I've been playing around with my SCSI emulators, in particular, the wireless networking on them a bit. I think we have done this before, but it's been a hot minute, so let's talk about it anyway 😂. Time for a 🧵
So, first of all, these SCSI emulators (BlueSCSI V2 and ZuluSCSI Blaster) were predominantly designed for Macintosh systems, which also tended to use DayaPort SCSI network cards like this one here.

No need to adjust your television set, I promise you are not seeing double! But the error message on the screen is a "clue" as to why I now have two IBM PS/2 Model 30 286 systems. Let's talk about what I did this time... I guess we need to do a 🧵 Well, first, let's clean up the new one. Oh boy, it is ever dirty!! Here's a before an after... I failed at getting a clear after picture. Sorry, no refunds 🤣

Let's do a factory restore on this Packard Bell Multimedia 601. It's a Pentium 233MMX system. I've got some things on the table to help us out with the process. Let's explore a bit. Time for a 🧵

First and foremost, we're going to need a Master CD. Which one? Well, recently I found an eBay listing with some "System Credentials" that match my PC. And I saved them off for this very reason! We can grab 175710-05 from the Internet Archive and get this going!

I've got one of my Tandy 1000 SX systems on the desk, let's check out some of the PicoMEM 2 capabilities on it! Time to get it installed. Let's explore together in a 🧵 here!
First, we'll see that we're doing a good job of using up the expansion slots in this beast 😂. Oh, and before I forget, when installing any PicoMEM in a Tandy 1000, you do have to update the configuration and add Tandy to it!

I decided to play with Tandy 3-voice sound on the PicoMEM 2 today. There's a bit of a nuance with using Tandy sound on non Tandys, but this is a problem that has been solved. Let's explore a bit in a 🧵 here!
First of all, the PicoMEM 2 does a FANTASTIC job at emulating Tandy sound. You can go into configuration and set the appropriate port settings, or you can use the "PMINIT" program to initialize whatever you need! I am just going to set the settings via the configuration util.

I've been playing with the PicoMEM 2 today. I love it! I've been using my Packard Bell Multimedia 601 Pentium PC to test it, but this will work with 8 bit PCs as well. Let's look at sound (including Gravis!), HDD, wireless network, and real time clock capabilities! Time for a 🧵

First of all, if you are not familiar with PicoMEM, it's an amazing little all in one card that brings you lots of capabilities. This card will be available for sale soon I believe. The functionality is strong and capable. You can read more about it here: github.com/FreddyVRetro/I…

I picked up this parallel to IDE CD-ROM thing off of the free table at VCFSW. I got it to work!! Let's talk about it in a quick 🧵 So, first of all, the drive in it is completely toast. Let's swap it out for another IDE drive. Ahh, that's better!

Looks like we have some testing to do! This will be ongoing throughout the day. Let's do a "somewhat live" 🧵

Yea, okay, this deserved its own thread, haha. You can read about the parallel to IDE drive converter over here!

https://x.com/RetroTechChris/status/2061467167204241733

Okay, now that I wrapped the day and had some dinner, let's post some more pictures from #VCFSW. How about a 🧵 since that might be less chaotic than the way I posted earlier 🤣? Let's go! First, some items for sale from TexElec! We can see his test/demo computer here too!!


Next, Macintoshes, Macintoshes, and more Macintoshes. And look at that Kaypro sign! And the Teddy Ruxpins 😂

A few days ago, I had the Compaq laptop fleet out! Recently, I had "redone" my DOS/Win3.11 setup. I wanted to copy this new setup to all of my LTE 5000 laptops, but didn't want to completely reload them! Let's talk about what I did! Time for a quick 🧵


So, first question, why redo the setup? Recently, I loaded an XTIDE patch on my Compaq LTE 5400 to allow large drive support. I ended up having to really optimize conventional memory. I also simplified the boot process to always load network drivers:

https://x.com/RetroTechChris/status/2048599272732475516

I picked up this $5 VESA Local Bus I/O card at the System Source Swap Meet. Let's test it out! Time for a 🧵
This card is a SIIG Professional VL. And it has your typical I/O as you can see here: dual IDE, FDD, 2 serial, 1 parallel, and 1 game

Who here believes in redemption? The other day, I was cursing these SMC Elite 16 ISA network cards as they were giving me all sorts of trouble. Let's give them another chance since I have so many of them 😂. Time for a 🧵

Anyway, this thread starts out with a funny story. I grabbed a PC at random, and it happened to be the Kehtron PC. Guess what kind of card was already installed and operational in it? Yep, a SMC Elite 16 😂. Well, good, this problem should be solvable then!

I picked up a $5 ISA video card (!) at the System Source Swap Meet! Let's test it out. Time for a 🧵
So this card is based on the Cirrus Logic GD-5422 chipset. It looks to be a STB System Horizon card. I didn't count the memory, but looks to be 1MB

I got a memory upgrade in the mail yesterday for my Compaq Armada 7770MT! And, well... OF COURSE this was an adventure. Let's talk about it briefly in a 🧵 here!
So, why was this an adventure? After all, it's a simple memory upgrade, right? Well, for whatever reason, the display wasn't lighting up, so I went with an external monitor. Okay, fine.

I did a system restore on my $3.33 Packard Bell Legend 11CD. This is a GREAT little 486DX2/50 system. Let's talk about the restore process, in a 🧵 of course! The first thing that I did was to write out track 0 of the hard drive with Packard Bell System Credentials. I found credentials for a Packard Bell Legend 10CD, which is similar. I tweaked them a bit and then wrote them out! The HDD in this system is a 730MB Western Digital.

I decided to do "retro computing from the recliner" tonight, and set up Windows 3.11 For Workgroups on my "Super Armada 7770DMT". Let's talk about it briefly in a 🧵 here!
So, this particular computer doesn't have a traditional floppy drive since it originally had the dreaded Citizen W1D drive. No problem! We'll use OpenFlops and disk images where we need them!

https://x.com/RetroTechChris/status/1999951648538734687

Let's explore my second $3.33 Packard Bell that I bought at the System Source Warehouse Sale on Saturday. This one is a Packard Bell Legend 2440 Pentium 75MHz system, and, well.. it had quite the transformation 😂 Let's talk about it in a 🧵
So... first.. this computer was EXTREMELY DIRTY. It had spent most of its life secondhand smoking, I think. That poor power supply and floppy drive 🤮🤮

I've really been meaning to dive into these two $3.33 Packard Bells since getting them on Saturday! Let's have a look at the one on the top, a Legend 11CD 486DX2/50 system. After some restoration, I'm in love with it 😂. Time for a quick 🧵
So, first, you can see from the into pic that this thing REALLY cleaned up nicely. It was kind of a mangled mess. My first attempt to fix the mangled metal was not the best way, but here it is. The case at least closed when I was done, but there is more work to do.

I recently bought this lot of drives from eBay for $15, namely because I thought the Zip drive was cool 😂. Let's test time out, and talk about one serious testing blunder I made, in a 🧵 here!

The first drive: NEC CD-3200A, a 52X drive, but without the typical goofy branding on the front. This drive was not closing right, so I opened it up and cleaned it out, and then tested it. Well, I should have put it back in its casing before testing. 12V to ground killed it.

I picked up a bunch of ESDI hard drives at the System Source Swap Meet. These were on the free pile! I figured at least one of them should work in my IBM PS/2 Model 70 386... well, perhaps. Let's find out! 🧵 time! First, we have to start with the base case. Will the system start up with my 60MB ESDI drive in it? Yes. Good! Carry on!!

I spent some time swapping around components and upgrading one of my new LTE Elite 4/50CX systems! Let's talk about it! Time for a quick 🧵 So, first of all, this system has a 486DX2/50 processor. But some of you might recall that I bought a parts system at the System Source Warehouse sale. It's in terrible shape. But.. it has a 486DX4/75 processor! I swapped it in, and now we're cooking with gas!