PD2JK wrote on 2025-04-05, 14:31:

*sad PCIe slot noises

Well, you can always salvage that floppy cable. Or is that exterminated too. Man. 😒

It seems that he got sloppy and forgot about the cable. 😁 He even smashed the RAM so he was really concerned about cyber security, those chips hold onto data for decades! But his failure was bigger than that, he neglected to smash the CPU that was stuck to the heatsink and survived with all pins bent.
I had to exploit his mistake and fixed the Devil's Celeron, it will keep feeding me his data for all eternity!

PD2JK wrote on 2025-04-05, 14:31:

*sad PCIe slot noises

Poor thing is so trashed it's unrecognizable... That's an AGP slot. 😔

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2025-04-05, 19:59:

PD2JK wrote on 2025-04-05, 14:31:

*sad PCIe slot noises

Poor thing is so trashed it's unrecognizable... That's an AGP slot. 😔

Oh wow, now I see. Damn...

Mandrew wrote on 2025-04-05, 18:04:

He even smashed the RAM so he was really concerned about cyber security, those chips hold onto data for decades! But his failure was bigger than that, he neglected to smash the CPU that was stuck to the heatsink and survived with all pins bent.
I had to exploit his mistake and fixed the Devil's Celeron, it will keep feeding me his data for all eternity!

IIRC in order to recover data from RAM you've gotta drop it into liquid nitrogen the instant you power off, otherwise it's gone in milliseconds. I have seen some unsourced claims that it gets something similar to "screen burn" if used for the same thing for a decade that might make frequently used memory bits look more "worn" somehow. But unless it's a super locked down system that ran the same software, not a single update, not a single change for that decade then it won't have used the same bits for the same things much.

BitWrangler wrote on 2025-04-06, 04:50:

IIRC in order to recover data from RAM you've gotta drop it into liquid nitrogen the instant you power off, otherwise it's gone in milliseconds.
[/quote]

I was being sarcastic of course, it was only destroyed to make it unusable to other people, we all know the type who does that.
This notebook proves it, all chips were destroyed one by one, even the keyboard and the lithium battery.
Curiously enough the CPU survived in this too despite the cooler taking 2 blows by a hammer. Ha! Sucker.

Mandrew wrote on 2025-04-05, 18:04:

I had to exploit his mistake and fixed the Devil's Celeron, it will keep feeding me his data for all eternity!

Maybe that why everything was smashed up, to be sure never to unleash it's evil on the world again.
And here you come and set the spirits free, I'm blaming my next flu on you! 😜

After looking at those photos... I feel the need to say a few words...

Fellow electron enthusiasts, we are gathered here today to celebrate the life of these poor machines. Taken from this world in a fit of paranoia, or rage, before their time. Let us never forget the joy and frustration they brought to their users before being smashed to pieces, never to POST again.

May your bits forever flow along golden paths to the beautiful gates of the eternal users display, and bring joy for all eternity.

C:\AMEN

Now, a moment of silence for the fallen. 😜

StriderTR wrote on 2025-04-07, 06:02:

After looking at those photos... I feel the need to say a few words... […]
Show full quote

After looking at those photos... I feel the need to say a few words...

Fellow electron enthusiasts, we are gathered here today to celebrate the life of these poor machines. Taken from this world in a fit of paranoia, or rage, before their time. Let us never forget the joy and frustration they brought to their users before being smashed to pieces, never to POST again.

May your bits forever flow along golden paths to the beautiful gates of the eternal users display, and bring joy for all eternity.

C:\AMEN

Now, a moment of silence for the fallen. 😜

That brought a tear to my eye, fellow retro enthusiast and neighbor.

Tomorrow (Saturday) I'm going to pickup an Amiga system and fromt he sounds of it some vintage PC hardware too, all free the owner just wants to clear out the house.

I'll be back Saturday night to post about the acquisitions.

EDIT - Hardware acquired, it's a bunch of old Amiga computers! Not pictured are a couple of boxes of Amiga software, some purchased, some pirated, controllers, and a bunch of Radioshack TRS-80 stuff including what I think is the TRS-80 computer itself. Still bringing stuff into my place right now.

EDIT 2 - There's an A500, A1000 and A2000.

pete8475 wrote on 2025-04-12, 04:23:

Tomorrow (Saturday) I'm going to pickup an Amiga system and fromt he sounds of it some vintage PC hardware too, all free the owner just wants to clear out the house.

I'll be back Saturday night to post about the acquisitions.

EDIT - Hardware acquired, it's a bunch of old Amiga computers! Not pictured are a couple of boxes of Amiga software, some purchased, some pirated, controllers, and a bunch of Radioshack TRS-80 stuff including what I think is the TRS-80 computer itself. Still bringing stuff into my place right now.

To the Amiga experts, I have no experience with Amiga hardware, is there anything I should do to prevent damage like removing old batteries or anything?

pete8475 wrote on 2025-04-12, 19:47:

To the Amiga experts, I have no experience with Amiga hardware, is there anything I should do to prevent damage like removing old batteries or anything?

A500 often have a ram expansion/rtc battery add-on board found behind the door on the bottom of the unit.
I'm unfamiliar with the other models you have.

lolo799 wrote on 2025-04-12, 20:17:

pete8475 wrote on 2025-04-12, 19:47:

To the Amiga experts, I have no experience with Amiga hardware, is there anything I should do to prevent damage like removing old batteries or anything?

A500 often have a ram expansion/rtc battery add-on board found behind the door on the bottom of the unit.
I'm unfamiliar with the other models you have.

Thank you, I will check for that tonight!

Yes, that battery was definitely leaking on my ram expansion. At least, mostly the damage is confined to the expansion board.

H3nrik V! wrote on 2025-04-12, 21:13:

Yes, that battery was definitely leaking on my ram expansion. At least, mostly the damage is confined to the expansion board.

I'm starting to teardown these computers and the A2000 seems to have some battery leakage going on, thankfully the A1000 does not seem to have a battery in it. I took the A500 expansion board out too.

EDIT - The A500 appears at first glance to have no obvious signs of corrosion! It's a rev 5 board that says B52 Rock Lobster on it for some reason! 🤣 There was a tremendous amount of rust on the shielding and there does seem to be some near the ports as well, but the actual pcb looks to be in good shape.

pete8475 wrote on 2025-04-12, 19:47:

To the Amiga experts, I have no experience with Amiga hardware, is there anything I should do to prevent damage like removing old batteries or anything?

the A2000 also has a varta battery - and you never know what the A1000 might have inside... better just open all

keropi wrote on 2025-04-13, 06:01:

pete8475 wrote on 2025-04-12, 19:47:

To the Amiga experts, I have no experience with Amiga hardware, is there anything I should do to prevent damage like removing old batteries or anything?

the A2000 also has a varta battery - and you never know what the A1000 might have inside... better just open all

Will do for sure, the A2000 might be dead it has lots of corrosion, I'm about to see what's under the shielding in the A1000.

EDIT - no visible corrosion or damage of any sort on the A1000 and I've removed the battery from the 2000. I then scrubbed the corrosion with white vinegar and a toothbrush and gave it cleaning with IPA and then distilled water. I'll try it out in a few days when I'm certain it's dry.

Awesome score! The A500-HD8+ is also really nice. Most people prefer more modern CF/SD card solutions, but there's something really cool about an original SCSI drive on the Amiga.

From first glance, looks like the tracks on the A2000 are still OK, can't see any corrosion under the solder mask. Seen far worse, I think there's a good chance of reviving it!

orcish75 wrote on 2025-04-13, 22:43:

Awesome score! The A500-HD8+ is also really nice. Most people prefer more modern CF/SD card solutions, but there's something really cool about an original SCSI drive on the Amiga.

From first glance, looks like the tracks on the A2000 are still OK, can't see any corrosion under the solder mask. Seen far worse, I think there's a good chance of reviving it!

I hope so!

There was lots of greenish stuff on the legs of various chips, so that's what I'm really concerned about. But it has cleaned up pretty good, I'm not going to try powering it up just yet though.

EDIT - managed to find the power supply for the A500 and it turns out without any smoke coming out of anything and puts an image on my workbench monitor/tv.

and yes I know the workbench is more than a bit of a mess, no need to mention that.

pete8475 wrote on 2025-04-13, 22:50:

I hope so! […]
Show full quote

orcish75 wrote on 2025-04-13, 22:43:

Awesome score! The A500-HD8+ is also really nice. Most people prefer more modern CF/SD card solutions, but there's something really cool about an original SCSI drive on the Amiga.

From first glance, looks like the tracks on the A2000 are still OK, can't see any corrosion under the solder mask. Seen far worse, I think there's a good chance of reviving it!

I hope so!

There was lots of greenish stuff on the legs of various chips, so that's what I'm really concerned about. But it has cleaned up pretty good, I'm not going to try powering it up just yet though.

EDIT - managed to find the power supply for the A500 and it turns out without any smoke coming out of anything and puts an image on my workbench monitor/tv.

and yes I know the workbench is more than a bit of a mess, no need to mention that.

A1000 also seems to work 😀

pete8475 wrote on 2025-04-13, 22:50:

I hope so! […]
Show full quote

orcish75 wrote on 2025-04-13, 22:43:

Awesome score! The A500-HD8+ is also really nice. Most people prefer more modern CF/SD card solutions, but there's something really cool about an original SCSI drive on the Amiga.

From first glance, looks like the tracks on the A2000 are still OK, can't see any corrosion under the solder mask. Seen far worse, I think there's a good chance of reviving it!

I hope so!

There was lots of greenish stuff on the legs of various chips, so that's what I'm really concerned about. But it has cleaned up pretty good, I'm not going to try powering it up just yet though.

EDIT - managed to find the power supply for the A500 and it turns out without any smoke coming out of anything and puts an image on my workbench monitor/tv.

and yes I know the workbench is more than a bit of a mess, no need to mention that.

Well, you actually have an image with a Work Bench on your work bench. Epic!