Members Introduction... time to reflect on our past that got us here :)

[DieHard]

I saw this thread at Thinkclassic
https://www.thinkclassic.org/viewtopic.php?pid=3340#p3340

And I know a lot of you like your anonymity, but I thought it would be cool to get some personal background (names and locations can be left out to protect the innocent) on members, even though I feel like I know you guys.  We have been going full throttle finding all that awesome OS 9 DAW stuff and system upgrades for so long, that now is may be nice to fill in the gaps of what brought us here...

Again, this is an optional thread, so don't cancel your membership if Interpol is still looking for you.

I will break the ice

And I am proud to be a member of a group where so many choose to learn something deeper and maximize its potential.
I am sure many of you embrace new technology and are not ignorant regarding the latest and the greatest, but maybe we like to sip our wine a little slower, maybe planned obsolescence doesn’t sit well with us... at least, for now.

I strongly believe the inherent value in Classic Mac hardware together with the Classic Mac OS and the synergy between the two is that it can still inspire us to want to use a computer... the balance between function and form cannot be understated, it simply works... it produces results... and we enjoy the experience along the way.  I can almost compare it to driving a car with a standard transmission where the driver is more in control... the newer car with the automatic transmission (although a  sweet ride) tends to make us feel like we are being driven.

Great works of art can leave a lasting impression on the psyche.  I remember it like it was yesterday... Although I had been working with both Macs & PCs since the 80s, the defining moment was when our group loaded a pre-release of Mac OS 8.5.1, it left a lasting impression... thru the appreciation of its existence and the creative inspiration it manifested, it would change my perception of a desktop computing completely; so much so that friends and co-workers would use terms like “Obsessed” or “Fanatical” when describing my devotion to the pursuit of all things Mac. The PowerMac G3 line at the time, together with Mac OS 8.5.1 was a defining moment for me...all the countless late nights devoted to learning all the hardware and software tricks to keep Windows 95/95/NT/Novell all talking to each other were just a means to keep my corporate network clients up and running. While at work I would set interrupts on cards and deal with never ending blue screens, but my personal computing (done on my own time), would be done on Macs.

Since my background was networking, my interest was in both the hardware and the software.  Our company was both a Novell Gold shop and also a purchaser of liquidated computers, so it was not long before I acquired a single item of almost every Apple computer product produced.  I had my pick of the warehouse, 6000 Square feet of industrial shelves of Macs, PCs, and peripherals that would be resold in bulk (minus what I acquired for my personal collection). This led to a weird affection that developed toward the machines and the Mac operating system itself... like a great art collection, my mac collection was my most prized possession.  It has only been though years of self therapy, that I only keep the computers I use (plus a few or so for backup...hehe).  My biggest past time and hobby has always been music, so naturally my Macs are my greatest assets.

I am a Diehard fan of Macs and Mac OS... I guess i’m not alone

[MacTron]

... maybe it's my turn...
About myself: one of those guys that find more easy to name what they don't like that what they like.
I have studies on Economy and Physics.
I love science and art, and make music with computers is a way of join both worlds.
I like all musical genres, but not all kind of songs.
I use computers since early 80's. I remember when the Macintosh born. But it was an achievable dream at first. I had to use MS DOS even though knowing that there was a lot of things a lot of better: Atari, Amiga, and the Macintosh. During my studies, I have used Unix and Solaris systems, and later Linux ( I had my own Debian based Linux distro ).

I've used a Next Station, just once, they were impressive at this time. Unfortunatelly they lost some of the things that I liked more, when they become Mac Os X.

I had my first Mac as soon I had the money for it: a Macintosh LC.
Since them I have done a lot of DTP, some music and video edit and mac programing, my first app was a game named Tron ( another iteration of the classic one ). LOL
I'd done some other software development projects, but I'd decided stop this tasks and to focus in to making music.

But I felt like "the last man on earth" with some problems with Cubase 5. At the same time, I saw this forum I thought to my self: finally I had found what I was searching: a Mac Os 9 site and DAW focused.

About Mac Os 9 in short: As more systems I have used and I use, the more I like the Mac Os 9.

... well the remaining things are well known.

[blemk]

Was wondering if a thread like this would pop up after someone saw the sub forum on ThinkClassic. Bit different then ThinkClassic, so I will provide different details.

Grew up in the time of my elementary school having Apples, middle school and high school having Mac OS 6 through late OS 8.x and early 9.x machines. Before finishing high school, left Apple/Macintosh a bit (holding onto my Peforma 6400/6500 as long as I could afford multiple computers but ultimately leaving Mac OS behind all together when OS X became the "new os").

Having gotten to play with Windows 3.1 and NT 4.0 all the way through the Windows versions we have today, and many other experiences with Linux/BSD (and many other over the years) along the way..... I still could remember the day I picked up my first new (not hand me down, used, etc) computer. The good old Performa 6400 I enjoyed running Mac OS 7.5 on all the way through to a modified 9.2.0 it was deemed not worthy to run by it's creator. The nostalgia alone, over years culminating a few weeks ago, led me to buy a PowerMac G4 MDD FW800 and a FW400 MDD board to swap in... Only to end up with a complete FW400 as well as someone at work said "Hey, I have one of those if you want it for free)...

People at work know me for a hatred of Mac OS.. In reality, a hatred of what Mac OS became when it got it's "X". "X" just seems like a mistake of all that was good about other non-MicrosoftWindows OSes and even to this day seems like a niche OS that somehow really doesn't have a niche.  Never quite feeling complete, and never feeling as unique or as purely simple as Mac OS did through to 9.2.2.

Today I find myself in forums such as this, looking at running a almost forgotten part of Apple history as Mac OS these days is far from what we were used to in Mac OS 9 and earlier. Ironically, I came to this forum with almost no interest in DAW at all. Just running an old OS that allows me to do things I could easily do on many other more modern operating systems but would never seem the same as the day I did it on the OS I grew up with so long ago.

Installing old apps, games, hardware. I have not purchased so many PCI/AGP cards as I have in the last month. Combining years of knowledge and tech into hardware made almost 13 years ago. I have gotten my FW400 MDD almost to where I want it.. SSD instead of traditional mechanical drive, water cooling (will share images and info if you guys with MDDs want a really quiet MDD for about $50 plus random nuts/bolts).. Once I get it to a point where the hardware is sound and have time to really sit down to work on it for more then an hour or so every few nights, will catch up to what else people in forums like this have been doing with what I think is the only form of Mac OS that ever existed.

[DieHard]

...water cooling (will share images and info if you guys with MDDs want a really quiet MDD for about $50 plus random nuts/bolts)

I would love to see that

Thanks for the background info

[9Teen90Nine]

Hello all, my name is Duncan.  Found the site through a Google search for OS 9 information.  I've always loved the classic OS, it's a no frills, get the job done kinda deal and I love it for that.  I haven't used it in at least twelve years, but found the need to get back into it lately.  I recently purchased a G3 Wallstreet from '98 (one of the best looking notebooks if you ask me!) recently with OS 9.2.2. installed and I intend on keeping it that way.

I haven't received the machine yet since I ordered it in the US where it has to be sent to family and finally to me, but I look forward to being an active member here on the forums.  Thanks for having me!

[thebob]

Hi from Japan. Long time Mac fanatic here. Started with an LC520 OS7.1 and used Macs ever since. Still have a pile of old Macs including a Color Classic II with an LC550 Mobo and the 13" resolution hardware hack. I've got a 5220, 7500, 7600 a couple of beige G3's and a couple of G4's. A stack of old PowerBooks 100, 145, 150, 520 etc.

I use a Mid 2007 iMac and a White Macbook Core2 Duo, daily. I'm not fond of the fragility of newer Macs.

I play a little bass, and like to DJ. Started practising some live PA on a Roland MC-303 Groove box, an Akai S2000 came my way and Mac OS9 and MESA was the perfect fit. I had a G4 with a SCSI card, so the only hardship was making a system disc on an old PC with a Win boot disc. Presently has a 230 MO dive as a start up disk. I'm just working on the backlight on an Akai S3000XL. New inverter from ebay 12V DC to AC Inverter for EL Lamp, seems to work OK from the internal 12V line. I'm going to use a resistor to dim it down a bit before fitting it permanently.

I'd like information about flashing Sound Cards. It seems there are plenty of good PC ones but not so many for the Mac.

I've go a MIDI Macman, without a power socket on it. Black lettering 1x3 that I haven't used yet.

Just repaired a Roland U-110 sound module, and I also have a Roland MT-120S that does GS. My keyboard is a Roland PC100 Mk II. I've got a Kawai Q80 sequencer that I've got to get my head round.

Ideally I'd like to write on the Mac and load samples, then use the hardware sequencer for performance. I think it's going to need a CF reader to replace the floppy though.

On the USB side I've got an Edirol UM-1 and an Akai LPD8 to play about with on my MacBook.

What I'd like is advice on easy to learn DAW software and moving data into/out of my sequencers and samplers.

Nice to meet you all.

 

[Protools5LEGuy]

Hi from Japan. Long time Mac fanatic here.
...

Nice to meet you all.

Welcome. We were praying for months for a Japanese user here. There are some Japanese pages that need human translations as the Mathey cards one.

[thebob]

Hi from Japan. Long time Mac fanatic here.
...

Nice to meet you all.

Welcome. We were praying for months for a Japanese user here. There are some Japanese pages that need human translations as the Mathey cards one.

I'm not Japanese but I'll help where I can. Which pages are you having problems with?

[Protools5LEGuy]

I'm not Japanese but I'll help where I can. Which pages are you having problems with?

I thought someone living in Japan should be Japanese...   

I think ChrisNova needed something about Mathey PCI SATA cards

http://www.mathey.jp/SerialATA.html
http://www.mathey.jp/PCI_Extensions.html
http://asashina.ikeriri.ne.jp/blog/ja1uvg.php?itemid=2301

Those were mentioned by him. Please reply to my question on other post to keep this introduction post clean. Sorry for been offtopic, again. 

[supernova777]

yep . i was going to post an introduction post but protoolsLeGuy ruined the thread with his offtopic 
LOL 

I saw this thread at Thinkclassic
https://www.thinkclassic.org/viewtopic.php?pid=3340#p3340

this link is now invalid... what was the thread about?

[DieHard]

Link is valid, but first you have to login as a member of ThinkClassic for it to work, is was the same idea, A member introduction topic

[Metrophage]

Greetz, all!

I got into Macs in the late 1990s, mostly. My parents bought a Franklin (][ compatible) when I was young, and I tried a Lisa when those were new. Once I was out on my own, I had an Amiga which I liked, a system I finally had some software for. But that box got stolen when I moved. I knew I wanted a Mac, because back then practically all audio and graphics software ran on these. Eventually a kid I worked with wanted to sell a 6200CD, this was my first Mac. What a dog it was, lots of design flaws and only 22kHz sound. But I still liked it. Eventually I bought an 8500 and found a 8100 in the trash and used these. They were both really unstable, probably because of poor RAM choices I didn't know better about. But the 8500 was my first box I got work done with. MacOS 8.6 had just come out. I bought a Studio 4 interface, SVP and Max and started messing around. Eventually my SVP keydisk got borked and I switched to LAP4.7. I especially liked the many weird academic programs for Mac hosted at universities and such.

By 2001-2002 my 8500 was retired and replaced with an B&W, which was a huge improvement. Through the 2000s I had a bit of money so got a few different eras of Macs to play with. SE, 2ci, 8600. I also enjoyed running my fastest OS9 machines. My 1GHZ TiBook, which is great but a bit delicate, and a few MDD machines. I love the MDD, but I have had problems keeping them cool and quiet. With every drive and slot loaded, and dual 1.42GHZ CPUs, they seem to cook themselves after a few years. I had a project a few years back to make the ultimate MDD tower which was liquid cooled and with a GeForce 4600Ti but I lost my job and ran out of money.

These days I am skating by doing multimedia art and designing gear. Just getting back into things after a rough patch of the past few years. Hoping for more old-school Mac antics over the next year!

[jt]

LOL! I haven't even done an intro over at ThinkClassic yet. Most everybody there knows me from the four distinct lifetimes I've spent hacking my way through three different iterations of the 68kMLA forums and two iterations of 'fritter's forums. I followed iMic over here to watch the goings on in the Native9 on unsupported hardware thing. So bear with me, I think I'm finally gonna cut it loose:

Sig says a lot. Did vector graphics in my skull and by hand with digits, crayons, pencils, pens, brushes and all manner of really sharp edged nastiness dating from pre-K days when I'd lay on the living room floor of the farmhouse, copying the engineering drawings in my dad's textbooks "helping him do his homework."

< OMG! snip-snip-slash-n-burn >

edited: spent the late Eighties in a whirlwind of Basic on Trash80 under CPM -> C64 (with FDD!) mostly playing Red Baron -> Tandy 1000sx and Ashton-Tate's Framework -> ThunderScanning from a used ImageBanger WC into the 512k bundled with it at home -> production on an SE/Radius16 -> used IIx specifically bought to hold up a bargain basement 19" B&W TPD (really B/W, seriously, just two bits!) and as the launch pad for a planned Radius Rocket 33 purchase and all running under a max of 6.0.8 until core software requirements dragged me kicking and screaming the entire way into the bug-fix dotted early Nineties World of 7.0.1  .  .  .  hrmmm, do we see what appears to be the beginnings of a trend there?

< EEK! snip-slash-edit-edit-edit >

By the Mid-Nineties I decided I needed a backup for the IIx/Rocket right in the middle of a huge job, just in case. So over to Tekserve I trekked to buy that fully loaded Quadra_630 from my buddies with a free upgrade to something called 7.5  .  .  .  and - there - I - stayed  .  .  .  until I was dragged a long and circuitous route (again, kicking and screaming all the way) through machines and software requirements until I finally threw my hands up in disgust. I pulled my hair out by the roots all the way on the train ride downtown to buy a boxed copy of OS 9.0 to let a clean install of ANYTHING different deal with the horrid AOL thrashed mess that had become of the 7.5.5 install on the drive of my refurbed Performa_6360/SonnetG3.

That made the slide into the stock 9.1 install on my brand spankin' new G4/466 Digital Audio nice-n-easy!

< phew! >

Bought a Box with one X on the side just to see what hoopla was all about  .  .  . 

OMFG!!!!!!    Right back into the box it went and there it stayed after I drew a big XXX over the original one.

There's not a single program or feature that's come along since that day to pull me and my many thousands of dollars worth of licensed Graphics a/o hardkeyed CAD/CAM software out of my happy little Native9 bubble.

Though I did just buy a retail copy of 10.4.whatever off eBay for fixing acquired machines sorely in need of the Faux9 install their owners neglected to do, while still having the sense to hold it down to the 10.4.11 level. 

WWW access has been unmercifully restricted to WiFi and WAN equipped NetBooks under strictest quarantine. Zip250 is my SneakerNet medium of choice, heck, I haven't even had the Mac Network set up for over five years.

<  lazily decides to hit post without proofing or checking the word count again.  >

[DieHard]

I love the MDD, but I have had problems keeping them cool and quiet. With every drive and slot loaded, and dual 1.42GHZ CPUs, they seem to cook themselves after a few years. I had a project a few years back to make the ultimate MDD tower which was liquid cooled and with a GeForce 4600Ti but I lost my job and ran out of money.

Welcome

We will help you get back into an MDD that won't cook itself.  For Audio, under a pure OS 9 environment, most of us prefer a single CPU (since most apps don't use the dual capability), since it runs cooler, also an SSD (or IDE DOM) as the main boot and work drive really keeps the temp down and a large partitioned PATA/IDE for Extra storage.  We can help you Quiet one down quite a bit with the right fans without sacrificing too much on CFM values.  And these days ebays is giving away MDDs so snatch one up

[DieHard]

Bought a Box with one X on the side just to see what hoopla was all about  .  .  . 

OMFG!!!!!!    Right back into the box it went and there it stayed after I drew a big XXX over the original one.

There's not a single program or feature that's come along since that day to pull me and my many thousands of dollars worth of licensed Graphics a/o hardkeyed CAD/CAM software out of my happy little Native9 bubble.

Without sounding X-aPhobic, many here still appreciate what 9 has to offer.  We have been focusing on stretching that bubble to the Max. with advancements in the backup and recovery arena (with Apple ASR Apple Software Restore), Applying hardware advancements (SSD, DOM, and SATA Firmware, and 64 Bit PCI testing), and lastly, running Mac OS on unsupported hardware.  Although our core user group consists of Musicians and audio recording enthusiasts, we are growing into a larger community.... we welcome you and more to come

[jt]

THX! The X-oPhobe RPG suits as part of my online persona and to tell the truth, I really am a n00b there because I've consciously chosen to ignore OSX. I don't think there were many who came up from System 6.0.or so that didn't have that WT  .  .  .  first reaction to that buggy b!^<# when it first shipped. I hear it's gotten better.

It goes without saying that were I to be doing graphics/production work today, I'd be hip deep in OSX, new apps a/o newer revs of my core apps with new features in a heartbeat.

Investigating where 9 crosses the line into X and then that again crosses into an X that will support non-commercial Blu-ray over FW400 would be one of my current time-sinks. It sure would be nice if a solution for backward compatibility for DVD or even just CD could be coaxed out of said peripheral under OS9. For the rest there's always another drive to boot from a/o an alternate machine's I/O panel.

This is likely the best place I've found for that particular kind of nitty-gritty. I'm glad to be here.

[miracman]

Hello,
 
   This is my first post.  I registered in february to this amazing place of yours which I heard/read about on macint0shgarden basically  - following a user with a nick ending with 777 which seems to be quite active in here as well .  I thought I could contribute at that point, and me and a friend of mine were at the time trying to get the most out of a G3 of his.  For some reason, I thought I needed to wait a second email for some sort of acceptance.. or approval from the website.. and then I forgot about it... and now I'm back 10 months later figuring out that I could have been participating all this time. 
    So now I guess I should introduce myself.  In some ways I would present myself as somewhat of a starving musician... but since I just ate and can't seem to play any instruments for the last few months, that doesn't make much sense.  Let's just say
that I want to get back at it and that making a good OS9 music machine seems like a good idea (especially since all I have are G4s)
    I used to produce OK music using that same, even lower-end, material, so hey that should be feasible, right?
    Anyways, I stumbled here at the same time that I was trying to clean up my old OS 9 archives. As well maintained as my archives are.. you'd still get a few hundred VSTs from different sources all mixed up weirdly from various Hotline or even Carracho servers.  That part is a mess, but I'm sure there are a few interesting things in there...  I'll cross-check with yours
     I hope that I can be helpful in any way here and can't wait to be a part of your discussions.
     Saluting all of you .

[supernova777]

Thanks for the message Miracman..
If even just a handful of people are able to find themselves + their passions ignited by visiting here then all my efforts here have been more than worth it;)

[miracman]

OK, I can't stop reading posts here.  You guys are making an amazing job... the ASR thing, tricking OF on a FW800, some guy doing a max patch for an app on OS 7.5.5....  it's just pure goodness all over the place.

The weird part is that I'm here using Tiger on a dual boot.. 
I hope that I can read all that as easily with the classila I got here on my 9 partition; that would make it perfect.

Anyways, kudos to all of you!

[Custos]

Ive always had a fascination with music and computers, but not till I was around 15-16 did I start making music on computers. I think it was around the age of 7 that I got my first computer. It was a MAC!! It was a old mac that was given away from the office my grandfather worked in. As soon as I turned it on it had an error (the frowning mac face) My mother threw the Manuel at me and told me to read it. Next thing i know the computer was fixed and running great. Fast forward 10 years and I was stuck on windows because of the cost differences. I soon learned how horrible windows COULD be. So I began teaching myself about fixing them. Then after getting my first job my lust for music gear took over. The more I learned about making music on a computer the more I started to recognize how many people were using mac for production. Now I got just as many macs as I do PC's! Ive used mac linux and windows.  Linux is great for hacking I really couldn't find much more use for a Linux machine other than that lol. Hands down mac will always be my choice for music. I currently work with hardware synths and vinyl records for samples. I also have projects with rap artists and even house music DJ's. I have a passion for all types of music. I mostly produce rap instrumentals but I am working on a solo experimental album too.