Re: freegeek and m68k
On Sun, 24 Feb 2008, vagrant@freegeek.org wrote:
> greetings folks.
>
> i've worked and volunteered at freegeek (http://freegeek.org) in
> portland, oregon, usa. the basic jist of freegeek is we take in old,
> unwanted computer equipment and attempt to refurbish and get it back
> into use, or responsibly recycle it.
Cool!
>
> i've noticed we get a fair number of m68k macs, and they mostly just go
> directly to recycling.
It would be worth stripping a few components from any that end up getting
scrapped. Not all of the devs' macs are filled with RAM, and 30-pin RAM
and 72-pin FPM RAM is not easy to find. Also, single-ended narrow scsi
disks are getting harder to find (powermacs have bigger ones though).
Those drives are useful on lots of m68k machines, not just macs. I'd also
pull the CPUs before scrapping the machine because a full blown 68040 is a
big improvement over a 68LC040. Likewise a socketed 68882 (FPU). I'd keep
a selection of power supplies, given enough time and space...
> we get a variety of Quadras and Performas. i guess the quadras are the
> higher-end of the spectrum?
With a quick CPU swap, some late model LC/Performas are more capable than
early Quadras. And you can IDE in the bargain. Specs vary a lot. All the
specs can be found in this app:
http://mactracker.dreamhosters.com/
Powerbooks and Duos are generally not expandable enough for Linux, but a
few models have borderline RAM capacity, so I'm always looking for larger
memory boards for them.
> once in a great while, we see a few Amigas, and we even have a few NeXT
> machines.
>
> if folks let me know what models would be useful, i can try and set them
> aside and install debian on them, if folks could help with that.
Sure.
-f
>
> also, i'd like to try and get some of this hardware to developers who
> could use it. i hear most of the m68k folks are in europe, but if
> anyone's ever visiting near freegeek and would like some hardware, i'd
> be glad to try and arrange it.
>
> you could file a hardware grant request at (mention me as a freegeek
> contact): http://freegeek.org/grants
>
> also, please CC me directly if anyone replies to this thread, i'm not
> currently subscribed to the mailing list.
>
> live well,
> vagrant
>
>
>
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