Cooltrainer.org

Gotta Go Fast

Sat, 29 Apr 2017 17:38:00 -0700

Gigabit fiber is finally available from Sonic in my neighborhood of San Francisco and it’s twenty times faster than our Comcast cable for half the price!

Forget the speed; look at that latency!

There are a few downsides. Upstream is only (“only”, I know) 100 mbps, I can’t buy a static IP, and there’s no IPv6 support. Comcast Business gives me a static IP and (finally, after a few years) a v6 subnet, so I’m holding on to my old connection for the time being for hosting stuff on my home servers.

Sonic is $50 per month plus $10 for renting their Pace WiFi router. My router is an Avoton FreeBSD server with four Intel PRO 1000 NICs, so I plan to send their Pace box back as soon as possible. Luckily their Adtran 411 optical network terminal provides a telephone port and a LAN port directly from the fiber line coming off the drop. I didn’t need to use their Pace router at all, just plug a Cat6 patch cable between the ONT and a free port on my router then configure dhclient.conf to set the default route from that interface.

/etc/dhclient.conf

interface "igb1" {
    request routers;
}

Then just ask for an address!

[root@curus#okeeblow] dhclient igb1

DHCPREQUEST on igb1 to 255.255.255.255 port 67
DHCPACK from 50.0.79.96
bound to 198.27.207.13 -- renewal in 302400 seconds.

The future is cool.

Vita Modding Day

Tue, 25 Apr 2017 22:24:00 -0700

Playstation Vita is another system I adopted late in its lifetime. It’s not a bad system, not like the Wii U, but it’s still expensive and proprietary. The Gravity Rush kiosk demo grabbed my attention at launch five years ago back in Atlanta, but Sony have to be Sony and a memory card of any decent size costs more than a used Vita system so I waited a few years for one.

I finally picked up a Vita 1000 3G system for a good price at a pawn shop in late 2015 since I was interested in SUPERBEAT: XONiC and a few other titles. At the time the most interesting firmware was 3.18, and I got lucky and found a system running 3.15. Firmware 3.18 had native homebrew via Rejuvenate (the Playstation Mobile exploit) and plenty of ePSP hacks available via an exploitable trigger game. The PS3 can transfer legitimately-purchased PSN games to a Vita without updating, and I used that to get the exploitable Tekken 2 copied over.

V2H Pre-everything

The temptation to update was strong since Whoops! 3.18 was too low to run the game that sold me the system. I sat on it for a while until the announcement of Henkaku homebrew enabler for firmware 3.60. As I’ve gotten older and more boring my tendency has shifted to wait for hack scenes to stabilize instead of diving into the chaotic early days, but that was the green light to install SUPERBEAT’s on-cart update and enjoy it offline for a while. Erica wanted a Vita of her own so I also imported a Neon Orange PCH-2000 for myself while they were still available with hackable firmware. It’s sad to lose the AMOLED, but wow the orange is pretty. The PlayStation Vita TV was a big enough failure to go on sale for $20, so I grabbed one of those too and stashed it away until hacked.

It was effortless to update the 1000 and Vita TV to 3.60 using the HENkaku Update Server. You just need to use 212.47.229.76 as a DNS server in connection settings. It will redirect Sony’s update domain to update.henkaku.xyz and offer “Firmware 3.60 (変革 Compatible)”.

drill fus01.psp2.update.playstation.net @212.47.229.76

;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, rcode: NOERROR, id: 32196
;; flags: qr aa rd ra ; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 2, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0 
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;; fus01.psp2.update.playstation.net.	IN	A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
fus01.psp2.update.playstation.net.	604800	IN	CNAME	update.henkaku.xyz.
update.henkaku.xyz.	2	IN	A	212.47.229.76

3.60 update offered by HENkaku Update Server

My Japanese 2000, however, just kept failing with “The server is currently down for maintenance (C0-14351-4)”. The DNS server redirects fjp01.psp2.update.playstation.net, and the psp2-updatelist.xml lists all regions including jp, so there was no obvious reason why it didn’t work.

curl -H "User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (PlayStation Vita 3.60) AppleWebKit/531.22.8 (KHTML, like Gecko) Silk/3.2" http://update.henkaku.xyz/update/psp2/list/us/psp2-updatelist.xml | xmllint --format -

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<update_data_list>
{...}
  <region id="jp">
    <np level0_system_version="01.600.000" level1_system_version="03.600.000" level2_system_version="03.600.000" map="03.600.000"/>
    <np_d level0_system_version="01.600.000" level1_system_version="03.600.000" level2_system_version="03.600.000" map="03.600.000"/>
    <version system_version="03.600.000" label="3.60 (変革 Compatible)">
      <update_data update_type="full">
        <image size="133676544">http://update.henkaku.xyz/update/PSP2UPDAT.FULL.360.PUP</image>
      </update_data>
    </version>
    <recovery spkg_type="systemdata">
      <image spkg_version="01.000.010" size="56768512">http://update.henkaku.xyz/update/PSP2UPDAT.SYSTEMDATA.360.PUP</image>
    </recovery>
    <recovery spkg_type="preinst">
      <image spkg_version="01.000.000" size="128788480">http://update.henkaku.xyz/update/PSP2UPDAT.PREINST.360.PUP</image>
    </recovery>
  </region>
{...}
</update_data_list>

I gave up and just did it manually by installing QCMA, dropping a 3.60 PSP2UPDAT.PUP and minimal psp2-updatelist.xml into QCMA’s Updates directory, and using “Update by Connecting to a PC” on the Vita.

Once on 3.60 all that’s left is visiting the HENkaku website and hitting Install. It uses a Webkit exploit to start the installer.

Ready...

...go!

Once it’s installed you end up back at the LiveArea with patches applied and with a new application bubble for molecularShell. The shell lets you browse the filesystem, enable or disable the unsafe mode that exposes all partitions on the flash, configure firmware version spoofing, and install packages.

Once molecularShell is running you can hit Select to start the FTP server, transfer packages of homebrew software from a computer, then select them and install them. I only needed to transfer a few:

HENkaku Offline Installer. HENkaku is a Homebrew Enabler, not a full CFW. It has to be run through the browser after every cold boot of the system. The offline installer leaves you with a HENkaku account in the Vita’s EMail application. Just tap its single message, the exploit page will be displayed in the embedded browser, and HENkaku will run. With this I can leave Airplane Mode on.
Vita Homebrew Browser, a great native application for browsing, downloading, and installing other homebrew directly on the Vita. I used it to install everything else.

Vita Homebrew Browser

VitaRW, a simple but possibly very dangerous utility that lets you remount the read-only OS partitions as read-write so you can modify them. I used this only once to re-enable the neutered Package Installer. Package Installer was made inaccessible after firmware 3.18 but lets you install packages from QCMA’s Packages directory directly to the Vita over USB. I remounted vs0, replaced vs0:app/NPXS10031/ with the modified version, then added a LiveArea bubble for it using Bubble Studio by dumping and replacing ur0:shell/db/app.db over FTP.

Restored Package Installer functionality on 3.60

VitaToolbox to swap the function of the ◯ and × buttons for our two US-region systems. These have been reversed here since the PSX days, and we’re both used to the original Japanese layout. ◯ as correct (まる) and × as incorrect (ばつ) makes more sense anyway.
ePSP Bubble Installer. ePSP custom firmwares like Adrenaline have to me installed over an ePSP game so you can start it via the LiveArea bubble. I can transfer a legitimate PSP game to my Vita from my PSP, but the Bubble Installer wastes much less space and is available to anyone without a PS3.
Adrenaline EasyInstaller. Adrenaline is a custom firmware for the emulated PSP mode in the Vita. I much prefer playing PSP games on my actual PSP since I’m limited to the 64GB proprietary memory card in the Vita and would rather dedicate all of it to Vita games. The ePSP may as well be hacked as long as it exists though!

It's CFW all the way down

The English-language mod of MaiDumpTool. This is a piracy tool, no two ways about it, but it can also rip your legit carts to the system. I’m successful enough to buy my video games now :)

My wife had to import this game because America is hostile to pretty ladies in video games

I know it’s playing with fire, but I did end up spoofing the newest firmware 3.65 and signing into PSN for online play, messages, and trophy syncing. Hopefully I don’t end up banned.

All done! I ripped all of the games I play most often and now have the ability to do so much more with my Vita. It’s a shame how unloved this system is.

Who says Vita has no games?

Prgmr.com FreeBSD VPS: gigadelic 2017

Thu, 20 Apr 2017 00:02:00 -0700

Five years ago — gosh, has it really been that long? — I wrote up some instructions for installing FreeBSD on a Xen PV VPS from prgmr, my favorite VPS host. The server hosting this blog is gigadelic.cooltrainer.org and has lived at prgmr since 2011 with no major issues. I basically ignored it for the last few years aside from security patches and it just kept on chugging. It was still running FreeBSD 10.1 because I don’t have as much free time as I used to and never got around to building custom Xen PV images for 10.2, 10.3, or 11. FreeBSD 10.1 has been end of life for about four months now, so it’s definitely time I stop using it! I wanted to move over to amd64 FreeBSD 11 running GENERIC. Until now, gigadelic was my only 32-bit x86 system, so on pkg.cooltrainer.org I had to maintain a separate i386 builder jail and a completely separate set of packages just for it. Running the GENERIC kernel means I can get OS updates and new releases directly from the FreeBSD project without having to build and sideload them myself with the weird pv-grub ext2 kernel partition setup I used to run.

Disclaimer: I have a complimentary VPS from Prgmr for my previous contribution to them. This does not affect my opinion of them or their services. If there were a better host I’d be there. I just want people to be able to enjoy FreeBSD and if it means supporting a good local small business then that’s doubly cool :)

Late last year I was asked to test prgmr’s own FreeBSD image. I’ve been putting an HVM instance through its paces since then on mobomoga.cooltrainer.org as an RTMP/Dash/HLS streaming and relay server with absolutely zero issues so far. On prgmr’s new management console I can boot and run a normal GENERIC kernel in Xen HVM mode instead of having to build my own custom PV kernel, and I can even boot the normal FreeBSD installer and roll my own if I wasn’t satisfied with their preconfigured image. Gigadelic was on the legacy management console, so I just had to email support and get it moved over to a new dom0.

Once moved, I had access to a few new management options and lost access to a few old ones. It’s no longer possible to swap between i386 and amd64 but I’m happy with amd64-only. It’s no longer possible to swap bootloader mode between pv-grub and GRUB2, but personally I’m happy to see Paravirtualization go away in favor of HVM since it makes the administration easier for me.

ssh gigadelic@gigadelic.console.xen.prgmr.com

Main Menu - gigadelic

Current status:
	gigadelic is running.

Wiki at http://wiki.prgmr.com
Please contact support@prgmr.com with any issues accessing your machine.

Options:
1. out of band console (press ctrl-] to escape, not resizeable)
2. create/start, opens OOB console (try this if the machine is not running)
3. shutdown (requests clean shutdown, forces off after 4 min)
4. force power off (destroy/hard shutdown)
5. reboot (shutdown + start)
6. set bootloader or rescue mode
7. view/add/remove ssh authorized_keys
8. view/edit reverse dns
9. install new OS image
a. system details

0. Exit
R. refresh

enter selection>

“Set bootloader or rescue mode” now contains a “BSD Installers” option that can configure your VPS to boot a FreeBSD, NetBSD, or even OpenBSD installer.

enter selection>6


Set Boot Options - gigadelic

Configured to boot from disk.

Options:
1. Boot from disk
2. Linux-based Live Rescue
3. Linux netboot installers - install mode
4. Linux netboot installers - rescue mode
5. BSD installers

0. Return to main menu
R. refresh

enter selection>5

BSD installers - gigadelic

Options:
1. FreeBSD 10 - 64 bit
2. FreeBSD 11 - 64 bit
3. NetBSD 6.1.5 - 32 bit
4. NetBSD 6.1.5 - 64 bit
5. NetBSD 7.0.2 - 32 bit
6. NetBSD 7.0.2 - 64 bit
7. OpenBSD 6.1 - 64 bit

0. Return to set boot options
R. refresh

enter selection>

Or you can hit “Install new OS image” to quickly get a copy of their pre-configured image. If you use this you will get a system with just a root user, with SSH password authentication disabled, and with your management console key automatically installed to root’s authorized_keys.

ssh gigadelic@gigadelic.console.xen.prgmr.com

Install OS - gigadelic

Installation will reset your system to boot from disk.

Options:
1. Centos 6 - 64 bit
2. Centos 7 - 64 bit
3. Centos 7 Docker - 64 bit
4. Debian Jessie - 64 bit
5. Debian Jessie with SysVinit - 64 bit
6. Debian Wheezy - 64 bit
7. Fedora 24 - 64 bit
8. Fedora 25 - 64 bit
9. FreeBSD 10 - 64 bit
a. FreeBSD 11 - 64 bit
b. Ubuntu Trusty 14.04 - 64 bit
c. Ubuntu Trusty 14.04 Docker - 64 bit
d. Ubuntu Xenial 16.04 - 64 bit
e. Ubuntu Xenial 16.04 Docker - 64 bit
f. Ubuntu Yakkety 16.10 - 64 bit

0. Return to main menu
R. refresh

enter selection>a

Are you sure you want to install FreeBSD 11 - 64 bit(y/n)?y
Add current ssh keys to root user(y/n/q)?y

Shutdown request in progress. Press any key to stop waiting and cancel installation......
Installation in progress. Press any key to stop waiting for completion.......

That’s all there is to it! Once installed through either method you can log in, install your software, and update using freebsd-update as you would on any bare-metal system.

Wii U Modding Day

Mon, 03 Apr 2017 18:12:00 -0700

Breath of the Wild made me dust off my Wii U after three years of post-Mario-Kart-8 post-3D-World neglect. As much as I wanted to like it the Wii U really isn’t a good console, mostly due to the gamepad. It’s lumpy, heavy, has poor battery life (intentionally, as I later found), has limited range to the console, and has a mushy resistive touchscreen that developers always seem mandated to use. The Switch seems like it will be better in every way, but I’m not ready to buy one yet just for Zelda.

My Wii U was still on firmware 4.1.0U from the Mario Kart 8 disc update and had never been online before since its online features weren’t very compelling and since I didn’t want to lock myself out of potential exploits by updating. The userspace browser exploit for 4.1.0 came out just around the last time I touched the system, so I figured I’d shelve it for a while on on that version and wait for the scene to catch up. Firmware 5.4.0 came out the year after that and patched the WebKit exploit used for homebrew, so I picked up a cheap copy of Splatoon in a Texas pawn shop with firmware 5.3.2 on the disc. I never got around to setting up homebrew on 5.3.2 (or even trying Splatoon, whoops!), and now that I finally got around to it the very newest version 5.5.1 is exploitable. There’s even a user-friendly guide now at wiiu.guide.

I used the browser exploit as my first entrypoint to Homebrew Launcher but ended up buying a digital copy of Brain Age for DS Virtual Console to use with Haxchi so I could have an offline homebrew entrypoint.

My Wii U is the 32GB model but I still ended up getting an external hard disk so I could set up Mocha CFW’s RedNAND and so I could rip my physical games with disc2app. I don’t really fear messing up my SysNAND but figure I may as well safeguard things. This isn’t like the original Wii where I could have a failsafe via Bootmii as my boot2. The Wii U’s USB ports don’t provide enough power to run even a tiny 2.5” drive so I had to use a two-port USB 3 cable to suck power from both rear ports at the same time. Once the System NAND was dumped to the HDD I ripped all my games, set up Coldboot Haxchi on the SysNAND to run Mocha CFW and boot directly into RedNAND with hacks applied, and was ready to go.

All done!

Well, almost. While I was looking at Nintendo’s spare parts page I discovered they make a high-capacity Wii U GamePad battery. The system is obviously designed for it since the stock battery only fills half the available space. It’s pretty hilarious how Nintendo handicapped their own system by intentionally cheaping out on the battery since so many reviews complained about the poor GamePad battery life.

Congrats on playing yourselves, Nintendo

I picked one up along with a spare 3DS charger since the New 3DS doesn’t come with one for some crazy reason. Remember, the screws on the back are JIS, not Phillips! With that installed, it’s finished. I can still go online for now since 5.5.1 is and has been the newest firmware for a shockingly long amount of time considering it’s hacked wide open. Seems even Nintendo have given up on Wii U at this point. Hopefully Switch is a big success for them, and I look forward to getting one when they come out with the Switch Lite or the New Switch or the New Super Switch-i XL or whatever. Until then I have some Koroks to find!

My 2001 Dream Machine

Sun, 26 Mar 2017 18:42:00 -0700

This is a project I started working on last year partly out of nostalgia and partly out of a desire to play all these great old games I’ve had lying around that don’t run so well on modern systems. The CPU and GPU both technically came out in 2002 but this was the kind of build I was dreaming about in 2001.

Specs:

CPU: Intel Pentium III-S 1.4ghz 512k “Tualatin”
Mobo: ASUS TUV4X w/ KT133 chipset
RAM: 1GB PC133 with Win98 modified to accept more than 512
GPU: NVIDIA Quadro4 900 128MB, workstation equivalent to the GeForce4 Ti4600 with a few more GL functions.
Storage: Repurposed some old Intel SSDs, my ancient 80GB Gen2 X-25M and a 60GB 330 Series. The 60GB boot drive is via a PATA adapter and is split into two 30GB FAT32 partitions. The 80GB is SATA via the PCI card and is a single NTFS partition using a Win98 NTFS driver. This is an anachronism but I don’t want to deal with spinning rust.
Optical: An RPC1-flashed Pioneer DVR-106A and a Plexwriter 12/10/32A
Removable: 3½” floppy and an internal ATA Zip 250
Sound: Soundblaster Live! 5.1
Other cards: Brooktree BT878 capture card, VIA VT6421A SATA/ATA card, Netgear 10/100 NIC
Input: IBM Model M Space Saver and Logitech MX500 optical mouse
Controllers: Gameport Interact PC Arcade stick and USB MS Sidewinder joystick
OS: Windows 98 SE + Unofficial SP3 + some 98SE2ME components
Games: yes

This build took nine months or so to finish up because I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on such an old computer. I scavenged as much as I could from old builds, friends, and thrift stores and sniped a few eBay auctions when I wanted a specific part.

Motherboard: $70 on eBay (the most expensive part)
CPU: $20 on eBay
RAM: Leftover from a Power Macintosh.
GPU: $10 on eBay
SSDs: Leftovers from a few main PC builds that served their purpose and were either upgraded or broken down. The X-25M was my first SSD ever from way back in 2009.
Optical: $17 for a lot with two other great Pioneer drives, a DVR-108 and a DVR-109. I went for the DVR-106A because it was the only beige one and was more era-appropriate. This system isn’t really meant for DVD playback but I flash RPC1 firmware as a matter of principle. The Plexwriter is from a recycled PC.
Capture card: already had it since it was natively supported by FreeBSD, but my FreeBSD desktop doesn’t have a PCI slot any more.
SATA card: $15 on Newegg a decade ago for flashing Xbox 360 DVD drive firmware.
NIC: Free from a recycled PC.
Model M SSK: free back in like 2004 from a family friend in exchange for helping move a pile of equipment to the recycling center.
Arcade stick: $5 at Goodwill, boxed.
Sidewinder: $3 at a different Goodwill in the box for a much better stick. I was disappointed but bought it anyway because I can upgrade in the future.
OS: Free I guess because I have an MSDNAA license from back in college, but I don’t think anyone will bust you for pirating Win98 :)
Case: Free from a recycled PC.
Sound card: Free from that same recycled PC.

The fifteen or so years since I’ve used it made me forget how brittle Windows 9x really is, especially when you delve into the world of unofficial service packs. I started a little collection of Windows 9x compatible software and retro PC game patches and cracks that I will hoard forever.

Final desktop and CPU into

a e s t h e t i c

Tonight's mood: CRAZY

Hey it's that thing they got sued over

This is cool

Windows ME isn't all bad, and you can put some of it into 98.

awwww!~ *nuzzles u back and pounces on u and notices your retro gaming PC*

There’s still some software work to do installing and patching games, but now that the actual build is done I can put the case together and get it up on a desk. I’d like to kind a KVM solution that lets it live alongside the Blue & White Power Mac.

A FreeBSD 11 Desktop How-to

Thu, 23 Mar 2017 23:41:00 -0700

The Cooltrainer FreeBSD Desktop Guide is updated to cover FreeBSD 11 and various changes to the software ecosystem. Not that much is different. My own upgrade from 10.3 to 11.0 went basically flawlessly and in fact I haven’t really worked on my computer since the last time I updated that page in 2014. It just keeps chugging along. Aside from that nvidia-modeset thing that scared me once after upgrading my packages because I didn’t read UPDATING. My fault :)

Nitro Capture

Sun, 19 Mar 2017 17:48:00 -0700

Have you ever wanted a Nintendo DS Player? They exist! …Kind of! We got our hands on Intelligent Systems’ Nitro Capture unit, meant for trade shows and the like.

It’s powered by a GameCube PSU, can do ad-hoc communication over the Ethernet port or with an actual wireless expansion module I don’t have, has two Multi AV Out ports and a few DIP switches to configure them, and can take screen captures over USB for your magazine or web reviews. Like the real handheld it can play DS carts or GBA carts but not GC/GBC. No native RGB, like an N64 or NTSC GC, but composite and Y/C look totally fine. There are fat DS capture units but mine has a DS lite on a tether.

The AV ports are individually configurable to display either their respective screen or both screens at once:

Or of course bust out two displays and do one each :v

Games that depend on the touch screen are kind of pointless on here, but games that control using just buttons are really fun on the big screen. It’s a cool way to enjoy that 240p GBA action without fussing with Gamecube homebrew, play the Nitro Grand Prix on your Nitro, or tool around in DQ or PS0.

Get the whole world into the voltex

Sat, 25 Feb 2017 02:23:00 -0800

Your thundering sound become the flash light that pierces soul of crowd, get the whole world into the voltex… Next generation music game. and from the voltex void, a person who could bring rise to a new light was born, cries of thunder and leads a lot of people …

… at least that’s what the front of the machine says!

SDVX is the game that got me back into BEMANI after a long hiatus, but I’ve never been one hundred percent happy with my home setup. It plays well, but the screen is slightly too close to the player, the control surface is slightly too tall, and the knobs on my Turbocharger are Copal encoders, much looser than the real AC knobs. It’s a very early Turbocharger from late 2014 and that’s all they offered at the time.

I thought about getting a better controller but decided instead to save my fun budget for about a year and get something nicer. The timing worked out in a way that I can call it a present to myself to celebrate my promotion to senior level at work :)

Now a corner of my house is home to an actual SOUND VOLTEX arcade machine! Our IIDX machine got a sister with pink hair and big knobs.

It’s beautiful! Now I need to get past the 15s wall (well, the 17s and 18s wall now as of SDVX IV) and get Skill Level 11. I finally got Lv. 10 in the arcade right at the end of Gravity Wars before the release of Heavenly Haven. My SDVX play kind of stagnated since IIDX became my main game, and having something better to play on will definitely make me want to play it more.

MAGFest 2017

Tue, 10 Jan 2017 11:42:00 -0800

This year was my second time attending MAGFest way across the country in DC. It was great times with great friends and great games. Here are some highlights!

Hello Gaylord

'MURICA

It me

The more you play with it, the harder it gets

Bought a couple cheap reproduction games

Konami hate money and success

Using my PST Privilege to stay in the arcade until sunrise

Twelve lines for twelve jubeats

Beating Sonic the Fighters

And the best Atari game

Trying Reflect beat on a real machine instead of just my iPad

The best and least-appreciated Namco game

Nobody but me can get past Parsec 4?

That custom Dance Maniax

The new Andamiro NeonFM cab is really nice

Finding out how much more fun ミライダガッキ Future Tom Tom is than Taiko

We got to touch the PlayStation!

And the controller!

Potbelly is the best

Room parties

Breaking Tokyo Attack's IIDX

Getting my butt kicked by Treasure games

Bought my own LDJ board to replace that loaner from my friends

Farewell :(

Getting home and finding out that repro seller ripped you off

The Prettiest Computer

Sat, 15 Oct 2016 17:57:00 -0700

Our “Blue & White” Power Macintosh G3 got a desk to call home. And some upgrades. I guess I should call it the Blue & White G4.

1999 through 2001 is my absolute favorite era of Apple and this machine exemplifies it more than any other. All the stuck-up professionals complained about the pretty blue case so all the later G4 hardware turned muted grey. The Blue & White actually has some personality!

This is kind of a sleeper system since it collected a few cheap upgrades I ran across while thrifting and online over the years:

Swapped motherboard to Revision 02 with the fixed ATA controller
It’s rocking a 1ghz Sonnet G4 CPU upgrade despite the label on the side of the machine. Stock was a 450mhz G3. I’d like to find a 700mhz G4 since anything over that requires lowering the bus speed from 100mhz to 66mhz which is a poor trade-off for the extra CPU speed.
1GB PC133 SDRAM
Boots from an old SATA SSD adapted to a bootable ATA133 PCI card.
Replaced the stock DVD-ROM with an RPC1-flashed Pioneer DVR-109. The 109 was used as the OEM drive in the later MDD G4 towers, so this drive is fully supported by Disc Burning and iTunes in both OS 9 and OS X. No PatchBurn!
Installed an internal OEM ATA Zip250 pulled from a later Powermac G4.
The GPU is a 64MB PC Radeon 7000 that had a bigger BIOS chip soldered on and flashed with Mac firmware. The largest official Mac Radeon had only 32MB VRAM.
Modem replaced with a Stealth Serial Port to regain the legacy Macintosh mini-DIN serial for things like syncing with a Newton or serial MIDI interfaces. I managed to buy the very last one they had in stock after they graciously scrounged the warehouse for me.
The remaining two slots hold a Digi001 interface card and a DigiDesign SampleCell II sampler card. I’d like to replace the Digi001 with the FireWire-based Digi002 to free up that slot.
Triple boots Mac OS 9.2.2, Apple Rhapsody 5.6 (Mac OS X Server 1.2), and Mac OS X 10.4.11. Rhapsody is my favorite :3

This is the last machine that can use the fabled Apple Extended II keyboard (pictured!) without a USB adapter since it is the last machine ever made with Apple Desktop Bus support.