Building an Apple II
Posted by SadEcho8331@reddit | vintagecomputing | View on Reddit | 17 comments
Hello,
I am interested in if anyone knows the feasibility of me building an Apple II computer, not necessarily from scratch entirely, but definitely from the ground up. Does anyone have any experience with taking boards from different units and connecting them, hooking them all together and testing, or working on the boards themselves? Would it be possible for me to even custom build my own boards from schematics apple might have or people might have made?
Sorry if these questions are kinda vague, the idea only just popped into my head so I'm still thinking of how I might even approach a project like this. Thanks!
Bits_Passats@reddit
Of course! and they might have a reduced size in comparison with the original ones due to the memory density, both in ROM and SRAM. Depending on your zone, I would design it with an RGB interface.
siliconlore@reddit
I would look at building an Apple 1 reproduction. There are schematics and board designs available and it is a historical device of significance. Also, you can source a vintage 6502 from a Commodore 1541 or VIC-20 fairly cheaply.
Also get your hands on an Apple II+ so you have something to reference if you end up wanting to build an Apple II system.
jaut-76@reddit
The Apple I has some very expensive and hard-to-find chips, though, and it also isn't a good machine. It is only famous because of the high prices and the company that followed. It was not the first computer to put text on a screen, nor was it anything really ground breaking at the time
theNaughtydog@reddit
Somewhere at home is my original Apple II manual which had schematics in it.
grislyfind@reddit
There were zillions of Apple ][+ clones. Some of those boards and systems must have survived.
ABeardHelps@reddit
Check Adrian's Digital Basement on YouTube. He did a repair video on an Apple II clone.
The QC on some of those vintage clone boards can have issues as the one in the video suffered from a shorted address line on the PCB that was causing it not to boot.
Hatta00@reddit
You can get a replica kit of the original Apple II.
https://www.tindie.com/products/johnson/apple-ii-rev-0-reproduction-kit/
baldengineer@reddit
Just a warning to all: Tinde was recently sold to a new owner. Even though they are accepting orders, they are unable to pay sellers.
https://discuss.tindie.com/t/so-are-we-going-to-get-an-explanation-of-what-the-hell-happened/560898
(There are a couple threads.)
The new owner is a person based in China with a Washington state LLC that has an empty lot as its address.
Lot of strange things going on with them right now.
Maybe it’s just teething pains. But the total lack of transparency over the past month of the transition has been alarming.
Hatta00@reddit
Oh shit.
baldengineer@reddit
It is one of the most heavily documented 8 bit computers. Other than the ROM and Keyboard controller, it used off-the-shelf parts. Recreating the II or II+ isn’t difficult (compared to more advanced 8-bits with custom chips.)
The Apple II Circuit is a must read: https://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/fichiers/TheappleIIcircuitdescription1.pdf
For modern KiCad schematics: https://github.com/baldengineer/bit-preserve
You can find recreated schematics there with links to the originals.
You might also like my Mega II project, which was creating an Apple IIe around the Mega ASIC in the IIGS.
https://github.com/baldengineer/Mega-IIe
Rev 2, I created a hardware development platform to help me learn how the hardware worked… with the help of a Digital Discovery Logic Analyzer.
Consistent_Cat7541@reddit
You'll have a hard time sourcing all the parts... but it was mostly off the shelf chips and parts. If your interest is hardware, it's an interesting idea (though getting it to run anything will be an additional hurdle).
SadEcho8331@reddit (OP)
I guess just a ton of the parts aren't made anymore hey?
nixiebunny@reddit
The TTL chips are still made. The 16kbit DRAM chips are not made, but they can be purchased as used parts. The 6502 chip is available as a later version. The interesting part is the circuit design by Woz. He used a number of clever tricks to get a lot of performance out of very few generic parts for the time.
leadedsolder@reddit
I wouldn't even bother with DRAM when you can put a wad of 5V SRAM in there for relatively cheap.
Consistent_Cat7541@reddit
I had an Apple II+ growing up. I really wouldn't wish that on anyone knowing that if I want to try Apple II software, I can just AppleWin. https://github.com/AppleWin/AppleWin That's how I can go back and play Crossfire when I want to. It's how I learned to touch type.
SadEcho8331@reddit (OP)
Its not really for any reason other than im interested if I could even do it lmao, i honestly wouldnt ever use it
Blah-Blah-Blah-2023@reddit
Google "Mike Willegal"