Vintage computing

After 27 years, engineer discovers how to display secret photo in Power Mac ROM

Apple History, classic mac, easter egg, easter eggs, Mac OS, Macintosh, PowerPC, Retro computing, retrotech, Reverse-engineering, rom hacking, Tech, Vintage computing / Shannon Garcia / June 28, 2025

“If you double-click the file, SimpleText will open it,” Brown explains on his blog just before displaying the hidden team photo that emerges after following the steps.

The discovery represents one of the last undocumented Easter eggs from the pre-Steve Jobs return era at Apple. The Easter egg works through Mac OS 9.0.4 but appears to have been disabled by version 9.1, Brown notes. The timing aligns with Jobs’ reported ban on Easter eggs when he returned to Apple in 1997, though Brown wonders whether Jobs ever knew about this particular secret.

The G3 All-in-One is often nicknamed the — The ungainly G3 All-in-One set the stage for the smaller and much bluer iMac soon after. Credit: Jonathan Zufi

In his post, Brown expressed hope that he might connect with the Apple employees featured in the photo—a hope that was quickly fulfilled. In the comments, a man named Bill Saperstein identified himself as the leader of the G3 team (pictured fourth from left in the second row) in the hidden image.

“We all knew about the Easter egg, but as you mention; the technique to extract it changed from previous Macs (although the location was the same),” Saperstein wrote in the comment. “This resulted from an Easter egg in the original PowerMac that contained Paula Abdul (without permissions, of course). So the G3 team wanted to still have our pictures in the ROM, but we had to keep it very secret.”

He also shared behind-the-scenes details in another comment, noting that his “bunch of ragtag engineers” developed the successful G3 line as a skunk works project, with hardware that Jobs later turned into the groundbreaking iMac series of computers. “The team was really a group of talented people (both hw and sw) that were believers in the architecture I presented,” Saperstein wrote, “and executed the design behind the scenes for a year until Jon Rubenstein got wind of it and presented it to Steve and the rest is ‘history.'”

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Engineer creates first custom motherboard for 1990s PlayStation console

classic gaming, Crowdfunding, electronics engineering, Game consoles, gaming, Gaming History, hardware hacking, hardware preservation, Open Source, PCB design, PlayStation, retrocomputing, retrogaming, retrotech, Reverse-engineering, Sony, Vintage computing / Beth Washington / June 13, 2025

The nsOne project joins a growing community of homebrew PlayStation 1 hardware developments. Other recent projects include Picostation, a Raspberry Pi Pico-based optical disc emulator (ODE) that allows PlayStation 1 consoles to load games from SD cards instead of physical discs. Other ODEs like MODE and PSIO have also become popular solutions for retrogaming collectors who play games on original hardware as optical drives age and fail.

From repair job to reverse-engineering project

To understand the classic console’s physical architecture, Brodesco physically sanded down an original motherboard to expose its internal layers, then cross-referenced the exposed traces with component datasheets and service manuals.

“I realized that detailed documentation on the original motherboard was either incomplete or entirely unavailable,” Brodesco explained in his Kickstarter campaign. This discovery launched what would become a comprehensive documentation effort, including tracing every connection on the board and creating multi-layer graphic representations of the circuitry.

A photo of the nsOne PlayStation motherboard. Credit: Lorentio Brodesco

Using optical scanning and manual net-by-net reverse-engineering, Brodesco recreated the PlayStation 1’s schematic in modern PCB design software. This process involved creating component symbols with accurate pin mappings and identifying—or in some cases creating—the correct footprints for each proprietary component that Sony had never publicly documented.

Brodesco also identified what he calls the “minimum architecture” required to boot the console without BIOS modifications, streamlining the design process while maintaining full compatibility.

The mock-up board shown in photos validates the footprints of chips and connectors, all redrawn from scratch. According to Brodesco, a fully routed version with complete multilayer routing and final layout is already in development.

As Brodesco noted on Kickstarter, his project’s goal is to “create comprehensive documentation, design files, and production-ready blueprints for manufacturing fully functional motherboards.”

Beyond repairs, the documentation and design files Brodesco is creating would preserve the PlayStation 1’s hardware architecture for future generations: “It’s a tribute to the PS1, to retro hardware, and to the belief that one person really can build the impossible.”

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US air traffic control still runs on Windows 95 and floppy disks

air traffic control, aviation, Biz & IT, Chris Rocheleau, FAA, floppy disks, government technology, Infrastructure, legacy systems, modernization, retrotech, Sean Duffy, Tech, transportation, US government, Vintage computing, windows 95 / Beth Washington / June 9, 2025

On Wednesday, acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau told the House Appropriations Committee that the Federal Aviation Administration plans to replace its aging air traffic control systems, which still rely on floppy disks and Windows 95 computers, Tom’s Hardware reports. The agency has issued a Request For Information to gather proposals from companies willing to tackle the massive infrastructure overhaul.

“The whole idea is to replace the system. No more floppy disks or paper strips,” Rocheleau said during the committee hearing. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the project “the most important infrastructure project that we’ve had in this country for decades,” describing it as a bipartisan priority.

Most air traffic control towers and facilities across the US currently operate with technology that seems frozen in the 20th century, although that isn’t necessarily a bad thing—when it works. Some controllers currently use paper strips to track aircraft movements and transfer data between systems using floppy disks, while their computers run Microsoft’s Windows 95 operating system, which launched in 1995.

As Tom’s Hardware notes, modernization of the system is broadly popular. Sheldon Jacobson, a University of Illinois professor who has studied risks in aviation, says that the system works remarkably well as is but that an upgrade is still critical, according to NPR. The aviation industry coalition Modern Skies has been pushing for ATC modernization and recently released an advertisement highlighting the outdated technology.

While the vintage systems may have inadvertently protected air traffic control from widespread outages like the CrowdStrike incident that disrupted modern computer systems globally in 2024, agency officials say 51 of the FAA’s 138 systems are unsustainable due to outdated functionality and a lack of spare parts.

The FAA isn’t alone in clinging to floppy disk technology. San Francisco’s train control system still runs on DOS loaded from 5.25-inch floppy disks, with upgrades not expected until 2030 due to budget constraints. Japan has also struggled in recent years to modernize government record systems that use floppy disks.

If it ain’t broke? (Or maybe it is broke)

Modernizing the air traffic control system presents engineering challenges that extend far beyond simply installing newer computers. Unlike typical IT upgrades, ATC systems must maintain continuous 24/7 operation, because shutting down facilities for maintenance could compromise aviation safety.

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Bill Atkinson, architect of the Mac’s graphical soul, dies at 74

Andy Hertzfeld, Apple, Bill Atkinson, Folklore.org, Mac history, Macintosh, Obituaries, obituary, retrotech, Steve Jobs, Tech, Vintage computing / DJ Henderson / June 9, 2025

Using HyperCard, Teachers created interactive lessons, artists built multimedia experiences, and businesses developed custom database applications—all without writing traditional code. The hypermedia environment also had a huge impact on gaming: 1993 first-person adventure hit Myst originally used HyperCard as its game engine.

An example of graphical dithering, which allows 1-bit color (black and white only) to imitate grayscale. Credit: Benj Edwards / Apple

For the two-color Macintosh (which could only display black or white pixels, with no gradient in between), Atkinson developed an innovative high-contrast dithering algorithm that created the illusion of grayscale images with a characteristic stippled appearance that became synonymous with early Mac graphics. The dithered aesthetic remains popular today among some digital artists and indie game makers, with modern tools like this web converter that allows anyone to transform photos into the classic Atkinson dither style.

Life after Apple

After leaving Apple in 1990, Atkinson co-founded General Magic with Marc Porat and Andy Hertzfeld, attempting to create personal communicators before smartphones existed. Wikipedia notes that in 2007, he joined Numenta, an AI startup, declaring their work on machine intelligence “more fundamentally important to society than the personal computer and the rise of the Internet.”

In his later years, Atkinson pursued nature photography with the same artistry he’d brought to programming. His 2004 book “Within the Stone” featured close-up images of polished rocks that revealed hidden worlds of color and pattern.

Atkinson announced his pancreatic cancer diagnosis in November 2024, writing on Facebook that he had “already led an amazing and wonderful life.” The same disease claimed his friend and collaborator Steve Jobs in 2011.

Given Atkinson’s deep contributions to Apple history, it’s not surprising that Jobs’ successor, Apple CEO Tim Cook, paid tribute to the Mac’s original graphics guru on X on Saturday. “We are deeply saddened by the passing of Bill Atkinson,” Cook wrote. “He was a true visionary whose creativity, heart, and groundbreaking work on the Mac will forever inspire us.”

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Endangered classic Mac plastic color returns as 3D-printer filament

3d printers, 3D printing, Apple, Apple IIgs, classic mac, computer collecting, Joe Strosnider, Macintosh, Macintosh Platinum, Macintosh SE, Macs, retrocomputing, retrotech, Tech, Vintage computing / Shannon Garcia / June 5, 2025

On Tuesday, classic computer collector Joe Strosnider announced the availability of a new 3D-printer filament that replicates the iconic “Platinum” color scheme used in classic Macintosh computers from the late 1980s through the 1990s. The PLA filament (PLA is short for polylactic acid) allows hobbyists to 3D-print nostalgic novelties, replacement parts, and accessories that match the original color of vintage Apple computers.

Hobbyists commonly feed this type of filament into commercial desktop 3D printers, which heat the plastic and extrude it in a computer-controlled way to fabricate new plastic parts.

The Platinum color, which Apple used in its desktop and portable computer lines starting with the Apple IIgs in 1986, has become synonymous with a distinctive era of classic Macintosh aesthetic. Over time, original Macintosh plastics have become brittle and discolored with age, so matching the “original” color can be a somewhat challenging and subjective experience.

A close-up of “Retro Platinum” PLA filament by Polar Filament. Credit: Polar Filament

Strosnider, who runs a website about his extensive vintage computer collection in Ohio, worked for years to color-match the distinctive beige-gray hue of the Macintosh Platinum scheme, resulting in a spool of hobby-ready plastic by Polar Filament and priced at $21.99 per kilogram.

According to a forum post, Strosnider paid approximately $900 to develop the color and purchase an initial 25-kilogram supply of the filament. Rather than keeping the formulation proprietary, he arranged for Polar Filament to make the color publicly available.

“I paid them a fee to color match the speaker box from inside my Mac Color Classic,” Strosnider wrote in a Tinkerdifferent forum post on Tuesday. “In exchange, I asked them to release the color to the public so anyone can use it.”

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Polish engineer creates postage stamp-sized 1980s Atari computer

atari, Atari 8-bit, Atari 800, Atari computers, Atarino, retrocomputing, retrogaming, retrotech, Tech, Vintage computing / Kelly Newman / June 4, 2025

In 1979, Atari released the Atari 400 and 800, groundbreaking home computers that included custom graphics and sound chips, four joystick ports, and the ability to run the most advanced home video games of their era. These machines, which retailed for $549 and $999, respectively, represented a leap in consumer-friendly personal computing, with their modular design and serial I/O bus that presaged USB. Now, 46 years later, a hobbyist has shrunk down the system hardware to a size that would have seemed like science fiction in the 1970s.

Polish engineer Piotr “Osa” Ostapowicz recently unveiled “Atarino,” which may be the world’s smallest 8-bit Atari computer re-creation, according to retro computing site Atariteca. The entire system—processor, graphics chips, sound hardware, and memory controllers—fits on a module measuring just 2×1.5 centimeters (about 0.79×0.59 inches), which is roughly the size of a postage stamp.

Ostapowicz’s creation reimplements the classic Atari XL/XE architecture using modern FPGA (field-programmable gate array) technology. Unlike software emulators that simulate old hardware (and modern recreations that run them, like the Atari 400 Mini console) on a complete computer system of another architecture, Atarino reproduces the original Atari components faithfully at the logic level, allowing it to run vintage software while maintaining compatibility with original peripherals.

The Atarino is only slightly larger than a Polish 1 Grosz coin. Credit: Piotr Ostapowicz

“The current project is not strictly a clone of Atari but basically, well, I’m forming a machine that is compatible with the Atari 8-bit computer itself, but it was created on the basis of the framework that I created some time ago,” Ostapowicz told Atari Online PL in a January 2024 YouTube interview.

An assortment of some of the Atari 8-bit computer systems released in the 1970s and 80s. — An assortment of some of the Atari 8-bit computer systems released in the 1970s and ’80s. Credit: Atari

The project, which began over a decade ago and was first publicly demonstrated in December 2023, includes a 6502C processor, ANTIC and GTIA graphics chips, POKEY sound chip, and memory controllers onto a single Lattice UP5K FPGA chip. Despite its tiny size, the system can run at clock speeds up to 31 MHz—far faster than the original hardware’s 1.79 MHz.

Smaller, faster, and positioned for future projects

While Atarino maintains broad compatibility with classic Atari software, Ostapowicz says he has enhanced the original design in several ways. For example, the 6502 processor core follows the physical chip specifications but adds new instructions. The memory system uses independent channels rather than the original’s “cycle stealing” approach (where the graphics chip temporarily halts the CPU to access memory), improving performance.

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The upside-down capacitor in mid-‘90s Macs, proven and documented by hobbyists

Apple, capacitors, classic mac, Mac LC III, Macintosh, restoration, Tech, vintage computers, Vintage computing / DJ Henderson / November 29, 2024

Brown notes that the predecessor Mac LC and LC II had the correct connections, as did the LC 475, which uses the same power supply scheme. This makes him “confident that Apple made a boo-boo on the LC III,” or “basically the hardware equivalent of a copy/paste error when you’re writing code.”

Making sure rehabbers don’t make the same mistake

Why was this not noticed earlier, other than a couple forum threads seen by dedicated board rehabbers? There are a few reasons. For one thing, the rail was only used for a serial port or certain expansion card needs, so a capacitor failure, or out-of-spec power output, may not have been noticed. The other bit is that the original capacitor was rated for 16V, so even with -5V across it, it might not have failed, at least while it was relatively fresh. And it would not have failed in quite so spectacular a fashion as to generate stories and myths.

As to whether Apple knew about this but decided against acting on a somewhat obscure fault, one that might never cause real problems? By all means, let us know if you worked at Apple during that time and can clue us in. Ars has emailed Apple with this tremendously relevant question, the day before Thanksgiving, and will update this post with any comment.

By posting his analysis, Brown hopes to provide anyone else re-capping one of these devices with a bright, reflective warning sign to ignore Apple’s markings and install C22 the electrically correct way. Brown, reached by email, said that he heard from another hobbyist that the reverse voltage “would explain why the replacement cap” they installed “blew up.” Some restoration types, like Retro Viator, noticed the problem and fixed it pre-detonation.

Modern rehabbers tend to use tantalum capacitors to replace the fluid-filled kind that probably damaged the board they’re working on. Tantalum tends to react more violently to too much or reverse voltage, Brown wrote me.

Should C22 or other faulty capacitors destroy your LC III board entirely, Brown notes that 68kMLA member max1zzz has made a reverse-engineered full logic board schematic.

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