This tutorial will show you how to hack your SNES Classic Mini on your Apple computer running MacOS. Mac users can now use hakchi2 to add more games, play different consoles, and much more on their Classic. This tutorial will guide you step-by-step on how to install a free Windows VM to your Mac and set it up so you can begin hacking.
SNES Hack Requirements. Before you begin with the hack, you must prepare the following: A Windows computer to perform this mod. The software that we use will only work with Windows. For those of you using Mac, keep in mind that you can dual-boot with a program called Boot Camp. ROMs (games) that you would like to load onto the device. Play retro games from NES, SNES, GB, GBC, GBA, SEGA Genesis and Classic Arcade Games in your browser.
This tutorial is the same and works for both the SNES Classic Mini and NES Classic Mini.
1. Download and install VirtualBox here (click on OS X hosts under VirtualBox #.#.# platform packages).
2. Download the VirtualBox Extension Pack here (click on All supported platforms next to VirtualBox #.#.# Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack). Open the file and press Install.
3. Download and extract MSEdge on Win10 (x64) Stable for VirtualBoxhere.
4. In VirtualBox, go to File > Import Appliance...
5. Hit the folder icon, select the .ovf file extracted from step 3, and press Continue.
6. Press Import.
![Retro Retro](https://www.wkb.jp/en/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/R-TYPE_ss02.png)
7. Connect your SNES Classic Mini to your Mac and turn it on.
8. Select MSEdge - Win10_preview and go to Settings.
9. Go to Ports > USB > check Enable USB Controller and select USB 2.0 (EHCH) Controller.
10. Press the + USB icon and select Nintendo Co., Ltd... and press OK.
11. Turn off the SNES Classic, then hold the reset button, turn the SNES Classic back on, and release the reset button (the power light should not be on).
12. Again, select MSEdge - Win10_preview and go to Settings.
Retro Mac Hack 2017
13. Go to Ports > USB and hit the + USB icon and select Onda (unverified) V972 tablet in flashing mode... and press OK.
14. Select MSEdge - Win10_preview and press Start.
15. When prompted, sign into Windows with the password (note: the 0 is a zero):
Retro Mac Hack Download
Passw0rd!
Retro Mac Hacks
16. You will now have a Windows VM running on your Mac which you can use to install hakchi2 and add games, consoles, and more to your SNES Classic. From here, you can now follow any of our guides. We recommend this tutorial (how-to add more games to your SNES Classic) to start. When installing running hakchi, you will be prompted to install .NET Framework.
If you have any questions, leave it in the comments below.
Around these parts, seeing a classic laptop or desktop computer get revived with the Raspberry Pi is fairly common. While we’re not ones to turn down a well-executed Pi infusion, we know they can be controversial at times. There’s an impression that such projects are low-effort, and that the combination of old and new tech gains little in the way of usability due to the usability quirks of the Pi itself.
But we think even the most critical in the audience will agree that this build by [Tylinol], which sees the internals of a circa 1993 PowerBook 165c get replaced with that of a 2014 Mac Mini, is something else entirely. For one thing, there’s no question that packing a modern (relatively) desktop computer motherboard into a laptop’s body takes a lot more planning and effort than hot gluing the comparatively tiny Pi into the same space. Plus as an added bonus, anyone who counts themselves among the Cult of Mac will be happy to see the vintage machine retain its Cupertino pedigree.
So how do you get a Mac Mini inside of a PowerBook? Very carefully. As explained by [Tylinol], the inside of the PowerBook’s case was coated in graphite and conductive enough to be a problem. So after the original hardware was removed, a layer of tape was added to insulate it; though we imagine a suitably thick spray-on coating could be used as well if you don’t have that kind of patience.
Once the case was gutted and insulated, [Tylinol] added new stand-offs to mount the Mac Mini motherboard and hard drive. For anyone wondering, the 2014 model was used because the shape of the board almost perfectly fits around the trackball PCB. A board from a newer Mac could be used, but it would likely mean using an external mouse.
Which would have been a problem for [Tylinol], because one of the main goals of this build was to get the original input working. That meant adapting the Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) devices to USB, which turns out to be something of a Dark Art. But with the help of some contemporary information about the long-forgotten protocol and a Teensy 3.5, both devices are now picked up as standard USB HID.
But of course, that’s just scratching the surface. [Tylinol] also had to figure out how to swap the original display out for a modern panel, and then get the whole thing running on internal battery power. Even if you’re not particularly interested in retro Apple hardware, this is really a phenomenal build that deserves a thorough read-through.
For those of you who don’t mind getting a Pi in a PowerBook, we recently saw a recreation of Lord Nikon’s laptop from Hackers that went that route.