Testing macOS on the Apple Network Server 2.0 ROMs
a day ago
- #MacOS ROMs
- #Apple Network Server
- #Retro Computing
- The 2.0 MacOS ROMs for Apple Network Server 700 support built-in Cirrus graphics and internal SCSI, enabling Mac OS to boot directly from internal hardware, unlike preproduction ROMs requiring external cards.
- Performance tests reveal the 2.0 ROMs are significantly slower, with MacBench showing 3-5 times worse CPU/FPU/graphics scores and poor disk performance despite faster hardware, likely due to L2 cache and RAM issues.
- Open Firmware 2.0 device tree shows incomplete aliases (e.g., missing scsi-int) and fails to boot AIX, indicating these ROMs were unfinished at product cancellation.
- Preproduction 1.1.20 ROMs outperform 2.0 ROMs in MacBench, with 75% faster CPU, 47% faster FPU, and 48% faster disk scores, though they lack native support for ANS-specific hardware.
- Rhapsody (pre-Mac OS X) boots on 2.0 ROMs but crashes with a kernel panic; attempts with Mac OS X 10.0.3/10.2 also fail, suggesting need for kernel patches.
- The 2.0 ROMs may be useful for running Mac OS as an AppleShare server with full internal SCSI support, but performance trade-offs make preproduction ROMs preferable for speed.