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Mac SE (FDHD) Can I reuse the CRT with a RPi ?
Posted by: clems57 on 2026-04-05 06:28:59 Hi ! I'm sorry if my english is broken ! I bought an old Mac SE FDHD with an 800k FD external drive (model M0131), keyboard, mouse. Of course, the motherboard had a leak and is unusable. I planned to reuse the CRT with an Rpi (or orange pi) Is it doable ? Has anybody did it ? I wanted to use an Tang Nano 9K. Any help would be aprreciated ! 🙂 Have a nice day !
Posted by: LeSpameur on 2026-04-05 06:53:43 Salut, Ce n’est pas encore possible. Pour le moment on arrive à retranscrire les signaux vidéo de la carte mère d’origine sur un écran externe hdmi, mais impossible d’utiliser la carte analogique et le tube sans la carte mère d’origine. D’ailleurs je crois que sur ce forum on se concentre plus sur le hardware d’origine.
Posted by: clems57 on 2026-04-05 07:13:45 arf, damn.
Posted by: Forrest on 2026-04-05 09:47:17 There are other methods to reuse the case with a RPi, but typically involves removing the CRT and installing a new LCD in its place. Search the forum.
Posted by: finkmac on 2026-04-05 10:16:41 i'd just say buy another SE board. they're fairly affordable.
Posted by: robin-fo on 2026-04-05 11:04:44 It is actually possible. Somebody has done it with a Mac Classic. https://www.instructables.com/Turn-a-Broken-Mac-Classic-Into-a-Modern-day-Raspbe/
Posted by: MIST on 2026-04-07 09:30:07 I planned to reuse the CRT with an Rpi (or orange pi) Is it doable ? Has anybody did it ? I wanted to use an Tang Nano 9K. Any help would be aprreciated ! 🙂 What were you going to use the nano 9k for? As a HDMI to analog converter for the pi? Although providing HDMI video, the nanomac (https://github.com/mistle-dev/nanomac) on the Tang Nano 20k internally actually has the original hsync, vsync and video signal. It's quite simple to export these to pins which in turn should be usable to drive the original CRT. The hardware code also includes the implementation of the adb it inherited from its MiSTer origin, although this is disabled/unused in NanoMac. If you are a little experienced with HDL, then you might be able to re-enable that to potentially connect your keyboard and mouse. But that's probably a few days work.
Posted by: pom on 2026-04-07 14:10:25 Previous discussion https://68kmla.org/bb/threads/adapter-to-use-internal-compact-mac-screen.48640/ I also gathered some links as I plan to do the same. Control a Macintosh Classic CRT with a BeagleBone Black - Intro \| Nerdhut nerdhut.de Control a Macintosh Classic CRT with a BeagleBone Black - Part 1 \| Nerdhut nerdhut.de Control a CRT with the Raspberry Pi DPI \| Nerdhut nerdhut.de GitHub - nilseuropa/mac_classic_crt_pi_hat Contribute to nilseuropa/mac_classic_crt_pi_hat development by creating an account on GitHub. github.com
Posted by: Forrest on 2026-04-07 16:48:34 That’s a really inexpensive solution. From Digikey, a 74HC04N costs $0.70 and the 4 channel level converter (Adafruit BSS138) costs $3.96 plus the resistors $.10 x 2 (can’t determine value) plus the power connector, 40 pin female header and 4 standoffs. The most expensive part is the Raspberry Pi 4. Microcenter has the 1 GB RPi 4 in stock for $34.99.
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