Upgrade your original 1984 Macintosh to run OS X Snow Leopard.

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by gmjhowe
 

introUpgrade your original 1984 Macintosh to run OS X Snow Leopard.

The original Macintosh took the the world by storm with its small form factor, and above standard speeds. This project aims to show you how to upgrade your original 1984 macintosh to the specification of a modern day machine.

The original Macintosh had an 8mhz processor, my upgrades will boost it to a speed 200x faster than that. Giving us enough speed to install Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

My main objectives were.
  1. Do not alter, cut, deform, change, or break the original Mac in anyway, I wanted to be able to return it to its original state if I chose to.
  2. Not to let myself cut costs on the project just to make it more 'amazinger' (cheap instructables are great, but we do see a lot of 'wow make an awesome uber computer for like $10 dollars yeah'. This was an epic project, I cut costs where I could, and used recycled parts, but I spared no expense in making this the best I could. This 1984 Macintosh deserved no less.

Here are a few glory shots, then we delve into the bulk of it, I started this project in June '09, but getting married, and moving house did put a bit of a delay on finishing it. 

Be sure to vote for me in the Dead Computer Contest, the Netbook prize would allow me to upgrade my 1984 Macintosh to being wireless, portable, and a 9inch screen to boot.
We all want to see pictures in the newspaper/on the internet of me sat on the train, or chilling in starbucks with a 1984 Macintosh now, don't we?

I also encourage creative constructive comments.

The first ten constructive comments get an ampersand vintage mac patch! 

Upgrade your original 1984 Macintosh to run OS X Snow Leopard.
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step 1Materials and Tools

Materials

  • An original dead 1984 Macintosh (There was a wide range of this style of Mac, keep your eye out on ebay for a defunct one, because this one was broken, I got it for £25)
  • Several A3 sheets of Styrene or Plasticard.
  • Clear Perspex/Acrylic 3-6mm in depth
  • Mini ITX Motherboard (I went for the low power Intel Atom single core)
  • Small PSU (mine was salvaged from a dead Dell Optiplex, you could buy a new one, but thats not very green is it?)
  • A harddrive and Ram
  • A Nanovision Mimo USB 7" screen (you can get models that power off your PSU but use a VGA connection, the Nanovision uses USB for both power and signal)
  • A pair of Apple Pro Speakers
  • USB and Ethernet extension cables

Tools

  • Drill
  • Dremel type tool
  • Hot air gun
  • Stanley knife/Box cutter with plenty of spare blades
  • Metal Rule
  • Epoxy resin
  • Superglue
  • Double sided plastic tape (optional, but useful)
  • Pliers
Materials and Tools
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213 comments
1-40 of 213next »
Aug 23, 2010. 4:35 PMhobbyman says:
today I bought a mac classic solely for this purpose. It was an idea that resided in my mind for more than 10 years but seeing your article created the last necessary spark. After looking for a decent chassis and finding none for 2-3 months, finally i saw one today on a ebay version site here in turkey and went to buy the mac of my dreams :) paid 30$, the chassis is nice, no cracks, no scratches. But your usb LCD is not sold here in turkey. So i plan to go for TVS's 9 inch monochrome displays which are 800-600 res. a bit low. any other recomendations? i also plan to use a dual intel atom mini itx mainboard.
Aug 24, 2010. 2:59 PMhobbyman says:
here is my baby :)
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Aug 24, 2010. 10:27 AMhobbyman says:
Thanks for your kind repply. Yes i'd like to make it as an instructable as it is as you said will differ from yours a bit. I've found a dual core intel atom mini itx mainboard for 48$ including the processor, quite nice. And there are some slim, mac style white keyboards on the market here. They will probably match the classic case. I used to have a professor at school who is a madmac person :) . He used to give us 68000 microprocessor lectures. I'll ask him whether it can be possible to somehow use any internal parts of the mac for building a MacPC. Especially whether it is possible to use the screen anyhow.
Aug 16, 2010. 5:47 PMisaaclo says:
that is plain AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aug 6, 2010. 6:35 AMmidknightcommander says:
This may have already been suggested, but what about using a SSD instead of a traditional hard drive? That way you might be able to get away with not installing any fans. It would be quieter and faster, too.
Mar 27, 2010. 8:07 AMwenpherd says:
Is ti possible to use a newer version of Macintosh?
Jul 30, 2010. 12:27 PMzack247 says:
you mean like macos9? (the 19** version)
Jul 31, 2010. 3:31 PMwenpherd says:
Not sure.
Mar 29, 2010. 8:23 AMkwthemale says:
My mom has an old Compaq Presario 433 that I'm considering doing something similar with.  Not Snow Leopard, but maybe Win7 or Linux.  Any tips?
Mar 30, 2010. 12:19 AMFieldownage says:
 Linux might be easier to install because you could just install it to a USB-HDD or such, and you could install it on a different computer and use it where ever you like. But the components... At least an upgrade for motherboard is nearly necessary. Good luck! ;)
Jul 30, 2010. 12:27 PMzack247 says:
windows 7 requires at least 1gb of ram, and i think a celeron / p4 or better, major upgrades could be required
Apr 1, 2010. 11:42 AMApple_4_life says:
 WOW! that computer is awesome! I have one question, how do you use CDs? i don't see any slot for it
Apr 1, 2010. 11:43 AMApple_4_life says:
 AWWW! I want a patch! :D 
Jul 30, 2010. 12:26 PMzack247 says:
lol
Jun 28, 2010. 12:17 AMTomcat94 says:
I need to know where I can find an old classic macintosh. I've literally looked everywhere for one, and I just can't find one (well, not at a reasonable price). And they're all working too, which is not what I need... Can anybody help?
Jul 3, 2010. 10:11 PMTomcat94 says:
I've been doing the same for about two weeks now. I'm trying to nab one for about $15, and I just might get it at an affordable price. If it works, I'll keep it in good running order. If not, then I'll gut it and do something cool, like this instructable. :)
Jul 4, 2010. 9:50 PMTomcat94 says:
I finally found one. :D And it wasn't as expensive as I thought it would be! I don't know if it works or not, but if it doesn't, I'll be using this instructable. Thank you!
Jul 11, 2010. 12:26 PMKasm279 says:
Let us know what doesn't work and we can probably help you fix it :D
Jul 12, 2010. 12:23 PMTomcat94 says:
I just got it in today. I plugged it into a power source, and I heard the startup "bong" macs make, but the screen remained black while the hard drive and fan was spinning. I intend to fix it before I do this instructable, so I can have the option of putting it back together if I want. :)
Jul 30, 2010. 12:23 PMzack247 says:
have you figured this out? i have a quadra 601 that does the same thing. i found it dumpster diving, no power supply was with it, and the case was a little broken at the back. not ot mention it had some water from some rain. (i got it just after it rained, so i let it dry out for a couple days) if you figured this out, could you send me a pm on how you did?
Jul 18, 2010. 4:30 AMwhiplash says:
hmm. for an easier (and far less adventurous/awesome) option could you just put a mac mini inside the case and extend some wires to plug in usb devices/power inlet
Jul 17, 2010. 10:44 AMVictor Lam says:
could you please tell me how to install the os snow leopard
Jul 17, 2010. 8:43 AMpsharpep says:
Haha awesome man! Jw what does your wife think about it?
Jun 17, 2010. 9:18 AMthomcat says:
How about a conversion for Apple's most unique design the iMac 'flower pot'? I hate give up my original iMac because of the incompatibility issues -- in my opinion the best design ever.
imac.jpg
Jul 11, 2010. 12:34 PMKasm279 says:
I noticed a company called Averatec makes a model thats a lot like the G4 iMacs. Only thing thats different is that its gloss black, the base is just a flat rectangle, and it has a widescreen monitor. Anyway, if you are getting rid of the thing, I could use it :)
Jul 9, 2010. 12:05 PMMacworldwizardz says:
Thats a good Instructable. I am just curious to know how long did it take you to do this and how long it took to put together the Instructable. P.S. I rated it 5.0 and subscribed.
Jul 9, 2010. 12:08 PMMacworldwizardz says:
By the way: This Instructable not only should be featured and have over 20,000 views, but ALSO, this 'ible is good enough to be posted on the Apple's Website. I wish they'd do that!! :) :)
Jul 9, 2010. 5:54 PMMacworldwizardz says:
OMG! Well I can sure tell it in your hard work!! :)
Jun 24, 2010. 12:17 PMjunits15 says:
wait is this a hackintosh?
Jun 27, 2010. 8:46 PMBartboy says:
Pretty much. It's arguable as to whether hackintosh means PC that runs Mac, or just any computer not made and/or licensed by apple that runs Mac.
Jun 13, 2010. 3:50 PMwoody558 says:
1 word... AWESOME!!!!!
Jun 13, 2010. 3:53 PMwoody558 says:
I wish I could afford one...too expensive. :( :( :( :(
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