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Building the FauxMac

These instructions are a work-in-progress. As problems are noted or suggestions arise, I will update the instructions. Thank you for your patience. Throughout the Instructions when I am referring to a printed part, I will italicize the name. For example: Face. Below are some reference images of the assembled model.

Required Supplies

Required Electronics

  • Raspberry Pi 3/4/5. I used a model 4 and find the performance adequate. In fact, it's down right zippy compared to an actual vintage Mac. There are many places to source these. To find one you can use rpilocator.
  • Power Supply. You will need a power supply with a USB-C connector that can support the Raspberry Pi and the display. The Pi is fairly power hungry so don't skimp here. If you do, you are likely to get "Low Voltage" warnings from the Pi. The CanaKit Pi 4 Power Supply has worked for me, though I'm sure there are many others that will also work. What won't work is an old phone charger with a random USB cable.
  • 5" 640x480 Display. I used a 4x3 display to get the shape closer to the original aspect ratio, though still not quite as square. These are more difficult to find, but they are available on eBay along with the controller board which has an HDMI interface.
  • Keyboard. The actual Macintosh has a detachable keyboard as does FauxMac. In the model, the keyboard unit has a slot for a small wireless keyboard. The one I used will operate using Bluetooth or an included RF dongle. It can be found on AliExpress.
  • USB-C breakout board. This board fits in the Main Case and is the power jack for the model. You can find the board I used on Amazon.
  • HDMI Cable: The display connects to the Raspberry Pi via HDMI, but there is not any space for the typical bulky HDMI cables. I used a flat-flex cable with an up-angle HDMI connector for the display. The other end of the cable will depend on which Pi you use. I used a Flat-flex cable similar to this one, but with a micro-hdmi connector on one end. You can mix and match ends or buy a cable with both ends supplied (check the supplier's Amazon store). Be very careful to get the right one for your setup.
  • Power switch. You need a standard latching push button. The one I used can be found on Amazon.
  • Boost Converter. The display runs on 12V, so you'll need to boost the 5V supply coming in. There are lots of available boost converters. The Main Case has mounting spots for this one.
  • Wires
    • USB Cable End: I powered my Pi by plugging a USB cable into it as usual. I just used the end of a USB-C cable (since I used a Pi 4) and connected that to the incoming power through the switch. I used this cable from Amazon.
      • Important: Be sure to use a good cable. Even at this short length, a cable with very thin wires will cause a voltage drop which will be reported by the Pi.
    • Bits of Wire. You'll need a few bits of wire to connect the breakout board, through the switch, to the Pi (via USB cable mentioned above) and the Boost converter. You'll also need wire to connect the output of the boost converter to the display.
    • Barrel Jack. You may wish to use a barrel jack to connect the boost converter to the display. I decided to solder wires to the display board rather than use a jack, but that is up to you. See Wiring instructions.
    • Wired Connectors. To make FauxMac easier to assemble/dis-assemble you may wish to use wires with connectors between various components. You can see where I used connectors in the images of the wiring.

Required Hardware

You will need an assortment of screws to assemble the model:

  • (2) M3x6 cap head screws for the USB-C breakout board
  • (2) M3x4 cap head screws for the Boost Converter
  • (4) M2x4 cap head screws to attach the Raspberry Pi to the Main Case.
  • (4) M3x4 cap head screws to attach the display board to the Display Retainer
  • (4) M3x6 cap head screws to attach the Display Retainer to the Front
  • (8) 6mm round magents (3mm deep) to attach the Front to the Main Case

Refer to the reference images in the Assembly section for placement.

Filament

I used PLA for all components, but for no other reason than it is what I normally use and my models won't be in an environment where the properties of other filaments will be required. If this turns out to be untrue, I will update this note.

  • Beige Filament:
    • The Main Case, Front, and Keyboard Shell should be printed in a beige-ish Filament to match the Macintosh. My most recent print used Polymaker Matte PLA "Muted White". I'm interested in other suggestions for filaments that match the Macintosh better. Another option is to print the model in a neutral white and spray paint it with a matching paint.
    • The Display Retainer can be printed in any color, so if you have the beige loaded in your printer, you can just use that.

Other

  • CA Glue: A small amout of CA glue is needed to attach magnets to the Front and the Main Case.
  • Patience: This can go a long way towards a successful build.

Printing the Parts

Printing and assembling this model will take some time. The largest part, the Main Case, requires supports and takes me about 6 hours to print on a BambuLab X1. All of the STLs will import into your slicer in the orientation in which I printed them. STLs that need supports have “(NS)” in the name. I used tree supports and removing them was fairly easy. All parts may be printed with a 0.2mm layer height.

  • Main Case (NS).stl. This is the largest single print and, as the name shows, it requires supportsfor the handle area. Your slicer may recommend tiny supports at two of the bottom corners. it is up to your printer whether they are really required.
  • Face (NS).stl. This component requires supports for the display opening. Your slicer may want to add supports for the magnet recesses. I don't find them to be necessary so you can suppress supports in those four areas.
  • Display Retainer (NS).stl. This part screws into the Face to hold the display in place. It also provides a spot to mount the controller board for the display. It requires supports, but they are minimal and easy to remove.
  • Keyboard Shell (NS).stl. This standalone component houses the small wireless keyboard. It is listed as requiring supports, though technically it doesn't if printed in it's natural orientation. I print it on end to avoid stair-step ridges in the top of the shell. You can re-orient it to avoid supports if you prefer.

Assembly

After printing the parts, removing supports, and doing any other cleanup/post-processing that you deem necessary, you are ready to assemble the model. The steps below are for the physical assembly, but you'll need to do the wiring along the way. An overview of the wiring is given in a separate section, but is called out in the steps below.

All of the screws mount directly into the plastic of the model. You may want to run some screws into the holes a bit to make it easier to start the screws during the actual assembly process. Don't over-tighten.

  1. Using a small dab of CA glue, affix a magnet into each corner of the Main Case. You will notice that the bottom two magents are slightly recessed (about 1mm). To establish the proper orientation for the four remaining magnets, stick them magnetically to the glued magnets. Make a mark on the visible face of these magnets. The mark should indicate which corner that magnet goes in, and its orientation. For example, you might write "LL" on the magnet that goes in the lower left corner.
  2. Using a small dab of CA glue, affix one of the marked magnets into each corner of the Face. The marked face of the magnet goes into the recess. It is critical to get the orientation right, so double-check before gluing.
  3. Perform wiring as described below
  4. Very carefully thread the flat-flex cable from the display through the Display Retainer and connect it to the connector on the display board. It is very easy to rip this cable and extremely hard to fix it. See this photo proper orientation.
  • NOTE: At this point you should have soldered wires to the back of the display board if you are not going to use the barrel connector.
  1. Screw the display board to the back of the retainer as shown here.
  2. Peel off the clear protective plastic from the front of the display, then attach the display, display board, and Display Retainer to the back of the Face using four screws.
  3. Install the Raspberry Pi using four M2 screws.
  4. Install the power switch
  5. Secure the USB C breakout board using two M3 screws
  6. Secure the Boost Converter using two M3 screws
  7. After testing the unit, snap the Front to the Main Case. the magnets will hold it in place.
  8. I put a small self-adhering rubber foot at each corner of the bottom of the Main Case to make it less likely to slide. This is completely optional. I used some feet I happened to have lying around, so I'm not sure exactly what they are. They look like these.
  9. Have a break then move on to Software Setup.

Hardware Placement:

Wiring

The wiring is fairly simple. You can see most of it in the photos. I will trace through the connections starting with the USB-C connector. Depending on how much you want to facilitate disassembly and changes, you may wish to use two prong connectors at certain spots. Refer to the images to see where I used connectors.

  1. Connect VBUS on the USB breakout board to one leg of the power switch.
  2. Connect the other leg of the power with to the positive (red) leg of the USB Cable End.
  3. Also connect the same leg of the power switch to IN+ on the Boost converter.
  4. Connect GND on the USB breakout board to IN- on the Boost converter.
  5. Also Connect GND on the USB breakout board to to the ground (usually black or white) leg of the USB Cable End.
  6. Output from the Boost Converter. You have a couple of options here: 2. Connect the outputs of the boost converter (OUT+ and OUT-) to a cable with a male barrel connector on the end. It should correspond to the female barrel connector on the display. Plug in the barrel connector. 3. Alternatively, solder a red wire and a black wire to the back of the display board. If you look at the board near the barrel jack you'll see pads labeled 12V and GND. You can use those or solder directly to the legs of the barrel connector. If you use this method, it is convent to put some type of 2-pin connector between the Boost converter and display so they can be separated easily. This is the approach I took. See the reference photo. 4. Important: Adjust the Boost Converter output to 12V. If the voltage is too high, it may damage your controller board.
  7. Connect the angled HDMI connector to the input of the display board.
  8. Connect the free end of the HDMI cable to the Raspberry Pi.
  9. Plug the USB Cable End into the Raspberry Pi.

Reference images:

Software Setup

  • Prepare Raspberry Pi OS. Create an image of the Raspberry Pi OS that is appropriate for your Pi. Don't use the Lite version - you'll need the window system installed. I used the latest OS release as of July 2024, Bookworm. Boot the OS.

  • Adjust Screen Settings: The display board comes with a control board with several buttons. The boards are connected to one another through a fairly flat 6-wire cable. You won't be using the control board in normal operation, but you may wish to connect it during initial setup to adjust things like input source, brightness, etc. After that you can remove the control board and cable and only reattach it if needed.

  • Flip the display orientation. Because of the placement of ports on the display, it must be mounted upside down in the case. This means that the display orientation needs to be flipped 180°. This is accomplished using the Screen Preferences in the Raspberry Pi desktop. Selected the inverted option.

    Once you've done this, the Window System will display properly. Note, however, that as the Pi is booting, everything will appear upside down until the window system launches.

  • Build the Mac emulator: Basilisk II. Please refer to the instructions on GitHub to learn how to build Basilisk II. I have included my general process below, but you should always use the newest instructions from GitHub. The build instructions boil down to entering these commands into the shell:

      ```
  cd ~
  # Get the required dependencies
  sudo apt install git libsdl2* automake samba samba-common smbclient libmpc-dev -y
  # Get the emulator
  git clone https://github.com/kanjitalk755/macemu.git
  # Perform the build
  cd macemu/BasiliskII/src/Unix
  ./autogen.sh
  sudo make install
  ```

  • Get a ROM file: The emulator needs a copy of a ROM image from an old Mac. You can download it using the command below and place it in the ~/emulator_resources directory:

      ```
  cd ~/emulator_resources
  # Get the ROM file
  wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ekbann/chromebook-basilisk2-sdl2/main/Quadra800.ROM
  ```

  • Create a Basilisk prefs file. This file points to your ROM file and your disk image. It also specifies a directory on your Pi which will appear as a shared disk on your virtual Mac desktop. If you want the emulator to start full screen, use the file as-is. If you'd like to start in a window, comment out screen dga/512/342 by adding a # at the beginning. Uncomment the other screen line by removing the #. Here is how I create mine:

     ```
  mkdir ~/.config/
  mkdir ~/.config/BasiliskII
  echo "rom /home/pi/emulator_resources/Quadra800.ROM
  disk /home/pi/emulator_resources/System7.5.5.dsk
  ramsize 142606336
  # ether slirp
  nocdrom true
  extfs /home/pi/emulator_resources/shared
  frameskip 0
  modelid 14
  cpu 4
  fpu true
  #screen win/512/342/1
  screen dga/512/342
  displaycolordepth 8" > ~/.config/BasiliskII/prefs
 ```

  • Create/Obtain a Mac Disk Image: This is the trickiest part of the emulator setup process and I won't repeat all the details here. I supply an image as part of this repository, but it is not allowed. Please refer to these instructions. You may find it easiest to run Basilisk on a Mac or Windows machine and create the image there. Then you can just copy it to your FauxMac and place it in the ~/emulator_resources directory. As you can see in the prefs file mentioned above, my disk image is in a file named System7.5.5.dsk.