WarpSE: 25 MHz 68HC000-based accelerator for Mac SE

JDW

Administrator
Staff member
Founder
Sep 2, 2021
2,791
2,178
113
55
Japan
youtube.com
There probably should be at least a 10 year of no activity guideline, like there is with abandonware software. If at all.
I can't speak to the "if at all" part above, but if an arbitrary rule of one decade is to be put in place, that would mean roughly Halloween 2034 (10 years and a couple days after Zane's last post in this thread). And since I have no means to do the work myself, and due to the complexity of Zane's work in the first place, I suspect no one will be taking up the task anytime soon. So I honestly don't feel there's a need to become overly upset or excessively concerned.

If someone comes along saying they are continuing the work, then that would be a different matter altogether, a discussion can and should be taken up at that point in time. But again, I suspect the work is far too involved for the vast majority of folks in our vintage Mac community to get a clone project started. So let's all relax a bit here.

With that said, I do feel it's important to consider that Paul Pratt has been missing since May 2021 (according to most reports I've read). That's only 5 years ago. Work began to keep Mini vMac alive in Sept. 2023. I never once thought that work to keep Mini vMac relevant in the absence of its creator morally or ethically questionable. But again, some people out there would. Some folks are sensitive, while others are not. Some folks abide by a strict code of rules, while others do not. It's a balancing act to make people get along, and it doesn't always work. But we press on with life anyway.

As I've said, I've tried many, many times to reach Zane, unsuccessfully. I do wish him the best.

There is nothing further that I need to add to this topic, so I will end my comments here.
 

jasa1063

Tinkerer
May 30, 2022
78
57
18
I would also add one point. Going to Garrett's Workshop on Tindie, there is nothing in stock and some of it has been out of stock for more than a couple of years. There has been no recent activity on making more stock available. Another red flag that something is not right. I hope Zane is Ok, but not having any public visibility for such an extended period of time questions whether there will ever be anymore products in the future.
 
Last edited:

luRaichu

New Tinkerer
Oct 29, 2023
25
10
3
*ahem*
"Last seen this week"
Screenshot 2026-05-29 at 09-49-50 User Zane Kaminski - Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange.png
 
Last edited:

jasa1063

Tinkerer
May 30, 2022
78
57
18
That's good to see that Zane has a public presence, but it does not explain what has happened with this project or the lack of available products at Garrett's Workshop. I do wish Zane all the best in whatever he is doing. For me, I went with a SuperMac Speedcard and going to move on.
 

JTRetro

Tinkerer
Nov 3, 2021
47
52
18
He has simply vanished.
Oh my god.......I had no idea. I've been beta testing his products for years, Especially his SE/30 ROMS....I think that I have four different versions of them here. One of them has been in my main SE/30 for the better part of five years now, and it is without a doubt the best ROM I've ever seen for the SE/30. He even gave me a SIMM Programmer to help him with the project.

But I guess this explains why I can't get in touch with him; I used to have some good back and forth emails with him.

I hope that he is alright.
 

luRaichu

New Tinkerer
Oct 29, 2023
25
10
3
Especially his SE/30 ROMS....I think that I have four different versions of them here. One of them has been in my main SE/30 for the better part of five years now, and it is without a doubt the best ROM I've ever seen for the SE/30
If they're so good why don't you post them here or on the Internet Archive?
 

superjer2000

New Tinkerer
Jun 10, 2023
2
1
3
Please don't push for cloning a current project. While cloning 30 year old unsupported corporate products is slightly legally questionable, cloning something recent by a community member is morally questionable.

There are a few points...

There are so many things out that that would be good to clone, lets start with the stuff that doesn't have the chance to alienate someone we know.

There probably should be at least a 10 year of no activity guideline, like there is with abandonware software. If at all.

Wanting something doesn't mean we have a right to it. That is the justification people use to steal cars. If Zane had never told us about the project you wouldn't even be thinking about it and wouldn't be worried about not having it.

If we get known as a community that clones new commercial products that people have put time, effort and money into developing, it will remove any incentive for people to develop the difficult and complex product for the community. You mentioned Mac Effects - I'm pretty sure he has a good idea of how painful it would be to see clones of something you'd done all the development work on mean you could never recover your sunk costs.

I guess what I'm saying is, why risk hurting someone's feelings (and financially) when there are a thousand other projects we could work on. Did you know there were basic colour video cards for the SE (original quickdraw supported a small number of colours)? Can someone hack an 040 into an SE (it would need a custom ROM)? Can someone spend the time helping ZZJ with the ROM patches for the 060 for the Q650? Has anyone ever made a quickdraw accelerated video card for the SE? Has anyone reverse engineered how Compact Virtual gets 16MB of RAM working in 68000 macs so that we can use it with new hardware (yes, an MMU, but could we get it working with new hardware)?
I’m a bit confused by this post. Earlier in the thread Zane stated the design is open source noting that this extends to commercial use - see post 304 in this thread.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JDW

JDW

Administrator
Staff member
Founder
Sep 2, 2021
2,791
2,178
113
55
Japan
youtube.com
…Zane stated the design is open source noting that this extends to commercial use
Sure enough, he did right here…


Quote:

All of our products are totally open-source, even for commercial use. We are trying to encourage further development of our work and obviously nobody can afford to make these cards for others without getting paid. Anyone interested?
 

phipli

Tinkerer
Sep 23, 2021
363
249
43
Picking up an open project is fine, but also isn't "reverse engineering" - which is what people said they should do.