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RetroTech Chris Profile picture
@RetroTechChris
Sep 6, 2025 ā€¢ 7 tweets ā€¢ 6 min read ā€¢ Read on X
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I've gotten a few items in the mail over the past few days. Let's test them out, and also improve the aesthetics of the re-enlightened PC. Time for a šŸ§µ Image
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First, we have this Sony CDU701 32X IDE drive. I put it in the retr0brite bin in the wee hours of the morning, and when I checked it out when I woke up, it looked great! Since it tests out good, it is going in this PC for good! Image
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Next we have this Acer 650P-047 50X drive. Unfortunately, it is flaky... it even opens and closes the drive door incorrectly when I try to open it. This was an eBay purchase, so back it goes! Image
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Next we have this Panasonic CR-594-B 48X drive. It tests out good, but definitely needs a retr0brite. That's currently in progress! Image
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Next, we have this Western Digital Caviar 34300 4.3GB hard drive. It detects just fine. And.. ahem... the previous owner didn't wipe the data from it. PSA: always do that with your old hard drives! Image
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I did kick up my copy of SpinRite 6.1 to test this drive, and it passed (naturally I hit the wrong button when it finished and thus didn't get a picture after the test finished, oh well šŸ˜‚) Image
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And finally, we have this Western Digital Caviar 13200 3.2GB drive. It detected just fine and passed SpinRite with flying colors Anyway, that's all we have for now, thanks for following along!

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More from @RetroTechChris

RetroTech Chris Profile picture
Feb 8
Let's talk about my newest PC acquisition, which might be the most budget build ever šŸ¤£. But there was a reason for buying it. I'll cover that... along with a Windows 95 installation, in a šŸ§µ. Let's go! Image
First, why did I buy this? Well, the plan was to do a case swap with another system I had, which had some strange "fit" issues. However, that planned got smashed... literally. So, I thought we might as well explore what's left of this PC!
This system has a PC Chips M748MR motherboard, an Intel Celeron 400 MHz processor, and 16MB of RAM. Yikes! And of course the case is nothing fancy, but is nostalgic for me. But yea, this is the most budget build ever, for sure! Image
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Read 13 tweets
RetroTech Chris Profile picture
Feb 1
I just watched a video where YouTuber Action Retro set up a web server on a floppy disk using ELKS (the Embeddable Linux Kernel Subset). I thought, I have to try this for myself! Let's talk about it briefly in a šŸ§µ Image
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So, first of all, what is ELKS? It's the Embeddable Linux Kernel Subset, and it will run on a wide range of hardware, including 8088 systems. Pretty wild for a modern product! If you want to read more or try it out, GitHub repo is here: github.com/ghaerr/elksImage
Alright, let's go. I need to choose a system that will support the networking for ELKS. Turning to the Wiki, as of right now, the network cards supported are NE1000, NE2000, Western Digital 8003, Western Digital 8013, and 3com Ethernet III (3c509). My 486 DX4 has a 3Com 3c509! Image
Read 11 tweets
RetroTech Chris Profile picture
Jan 25
I got a new DOS file transfer toy! Now, these have been around since the dawn of time, but let's talk about it: a MicroSD to LPT Printer Port Adapter. We'll give it a test on my Compaq LTE 5400. Time for a šŸ§µ Image
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First, if you are interested in reading about these, there is a thread on Vogons! Included in that thread is where I found the DOS drivers for it, you can go here for that, and to read about this device! vogons.org/viewtopic.php?ā€¦Image
Also, here's a few more perspective shots of it, captured from different angles. Image
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Read 11 tweets
RetroTech Chris Profile picture
Jan 17
I got some Xircom PC Cards in the mail today! Let's test them out and see if they work! šŸ§µ time! Image
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First, if you missed it, a few days ago I posted this. Given what I have paid for these in the past, I was very pleased!
And speaking of the past, here's what I had before today: four cards. These Xircom RealPort Ethernet 10/100 cards are great for getting a laptop without Internet connected to a wired network! Image
Read 10 tweets
RetroTech Chris Profile picture
Jan 8
My holiday break is quickly coming to an end. So, I think it's time to power on the retro PCs that I have yet to power on recently. I am sure this will go flawlessly šŸ˜‚. Let's do most of this, in real time, in a šŸ§µ here! Image
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Alright, you've already seen the first three. My trusty, original 486DX4/100 powered right up, as did the Packard Bell Multimedia 601 Pentium 233 MMX Image
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How about the Kehtron 486 DX/50? Weeelll.. the front seven segment display needed reconnected (I really should fix this permanently), and the sound card was being a pain, but I moved it over one slot and it is now working! Image
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Read 30 tweets
RetroTech Chris Profile picture
Jan 3
The challenges and solutions in retro computing never cease to amaze me, and today's project is no different. Today's goal was getting working storage in this AST Premium Exec 386 laptop. And fortunately, somewhat against the odds, I found one! Let's talk about it in a šŸ§µ here! Image
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So, anyway, the issue I had with this laptop is that the original 20MB 3.5" IDE hard drive had died. I thought "no problem, I'll pop on eBay and get one." Except they are scarce and expensive. I picked up two 120MB drives and one 40MB drive. None of them worked. Image
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In the past, I had also tried a CF card. I could get the CF cards to a point where they were accessible, but when I go to boot, I get a blinking cursor.. and sometimes a "non system disk or disk error" a few minutes later. Tried multiple CF cards, same result. Image
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Read 9 tweets

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