Much going on with 68k these days?

not sure...i know im still part of that 68k hobby group

68kMLA?!

I tinker and hack from time to time

There is a lot going on with 68k Macs. Read all the new posts over at 68kMLA and you will see that's true. I come here less often, but only because there are fewer new posts here.

So I think what you are seeing is a deficiency in the number of new posts on this site! I still like this site though, so I hope that my fellow fritter members will post more. And of course, it would be nice if those posts were on different topics than 68kMLA (some people tend to post the same exact thing here and there to generate more feedback).

There is some 68k chatter on the 68kmla, but its mostly conquests or repair help and not much in the way of actual use.

I figured I would see if anybody was doing much with 68K gear here. Can't think of any other places to visit where 68K Macs are on topic.

I'm curious to know what you mean by "conquests." And what qualifies as "actual use?"

The question is, why would anyone want to make regular use of a 68k Mac? I'm sure there's still a lot of people who use them personally for word processing, spreadsheets, possibly old old games, and maybe even email, except they're probably the type of people who don't have any need to go on a forum and discuss it. The machine does what it does, they've been using them for years and years, almost decades, it still works, on off, they don't expect more, 'nough said. I mean, by this time, hasn't the 68k been pretty much hacked to death and analyzed head to toe? Maybe the fact is, a lot of 68k savvy users are already in retirement homes busy with the bridge club. Isn't there still a somewhat vibrant and experimental SE/30 community, though--more of an artsy crowd?

I've got a Nubus Radius Rocket and a PDS Daystar Digital PowerPro I was planning to put on eBay soon. Don't know if they work. Pulled them out of discarded machines with dead powersupplies. Don't expect much for them, so it's always a question of, why bother spending the time selling them? 68k stuff--trash, eBay, trash, eBay?--it's sometimes a hard call, but most times not at all.

Unknown_K,

Perhaps you don't spend much time in the Compact Mac forum on 68kMLA:

http://68kmla.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=7&sid=1a61b003db4cdc372620e4b2c0e89a1b

And if you do, perhaps then you are overlooking some major threads like this one, which talk heavily about ACTUAL USE:

http://68kmla.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1492

The process of how to format 800k disks as MFS (as discussed in that thread) is "actual use." And it's very practical info too. Because if you use an old Mac 512 like I do and boot with an older System and FInder, HFS disks won't be seen by the System/Finder. That excludes most 800k disks by default. But if you format an 800k disk as MFS, it will be recognized just like any 400k disk will, and you don't need the HD20 INIT loaded in that case either.

We also have other threads going on the HD20, Apple's first serial hard drive. I own one of those too. We are discussing partitioning and MFS formatting, both of which have a very practical place when using these old Macs with a lot of different apps (as I still do).

(NOTE: I am "JDW" both on this site and 68kMLA.)

Now if you want to talk about a site that has really gone to hades over the past couple years, then direct your browser to Jag's House Forum. A couple years ago, prior to the John Mairs incident, it was about as good as Fritter. But now, hardly anyone posts, and annoying ads splatter across your screen. Jag also gets angry if anyone mentions the fact there are other classic Mac forums. I mentioned 68kMLA once and he called my action "unethical"!

But I'm not sure that we need MORE sites like this. Indeed Fritter and 68kMLA are all we really need. We just need more people to fiddle with their old Macs and then POST about what they are doing. We also need more people to read through the threads and MAKE TIME to try out some of the things being discussed. That's what makes a lively forum. Most of us have classic Macs. And while many of us come up with excuses as to why we lack the time to post, the fact is, no one has time -- you have to MAKE time. If you read through some of those 68kMLA threads where I am talking with "Mac128" you will see that I had to MAKE a lot of time to try out things he suggested. I did it because I thought the results could benefit me, but I also wanted to do it so I could share with the community.

People who care about the classic Mac community and about having fun with classic Macs will post. Everyone else will likely not post or not post very often. May we therefore have many more people become interested in fiddling with old Macs!

Now THAT's news for the 68K World! Thought this needed to be reprinted in light of this discussion:

http://www.applefritter.com/node/21139

Most of the 68kmla topics are PPC/x86/OSX related anymore. Sure there is some talk of 68k gear, but very little compared to the newer stuff.

I just find it sad that the old C64, Amiga, ST, Old PC forums seems to be thriving with people of old ages who even make new hardware and develope utilities for older machines yet the 68K segment seems to have died once the machines were not found on freecycle anymore. There are plenty of knowledgeable people on the 68kmla that do not post because the forum was taken over by kids and the focus has moved to new Macs.

I do miss the old days. I never did post much about the 68k's but I really enjoy reading about them.

I can't wait until December. I have a 512K Mac that I am planning to restore. After I finish restoring it I hope to do something useful with.

I think that is alot of the problem, people aren't doing anything useful with the 68k systems. I've know a couple of Amiga and Commodore guys and that is what kept things going.

Gentlemen,

First of all, the assertion that 68kMLA has been taking over by youths who post only about New Macs (or PPC Macs) is misleading at best, a flat out lie at worst. I personally believe the latter is true, for the most active posts I read (and participate in) are in the Compact Mac forum of 68kMLA. That's where most of us "old timers" hang out to talk about useful 68k techniques and hacks. Are there PPC threads on 68kMLA? Sure, but I don't know much about them because I don't look at them. And I don't look at the PPC threads at 68kMLA because there are 68k threads. And I myself am interested in those active 68k threads.

And so, it's clear some of you in this thread must define "useful" differently than I, because I see useful posts every few days in the compact Mac thread of 68kMLA:

http://68kmla.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=7

In contrast, I don't see many such posts here on AppleFritter. And virtually none at all in Jag's House Forum.

Once again, to find "useful 68k Mac posts" just go to the right place: Compact Mac forum. And if you want such posts here, just post them! When I see good discussions on this site, I try to participate. Sadly, many people posting here in Fritter avoid getting any more technical than "insert disk" or "why doesn't my Mac boot." Whereas on 68kMLA, we talk about everything from solder joints to re-reprogramming code to formatting 800k disks as MFS! We also share photos with each other, and we also help one another to find old documentation (such as one recent find of the scanned manual for an Apple external 800k floppy drive that works with Macs and the Apple II series). My 68k Flickr photos are here (along with commentary on many of the photos):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66071596@N00/

Seriously, if Fritter posts helped me enjoy my 68k Macs more than 68kMLA, the bulk of my posts would be here. And if the situation changes in the future, then so will my posts. I hope more people post about 68k Macs here so my posts will increase here. But I myself post where I get the most responsive posts. And right now, for whatever reason, that is 68kMLA. Keep in mind this is not a complaint about Fritter. I like Fritter which is why I still come here, as is evidenced by the fact I am posting here now! But I must state the facts, and the facts are that many of the more interest "technical" posts (which again, come out several times a week), are made in the Compact Mac forum of 68kMLA.

So to conclude, I would strongly suggest to those of you "silently" reading this that you need to (a) stop being silent and post, and (b) realize that despite what some are saying in this thread, there are indeed very good, useful, practical and fun posts about 68k Macs taking place. Sometimes and interesting thread will crop up here, but most of the interesting posts now are over at 68kMLA, in the Compact Mac forum. You can change that though. Just post here. Yes, yes, you don't have time, I know. But none of us have time. We MAKE TIME! So make time to post. And make time to reply. That's the only way others can know what's going on with your own 68k hobby. I know for a fact a lot of you out there do fun and interesting things with your 68k Macs. You just never post about it! You cite excuses such as "but my wife..." or "but my job..." or "but my health..." Stop with the excuses, and post. That's why we're all here! Post, post, post! And if you don't know what to post about, then trot on over the the Compact Mac forum of 68kMLA, get some ideas, then post here (or there). That's it.