When Jeff Keacher decided that he wished to try as well as get his 27-year-old Mac plus online, he understood the difficulty that he had set himself would need a considerable amount of time as well as effort. things have advanced a fantastic offer since the antiquated Apple desktop was released, as well as to try as well as link it to the TCP/IP Web we enjoy today was a quite ambitious task, to state the least. however with a bit perseverance, he handled it, as well as although the result isn’t rather the Safari / Chrome / Firefox-injected, seamless browsing experience of this digital Age, it’s still a extremely commendable achievement.
The Mac plus had been unused for almost two decades, however like all old gadgets, he couldn’t withstand firing it up for the benefit of nostalgia. Intriguingly, the tech specs, including an 8 MHz CPU, 4MB RAM, 50MB difficult drive, as well as 512 x 384 pixel monochrome display, wouldn’t even keep a contemporary smartphone ticking over, however since this specific system still appeared in decent working order, Keacher then proceeded to try as well as get it up as well as running on the Web.
His to-find listing was fairly clear: Keacher needed a web browser, TCP/IP stack, as well as a method of hooking the machine as much as his network since, surprisingly, the Mac plus didn’t ship with Ethernet. The web browser problem was quickly resolved with MacWeb 2.0, as well as with MacTCP likewise seeming to play well on System 7.0, all he then needed to discover was a method to physically hook his Mac plus as much as an Web connection.
With no SCSI to Ethernet adapters lurking around, Keacher had to jump with hoops by integrating the hackers’ own Raspberry Pi. As he explains himself:
I set up my Raspberry Pi as well as ran some Cat-5 to it from the router. utilizing a level shifter as well as a range of old adapters, I handled to get a serial cable working between the Pi as well as the Mac. That took care of the hardware.
Since MacWeb had issues with HTTP 1.0 support – or a lack thereof – Keacher had to consult a buddy to compose him a filtering proxy. however this final step proved to be the final major hiccup as when the proxy was complete, he effectively handled to get his Mac plus online. inspect out a few of the screenies below for evidence of the makeshift browsing experience in full flow:
(Source: Keacher)
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