Re: Booting a 660AV?

[Hauke Fath <hauke%Espresso.Rhein-Neckar.DE@localhost>]

On Fri, 27 Mar 2026 13:20:20 -0400 (EDT), Mouse wrote:
> In particular, the mac68k pages make it look as though the only known
> way to boot them is to boot into MacOS and then run a Booter program.

*chuckle*

It's always been thus, ever since the ALICE group booted their first 
Mac in the early nineties...

> But this machine's keyboard is ADB and video is a DA-15. 

Why 'but'? It's a Mac.

> I doubt I
> have any of the latter and I'm not sure about the former.

You can boot to serial console, if you can borrow an ADB keyboard and 
mouse (or get an ADB converter 
<https://www.bigmessowires.com/usb-wombat/>), and a Mac video to VGA 
adapter (or solder one yourself).

> Is this a lost cause for me?  Or is enough publicly known about the
> 660AV ROM boot procedures that all I need (heh) is to find enough
> documentation and I can boot it from the bare metal?

There was a native booter for some early Macs (Mac II class) in the 1.5 
days; I still have the sources around, but they seem to not be online 
any more. Also, I think the mac68k port of Linux does boot from 
hardware at least on some of the supported models. But then you have to 
set up enough of the Mac's hardware to drive keyboard, video and 
storage. And that hardware is very diverse, it was never meant to be a 
standard interface.

The AV Macs are probably the worst models to attempt that, for their 
special hardware. ISTR martin@ has a 660AV, maybe he can help.

Cheerio,
Hauke

-- 
Hauke Fath                        <hauke%Espresso.Rhein-Neckar.DE@localhost>
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64342 Seeheim-Jugenheim
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