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Sun Remarketing SCSI Card Reverse-Engineering
AlexTheCat123:
Thanks Ray! That's just what I needed!
sigma7:
--- Quote from: rayarachelian on February 07, 2022, 09:11:32 pm ---the Sapient Lisa motherboard, I/O board, CPU board, and Quad Port serial Card (Tecmar) all have been duplicated from the Apple (and Tecmar) originals, and as far as I know, this was done without the express permission of Apple (or Tecmar).
Further, the LisaDAC (sound) board has also been replicated, but this one had permission from the original designer.
On top of the original designs, many changes were made, so these new boards aren't just direct duplicates of the originals, but have been improved in several ways. This is the way of progress.
--- End quote ---
As far as I understand, rights to Apple's Lisa Hardware design were transferred in part or licensed to Sun Remarketing when they took over the liquidation of remaining Lisas, and when SR went out of business, Vintage Micros purchased those rights along with original Apple documents, unpopulated boards, parts and a substantial truckload of related material. I say "in part" as I expect Apple retains ownership, but licensed the Intellectual Property for use in sales, maintenance, repair, upgrades, etc. of Apple Lisas.
As Sapient's variants of Apple's Lisa boards were made in cooperation with Vintage Micros, I believe they are not in violation of IP rights to whatever extent they apply. Similarly, I believe Vintage Micro's has rights to duplicate items such as Lisa CPU board and I/O board ROMs.
The rights to products developed by Sun Remarketing (eg. the SCSI board, SIMM memory board, and Sun20 hard drive controller) were transferred to Vintage Micros as part of that purchase, hence the IP of Sapient's variants of those is held by Vintage Micros and Sapient Technologies.
MacWorks Plus development was funded by Sun Remarketing and so rights are currently held by Vintage Micros.
MacWorks Plus II and the PFG were developed by Sigma Seven Systems Ltd. which currently retains rights.
The rights to the QuickBoot ROM remain with the author Sigma Seven Systems Ltd. This was developed independently and not funded by Sun Remarketing, Vintage Micros, or Dafax. This product is not part of the Sun SCSI board, but an 'aftermarket upgrade'. It is actually a variant of the software written for the Lisa SCSI Accessories Card.
The original rights to the LisaDac sound card were transferred to Dafax Processing Corp., then to Sigma Seven Systems Ltd., and currently are licensed as-is to Vintage Micros for production.
The Tecmar Quad Serial board, AST RamStak, Priam DataTower interface, Lisa Xenix, and the like appear to be abandoned, and it seems that no-one is interested in asserting ownership of the IP of those products.
The X/Cops was developed by Sigma Seven Systems in conjunction with Vintage Micros who share rights.
Along with QuickBoot, IP rights to the XLerator, XLerator 12.5, XLerator 18, X/ProFile, X/ProFile Regulator, LSAC, and BLU currently remain with Sigma Seven Systems Ltd.
Numerous Lisa hardware and software projects have been developed by Dr. Patrick Schaefer, as well as a few by other active members of this board such as Tom Stepleton et al. Rights to these should be easily determined from their web pages or by contacting the creators directly.
And, of course, one of the most valuable of all... LisaEm belongs to Ray A. Arachelian!
sigma7:
--- Quote from: stepleton on February 07, 2022, 06:28:24 pm ---(ETA: The ROM situation described in the post is an interesting one. I wonder how easy it is for the IP owner to make working ROM/PAL hybrid assemblies these days.)
--- End quote ---
Currently I still make new QuickBoots occasionally when Vintage Micros orders some for resale.
However, I am running low on genuinely new 2732 EPROMs (that I purchased from an official distributor when 2732s were still in production), so at some point they will need to be made from recycled or "NOS" parts of undetermined heritage.
AlexTheCat123:
--- Quote ---As far as I understand, rights to Apple's Lisa Hardware design were transferred in part or licensed to Sun Remarketing when they took over the liquidation of remaining Lisas, and when SR went out of business, Vintage Micros purchased those rights along with original Apple documents, unpopulated boards, parts and a substantial truckload of related material.
--- End quote ---
Does this mean that I need to stop my reverse-engineering efforts on the parallel port card and 2/5 motherboard too?
sigma7:
--- Quote from: AlexTheCat123 on February 09, 2022, 07:42:12 pm ---
--- Quote ---As far as I understand, rights to Apple's Lisa Hardware design were transferred in part or licensed to Sun Remarketing when they took over the liquidation of remaining Lisas, and when SR went out of business, Vintage Micros purchased those rights along with original Apple documents, unpopulated boards, parts and a substantial truckload of related material.
--- End quote ---
Does this mean that I need to stop my reverse-engineering efforts on the parallel port card and 2/5 motherboard too?
--- End quote ---
My opinion is that you don't need to stop reverse-engineering (not that anyone could stop you if they wanted :P) if it is for your own use.
The problem arises if that is used or shared in a way that interferes with a benefit that should go to someone else; which could be financial or something intangible like reputation or appreciation for a community contribution. (In the case of most Lisa products, a "financial benefit" is more likely to be reducing an out-of-pocket loss or a pittance for time spent rather than a net gain.)
I don't want your efforts to be unappreciated or of limited use... I suggest we discuss offline to see if there is a win-win-win option that is rewarding to you, the Lisa community in general, and any IP holders.
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