March 30, 2015

Browsing the web on a vintage Mac Plus with the help of a Raspberry Pi

In what can be either described as a fascinating project to add life to a vintage computer, or a sheer act of masochism Jeff Keacher has used an ingenious method based around a Raspberry Pi to get his Apple Macintosh Plus connected to the Internet and viewing basic websites.

The software side of the challenge was relatively simple, as a basic TCP/IP stack and PPP (Point to Point Protocol) was available for System 7 and a simple web browser was also located. The hardware is a bit of a kludge, involving connection from the Mac's serial port to the Raspberry Pi via level shifters. The Pi can then offer an easy interface to the WWW. And with some more code trickery such as a python-based filter to remove unwanted incoming browser code to the Mac's browser - the goal was met... as shown in the following video:

Kudos to Jeff and his associates for such an interesting renewal of a classic Mac, more of which you can learn about from their project page. And for more, we're on facebook, twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

 

If you're going to interface your Mac Plus or other 5V device with a Raspberry Pi - you'll need to interface  the GPIO pins with different voltages. When you're faced with this situation - don't panic! Make sure you have some of our LEVEL: bidirectional 5V-3.3V level converters in stock. For more information and to order, click here.

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