Some of you #RetroComputing folks might remember this from about a month ago, when I found a huge cache of vintage tech stuff in a dumpster. One of the items I rescued was a really neat old minitower PC - it’s time to check it out!
#PCGaming
#PCGaming
https://twitter.com/huxley_d/status/1431715637789806594
I’ll be testing it alongside this sweet @IBM “G78” 17” CRT monitor I found a few days ago, in the same pile that contained the pretty iMac G3 I tweeted about a couple hours ago
Along with being somewhat dirty, this PC has some really interesting handwritten tags on the front and back. Apparently it was known as “Spidey” and is also tagged “Hong Kong” and “South China Morning Post.” Maybe it was used in a newspaper office?
I love the little flip-cover that’s attached to the faceplate, protecting the Power button from accidental presses (but amusingly, not the Turbo or Reset buttons). These kinds of PC accessories used to be on random store shelves everywhere when I was a kid!
Here’s a look at the rear of the machine. Looks like we have some typical mid-90’s PC Cards here, likely a SoundBlaster (or compatible) audio card, some kind of VGA board at the bottom, and parallel / serial ports. I’m curious what the tape drive is connected to!
Look closer at those pics of the back of the machine… notice anything missing?
That’s right - there’s no screws to remove the case!
That’s right - there’s no screws to remove the case!
Getting the case open requires pulling the faceplate of the machine straight off the front, revealing the case-screws that would more commonly be found on the rear. Neat!
A closer look at yet another hand-written note, this time carefully taped to the inside of the case. Looks like drive details for the pair of IDE hard disks in the machine. Looks like the C: drive is ~2.1GB, while the D: drive is ~1.2GB. Pretty spacious by mid-90’s standards!
Finally getting my first good look inside the machine. Other than the typical dust-bunnies and cobwebs, it’s remarkably clean, and shows good cable-management for a machine of this era. Love all the handwritten notes everywhere - this was clearly a well-loved / important machine!
More positive signs: the BIOS battery looks fully intact, with no signs of acid leakage or corrosion. As a wise person says constantly, GET THE DAMN BATTERIES OUT
Anyone wanna hazard a guess as to what CPU is tucked away under this little cooler and fan?
It’s kinda cramped in here, but I’m getting a first look at the markings on the VGA card, and it looks to be a Diamond Stealth64 VLB card! Can’t say I’m familiar with this card/chipset - anyone know if it’s good for DOS #gaming?
Okay, I’ve blown out most of the dust and cobwebs, hooked the PC up to the monitor, found an old @IBM #MechanicalKeyboard that fits the “AT” style socket on the PC motherboard… it’s the moment of truth. WILL THE MACHINE POWER UP? DOES THE SIDEWALK MONITOR WORK??
The good news: THE DISPLAY WORKS AND THE PC POWERED UP!!
The less-good news: looks like the BIOS battery is long dead (no surprise), and it *does not* like this ancient IBM keyboard - it’s emitting an ear-shattering tone from the speaker and giving keyboard errors. Progress!!
The less-good news: looks like the BIOS battery is long dead (no surprise), and it *does not* like this ancient IBM keyboard - it’s emitting an ear-shattering tone from the speaker and giving keyboard errors. Progress!!
Whelp, I think this is as far as I can go tonight - without a compatible keyboard I can’t proceed past the Power-On Self Test (“POST”) errors, but honestly I’m super happy. The machine is in better shape than it might’ve been, and the display is sharp and bright. Awesome!
I think I may have another “AT” style keyboard stashed in my storage locker, so hopefully I can give this another try in the next few days. Stay tuned for more updates 😊👍
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