Replaced the grey GOTEK in my SD-35 with a black one and I think it looks super awesome now. Works flawlessly too.

Took an old IDE Laptop DVD-ROM drive, bought a 50-pin JAE to 44-pin IDE adapter and an enclosure and built some wooden standoffs, so that the monitor doesn't apply pressure on the DVD-ROM drive. Now my thin client PC has an optical drive. Right now I'm interfacing it with one of those USB-to-IDE adapters (in Windows XP), power + data over one USB port (although I tried with another DVD-ROM drive and that didn't spin up with just the USB power).

The thin client does have two on-board 44-pin IDE connectors, so once I find some long enough 44-pin IDE cables, those can be used. Maybe even with CD-ROM driver + MSCDEX in DOS (since it should be just another IDE CD-ROM)? The JAE-to-IDE adapter does have the 4-pin CD-Audio header, too, so combined with a SB Live!, this could even allow for CD-Audio over the soundcard in DOS, but DOSBox in Windows XP is just a bit more convenient for now..

The height of the thin client allows the DVD-ROM drive to open nicely above the keyboard.

About half way through a 286-12 cleanup. Found this one in a large lot on Craigslist. Out of the ten machines in the lot, this is the only one I was after. Have been cleaning it since yesterday. Neutralized a few small rust spots on the metal case and primered those spots. They were all internal so no need to paint over the primer. All socketed chips were removed from the board before it got a dip in the bathtub and scrubbed with a soft bristle toothbrush. Once I dip my PCBs they get a towel dry and a blast from my air compressor to remove any excess moisture and then a blow dryer treatment. After all that, I still let them sit for 12 hours for a final air dry. Every inch of this machine has been cleaned and now things are starting to look good. Glad to report the motherboard pulls right up. Just waiting for a MFM and floppy controller to arrive which was missing from the system. I decided to just clean up the floppy drives and not replace or retrobright them. Keep that vintage "I've been around the block a few times" look to it. The case has a few spots where the paint is wearing off and that's ok too. Overall, very happy with the results so far.

liqmat wrote:

About half way through a 286-12 cleanup.

What a beautiful machine! Warms my heart to see it getting the respect it deserves well done.

Finally, after ~25 years of yearning for one, I received my first tandem floppy drive. (3.5" & 5.25" combo in half-height bay form factor.)

Unfortunately, the only one for sale on eBay was beige: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Teac-FD-505-5-25-Dua … 5.m43663.l10137

(Since I purchased this, two more have gone up for sale on eBay -- different from each other and different from the one I got -- but both beige.)

My DOS gaming setup, which is still evolving, consists of four different custom rackmounted systems ranging from a 10MHz XT Turbo to a Pentium-II @ 350MHz. In particular, the 486 system could use this drive so that the 3.5" bay is freed up to accommodate a custom turbo switch which is obviously not available on a rackmount chassis.

...and all of these cases are black, by my choice...

So, I had my wife(who is a world-class artist) paint the bezel black after I very carefully removed it and stripped the 3.5" flap, spring, both LED covers, and both eject button covers.

Then, I touched it up with some of her black nail polish so that there's no hint of beige visible.

...and finally re-assembled it, hooked it up, and tested it. Success!

The drive only hooks up to the multi I/O card as an A drive (with the twist in the cable), but it simulates the B drive being on its own cable, which is amazing.

I couldn't be happier with this.

On an interesting note: This is the only 5.25" floppy drive I've ever seen that has a push button for an eject mechanism(like a 3.5" drive) instead of a 90° knob that locks the floppy in place and/or ejects.

^^ heh, I was just thinking of doing that. I have a machine with a black 3.5" and a brown 5.25" drive & figured it would look cool if I painted the brown one to match. I'd be worried about the paint not sticking or rubbing off though. What kind of prep or primer did you use?

Again, after ~25 years of wanting one, I finally got my hands on an x86 FPU -- a Cyrix Fastmath cx83d87-40-gp to pair up with my Am386DX-40. I was hesitant to install it because I haven't been able to find the manual for my motherboard, but I inferred from the available evidence that the correct orientation for this chip is 90° counter-clockwise from the 486 CPU corner mark on the socket on the motherboard that can accommodate either a 486 or a 387(or equivalent).

Turned it on, hoped I wouldn't smell the magic smoke escaping, and lo and behold: (see attachment)

Minor dream fulfilled. Now to re-compile my old Mandelbrot generator code to target the 387. 😎

xjas wrote:

^^ heh, I was just thinking of doing that. I have a machine with a black 3.5" and a brown 5.25" drive & figured it would look cool if I painted the brown one to match. What kind of paint did you use?

After talking about it with my wife, she recommended satin black spray paint, (NOT glossy) that is specified to bind to plastics.

I've attached the image of the specific paint that I used; I bought it from Home Depot.

aquishix wrote:

Finally, after ~25 years of yearning for one, I received my first tandem floppy drive. (3.5" & 5.25" combo in half-height bay f […]
Show full quote

Finally, after ~25 years of yearning for one, I received my first tandem floppy drive. (3.5" & 5.25" combo in half-height bay form factor.)

Unfortunately, the only one for sale on eBay was beige: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Teac-FD-505-5-25-Dua … 5.m43663.l10137

(Since I purchased this, two more have gone up for sale on eBay -- different from each other and different from the one I got -- but both beige.)

My DOS gaming setup, which is still evolving, consists of four different custom rackmounted systems ranging from a 10MHz XT Turbo to a Pentium-II @ 350MHz. In particular, the 486 system could use this drive so that the 3.5" bay is freed up to accommodate a custom turbo switch which is obviously not available on a rackmount chassis.

...and all of these cases are black, by my choice...

So, I had my wife(who is a world-class artist) paint the bezel black after I very carefully removed it and stripped the 3.5" flap, spring, both LED covers, and both eject button covers.

Then, I touched it up with some of her black nail polish so that there's no hint of beige visible.

...and finally re-assembled it, hooked it up, and tested it. Success!

The drive only hooks up to the multi I/O card as an A drive (with the twist in the cable), but it simulates the B drive being on its own cable, which is amazing.

I couldn't be happier with this.

On an interesting note: This is the only 5.25" floppy drive I've ever seen that has a push button for an eject mechanism(like a 3.5" drive) instead of a 90° knob that locks the floppy in place and/or ejects.

My Epson SD-800 dual floppy drive has the same exact mechanism for the 5.25" floppy drive, and I got the floppy drive for free back in 2016. It does work, but, could use some cleaning on the heads and a lubrication to silence the heads (they make a noise), and it's in my 486 machine that has a 32x CD-ROM drive and a new-in-box backup tape drive I purchased a couple of years ago (I have the cable, but, it's in storage since I don't have any tapes at the moment). Heck, it matches the Packard Bell Pack-Mate 28 Plus's color rather nicely as well.

My Teac 5.25/3.25 combo drive (which sadly doesn't respond) has the same front panel layout and the button to eject the 5.25" disk. The surround plate on the back looks different.

I'm not actually very nostalgic, my older gear isn't really much based on what I had or used, often it's stuff I never did use. But that 286, man. I kind of want that as it's the first PC (in a school) that I played Space Quest on.

I actually *had* a computer, and games, but for some reason... I think sooner or later I will have an AT clone. Even though I'm tending toward compact alternatives (like my Win98 Netbook or my Ultra Small Dell office machine running XP).

Merovign wrote:

My Teac 5.25/3.25 combo drive (which sadly doesn't respond) has the same front panel layout and the button to eject the 5.25" disk. The surround plate on the back looks different.

I'm not actually very nostalgic, my older gear isn't really much based on what I had or used, often it's stuff I never did use. But that 286, man. I kind of want that as it's the first PC (in a school) that I played Space Quest on.

I actually *had* a computer, and games, but for some reason... I think sooner or later I will have an AT clone. Even though I'm tending toward compact alternatives (like my Win98 Netbook or my Ultra Small Dell office machine running XP).

Because I grew up fairly poor, we tended to skip generations of hardware and stretch what we had as long as possible. Because of that, I never had a 286; I don't recall ever even having used one. This is an example of the skipping -- I had an IBM XT Turbo clone @ 10MHz in the late 80s/early 90s, and then upgraded it to a 386SX40 with either 2MiB or 4MiB of RAM around 1993-1994.

So, my 'nostalgia' has two facets: 1) Returning to experience what I had in the past. 2) Acquiring what I was always curious about but never got to experience when it was current technology. The 286 is a perfect example. The Amiga 500 is another.

Category 2) is interesting to me, because one can view it as a form of nostalgia, or as a form of retrophilia. In any case, it makes for a lot of interesting experiences. =)

aquishix wrote:

2) Acquiring what I was always curious about but never got to experience when it was current technology.

I think that´s why I love old laptops so much. My parents, while not poor, did not splurge on devices. My computers were usually hand-me-downs or "sensible" second-hand machines. A high power business model portable seemed worlds apart from my computing experience, lending them almost mythical qualities.

Btw I finally got a working KVM switch (with audio even) to switch between my daily driver and retro machines. I should have done this much sooner *_*

henryVK wrote:

Btw I finally got a working KVM switch (with audio even) to switch between my daily driver and retro machines. I should have done this much sooner *_*

Excellent.

I would've done the same thing, except that I'm insisting on using CRTs for my retro/vintage gear. So I have a dedicated desk and dedicated rack for all of the DOS stuff.

(Except for the 2nd Pentium-II system I built, which is for someone else to use while playing old multiplayer games with me.)

aquishix wrote:

Excellent. […]
Show full quote

henryVK wrote:

Btw I finally got a working KVM switch (with audio even) to switch between my daily driver and retro machines. I should have done this much sooner *_*

Excellent.

I would've done the same thing, except that I'm insisting on using CRTs for my retro/vintage gear. So I have a dedicated desk and dedicated rack for all of the DOS stuff.

(Except for the 2nd Pentium-II system I built, which is for someone else to use while playing old multiplayer games with me.)

Oh, yeah, haha. I use a CRT for the retros exclusively, but I do need to switch the keyboard and speakers back and forth. I'll take a picture of this setup.

I needed a rig to be able to test cards i get in (Mainly sound cards!) so threw this together tonight. Used a BX chipset as its about a solid a chipset one can get.

Gigabyte GA 6BXC 2.0
Pentium 3 850@950mhz (8.5x112)
256mb Ram
Asus GF4 MX460
Win98 SE

Currently testing a SB32 CT3600 and a Turtle Beach Pinnacle Rev F I just received (With HOMAC board and SPDIF board!)

aquishix wrote:

Because I grew up fairly poor, we tended to skip generations of hardware and stretch what we had as long as possible.

henryVK wrote:

I think that´s why I love old laptops so much. My parents, while not poor, did not splurge on devices. My computers were usually hand-me-downs or "sensible" second-hand machines.

One of the reasons I like VOGONS so much and keep coming back is the similar mindset and memories/experiences of many fellow Vogoners. Your statements, quoted above, resonate with me.

While not very poor, my parents were lecturer and engineer from country that was part of Soviet block. Their salary, while enough for living in Poland, was equivalent of just a couple of USD in the eighties. Foreign goods, such as computers, were a luxury that was unaffordable. In post-transformation Poland we have not been reduced to poverty, we kept afloat, but rather lower middle-class regions. First computer I played with/on was Amstrad 6128 (Schneider brand, from Germany) at my dad's work. First computer we owned was ZX Spectrum in 1991 - fairly cheap then, because the whole world and good chunk of Poland had already moved on. First PC came from my mum's work (she could borrow it for home use), but since it was one machine per three scientists, we only had it occasionally - that's AT with Hercules, hence my weak spot for amber monitors and games from the era.

What I do now with old machines is equal parts trip down the memory lane, retro archeology and compensating after so many years.

Just trying out a few OSes on an old IGEL thin client (VIA Nano U3500 @ 1GHz, 1GB RAM and a 44pin IDE->SD card adapter as I only have 1GB CF cards). I will have access to loads of these soon as we're replacing them all at work 😀
DOS worked a treat, but of course no audio - the Via chipset doesn't have DOS drivers (well none that I can find work). Trying XP now! Using Easy2boot to install XP and it seems to be working.

Replaced 1M FPM RAM on a S3 Trio64V+ card with 2M of EDO RAM to unlock more video modes. Achievement unlocked. 😀
S3 Trio64V+ memory: FPM vs EDO

SteveC wrote:

Just trying out a few OSes on an old IGEL thin client (VIA Nano U3500 @ 1GHz, 1GB RAM and a 44pin IDE->SD card adapter as I only […]
Show full quote

Just trying out a few OSes on an old IGEL thin client (VIA Nano U3500 @ 1GHz, 1GB RAM and a 44pin IDE->SD card adapter as I only have 1GB CF cards). I will have access to loads of these soon as we're replacing them all at work 😀
DOS worked a treat, but of course no audio - the Via chipset doesn't have DOS drivers (well none that I can find work). Trying XP now! Using Easy2boot to install XP and it seems to be working.

igel.PNG

xpinst.PNG

I assume you tried one of the "AC97 DOS" drivers floating around, like DOSsound? IIRC the IGEL VIA machines had the 855 sound chipset, which is not very well-supported, but is said to be basically a repackaged, low-power older VIA chipset.

A lot of times, compatibility is frustratingly *just* out of reach.

OldCat wrote:

One of the reasons I like VOGONS so much and keep coming back is the similar mindset and memories/experiences of many fellow Vog […]
Show full quote

aquishix wrote:

Because I grew up fairly poor, we tended to skip generations of hardware and stretch what we had as long as possible.

henryVK wrote:

I think that´s why I love old laptops so much. My parents, while not poor, did not splurge on devices. My computers were usually hand-me-downs or "sensible" second-hand machines.

One of the reasons I like VOGONS so much and keep coming back is the similar mindset and memories/experiences of many fellow Vogoners. Your statements, quoted above, resonate with me.

While not very poor, my parents were lecturer and engineer from country that was part of Soviet block. Their salary, while enough for living in Poland, was equivalent of just a couple of USD in the eighties. Foreign goods, such as computers, were a luxury that was unaffordable. In post-transformation Poland we have not been reduced to poverty, we kept afloat, but rather lower middle-class regions. First computer I played with/on was Amstrad 6128 (Schneider brand, from Germany) at my dad's work. First computer we owned was ZX Spectrum in 1991 - fairly cheap then, because the whole world and good chunk of Poland had already moved on. First PC came from my mum's work (she could borrow it for home use), but since it was one machine per three scientists, we only had it occasionally - that's AT with Hercules, hence my weak spot for amber monitors and games from the era.

What I do now with old machines is equal parts trip down the memory lane, retro archeology and compensating after so many years.

🤣 hello neighbor. I grew up in Romania, and compared to fellow countrymen my folks weren't poor either. Yet I had to start with a ZX Spectrum clone too. I had access to a XT clone at my dad's work, but only for about 1h a week. Later in 1992 or so I had access to a couple of real 286 clones at the university, but the 386SX was out of limits. I only had enough money to buy my first "real" computer in 1996 after I moved to the US and was able to afford a used Thinkpad 755CX (which I still have, as well as my old ZX clone).