Was browsing ebay when i seen this (Magic sac+)

[madmax2069]

Hello

 

This ebay listing is not mine but i figured i would post about it here in case someone was looking for one.

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 380231020393

 

i only hope i didnt break any rules on posting about this here.

[Albert]

Man, I remember these from "back in the day". The looks on Macintosh users' faces when they saw your Atari ST running Mac OS on a larger screen at roughly the same speed as their crazy expensive Macs was priceless! I did not own one, but a friend of mine did so I was able to play with it quite a bit. Not sure which version I used, it may have been the Spectre GCR. Pretty damn amazing for the time.

 

..Al

[madmax2069]

Man, I remember these from "back in the day". The looks on Macintosh users' faces when they saw your Atari ST running Mac OS on a larger screen at roughly the same speed as their crazy expensive Macs was priceless! I did not own one, but a friend of mine did so I was able to play with it quite a bit. Not sure which version I used, it may have been the Spectre GCR. Pretty damn amazing for the time.

 

..Al

 

Yeah it has been amazing on seeing what people had old hardware doing back in the day, heck even today i still get amazed seeing what people are doing on older hardware. I love looking around and seeing and reading about old vintage hardware.

 

Even though i do not own a Atari computer, i still thought it was worth mentioning

[yuppicide]

Never saw this before. Interesting. I remember an adapter for the C64 that allowed you to play/use Apple ][ stuff, but it was really expensive.

[desiv]

Yeah, for me it was the A-Max for the Amiga. I always wanted one, but couldn't afford it plus the cost of the Mac ROMs.

I had heard of Magic Sac a bit, but didn't know any specifics...

Do some research and find out it predated the A-Max by a bit.

You guys beat me again!!!!

 

Great stuff!!!

 

desiv

(p.s. Finally did get an A-Max several months ago. (and FINALLY got some ROMs last month or so.. :-) Awesome!)

[atarian1]

I used Spectre GCR to run MS Word and Excel back in college because that was what everyone else was using. I had to swap files with lab partners and classmates, so to keep the formatting, I went the MS Mac route. (note: I tried RTF format, but it doesn't keep the graphs/pictures from the original Word files). The MS-DOS disk formatting that the ST shares was a lifesaver for me. Even better as the fact that I could read/write Mac and PC disks, but neither the Mac or PC could do the same. Well, actually, you could do it on the Mac but needed a Superdrive in the Mac which was not standard yet at the time.

 

I really needed Excel because it was quickly replacing Lotus 1-2-3 as the standard spreadsheet on the PC/Mac, and again, everyone was using it. Unfortunately, LDW Power (the best ST spreadsheet at the time) only loaded/saved 1-2-3 format, so I would have had to beg my classmates to save it in 1-2-3 format just for me. I was not that special.

[Forrest]

$249 for a Magic Sac! I'm not sure they were that expensive when new. I was at the WAACE Atarifest many years ago and saw David Small demo the Spectre GCR - it was very impressive. At the end of the session, he asked if anyone wanted a Magic Sac. He then started tossing them out to the crowd! These were functional units, minus the Apple ROM's, and he was giving them out. Push it forward - that was Dave's mantra.

[+poobah]

$249 for a Magic Sac! I'm not sure they were that expensive when new. I was at the WAACE Atarifest many years ago and saw David Small demo the Spectre GCR - it was very impressive. At the end of the session, he asked if anyone wanted a Magic Sac. He then started tossing them out to the crowd! These were functional units, minus the Apple ROM's, and he was giving them out. Push it forward - that was Dave's mantra.

 

I remember that day! I still have mine, they were Spectre 128's, not Magic Sacs =D

The crowd went nuts.

[+save2600]

Magic-Sac... nice name for a peripheral!

 

Thing looks really slick though. Like Desiv, I too had an Amax for a while. The 128kb ROM's were sold legitimately through dealers by the time this stuff was made available for Amiga, but that was a cute story about dumpster diving.

Edited July 16, 2010 by save2600

[Forrest]

Your right about Dave tossing out the Spectre 128 - sorry about that.

 

I had purchased a Spectre GCR right around that time, and had fun using it. I had it connected to a MegaST 2 (upgraded to 4 MB) driving a Viking Moniterm monitor (1280 x 960 resolution) and an Atari SLM804 laser printer. Great stuff to create my Atari club (JACS) newsletter.

[FND]

Hello

 

This ebay listing is not mine but i figured i would post about it here in case someone was looking for one.

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 380231020393

 

i only hope i didnt break any rules on posting about this here.

 

I have one with Rom's installed and if anyone is interested I would sell for 45.00

 

Also have a Spectra 128 again with Rom's for 30.00

 

PM me if interested

 

 

FND

[AtariDude]

I remember this product. At the time, I really wanted to get one since Macs were too expensive. I do remember that you needed an actual ROM from the Mac to get it to work and there were no close Apple dealers in my area so I did not get one. Funny thing is now I actually own an iMac so I finally got a Mac in the end.

[FND]

Hello

 

This ebay listing is not mine but i figured i would post about it here in case someone was looking for one.

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 380231020393

 

i only hope i didnt break any rules on posting about this here.

 

I have one with Rom's installed and if anyone is interested I would sell for 45.00

 

Also have a Spectre 128 again with Rom's for 30.00

 

PM me if interested

 

 

FND

 

The Spectra 128 is sold and if anyone wants the Magic Sac+ with Roms I have lowered the

price to 30.00 Plus 3.00 Boxed 1st Class Mail shipping so 33.00 shipped for the Magic Sac+ w/Roms

 

 

PM me if interested

[oky2000]

Just goes to show the original Mac was a very basic machine, the only thing it had going for it in 1984 was the GUI, however GEM is superior to Mac OS 1 too.

 

Any 68000 based machine could do this, ie ST or Amiga, without even breaking a sweat. Apple told dealers not to sell the ROMs to non Apple computer owning customers too here in the UK I remember.

[desiv]

...I do remember that you needed an actual ROM from the Mac to get it to work ..

Well, "need" is a bit strong...

 

I don't know about Specter / Magic Sac, but at least with A-Max, it wasn't very long before there was a cracked version floating around that worked without the A-Max hardware.

 

Then, what you were missing was the ability to plug in a Mac floppy (since the Amiga couldn't read Mac floppies and vice-versa (no superdrives yet), it was a real hassle otherwise).

However someone eventually came out with schematics to allow you to do just that without A-Max.

 

So, if you had a Mac Floppy, you were setup!! But if you didn't....

 

Another neat bit of technology in A-Max was the disk transfer tho. Since it couldn't read Mac floppies and Macs couldn't read Amiga floppies, it was a bit of a hassle. BUT, Simon Douglas found a speed that the drives overlapped on.

The end result was that you could transfer data back and forth on a Mac formatted floppy, but ONLY 262K at a time (and only using their software, as it placed the data on the appropriate sectors). :-) They called these "mini-transfer disks." It was a very kual (painful, but it WORKED) work around. Since the "transfer program" was less than 262K, you got a disk with A-Max that had those utilities in mini-transfer format you could use on both.

Note: the "FIRST" transfer of a Mac System disk was tricky. You needed a version of System that would fit on less than 262k, so you could boot off of a mini transfer <262K System floppy. Then, when booted, you could format a disk in A-Max (special) format and launch the mini-transfer program under A-Max. THEN you could transfer whole floppies in multiple passes.

(This isn't from ancient history memory. I just got my A-Max last year and had to figure this out. (I now also have an external Mac floppy with it))

 

desiv

Edited July 22, 2010 by desiv

[scotty]

There was indeed a "cracked" Copy of the Magic Sac. I used it quite a bit to call Mac boards (BBS) back in the day. I would brag in the message boards, and the snobs would reply with, yeah., i saw one but it does not really work. Whatever HOSS! You spent $4,000 for your rig, I spent $1,000 and I am running YOUR software FASTER and on a bigger screen than you are. Yuppies!

[OldAtarian]

It's still for sale and $250 is too much. It'll probably still be for sale a year from now unless the seller wises up and lowers the price.

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 380231020393

Edited December 7, 2010 by OldAtarian

[AtariSociety]

It's still for sale and $250 is too much. It'll probably still be for sale a year from now unless the seller wises up and lowers the price.

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 380231020393

 

Once I have some time, I have a number of Spectres. I think 2 or 3 GCRs and 1 or 2 Spectre 128. Once I can test them one day, I will sell a couple at a much fairer price. $250 is crazy! I just need to confirm all of mine have the Apple ROMS in them and then see about getting a System 6.08 so I can test these out. Heck, I even have one of the Translator boxes that I think worked with the Spectre 128 (pre GCR model) that allowed the Atari floppy drives to be read and written to. Don't have a power ac adapter for it though but looks like a neat device. What is interesting on the Translator Box is it has Midi ports on it. Not sure what that meant but maybe you could use Mac Midi apps via Spectre 128 that way?

 

tj

Edited December 7, 2010 by macsociety

[mellis]

It's still for sale and $250 is too much. It'll probably still be for sale a year from now unless the seller wises up and lowers the price.

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 380231020393

 

Once I have some time, I have a number of Spectres. I think 2 or 3 GCRs and 1 or 2 Spectre 128. Once I can test them one day, I will sell a couple at a much fairer price. $250 is crazy! I just need to confirm all of mine have the Apple ROMS in them and then see about getting a System 6.08 so I can test these out. Heck, I even have one of the Translator boxes that I think worked with the Spectre 128 (pre GCR model) that allowed the Atari floppy drives to be read and written to. Don't have a power ac adapter for it though but looks like a neat device. What is interesting on the Translator Box is it has Midi ports on it. Not sure what that meant but maybe you could use Mac Midi apps via Spectre 128 that way?

 

tj

 

I think the "translator box" you are referring to is a "Happy Discovery Cart". Like the Spectre GCR, the Discovery Cart required that a cable be run from the ST's floppy port (on the back of the ST) to the appropriate jack on the Discovery Cart itself. This cable allowed the Discovery Cart to vary the speed of the floppy drive's motor, thereby allowing it to process GCR-based floppy formats (such as the Mac's).

 

The Discovery Cart was also able to duplicate copy-protected discs, as it could vary the speed of the drive and generate disc errors at the appropriate sectors, just as the game-manufacturer's machines would do (normally, an ST's drive cannot copy disk errors, and this was used to determine which disks were copies and which were originals - the originals had the errors).

 

So, if you have a Discovery Cart there, I don't think those ports you are looking at are MIDI ports. They are ports to which floppy drive cables are to be connected. One cable goes from the computer to the cartridge, and another cable can optionally connect a second disk drive.

[OldAtarian]

It's still for sale and $250 is too much. It'll probably still be for sale a year from now unless the seller wises up and lowers the price.

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 380231020393

 

Once I have some time, I have a number of Spectres. I think 2 or 3 GCRs and 1 or 2 Spectre 128. Once I can test them one day, I will sell a couple at a much fairer price. $250 is crazy! I just need to confirm all of mine have the Apple ROMS in them and then see about getting a System 6.08 so I can test these out. Heck, I even have one of the Translator boxes that I think worked with the Spectre 128 (pre GCR model) that allowed the Atari floppy drives to be read and written to. Don't have a power ac adapter for it though but looks like a neat device. What is interesting on the Translator Box is it has Midi ports on it. Not sure what that meant but maybe you could use Mac Midi apps via Spectre 128 that way?

 

tj

 

I think the "translator box" you are referring to is a "Happy Discovery Cart". Like the Spectre GCR, the Discovery Cart required that a cable be run from the ST's floppy port (on the back of the ST) to the appropriate jack on the Discovery Cart itself. This cable allowed the Discovery Cart to vary the speed of the floppy drive's motor, thereby allowing it to process GCR-based floppy formats (such as the Mac's).

 

The Discovery Cart was also able to duplicate copy-protected discs, as it could vary the speed of the drive and generate disc errors at the appropriate sectors, just as the game-manufacturer's machines would do (normally, an ST's drive cannot copy disk errors, and this was used to determine which disks were copies and which were originals - the originals had the errors).

 

So, if you have a Discovery Cart there, I don't think those ports you are looking at are MIDI ports. They are ports to which floppy drive cables are to be connected. One cable goes from the computer to the cartridge, and another cable can optionally connect a second disk drive.

 

No. The early Mac emulator carts couldn't read Mac floppies. You had to copy the Mac stuff to specially formatted floppies that the emulator could read. The Translator One let you read the Mac floppies directly before the Spectre GCR came out. I'm not sure those would be midi ports on it, though. I'm pretty sure those would be floppy ports for connecting your drives to for reading the Mac discs.

Edited December 7, 2010 by OldAtarian

[AtariSociety]

 

No. The early Mac emulator carts couldn't read Mac floppies. You had to copy the Mac stuff to specially formatted floppies that the emulator could read. The Translator One let you read the Mac floppies directly before the Spectre GCR came out. I'm not sure those would be midi ports on it, though. I'm pretty sure those would be floppy ports for connecting your drives to for reading the Mac discs.

 

 

Feast your eyes my friends. Feast your eyes.

 

Not only 2 floppy ports but 2 midi ports. Not sure how the midi ports work but my guess why add them and label them midi if they were not meant to connect midi devices to. I need to find a user manual for this and someone that owns one so they can email me pictures of the ac adapter and what kind of connector is on it so I can try and buy a generic one that would work.

 

tj

[mellis]

No. The early Mac emulator carts couldn't read Mac floppies. You had to copy the Mac stuff to specially formatted floppies that the emulator could read. The Translator One let you read the Mac floppies directly before the Spectre GCR came out. I'm not sure those would be midi ports on it, though. I'm pretty sure those would be floppy ports for connecting your drives to for reading the Mac discs.

 

It's true that Spectre 128 and MagicSac could not read Mac floppies.

 

However, before the Spectre GCR was released, the Happy Discovery Cart provided a way to "transvert" the data on Mac floppies by copying it to a second, Spectre format, floppy. Spectre format could be read/written from stock drives, and that was a big reason to buy the Happy Discovery Cart.

 

That Translator One is pretty cool. I've never seen one before. Back in the day, I graduated from a Happy Discovery Cart to a Spectre GCR, where the latter could read/write Mac discs directly.

[OldAtarian]

 

No. The early Mac emulator carts couldn't read Mac floppies. You had to copy the Mac stuff to specially formatted floppies that the emulator could read. The Translator One let you read the Mac floppies directly before the Spectre GCR came out. I'm not sure those would be midi ports on it, though. I'm pretty sure those would be floppy ports for connecting your drives to for reading the Mac discs.

 

 

Feast your eyes my friends. Feast your eyes.

 

Not only 2 floppy ports but 2 midi ports. Not sure how the midi ports work but my guess why add them and label them midi if they were not meant to connect midi devices to. I need to find a user manual for this and someone that owns one so they can email me pictures of the ac adapter and what kind of connector is on it so I can try and buy a generic one that would work.

 

tj

 

It could be possible that you connect to the ST by the midi ports, too. Midi was pretty fast at transferring data. It may have been faster than the standard ST drives. The Mac floppy drives were also lightning fast compared to ST drives. Passing data across the midi cables may have been required to be able spin the drives at Mac speeds and still be able to read and write with any accuracy.

[ijor]

This cable allowed the Discovery Cart to vary the speed of the floppy drive's motor, thereby allowing it to process GCR-based floppy formats (such as the Mac's).

The Discovery Cart was also able to duplicate copy-protected discs, as it could vary the speed of the drive

 

Not really. You can't vary the drive rotation speed from the external interface, and even if you could, it wouldn't be a good idea. Instead of varying the drive's speed, you vary the recording frequency of the data you transmit to the drive. Obviously, it is much easier and precise to perform speed/frequency changes electronically, and not mechanically.

[OldAtarian]

$250 is still way too much, especially considering that with the Magic Sac+ you would probably be getting the 64k ROMs which were of limited value even back then. I don't think you can even use System 5 with those, forget about 6. The amount of Mac software that you will be able to find that runs under systems older than 6 is very small so what's the point? All the most important software for the compact Macs requires 6, and in some cases 7, to run anyway.

 

 

I just got a package containing (2) Spectre GCR's. (One complete with docs in hard shell case, the other cart only), (1) Magic Sac+ (cart only), (1) Happy Discovery cart (cart and floppy) and (1) ST floppy cable for $175 and all the Mac carts contain ROMS.

Edited December 14, 2010 by OldAtarian