Same here, derSammler. Just a few days ago my secondary slave, an 18GB Maxtor, started making those dreaded knocking sounds. Fortunately it was still empty so nothing is lost. I dug an ATAPI Zip250 out of my closet. I remember many years ago when I found it at a thrift shop for $3, already mounted on a 5-1/4 bracket. 😀
I installed that onto the secondary slave, put GUEST.EXE in my AUTOEXEC.BAT, and good to go. I still have 5 zip100 disks and a portable USB ZIP100 , so transfers won't be a big deal now. When the CD-ROM and 3.5" floppy were the only removable options for this machine I didn't like the idea of CD for transferring everything bigger than 1MB. Too wasteful of CDs ...

reinstalling windows?

even in the 90s i used norton ghost in DOS

best thing ever. after you setup win98 you take an image and it is very small
from there you can change videocard, install other drivers. and you can go back if something bad happens.

Basically spending money just to frustrate myself and call it a passion. 🤣

Oh where to begin...

Buldging caps
Leaky Batteries
No documentation
No "try before you buy"
Transferring anything to and from them
JUMPERS
Lack of PS/2 (varies)
Lack of native networking
Processor pins!
Troubleshooting issues
IRQs/DMA/Addressing
Bus speeds & dividers (or lack of)
Constant worrying!

Molex power. I'm getting tired of using pliers to swap drives and cards.

tayyare wrote:

You just finished a project. After days after days of working (collecting parts, making neccessary repairs, finding more parts, finding all the drivers, then finding better parts and also their drivers, installing everything and troubleshooting along the way), everything is shipshape and working as expected or better. Just then, as a stupid impulse, you think you need to "improve" some trivial thing. Like a Geforce 4400, instead of a 4200, or a SB AWE64 pro instead of a SB AWE64 value. While trying to make your absolutely needed(?) "improvement", something essential dies....

I hate it.

Yep. Been there, done that. LOTS of fun! 🤣

1. I am going to say that my biggest issue with retro computing is just the crazy prices asked for what would have been a minor component, worth just pennies, back in the day.

2. Or like somebody else mentioned, finding that the part that you never ever expected to need when you traded or gifted it a week ago, is suddenly just what you desperately need this week! Now, refer back to my complaint on pricing to replace this item above.

Oh, yes... the joy we have! Only exceeded by the satisfaction we get when a build comes together!

shipping costs...

Munx wrote:

Molex power. I'm getting tired of using pliers to swap drives and cards.

For the life of me, I don't remember molex power connectors ever being difficult to disconnect.

Going to the thrift store and spotting a really nice old beige case with old looking drives, getting high hopes, then opening it to find the previous owner upgraded it to a boring socket 478/A/etc board... 🤣

cj_reha wrote:

Going to the thrift store and spotting a really nice old beige case with old looking drives, getting high hopes, then opening it to find the previous owner upgraded it to a boring socket 478/A/etc board... 🤣

I hardly ever see old systems at thrift stores anymore. IF I do and it has a case I like and it is super cheap I will snatch it up.

If it looks old and is not super cheap, I open it up at the store to see what's in it.

Always carry a screwdriver with you.

cyclone3d wrote:

I hardly ever see old systems at thrift stores anymore. IF I do and it has a case I like and it is super cheap I will snatch it […]
Show full quote

cj_reha wrote:

Going to the thrift store and spotting a really nice old beige case with old looking drives, getting high hopes, then opening it to find the previous owner upgraded it to a boring socket 478/A/etc board... 🤣

I hardly ever see old systems at thrift stores anymore. IF I do and it has a case I like and it is super cheap I will snatch it up.

If it looks old and is not super cheap, I open it up at the store to see what's in it.

Always carry a screwdriver with you.

The place where I find most of the stuff has a flat $10 per untested or "old" tower, so I usually pick it up for the case, if not for the hardware inside.

probnot wrote:

Munx wrote:

Molex power. I'm getting tired of using pliers to swap drives and cards.

For the life of me, I don't remember molex power connectors ever being difficult to disconnect.

It varies from device to device. The most stubborn connection I had to deal with so far was on a Radeon 9800 pro.

probnot wrote:

Munx wrote:

Molex power. I'm getting tired of using pliers to swap drives and cards.

For the life of me, I don't remember molex power connectors ever being difficult to disconnect.

You will if you ever get an early 80s or late 70s computer that hasn't been fiddled within 40 years and the molex connectors have stayed untouched. They can be like cement when trying to pull them out. I've cut many a finger trying to pull them out when they suddenly give way and my fingers go banging against sharp metal case edges.

looking4awayout wrote:

brostenen wrote:

There are ways around that. USB-to-Pata dongles, so you can connect old harddrives to a modern computer. Or usb floppy drives. Usb cd burner and a CD-RW disk. CF card reader and CF-to-IDE in your retro machine.

Lots of ways to transfer stuff. Just be glad you do not have to set up a stock Amiga 600 (1mb Ram), KickStart 37.300, with no data on the harddrive, and not having any workbench disks.

That is a really tricky task...

I don't need all those things. I'm setting up my Pentium 3 to be usable as an everyday system and I'm actually succeeding at the task. It's however frustrating to find out that only two out of ten 512MB PC133 sticks are working without errors.

At the moment I run the system with the main WD Velociraptor hooked to a SATA to IDE adapter, and the data one to a non bootable VIA VT6412 SATA RAID controller. Now if there is a bootable PCI controller compatible with the Velociraptor, I would have a very fast Pentium 3 machine, even though it's already very fast and usable as it is now. A fast hard drive and graphics card does really make a difference.

Yup... Thats were we all, are different. 😀 😀
Personally I need my Amiga/C64/AT/ATX stuff. It was part of my childhood. So for me, 80's computers are a normal thing wich I have seen, used and seen others use back when it all was the new wild high end stuff.

Yeahh... These days I realise, that it is not going to be long time, untill I can sit with another person and talk about those darn teenagers that know nothing. And tell them that back in my days, we did it the hard way, by actually writing commands and we had to walk one hour in bare feets, through the wet potato field, in order to buy a game.

Got off my lawn you teenagers, I am enjoying my cold limonade here. 🤣 (while I put my fake teeth in)

Amiga... Keep that! They're nigh impossible to find for good prices save thrift shops or dumps.

liqmat wrote:

Basically spending money just to frustrate myself and call it a passion. 🤣

Ahhaa... That's it! 🤣 🤣

Get a new (old) computer. say to yourself it's really worth it. Good price. Will work without a hassle.

One week later..: Still fiddling around with what should have been a one-afternoon deal.

Frustration ensues.

harddrivespin wrote:

Amiga... Keep that! They're nigh impossible to find for good prices save thrift shops or dumps.

Expensive?? True that... So far, I have spend some 320 US Dollars on my A600. And that is the machine it self, not counting in external drives, mouse and other stuff. It's the unit it self, making it run stock configuration. I bought it, and had to upgrade the kickrom, and it needed a complete recapped systemboard as well. For me to even have such a machine, then I had to sell off one K6-2 500 machine and a P-II-400 machine. Plus one of my AWE64-Gold's.

Yes.... They are not cheap at all.

gdjacobs wrote:

Maybe Artex will use his MPU-401 cards for captive mating purposes and share the offspring with the rest of us. 😀

🤣 🤣 🤣

I purchased an external parallel port Sony StorStation Ditto 2GB that needs a new rubber cap for the tape motor (that spins the inner tape cartridge wheel left and right) since the one that was in there disintegrated due to the high levels of humidity or heat, and the one tape I had for my Conner internal tape drive got eaten and was raveled inside of the cartridge (thankfully) due to the tape getting sticky goop on the wheel from the external tape drive.

Where do I find parts for that?