Key Takeaways
1. Doug Brown discovered a hidden photo of the Power Mac G3 development team that had been locked in the ROM for 27 years.
2. The photo was first noted by Pierre Dandumont in 2014, but the method to access it was revealed by Brown using a hex editor.
3. The hidden image is associated with peculiar Pascal strings in the SCSI Manager code, including references to a “secret ROM image.”
4. To view the photo, users must activate a RAM disk and follow specific steps to erase and access the “The Team” file.
5. This Easter egg is one of the last remnants from before Steve Jobs returned to Apple and can be accessed on Mac OS versions up to 9.0.4, but was disabled in version 9.1.
A software engineer has finally cracked a mystery that has puzzled people for 27 years: a hidden photo of the Power Mac G3 development team that was locked away in the ROM. This JPEG image was first noted by Pierre Dandumont back in 2014, but no one knew how to access it until now.
A Serendipitous Discovery
Doug Brown stumbled upon the way to reveal the photo while he was digging through the ROM resources of a Power Mac G3. He used a hex editor along with a Mac ROM template to help him out. The ROM version he worked with was found in several G3 models, including desktop, mini-tower, and all-in-one types from 1997 to 1999. While exploring, Brown found a resource labeled “HPOE” that held the team photo, along with some strange Pascal strings in the SCSI Manager 4.3 code, like “.Edisk”, “secret ROM image,” and “The Team.”
Clues and Code
These peculiar strings were the key to unlocking the hidden image. After he extracted and analyzed the code, Brown discovered that the SCSI Manager was searching for a RAM disk volume named “secret ROM image.” When this volume was identified, the code created a file called “The Team,” which contained the JPEG data that had been hidden away.
How to Access the Easter Egg
To access this Easter egg, users need to first activate the RAM disk in the Storage Control Panel, then reboot the system. Next, they must select the RAM disk icon, choose “Erase volume” from the special menu, and type “secret ROM image” in the formatting dialog. Once the file “The Team” is double-clicked, it opens in SimpleText, allowing the hidden image to be viewed. Doug Brown has shared detailed instructions on his website on how to do this.
This find is hailed as one of the last hidden Easter eggs from before Steve Jobs returned to Apple. The Easter egg can still be accessed on Mac OS versions up to 9.0.4, but it seems to have been disabled in version 9.1, aligning with Jobs’ notorious ban on Easter eggs after his comeback in 1997. Yet, it’s still uncertain if Jobs was aware of this specific secret. For those interested in getting a new iMac, options are available on Amazon and other retailers.
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