apple network server

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The Apple Network Server's all-too-secret weapon (featuring PPC Toolbox)
2 months ago
- The Apple Network Server (ANS) ran a customized version of IBM AIX called Harpoon, which included a native AppleTalk stack and support for Apple Events.
- The concept of 'symbiotic applications' allowed classic Mac OS clients to offload heavy computations (like generating fractals or parsing JSON APIs) to the ANS server via the PPC Toolbox and AppleTalk.
- The author built a Hacker News client where the ANS server fetches and parses the API, then sends text data to a 68K Mac (Color Classic) for display, enabling the Mac to handle modern web tasks without TLS 1.3 or significant CPU load.
- The history covers the AIM alliance, PowerPC transition, and the eventual cancellation of the ANS line in 1997 after Apple acquired NeXT, despite its technical capabilities.
Testing MacOS on the Apple Network Server 2.0 ROMs
2 months ago
- Preproduction and NT ROMs for the Apple Network Server (ANS) were recovered from former Apple employees; the author had preproduction ROMs in storage.
- The '2.0' MacOS ROMs were tested on an ANS 700 using replica DIMMs, enabling internal SCSI and Cirrus Logic video support, unlike earlier ROMs that required external hardware.
- The 2.0 ROMs boot Mac OS from internal drives and support VGA output, but lack LCD activity, have a truncated startup sound, and omit proper device aliases for internal SCSI (e.g., scsi-int missing).
- AIX boot fails on the 2.0 ROMs (loader error) and causes system crashes, while the earlier 1.1.20 ROMs support AIX boot and have complete device aliases.
- Performance benchmarks show the 2.0 ROMs are significantly slower (3-5 times slower CPU/GPU, slower disk) compared to the preproduction ROMs and a G3 reference, likely due to missing L2 cache support and improper RAM timing.
- Rhapsody 5.6 boots on the 2.0 ROMs but crashes with a kernel panic due to interrupt issues; Mac OS X 10.0.3 and 10.2 lock up after startup.
- The preproduction ROMs (1.1.20) offer better performance and stability for Mac OS, but lack built-in ANS hardware support; the 2.0 ROMs seem unfinished and are not recommended for general use.
- Future work includes patching the 1.1.20 ROMs to fix reboot issues and attempting kernel patches for Rhapsody on the ANS.
The Apple Network Server MacOS ROMs have resurfaced
2 months ago
- The Apple Network Server (ANS) was heavily based on the Power Macintosh 9500 and initially ran MacOS, but production units shipped with AIX due to customer preference for Unix.
- At Comdex 1996, Apple CTO Ellen Hancock announced that the ANS could be made to run MacOS or Windows NT via a ROM swap, but the line was cancelled by Steve Jobs in 1997.
- A former Apple employee recently revealed that development ROMs for both MacOS and Windows NT exist; the MacOS ROM has been dumped and works, while the NT ROMs are confirmed but not yet available.
- The MacOS ROM allows the ANS to boot Mac OS up to version 9, and there is potential to run the long-lost Cyberpunk OS on early prototypes.
- The discovery has sparked hope for future exploration of the ANS, including possibly developing custom NT drivers or porting ARC firmware to run Windows NT without the special ROM.

apple network server

The Apple Network Server's all-too-secret weapon (featuring PPC Toolbox)

Testing MacOS on the Apple Network Server 2.0 ROMs

The Apple Network Server MacOS ROMs have resurfaced