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My super modded Apple IIe Raspberry Pi gaming system


pimpmaul69

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i have finished my mod so i thought i would show it to you guys

 

first off is the inside of the cpu.

 

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here you can see i chopped off part of the motherboard to reuse. i had to replace the 2 tape headphone jacks with ones that will work with stereo audio.

 

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this is the back of the cpu. i had already modded my apple iie joystick a couple years before i built this, so i use a 2600-daptor for my joystick. option8 retroconnector makes an apple iie joystick adapter if you wanted to keep it original.

 

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next is my external hard drive. i built it inside an apple 300 baud modem. it has a db9 to usb adapter cable to power it.

 

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next is my duo superdrive. i gutted the floppy drives and added two apple superdrives. i wired up the leds and the usb cables to the 25 pin connector. it has a 25 pin to 2x usb connectors for power.

 

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next is my extension cables and adapter cables. i wanted to make my own ribbon cables instead of using pre-made extension cables to keep the 1980 vibe.

 

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next i used the 19 pin connector to go to the first 19 gpio pins on the raspberry pi. I then made an external real time clock.

 

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next is lcd screen. i removed the guts from a 9" green phosphor monitor and replaced it with a 15" lcd tv.

 

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and the finished product. i didn't mention it, but i also have a macintosh m0110a keyboard that i use as well as the original apple iie's built in keyboard. there is an adapter inside the cpu and it has a plug on the back to plug it in. i even bought a new school desk to use for my apple iie. on the side of the monitor there is a knob that was originally for adjusting the crt that i now use as a volume knob.

 

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i would have to dig up the photo but i gutted the power supply and wired up the female end of an extension cord to the inside of the power supply box and just plugged the raspberry pi's power supply into it.

Edited by pimpmaul69
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Wow, that really IS some modding. I'm constantly amazed at what people come up with to keep the old technology alive as well as keeping the experience of using the original hardware as realistic as possible. Wish I had the skills and time to do something like this!

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Wow, that really IS some modding. I'm constantly amazed at what people come up with to keep the old technology alive as well as keeping the experience of using the original hardware as realistic as possible. Wish I had the skills and time to do something like this!

thanks. Their definitely was a lot of time involved. I also use systems original controllers. I have modified several controllers as well so i can use them on my setup. Some controllers work by default on the adapters i have. I like using the original controllers. It helps give an authentic feel while playing.
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Now you can build one inside an Apple IIc so you'd have a portable version :grin:

hey you have seen how little room i have. I already have two pi systems in my room. Not sure where i would stick another big machine. Although i do want to do an ibm 5150 raspberry pi.
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Awesome work, thanx for sharing. My only question you could not use the original Apple II power supply to get your Power?

thank you. As far as the power supply, i doubt i could get the 5v 2.5a i would need to run the pi. Plus the heat in that power supply is something i wouldnt want. I kept the casing and its functional so it at least looks correct and functions correct from the outside.
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hey you have seen how little room i have. I already have two pi systems in my room. Not sure where i would stick another big machine. Although i do want to do an ibm 5150 raspberry pi.

 

The "C" in the Apple IIc was for "compact". That implies you have room, no? It is "compact" after all :P

 

The IBM 5150 is quite large, too, how 'bout a IBM PCjr?

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One hella repackaging job you got there.. I like the idea of refitting LCD into old CRT housing - something I thought of doing to a number of Amdek's I got laying around.

thanks. I have done two of these. One is my raspberry pi and the other was a pc for my buddy. Although it was still a lot of work, it wasnt as hard as converting my buddy's 80's tv to an lcd tv. The work to make a curved bezel flat sucks. At least on these, the curved bezel was removed and all the dremeling and and filing was on the inside. It still was about 15+ hours of work though.
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I was thinking of simply putting the LCD in the curved bezel, and letting only the corners touch at first. Then filling in the "center" parts, like the 12, 3, 6, 9 positions with a fiberglass paste.

 

Or perhaps I'd machine a new bezel altogether. I need to take a look to see exactly how it's shaped in there.

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I was thinking of simply putting the LCD in the curved bezel, and letting only the corners touch at first. Then filling in the "center" parts, like the 12, 3, 6, 9 positions with a fiberglass paste.

 

Or perhaps I'd machine a new bezel altogether. I need to take a look to see exactly how it's shaped in there.

the fiberglass probably would work good. Never used it so im not sure how smooth it ends up or if you have to bondo it to smooth it. I thought about cutting the glass face off of the crt. Not sure how the glass looks hollowed out to know if it would work. Im thinking about trying it on my mac classis ii. I will probably get cancer trying it....
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The "C" in the Apple IIc was for "compact". That implies you have room, no? It is "compact" after all :P

 

The IBM 5150 is quite large, too, how 'bout a IBM PCjr?

i have debated doing an ibm pc jr. I had two computers as a kid. An apple iie and an ibm pc jr. I really like the old ibm 5150 though. Plus i think it will be easier to install two dvd drives in. I actually have the drives to both sitting here. I still havent fully decided yet.
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I don't know about cutting the CRT glass itself. Not too familiar with the techniques. But I think I'm leaning toward making a new bezel, because the rounded corners, and flat LCD will clash aesthetically. There's really a lot of possibilities here.

question for you. I believe i read you were planning on downsizing your apple stuff, and i was curious if you had any of the apple branded composite video cables? I believe they were only in gray maybe beige. I dont believe the black ones were apple branded. I dont know if they have the logo but they should have an apple part number. Edited by pimpmaul69
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I'm not sure I'd call that a Modded IIe. Not much Apple IIe left. More of a modded Pi IMHO.

i didnt modify the pi at all. The apple iie is hardware modified. Still uses the case, keyboard, mouse and joystick. The monitor was modified to an lcd. I still use apple ii / iie software on it. Just in a different method.
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question for you. I believe i read you were planning on downsizing your apple stuff, and i was curious if you had any of the apple branded composite video cables? I believe they were only in gray maybe beige. I dont believe the black ones were apple branded. I dont know if they have the logo but they should have an apple part number.

I know I have 1. But more than that? Not sure.

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Well not a modded pi either, but a fancy case for a pi.

How about a destroyed Apple just to make a case for a Pi.

Which is why I don't care for it... that and I'm not a huge fan of the Pi to begin with... but hey, lots of people are destroying old electronics to make cases for the Pi.

 

Question... is the plural of Pi Pis, or Pies?

 

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How about a destroyed Apple just to make a case for a Pi.

Which is why I don't care for it... that and I'm not a huge fan of the Pi to begin with... but hey, lots of people are destroying old electronics to make cases for the Pi.

 

Question... is the plural of Pi Pis, or Pies?

 

i understand your feeling. I however play the apple ii games a lot more this way. And thats what is most important to me. And as far as making a retro game console i wanted it to be an apple iie because i had one as a kid and had them in school. It was a lot of really great memories for me. So this was me having the best of both worlds. If i had the room i would love to collect tons of old apple stuff. But unfortunately, i cant. So for now i just try to collect old apple cables and some accessories. and anything i can add to my mod. I do have a another apple iie, except ups shattered the plastic case and bent keyboard frame in shipment. So one day if i can find another shell and keyboard for cheap, i will make a good old one. I just wish i could find the color monitor for the apple iie for a good price.
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Question... is the plural of Pi Pis, or Pies?

 

I'm not sure there are any rules to cover this.

 

There's pie and pies for the kind you bake.

Pis doesn't make any sense.

And there is only one number "Pi" we know of.

 

I personally circumvent the awkwardness by writing, "..there are 5 Raspberry Pi units for sale." It not only indicates plurality, it also says "units" or "computers" meaning just that, and not the food pie.

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As long this project is not considered a modified Apple //e I can be ok with it. Actually I don't give a rat's raw ass one way or another. It isn't my gig. Once the original Apple //e motherboard was removed the unit ceased to be an Apple //e. It became "parts", an Apple //e case with miscellanea. So what we have here is an Apple //e case fitted with a Raspberry Pi single-board computer.

 

"Destroying" electronics doesn't bother me that much. It used to, but not any more. I became desensitized to it all with our bi-annual Tech Bash parties. Who knows? Looks like the builder removed a lot of chips and parts from the DuoDrive boards. Maybe the mobo was bad and beyond repair? Maybe it itself is gonna be used for other projects and as a parts source? Maybe the motherboard was depopulated in a similar fashion for reasons unknown to us? Hang on to the custom ICs, they're no longer made and the supply will eventually dwindle to where they sell for $100 each.

 

Every computer converted, modded, stripped for parts, or otherwise made inoperable, makes the remaining functional systems all that more valuable. If just one at a time.

 

Either way, kudos for using an I-PAC 2. I give them to people I personally know when they want to get into emulators with real arcade controls and all that.

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As long this project is not considered a modified Apple //e I can be ok with it. Actually I don't give a rat's raw ass one way or another. It isn't my gig. Once the original Apple //e motherboard was removed the unit ceased to be an Apple //e. It became "parts", an Apple //e case with miscellanea. So what we have here is an Apple //e case fitted with a Raspberry Pi single-board computer.

 

"Destroying" electronics doesn't bother me that much. It used to, but not any more. I became desensitized to it all with our bi-annual Tech Bash parties. Who knows? Looks like the builder removed a lot of chips and parts from the DuoDrive boards. Maybe the mobo was bad and beyond repair? Maybe it itself is gonna be used for other projects and as a parts source? Maybe the motherboard was depopulated in a similar fashion for reasons unknown to us? Hang on to the custom ICs, they're no longer made and the supply will eventually dwindle to where they sell for $100 each.

 

Every computer converted, modded, stripped for parts, or otherwise made inoperable, makes the remaining functional systems all that more valuable. If just one at a time.

 

Either way, kudos for using an I-PAC 2. I give them to people I personally know when they want to get into emulators with real arcade controls and all that.

The motherboard that came with the system was bad. It had been stored in a barn. So as a result i couldnt test the duo disk drives. I kept all the parts though. The only parts i "destroyed" was the bad motherboard from the system and the untested motherboard from the duo disk drive. As far as the green phosphor monitor, i bought a non working unit because i didnt need it working and those monitors are in plenty. I want to get the color monitor to actually use the way it is but i cant afford the $450+ that they cost on ebay so modifying a broken green phosphor monitor was the alternative. I have all the parts to put the system itself back to an apple //e again if i ever need to. Oh and i did destroy the modems motherboard, but it too was a nonworking unit that was missing the power supply so i got it really cheap. Edited by pimpmaul69
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