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| Macintosh LC Hardware Book Recommendations |
Posted by: danifunker on 2026-05-28 04:46:21
Greetings!
I recently came across the Guide to Macintosh Family Hardware 2nd Edition which has a lot of details pertaining to low-level hardware things on the Macintosh II. Unfortunately the book was published about a month after the Macintosh LC was launched so they didn't include any of those details in that book. I'm hoping to get something at that level for the Macintosh LC.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks a lot! |
Posted by: joevt on 2026-05-28 05:20:07
Service Source?
Developer Note?
https://www.macdat.net/repair/apple_docs.html
Looks like there's no developer note pdf there.
Here's some docks in Microsoft Word 4 (for Macintosh) format. I guess you can open them in Infinite Mac. There's also a PDF converted version. You might want to try Infinite Mac, install the Garamond font, open the files in Microsoft Word 4, then print to PDF either using an emulated printer or using the PrintToPDF system extension.
https://68kmla.org/bb/threads/lc-developer-note.41114/ |
Posted by: danifunker on 2026-05-28 15:38:03
Here's the macintosh LC developer notes in PDF |
Posted by: joevt on 2026-05-28 17:10:01
Illustration not supplied in digital file Where does one find the missing figures? |
Posted by: Arbee on 2026-06-01 10:58:58
I know a fair amount about the LC given MAME emulates it register-level throughout and supports PDS cards. What do you need to know beyond what's in the developer note? |
Posted by: danifunker on 2026-06-02 19:52:15
I'm building an MiSTerFPGA core for the LC, and it is getting stuck in the STM. Is there anything STM emits or something that I can query to figure out what the issue might be? |
Posted by: danifunker on 2026-06-02 20:50:39
I'm getting
<E0>*APPLE*00117B340A02*D*
Off the Serial port, not sure if that helps |
Posted by: danifunker on 2026-06-02 21:01:51
Now it's
<E0>*APPLE*00117B340302*D* |
Posted by: joevt on 2026-06-03 00:21:52
I'm building an MiSTerFPGA core for the LC, and it is getting stuck in the STM. Is there anything STM emits or something that I can query to figure out what the issue might be? Try this?
https://tinkerdifferent.com/threads/new-diagnostic-tool.4593/
MiSTerFPGA core for the LC means you are emulating an LC on the MiSTerFPGA? Does the MiSTerFPGA have a serial port you can connect to? |
Posted by: Arbee on 2026-06-03 08:15:53
Are you intending it to go into STM TechStep mode or is the problem that it's going into that instead of booting? That's controlled by bit 0 of VIA port A, 1 = normal boot, 0 = STM. |
Posted by: danifunker on 2026-06-03 08:37:02
I think it’s being dropped into STM and was hoping to get some details on sending commands over SCC to get further details. |
Posted by: Arbee on 2026-06-03 08:54:36
Just for reference, it won't normally drop into STM unless PA0 tells it to. So if you weren't intending it to do that, now you know why.
As far as commands, mac68k.info is currently down, but this Wayback Machine link should work: https://web.archive.org/web/20210310172429/https://mac68k.info/wiki/display/mac68k/Diagnostic+Mode |
Posted by: danifunker on 2026-06-03 09:00:44
This is a goldmine of information, thanks so much. I hope this helps to unblock my progress |
Posted by: Arbee on 2026-06-03 11:28:10
LC's not the easiest to get going but far from the hardest. The early hang-ups are:
1) Egret (the 68HC05 microcontroller) has to exist or you probably won't chime
2) The memory sizing routine will get angry in a hurry if the V8 bank sizing registers don't do what they're supposed to
3) The 24/32 bit switch has to work (it just blocks the A31 address line from the '020 for 24-bit mode). The motherboard ignores A24-A30 (not A31 if it's enabled!) but most of those lines are available to PDS cards. |
Posted by: danifunker on 2026-06-04 07:58:04
Thanks so much for the direction! I'm getting a lot further now, currently getting a mouse and ? floppy disk on the FPGA!!
Any MacLC hints/quirks for floppy and SCSI now? |
Posted by: Snial on 2026-06-04 09:26:37
Thanks so much for the direction! I'm getting a lot further now, currently getting a mouse and ? floppy disk on the FPGA!!
Any MacLC hints/quirks for floppy and SCSI now? Quick question. If you're emulating an LC, then you must be emulating a 68020. Why choose that rather than a 68030? Then you get an MMU & can emulate an LCII, which I believe is the same thing, except for the CPU. |
Posted by: danifunker on 2026-06-04 09:35:08
MiSTer FPGA already had most of a 68020 (due to some upgrades done for the MacPlus/MacSE core), but because 68030 has the MMU built in other FPGA devs haven't made it that far yet-- although there is one right now which is a "beta" core for the Amiga but the MMU stuff isn't finalized yet.
I'm also working on a Macintosh II core but I'm stuck implementing the FPU a lot. The Mac LC is simpler (even though it's slower).
The goal is to try and build on top of all of this work as I get it moving maybe I can look at getting the 68030 going.
My thought is moving the needle slowly, so once I have the FPU working for a Macintosh II, then I could maybe focus on getting the SWIM working and moving that core to the FDHD version which requires the MMU, and doing that.
My original goal was to get a color mac to play Prince of Persia in glorious 256 colors mode on MiSTer, so I am inching a bit closer.
Is the performance of an LC II a lot better than the original LC? |
Posted by: Snial on 2026-06-04 11:38:24
<snip> because 68030 has the MMU built in other FPGA devs haven't made it that far yet-- <snip> "beta" core for the Amiga but the MMU stuff isn't finalized yet.
<snip> goal was to get a color mac to play Prince of Persia in glorious 256 colors <snip> Ok, so it all sounds v ambitious!
Is the performance of an LC II a lot better than the original LC? The 68030 has a 256b data cache which can speed up some data processing. |
Posted by: Phipli on 2026-06-04 11:53:56
Is the performance of an LC II a lot better than the original LC? A small but not really significant amount.
You do gain virtual memory though. |
Posted by: Snial on 2026-06-04 12:01:17
A small but not really significant amount.
You do gain virtual memory though. Ironically it was very under-utilised. Most workstation manufacturers moved onto RISC around the time of the ‘030 and Sun preferred the ‘020 with their own MMU design. |
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