First post, by britain4
Hey all,
So recently for the sum total of £1.20 I won an eBay auction for a mystery computer bundle - the only photo was of the back of the PC and an abandoned looking CRT. In the lot turned out to be a Triumph-Adler branded 66MHz 486DX machine with 4MB RAM and I think an 800MB hard drive, a working 14” CRT and a bag of software boxes - many still in the shrink wrap.
On first boot the computer didn’t POST, but noticed the HDD wasn’t spinning up. Removing the HDD got me into the BIOS!
Next issue - it was throwing a keyboard error. Closer inspection revealed the old favourite barrel battery leaking right next to the keyboard port and had done a number on several traces and vias. Sorted out all these and boom - working keyboard. Picture shows the traces mid clean up (the outer two were both broken and there was the same damage again on the underside)
Now onto the HDD - it wouldn’t spin up whatever tricks I tried. Resorted to carefully removing the lid, moving the platter with my finger (which was VERY well gummed up into place) and sealing it back up, it spun up and got me straight into windows 3.1!
The outside of the machine is yellowed and slightly marked (which I’m sure will come off with scrubbing/retrobrite) but to my surprise the inside of the machine was absolutely pristine with no dust or dirt to be found - as though it had never been switched on. The factory cable management and hot glued connectors all still in place. When booted, the machine loads the original Triumph-Adler “Welcome to your new computer” screen, there are no user docs at all and the only software installed is what was bundled with it - could it be that this machine is actually unused along with most of the software in the bag?
Whatever the case, after the repairs it now works fine. Just need to sort out a battery. I have 2 32MB SIMMs on the way too.
Sorry for the long post but for me this was quite an exciting find. Unsure what the plans are yet - any advice welcomed. I may install a CF card and get Win95 on it and image this original drive before it dies.
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