Has anyone ever worked with GEOS, GeoWorks, New Deal Office, or Breadbox Ensemble on a PC? Well, I decided to load it up on one of my 486 systems today and take it for a spin... including getting online! Let's talk about what I discovered in a 🧵 here!
I decided to install Breadbox Ensemble 4.1.3, which was originally released in 2009. Keep in mind that this would be late in the cycle for, say, a 486 PC, that does give some perspective! Install was text based an a cinch!

Yesterday, I talked about a few systems I had that were not Intel/AMD/Cyrix based. Well, here's another one: my Gateway 2000 tower has a UMC processor in it! I haven't powered it on in a hot minute, so let's talk about it briefly in a 🧵 here!
As we saw from the intro photo, this system has a UMC Green CPU US5-SUPER33 in it. And, indeed, it is super! It's almost as fast as a 486 DX2/50! These CPUs were subject to a legal dispute, and thus were not sold in the USA

I thought I'd power up and inventory my systems that don't have CPUs made by Intel/AMD/Cyrix, but are x86 compatible. I do have a few! Let's have a quick look at them in a 🧵 here! Let's start with the system on the far left, the tower. It happens to be an ITX Llama system, built around the Vortex86EX CPU. It's similar in performance to a 486 or Pentium system. I did make a custom BIOS build to play the Nokia tune 😂

I thought I'd take some time today and "assemble" the new additions to my Compaq LTE 5000 series fleet! Each machine got a battery, hard drive, and either a floppy or CD-ROM drive. Let's talk about it briefly in a 🧵 here!

First, I started with the batteries. The cells have been removed, so we just have plastic shells. They all needed a cleaning, but this one was THE WORST. Some Goo Gone took care of it, and some elbow grease. Also, I was one battery short, so I pulled one from my spares!

I just made a 10 cent improvement to this Compaq LTE Elite 4/75 laptop. Anyone want to guess what it is? Let's talk about it in a brief 🧵 here! Did you make your guess? Yep! It was the screen latches! For 10 cents, my local library's makerspace printed these for me today!

Sometimes curiosity gets the best of us, and that happened when I saw this Xircom Parallel Port Multiplexor III for sale. What does it do? It lets you use a printer and Xircom parallel port Ethernet adapter at the same time. Does it do it "well"? Let's find out! 🧵 time!

As you might have seen from the intro pic, I'm going to use my AST Premium Exec 386SX/25 to test this out. This machine doesn't have any PCMCIA slots, so I do use a Xircom Pocket Ethernet III to get it online!

https://x.com/RetroTechChris/status/1744878614410101158

I've got these two cute little Compaq LTE Elite 4/75 systems. I'm just about done setting up one of them.. how about we set up the other one here, in real time! Time for a 🧵
So, first off, we are going to have a minor complication. These laptops have a near 100% failure of their floppy drives, the dreaded Citizen W1D drive. Fortunately, I've installed an OpenFlops W1D to replace it.. basically a Gotek replacement for the Citizen W1D!

It's been a little while since we have had the Dell Precision 220 Workstation on the desk. I've had several requests to install Haiku on this Dual Pentium III beast. Let's get it done! Time for a 🧵 So, first, this PC already has a lot of OSes! We'll create a 4GB BeOS partition to install Haiku, and add it to the list of OSes to boot!

Let's test this Microchannel 3Com network card that I picked up for my IBM PS/2 Model 70 386 (with a 486 upgrade). Time for a quick 🧵
So, this card is a 3Com EtherLink/MC TP. As per usual, the Ardent Tool of Capitalism has a nice writeup on the card, as well as drivers! Looking at the drivers disk, it appears we have LAN Manager, NDIS, and Netware drivers. Pretty limited, but this is an older card.

Last week, I triaged and repaired around 20 or so LTE 5000 systems that I picked up at the System Source swap meet. Today, I spent some time swapping around parts and "making them better." Let's talk about it briefly in a 🧵 here! By far, the most common repair needed was screen sliders, latches, casings, and bezels. I spent a fair amount of time replacing and "placing" these based on what I had in stock, or based on spare parts machines from the haul. It's the little things that count 😂

Last week, at the System Source swap meet, I picked up a bunch of interface cards! Additionally, I have this Microchannel network card that arrived in the mail. Let's test these cards out on the Pacman PC! Time for a long 🧵


As I was thinking about which PC to use to test these, the Pacman PC ended up being ideal. Its motherboard has ISA, PCI, and AGP support! Some of you might remember this CYS Tech CYSMBD-694X motherboard that I picked up from Ali Express a little while back:

https://x.com/RetroTechChris/status/1892443768466407545

Here's some good news for BlueSCSI/ZuluSCSI owners who want wireless networking in DOS and Win3.1x: Michael Brutman (author of mTCP) has taken my DaynaPORT DOS packet driver and greatly improved it! I'm using it to browse the web. Let's talk about how in a 🧵 here!
First, some context: several months ago, I started down the path to get my BlueSCSI working in DOS, and made a very alpha driver to do such. As per usual, I then abandoned the project 😂

https://x.com/RetroTechChris/status/1931571595996266986

I had a total blast testing my newly-acquired fleet of LTE 5000 series systems! Over the past four days, I was able to make 20 working systems from my haul of (I believe) 26 systems. Let's have a BRIEF outbrief in a 🧵 here!
First, just LOOK at everything!! Everything you see here either will go in a system (HDD, FDD, CD-ROMs, battery shells), is a spare part, or a conversation piece (PCMCIA cards without dongles 😂). And, oh, for the six systems that contributed to parts, look at all of the screws!

Day 4 LTE 5000 (and probably some LTE Elite!) cleanup and testing. I'll just do highlight reel, I am sure you guys have seen enough at this point 😂. Let's do this! 🧵 First, we have doubled downstream testing power 😂. Now let's talk about the system on the right...

It's another beautiful day here... and time to clean and test some more LTE 5000 systems! And since I am taking an extended weekend, we have time to do this. Let's get to work. 🧵 So, first, the tarp earned its pay. It rained a bit overnight. Most systems did stay dry. No concerns here! I thought the tarp had a small hole in it. Indeed it did 😂

Ooookay, one more laptop today. A few folks have asked "how about the red laptop? Does it have a chance?" Well, I think I'd say "kindof, with some help!" Let's explore in a 🧵 here!

Initially, I started out with some Goof Off to clean off the paint. That damaged the screen cover's plastic. But I soon learned that would not matter. Because, well, here's the screen. Also, look at that nice red HDD cover. Paint on the keyboard too. Oh boy!

Shall we continue our LTE 5000 series cleaning and testing? I'm glad I covered them with a tarp, we had some condensation overnight!! This one is a LTE 5380 without any drives. It cleaned up nice and it does power up!!


Okay, second one is a little rough. Cleaned up. Powered on once but won't power on again.

I've cleaned and tested three of my $10 laptops so far. And they are flawless!!

The fourth one I cleaned is a little rough (bad screen bezel, failing HDD, battery was taped in, and mouse pointer is bad) but hey it at least powers on!

Time for the System Source Swap Meet pics I took... in no particular order. Let's goooo! 🧵 time.

First we have an Amiga with some Macs, etc. Also, tons of interface cards. Some cool Apple stuff. And some IBM PCs!


More PCs, macs, laptops, and some software! The boxed copy of StuffIt Deluxe caught my eye!

It's always fun to install "older" OSes on systems not designed for them. Given that, how about we install Windows '98 SE on this Dell Latitude D600 with a Pentium M processor? Let's have a look at it in a 🧵 here! So, first and foremost, this site is AWESOME! There is a bundle of drivers that you can download, and inside the bundle is a readme file with some very clear instructions on what to do! retrosystemsrevival.blogspot.com/2018/05/dell-l…

Okay, time to explore the Compaq Presario 2200 that I brought back from Dallas! Like all of these, this one is a bit of a mixed bag. Let's have a look in a 🧵 here! So, first, like 100% of these I have seen, the plastics in the front are very brittle. This front panel has previously been glued on, you can see some glue residue here and there!