15:40 PM »
As has been stated in this thread, MorphOS already runs on Mac minis and other models such as PowerMac G4 has been announced. If you are not familiar with MorphOS, you could say it started as an AmigaOS close and has matured from there. MorphOS is highly compatible with AmigaOS 3.x applications. Pretty much anything system friendly will run. Old school games bang the hardware so they would require emulation (UAE).
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Offline recidivist

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Re: Old Mac hardware?? Amiga??
« Reply #7 on: April 12, 2010, 07:08:28 PM »
I agree but that still nly makes a few thousand of us  who can see the obvious  potential;it just isn't enough for somebody to make money !

 There is an enormous amount of G3 Mac hardware sitting idle that can be had for very little;so who ,having spent $20 for the old Mac will spend $200 for MorphOS ?
 
 What we who are willing to use the old G3 hardware want is a cheap OS.

 You(we)(I) have three basic choices and one far-out: run MacOS and Mac programs,run MacOs with E-UAE for Amiga ,run one of the PPC Linux distros  even if it isn't the latest(neither is the G3)..or IF you are a super programmer willing to donate your work (or at least expect no more than pizza and beer money) try your hand at porting MorphOs or AmigaOS and then try to get the blessings of the OS owners to allow its release.
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Offline Piru

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Re: Old Mac hardware?? Amiga??
« Reply #8 on: April 12, 2010, 07:47:20 PM »
Quote from: recidivist;553177
porting MorphOs or AmigaOS and then try to get the blessings of the OS owners to allow its release.

just curious: how are you porting anything if you don't have access to the source code?
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Offline Iggy

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Re: Old Mac hardware?? Amiga??
« Reply #9 on: April 12, 2010, 08:05:49 PM »
Quote from: recidivist;553177
...so who ,having spent $20 for the old Mac will spend $200 for MorphOS ? /QUOTE]

MorphOS is a bit overpriced, but it soon should be able to run on a $20.00 computer, literally. I paid <$20 for a G4 Powermac. I had 768MB of PC133 memory sitting around unused, as well as a Soundblaster Live card. I bought a <$5 USB2.0 card (NEC based). It's made for a PC, but works fine in the Mac. I then modified an ATI 9250 (with 256MB of memory) to work in the Mac.

I've got under $50.00 invested in this (if you don't count the hardware I had on hand). Its relatively fast (as MorphOS or AmigaOS platforms go).
Parts are available, cheap, and reliable.
A new motherboard for AmigaOS 4.1 (like the Sam440) costs at least $600 and MorphOS outperforms AmigaOS.
So, with what I've saved, I can invest 150 euros in an OS. AmigaOS 4.1 isn't free either.

If you want free, build an X86 based AROS system.
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Offline kickstart

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Re: Old Mac hardware?? Amiga??
« Reply #10 on: April 12, 2010, 08:58:36 PM »
A loss of time port anything to use on performas and this kind of macs, the best option is g4 macs, any amigaOS or morphOS can user better the hardware than osx.
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Offline kolla

Re: Old Mac hardware?? Amiga??
« Reply #11 on: April 12, 2010, 10:42:22 PM »
Quote from: persia;553151
Hyperion have a license for 3.1, Amiga Inc actually own it, although they seem to be pining for the Fjords of Norway nowadays....
I'll let you known when I see them.
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Offline Karlos

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Re: Old Mac hardware?? Amiga??
« Reply #12 on: April 12, 2010, 10:52:17 PM »
I was under the impression that MorphOS 2 was "tuned" for G4 and Altivec. If so, I can understand the lack of interest in targeting older architectures.
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Offline zylesea

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Re: Old Mac hardware?? Amiga??
« Reply #13 on: April 13, 2010, 12:23:37 AM »
Quote from: Amiga1200User;553037
Maybe I'll get flamed to hell for this, but it seems to me that a lot of old Mac PPC hardware is floating around. I just pulled a Performa 5200CDS out of my garage. It has a built in CD, Floppy, monitor, 32MB of ram, a PPC 603 cpu and a ethernet interface. I HATE Mac OS 8 or 9. It would be FANTASTIC to load Amiga OS on this. Why has no one made a port? It would open up the available hardware for Amiga OS and breathe new life into old hardware. I'd much rather load Amiga OS on it.

Just a rant and a thought!


As others already stated such 60x stuff is too outdated given the fact that G4 hardware is realy very cheap (the mini costs a bit still, but the others are really, really cheap). And while MorphOS on a low end ppc is fun already, the joy is even greater with some serious horse power(there are *demading* tasks available for MorphOS). Mac mini, Powermac G4 and eMac are pretty good choices. The powerbook port will be the icing on top.
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Offline Tripitaka

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Re: Old Mac hardware?? Amiga??
« Reply #14 on: April 13, 2010, 12:51:15 AM »
I sold my old MAC's to retro MAC fans (clever me).
I you like Amiga classic OS, look on ebay or buy a Minimig (Minimig deserves support IMHO) or maybe go for emulation via your PC, MAC, XBox, PSP, etc...
Natami is showing progress too if it's classic OS with more power that you need.
If OS4 is more your your thing, then hardware is blossoming around us by the day, SAM440, Flex, 460 etc.. and soon(ish) X1000.

Why the hell would you bother developing Amiga OS for old MACS when now is the time of so much new activity on the scene? That would be pure wasted man hours as sure as eggs is eggs. Manpower better spent on OS4 apps for example.
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