He also suggests using the Tiny Mac to run homebrew games or to host OctoPrint for 3D printing. There are probably ways to work around this, he says, “but it was beyond my skills to make it happen.”Ĭhuck’s instructions on building the tiny Mac also include links to other software that can be used on the retro computer. Chuck wrote a startup script for the emulator but it wouldn’t quit to the Raspberry Pi OS desktop, instead needing to be shut down via SSH. The site exists to preserve early Macintosh computer software.Įverything runs from Raspberry Pi OS desktop. Having bought most of the hardware – Raspberry Pi Zero W, ribbon cable, display, 3 mm hex screws and nuts, HDMI, microSD card, and power supply – online, he turned to the Gryphel Project. “I can get very fussy about how things look.” This extended to the 3D printer filament which needed to be the right Macintosh colour.

“There were many, many versions of the case,” he says. The process began with an ARM emulator on Chuck’s Raspberry Pi 4, but it became a Raspberry Pi Zero project in order to avoid making a case with a wider bezel for the screen that he wanted. If you didn’t know, FreeBSD isn’t Linux, but it works in pretty much the same way as it is a descendant of the research by the Berkeley Software Distribution and it is among the world’s most broadly used Operating Systems today with its code existing in. He modestly describes his input as designing the case and “bringing together components and software that already exists”. RaspBSD is a free and open-source image of FreeBSD 11 that has been preconfigured in 2 images for Raspberry Pi computers. Sound and space issues aside, Chuck says the whole project was surprisingly straightforward. It took up most of the Tiny Mac’s interior. Sizeable issueĪ bigger issue was the lack of room left over in the case once the 40-pin GPIO cable was inside. A sound-board conflicted with the display, and Bluetooth provided only a partial solution but, having got some further ideas from other makers, Chuck is keen to explore some other sound options. Raspberry Pi Zero W was the best option, but meant missing out on decent sound output. He chose the smallest possible display he could find, since this determined the scale of the case he’d need to design and 3D-print. Raspberry Pi Zero was the obvious choice because Chuck didn’t want full-size USB ports sticking out of the side of the case. “I owned a Mac Plus back in the day and I loved that computer,” he adds. “Tools, technology, and software have progressed since then, so I decided to make my own,” says Chuck. He first encountered Raspberry Pi when creating a programming prototype for a client and, with Raspberry Pi Zero, saw a chance to make his version of a 2013 shrunk-down Mac project he’d long admired.

Tiny Mac is the first iteration of Chuck’s endeavour to combine Raspberry Pi and sculpture. His latest mixes 3D modelling and Raspberry Pi to create a Tiny Mac. He completed his first microcontroller project 20 years ago, and has continued to incorporate technology into his sculpture designs ever since.

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