bofh.fromhell wrote on 2022-03-11, 13:47:

maverick85 wrote on 2022-03-11, 10:35:

Finally got myself a hands on a machine with OEM wallpaper etc. backed up some Time computers wallpaper. would like to backup the logo in the my computer details part but have to figure that out

If its W9x theres some hints here:
https://www.meridianoutpost.com/support/kbase … -Windows-XP.php

Thanks, I've put the PC into storage. Will do it when I get a chance.

Last week I came down with an influenza and today was the first day I felt normal so I decided I'll add some drive bays to my test bench:

It should be a little more convenient to use, I hated wrestling the drives.
In the future I'll add a 3.5" drive bay, something to let me screw in the PSU and some stand for balance.

The motherboard tray comes from some random ATX case, the 5.25" drive bay is from a Pentium 3 tier prebuilt IBM machine.

Haven't done a lot of retro computer activities lately, been busy working on several retro games consoles instead:

First, on my Atari 7800 - been playing a lot of Atari 7800 & 2600 games this past week with my recently aquired Atari 7800 2-button controller, including trying out some newer 2600 homebrew titles on the UnoCart.

I also received an RGB booster expansion on Thursday for the PC Engine and fitted it to my Core Grafx II console. The RGB quality is damn good, though as some reviews stated, the output does suffer from some slight picture interference/noise - if I can't solve it, I can certainly live with it!

Today I switched my attention to my newly aquired Sega Saturn Model 2, specifically the Aliexpress clone All-in-1/Pseudo Saturn Kai cartridge that I received a couple of days ago. The cartridge had issues running a couple of games that it should have otherwise been able to run. So I found the simple solution whilst searching online - open up the cartridge and stick tin foil onto the back of the cartridge shell. I was sceptical, but indeed it definitely did work and now runs everything it should. Just a lack of proper shielding in the cartridge causing issues. I've ordered some aluminium foil tape to do a more professional job, but the tin foil & electrical tape will suffice for now.

CrFr wrote on 2022-02-14, 08:57:

First 3D-printed spare part I've ever made :) Repair part for my IBM monitor control door hinge. I only replaced left side, but […]
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First 3D-printed spare part I've ever made 😀 Repair part for my IBM monitor control door hinge. I only replaced left side, but right side might need some attention too. It is cracked, but still hanging in there, so I left it alone this time.

Glued in place.
1.jpg

Overview. I think the door lines up quite nicely. Gaps are even.
2.jpg

Door open. I considered painting the part, but decided not to. It would just get scratched and look worse.
3.jpg

Story continues. When I got this monitor, it was dead (power led lit, no image). I revivied it by recapping the neckboard. It didn't fix all the issues. Image was still brighter on the left side of the screen, but good enough for use.

I guess that calls for recapping the main board too. Back then I was happy just to get it working, and didn't bother with complete teardown to access the larger pcb. Now I started working on it. It took 26 screws to take it apart. It has 45 capacitors. I assume they are all equally bad or going bad soon, so I'm replacing them all.

RandomStranger wrote on 2022-03-13, 15:24:

Last week I came down with an influenza

What's that? Some sort of COVID?

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-03-13, 18:48:

RandomStranger wrote on 2022-03-13, 15:24:

Last week I came down with an influenza

What's that? Some sort of COVID?

Nope. Regular seasonal "Influenza A" according to the doctor. But I had 39C° fever for 3 days and I just couldn't get any quality sleep.

Got the battery replacement installed in my Compaq Portable 286 (2x CR2032 batteries, 2x battery holders, a bit of wire to connect the two holders together, the original connector from the old 6V lithium, heat shrink tubing, lots of electrical tape, hot glue to hold the velcro in place, and lots of patience) and also trimmed the CRMC-LU005S to make the drive open and close easily.

EGA is out of the question for this until I get a better solution for the EGA Wonder (need an OP Amp IC and lots of wires).

No harm was done to the case since I don't want to trim anything on the case so that way it'll be original and no mods were done.

It needs a lot of TLC, a recap (most definitely will need a recap), and more items along the way.

Is a broken CDROM drive nothing but scrap? Not necessarily. I need black 5.25" adapter for my Wyse because HDD fronts are also black so I came up with this idea. Designed and printed a new faceplate to CDROM drive chassis to mount a floppy drive in. Original was already lost. There are some full 5.25-3.5" adapter designs available but printing time is long due to big size.

That's a great idea using the chassis of a dead optical drive. You can probably use it for CF or SD card readers as well.

fool wrote on 2022-03-14, 19:38:

Is a broken CDROM drive nothing but scrap? Not necessarily. I need black 5.25" adapter for my Wyse because HDD fronts are also black so I came up with this idea. Designed and printed a new faceplate to CDROM drive chassis to mount a floppy drive in. Original was already lost. There are some full 5.25-3.5" adapter designs available but printing time is long due to big size.

How is the floppy drive mounted on the inside? Did you also print some brackets for that? Just curious...

Cyrix Hunt Part III: The Weirdening...

I swear I'm gonna find the Lost Ark or something in here before those Cyrix turn up. I thought I might have some RDRAM somewhere, guess it appeared...

pan069 wrote on 2022-03-14, 20:56:

fool wrote on 2022-03-14, 19:38:

Is a broken CDROM drive nothing but scrap? Not necessarily. I need black 5.25" adapter for my Wyse because HDD fronts are also black so I came up with this idea. Designed and printed a new faceplate to CDROM drive chassis to mount a floppy drive in. Original was already lost. There are some full 5.25-3.5" adapter designs available but printing time is long due to big size.

How is the floppy drive mounted on the inside? Did you also print some brackets for that? Just curious...

Yes, I had to print some brackets. These are mounted the same place original PCB was.
I should have tested the floppy before mounting it. For the record worm screw was stuck as always so I had to disassemble the thing once more. Not very handy or beatuful but it works now. Some day I should design and print beige Wyse HDD front look-a-likes + floppy bezel, it would look much better.

Is that the 2108 model? How'd you add a light to the display?

Also, I love your work, man. Looks amazing.

Today I sorted my big box of 72pin memory into anti-static bags by type (FPM, EDO, EDRAM) and capacity. Turns out I have a whole lot of 4MB modules and significantly fewer 16MB modules than I assumed. And also it turns out EDRAM is a thing - I wonder where I got two Ramtron-branded 4MB modules of that from!

Sadly my DataExpert EXP4045 motherboard is not any happier with a selection of different confirmed FPM modules than it was with modules from the memory mystery box. It still only occasionally gets to POST and I still have no idea why or what I did each time it does get there (only to complain about a keyboard error and memory error and go no further). The board looks perfectly fine but I've no idea what its history is - I just found it in my big box of motherboards that I've had for years. Did I pull it from working system 10-20 years ago? Did I get it from somewhere as just an untested motherboard with an Am486DX4-100 CPU installed? Am I simply discovering why the previous owner got rid of it? or is my power supply a bit marginal and the Asus motherboard that was previously in this case just more tolerant of that?

So many questions. But I have a backup plan. I also ordered some DIP-24 sockets today. If I can't get the EXP4045 going by the time they arrive then I'll replace the Dallas DS12887A on this BiosStar MB-8433UUD I found in the motherboards box and see if it works any better. VLB felt more appropriate for a 486 than PCI but right now I'm willing to settle for POSTing reliably. Plus I know where my PCI video cards are, I've still got no idea where I put my box of VLB video cards.

TXSnipper's MBC reminds me of my Retro Unicorn, the NEC APC color. Though I kind of want an MBC now!

I took photos of 439 items in the last couple of days, cropped and labeled them. Building a proper database. Yes, it's too many.. and I'm not done yet. That doesn't include over 90 computers. It's a wonder I can see out the windows!

Cyrix hunt part IV: ... so I thought I'd be getting warm, moving some stuff and turn up an empty CPU tray, uurgh, grave robbers? What the heck, y u no have CPU? Then working in same area, moved something else nearby and a single SX957 slid out and landed on the bench. Wat? Where the heck was that hiding? ... And why come no more? Last I saw them the Cyrix were in company of a couple of P90s, yet just one P90 appears... mysterious.... got a nasty nasty feeling I'm gonna have to dig the bench out completely and drag it out and look behind it. Incidental finds, 6 sticks of Pirate memory.... PC3-10600RRRRRrrrrr.... & vertical mouse from before they were cool (3M model)

Well, continuing the Great Catalog Project, just did photos on a bunch of laptops from 8086 to i7.

Came across and old Centrino Sony Vaio with an *excellent* screen, I had a failed OS/2 install on it, so I fixed it (mostly). Still have a couple of errors COM.SYS and another file missing.

And I have to see if I can figure out wide screen resolutions (or more likely if someone else already has).

I've tried like 5 times to start a catalog of my collection, no idea why it seems to be working this time. Probably 700 items in, and only cut myself twice! 😀

I sold a monitor today, and in addition to cash I got a CH Flightstick, some C64 disks, A 9-pin joystick, and a Composite Video cable for the C64. I was supposed to just be selling things...

Ordered a Diamond Viper V770, Voodoo 2 and AWE32. Both cards have been shipped, AWE32 should arrive early next week.

Tried my two 22-years-old Zip drives (both internal ATAPI; one 250 MB and one 100 MB) but neither can read any Zip disk. The front bezel of the 250 MB Zip drive has become extremely brittle; both clips snapped off when I merely TOUCHED them.

I don't think those two drives are salvageable as magnetic heads of Zip drives are known to be unreliable, let alone sitting in a closet for more than two decades. Not sure if those 7 disks (5x 250 MB and 2x 100 MB) have any remaining value.

My dad gave me his old Jaz drives and disks a few years ago and asked me to recover the data from them, since they used an external SCSI interface he could no longer connect to.

Most of the disks I inserted exploded inside the drive as they tried to spin up. What had happened was the plastic housing of the disk cartridges had become brittle and the force of the platters spinning up caused them to detach and ricochet around inside. I think out of a dozen or so disks maybe one or two were recoverable.

My mom gave me a stack of Zip disks to recover as well, but they are in a box somewhere. Maybe they will explode as well?

I grew up with Zip disks and have fond memories of them. But I would be afraid to use them for anything retro that was not considered volatile. It's a shame, really. They were great technology for the time. I wish LS-120 had become a thing instead, since the drives were backwards compatible with floppy disks. In all my years of computing, I have never actually encountered an LS-120 drive in the wild.