"ROMs pulled from a Mac 128 or 512"? Get real.

[Dr. Van Thorp]

Something I wondered about years ago, and a web page I recently found reminded me of it.

 

There used to be an ST cartridge called "Magic Sac" that made the ST run Macintish software:

 

Magic Sac

 

When it was released, magazine articles explained that you needed authentic ROMs, "ROMs pulled from a Mac 128 or 512". I'm guessing that this phrase appeared in the product literature, because it appeared in every old article mentioning the device.

 

My question: where the hell were the ROMs coming from? Did people really canabalize expansive Apple machines to make a cheaper machine emulate the MAC? Was there an underground market for Apple ROMs from discarded computers?

 

Or was "ROMs pulled from a Mac 128 or 512" code words for "pirate ROMS" as I've allways suspected?

[Goochman]

Like the ST, Apple needed to produce extra ROM sets in case of repair - So these were available to purchase without destorying a Mac - though that was the natural thing most ST users wanted to do

[Gunstar]

Goochman is right, people just ordered the ORIGINAL replacement roms direct from Apple or an Apple dealer. No piracy of roms here, so your orignal "suspicions" were and are FALSE.

[AtariDude]

Yes, I remember that product. Some one could go to an Apple authorized repair shop and just buy the rom chip itself so it was not necessary to disable a real Mac in order to get it to work. It was because of the fact that it required a real Mac chip to function that Apple held off its lawyers.

 

The Magic Sac was the beginning model. I think other models came along that allowed it to use more current chips as Apple improved their product line. It allowed people to experience a Mac for the first time at a reasonable price.

Edited June 8, 2005 by AtariDude

[Dr. Van Thorp]

Thanks. I'm surprised to learn that Apple was willing to sell ROMs without proof of ownership of the computer.

[+Sauron]

There were still plenty of pirated ROMs floating around. I was able to get my hands on the Spectre GCR emulation software and had the Apple ROMs on a disk.

[ijor]

The main reason that Magic Sac and Sepctre GCR mentioned authentic original ROMS, was obvious because that would be the only legal way.

 

But IIRC there was some talk at the time, that even when using Apple's ROM, it still could be ilegal. Apple licensed their ROM code to the final user, for using it in their machines, not in third party emulation hardware.

[Gunstar]

Thanks. I'm surprised to learn that Apple was willing to sell ROMs without proof of ownership of the computer.

870139[/snapback]

 

There were ways around that, the most common being Mac owners who upgraded their rom chips...dealers didn't just throw away the perfectly good "old" chips you know, they kept them for repair services and to sell to Atari owners (that's what those old articles meant by roms "pulled" from Macs-the dealers changing them out for newer roms). But it wan't difficult for an Atari owner to walk into a Apple dealer and buy new rom chips either. but after a while, after the Atari "Mac" products became established, Apple came around, after all, when it came right down to it, they wanted to make money. Get real.

Edited June 8, 2005 by Gunstar

[jorevall]

Something I wondered about years ago, and a web page I recently found reminded me of it.

 

There used to be an ST cartridge called "Magic Sac" that made the ST run Macintish software:

 

Magic Sac

 

When it was released, magazine articles explained that you needed authentic ROMs, "ROMs pulled from a Mac 128 or 512". I'm guessing that this phrase appeared in the product literature, because it appeared in every old article mentioning the device.

 

My question: where the hell were the ROMs coming from? Did people really canabalize expansive Apple machines to make a cheaper machine emulate the MAC? Was there an underground market for Apple ROMs from discarded computers?

 

Or was "ROMs pulled from a Mac 128 or 512" code words for "pirate ROMS" as I've allways suspected?

869950[/snapback]

 

 

Back in those days, eprom programmers where not sheep..

But, Magi Sac used the 64KB ROM and thanks to some dealers, you could get hold of them when they upgraded a real ma to the 128KB ROM.

 

Magic Sac where okay, but the big break game with Spectre GCR, because it could read and write MAC formatted disks and where using the 128KB ROMS.

 

We had a lot of customer in Sweden using the Spectre GCR to be able to live in both worlds.

 

And there was a printer driver that worked like a charm with the Atari lasers.

So you got a very low price MAC compatible system...