[X] My Assistant

very nice collection of stuff in general, and congrats

Thanks. Kind of want to get rid of some of it actually. If you want an untested MDA monitor that needs a new D-sub connector but PROBABLY works, or a working AT&T 6300 (Olivetti M24) with 8086 CPU, 640KB RAM, and a working monochrome green screen CRT, they are probably both available.
The untested MDA screen certainly is. I think it has an amber tube, so it might be quite nice. I really love amber screens, but I just don't have any computers that actually use MDA (the AT&T uses some weird proprietary thing at a higher resolution). Was given the screen though and I don't want it scrapped because I have good reason to believe all it needs is a new DA15 connector.

Got some spare Wyse keyboards, too.

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Getting a monitor tomorrow or today for the PC98, and IDK when I'll get what is probably the final thing, yet another SCSI cable variant. But hope it's soon.

Thought:
There are too many SCSI connectors.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Oct 25 2023, 11:05

Thanks. Kind of want to get rid of some of it actually. If you want an untested MDA monitor that needs a new D-sub connector but PROBABLY works, or a working AT&T 6300 (Olivetti M24) with 8086 CPU, 640KB RAM, and a working monochrome green screen CRT, they are probably both available.
The untested MDA screen certainly is. I think it has an amber tube, so it might be quite nice. I really love amber screens, but I just don't have any computers that actually use MDA (the AT&T uses some weird proprietary thing at a higher resolution). Was given the screen though and I don't want it scrapped because I have good reason to believe all it needs is a new DA15 connector.

Got some spare Wyse keyboards, too.

of those which overlap in interesting and would survive overseas shipping its probably only a wyse keyboard, dont you have family members who would be interested in such or local clubs/thigns?

in thoughts/experiences
happened to be moaning about not using wireless on my current openwrt router (wrt1900acs), got to talking with some people also looking for decent wired only options. then one thing lead to another and I bought some cheaply listed written off sophos firewall, sg210. which seem to all be capable of running a full os like pfsense or opnsense. have a sophos at work as well a couple series higher so I know they dont mess around with hardware.
the overpriced (when new) enterprise hardware sits at a pretty nice place where they become pretty much useless to companies without license, but if they can run alternative free options they're still as good for individuals, and the quality is often pretty nice

This post has been edited by cate_chan: Oct 26 2023, 22:38

of those which overlap in interesting and would survive overseas shipping its probably only a wyse keyboard, dont you have family members who would be interested in such or local clubs/thigns?

If in Europe, you have the Olivetti M24 which is compatible with the AT&T 6300 (basically they are the same thing - though you may need a stepdown transformer unless you transplant a PSU from an M24. And the M24 looks prettier anyway, IMO).

Family members? Interested in anything other than the latest Apple iCrap and OLED TV's? Don't make me laugh.
I could ship pretty much anything and make it survive the trip, but the shipping cost can get scary fast.

In good and somewhat-related news, my $330 fixed-scan 24KHz NEC monitor ($30 at auction, then $300 in shipping... ouch) actually works fine.
[postimg.cc] (IMG:[i.postimg.cc] https://i.postimg.cc/GtmttMyJ/IMG-0666-sm.jpg)

Also got it cleaned up nicely. Took two or three hours.
Not sure it was worth it (wasn't expecting to spend that much in shipping), but it does look nicer than I had hoped to be able to make it look. It's technically an early-ish(?) PC-8801 monitor. Launched January 1983. Probably my oldest working CRT, now. Should also be Sharp X1 digital RGB compatible, if I ever get one. The red ones look beautiful.
[postimg.cc] (IMG:[i.postimg.cc] https://i.postimg.cc/vm2Hj8nb/before-after-monitor-pc-kd851-sm.jpg)

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Oct 27 2023, 10:16

Immediately after getting this all set up, I take my amiga monitor out and decide to play around in Fallout 2 again on the gateway.

*POP*

...and I have no green anymore. (Everything is tinted purple).
Fuck.
So I guess a capacitor popped on the green line, probably.

I swear my amiga's monitor is cursed. It's needed the most repairs out of any of my CRT's and it can't seem to go a single year without needing another one. I got it already full of bodge wires and I've had to add another two and replace a transistor already.

None of the caps are visibly vented, so I'll be doing some tedious work on the neckboard of it after I've slept of desoldering them and replacing one by one. And reading shitty, barely legible scans of a service manual.

If the tube didn't look so damn good, and it wasn't bi-scan capable (15KHz and 480p VGA), I'd probably not bother anymore.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Oct 27 2023, 12:21

None of the caps are visibly vented, so I'll be doing some tedious work on the neckboard of it after I've slept of desoldering them and replacing one by one. And reading shitty, barely legible scans of a service manual.

a lot of people always go on about how all the aged stuff should be recapped as soon as you get it, and I know they have a fair point. but I can never bring myself to put in that effort when it works as is still either. for a moment my old scope stopped working after the move and I thought my days of avoiding that recap were over but it let some smoke out and started working again after leaving it on for a while.
good luck

to continue the good news of arrived second hand goods, my sophos device survived fine too, in a lot better nick than expected, seems this indeed just lived in a rack all its life until decomissioned.

easy time installing opnsense on it as well, the thing is basically a regular computer in rack format. fully expected opnsense to not play nice with some hardware or device specific things but it all 'just worked'
will have to wait on some cables and patchbays to get it into the setup and use it as main router but so far so good.

a lot of people always go on about how all the aged stuff should be recapped as soon as you get it, and I know they have a fair point.

Only because its the easiest thing to do, and eliminates one thing on the repair check list.

The problem with modern tech is they don't even bother recapping or repair. I had a DAC I wanted repaired but its design was too bespoke, even the builder was like 'if its not caps its not worth it due to the cost of the time to trouble shoot".

I swear my amiga's monitor is cursed. It's needed the most repairs out of any of my CRT's and it can't seem to go a single year without needing another one. I got it already full of bodge wires and I've had to add another two and replace a transistor already.

Sometimes I regret getting rid of all my old stuff but then I remember half of it was in different states of repair.

Only because its the easiest thing to do, and eliminates one thing on the repair check list.

The problem with modern tech is they don't even bother recapping or repair. I had a DAC I wanted repaired but its design was too bespoke, even the builder was like 'if its not caps its not worth it due to the cost of the time to trouble shoot".
Sometimes I regret getting rid of all my old stuff but then I remember half of it was in different states of repair.

The good thing is that there's only four caps, two transistors, and one IC that it could be. The caps can easily be ordered; there are probably substitutes for the transistors even if the originals are NLA (they might be in production still for all I know).

So if it's anything but the IC it's an easy fix, and even if it's the IC I've been able to find the part for sale so it'd just be excruciatingly painful to desolder but otherwise fine.

Couple that with the fact that I heard a pop, and I know that unless the pop was caused by an external factor or the dead capacitor killed connected components, I just need to replace a capacitor.

If I fixed my vacuum powered desoldering iron, that IC would be easy too. But parts for it are much more expensive even though parts are abundant.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Oct 28 2023, 10:38

now powering my network with enough resources for a medium business, at least thats a worry of it being a bottleneck or overheating gone

might continue down this route and also upgrade desktop with more of the written off enterprise hardware I've collected, seems pretty cost effect

No I mean my skull is literally too big for this thing to physically fit unless I manually mod it somehow. Even when the band is hugging my scalp, I struggle to fit my ears into the ear pads.

I was looking for the larger replacement band but its no longer available. Only the oem band is available.

My SD-to-SCSI adapter thingy isn't working; I tried my actual Seagate Barracuda from 1996, and it ALMOST worked once and then didn't work again on reboot.

I am therefore blaming both myself for maybe doing something wrong and my SCSI controller card for being an undocumented piece of shit with too many DIP switches.

Bought one that's entirely software-controlled by holding a key combo at boot. Maybe this will work better (and support larger drives, too).

I'll keep messing with this one in the meantime.

I've tried all sorts of terminaton settings, using active external terminators, etc.. - and all sorts of DIP switch settings. SCSI continues to be a nightmare.

If anyone here has a PC98 and a TEAC IF-55TB SCSI controller, I'd love some help. I know that's unlikely.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Oct 29 2023, 06:46

So if it's anything but the IC it's an easy fix, and even if it's the IC I've been able to find the part for sale so it'd just be excruciatingly painful to desolder but otherwise fine.

There used to be a business here that was family owned that stockpiled all the old parts, it was one of the best repositories of old electronics parts on this side of the planet. Unfortunately I think they went broke.

I got some 70/80s ICs from them once, and was like 'wtf' how do you still have these. They had contracts to be the domestic wholesaler for parts for repair and when old brands when broke they bought up their inventory. Its quite a shame, you could repair virtually anything sold up until late 90s. Though people don't repair shit anymore.


Also I remembered I had a new in box sega master system at some point.... the fuck did I do with that... I must have given it a way like a dick head.

I think because I had a master system and a mega drive with the converter at the time I must have given it to someone.

Man that would be sick to have now lol.


I vaguely remember, maybe I didn't buy it, and a family friend was trying to sell it to me maybe? Would have been cool to buy. I think it had the light phazor too.

This post has been edited by EsotericSatire: Oct 29 2023, 12:01

I was looking for the larger replacement band but its no longer available. Only the oem band is available.

Replaced the stock round pads with the oval ones I was using for M40x. That shit took me an entire hour to fit, holy god. But my ears finally fit inside now. Removing the headband also works but my scalp takes the beating instead if I do so.

Now that I can finally see my hourly energy consumption/cost, I realize I don't really see an impact when using my graphic card and cpu at max power (gpu max measured is 290W, "CPU Package" is 542.2W and "CPU Cores" at 463.5W on Open Hardware Monitor Version 0.9.5).
It's what making hot water that suddenly cause the consumption to triple, based on times it happen.

Now that I can finally see my hourly energy consumption/cost, I realize I don't really see an impact when using my graphic card and cpu at max power (gpu max measured is 290W, "CPU Package" is 542.2W and "CPU Cores" at 463.5W on Open Hardware Monitor Version 0.9.5).
It's what making hot water that suddenly cause the consumption to triple, based on times it happen.

Yeah its why I ditched all the overclocks and tried to optimize underclocks instead. I get 95% of stock performance for 20-30% less power consumption.

What CPU are you using?



They promised going green would lower energy costs except all the wind, solar, hydro, battery projects are 4x over projected cost and a decade behind schedule. So energy prices are just going to rise 30-50% every year for the next 10 years.




Also we scrapped light rail to build mono-rail now we have scrapped the mono-rail to build light rail.

This post has been edited by EsotericSatire: Oct 29 2023, 23:20

There used to be a business here that was family owned that stockpiled all the old parts, it was one of the best repositories of old electronics parts on this side of the planet. Unfortunately I think they went broke.

I got some 70/80s ICs from them once, and was like 'wtf' how do you still have these. They had contracts to be the domestic wholesaler for parts for repair and when old brands when broke they bought up their inventory. Its quite a shame, you could repair virtually anything sold up until late 90s. Though people don't repair shit anymore.
Also I remembered I had a new in box sega master system at some point.... the fuck did I do with that... I must have given it a way like a dick head.

I think because I had a master system and a mega drive with the converter at the time I must have given it to someone.

Man that would be sick to have now lol.
I vaguely remember, maybe I didn't buy it, and a family friend was trying to sell it to me maybe? Would have been cool to buy. I think it had the light phazor too.

if you want a partially-dead master system I've got one. Might just need new RAM or something. Though I know shipping would kill the deal. Might be cheaper from Japan.

There was a shop like that here too, went tits-up around 2008.

if you want a partially-dead master system I've got one. Might just need new RAM or something. Though I know shipping would kill the deal. Might be cheaper from Japan.

There was a shop like that here too, went tits-up around 2008.

Its okay, there is a dude that can do a HDMI-bodge SMS if I want it. I am not sure if I want it that much, like when I borrowed one, I played a lot of my old games but I'd played them so much in the past that it was novel but I got bored of them again too quickly. SMS does upscale pretty cleanly on my TV though, but not the same as a CRT.

I am still tempted to try to make some sort of FM-chip, HDMI mod super SMS but I am not sure I will play it enough.

If I had a large house with a gaming room and CRTs so I could leave a collection set up so I could play on a whim, but I don't.

Then there is always nostalgia vs reality. Do I dump a ton of money into a system that might not live upto unrealistic expectations?

Also do I like keep rebuying the old games, I had the sega mega collection on PS2, PS3, WII etc. If I get switch for retro, it feels a bit dodge that I keep rebuying stuff over and over.

Maybe I'll go back and get the psvita dock working, it has all the old games on it, NES/SNES/SMS/MegaDrive/PS1. Though I think privating the redit slowed down development.

Then there is always nostalgia vs reality. Do I dump a ton of money into a system that might not live upto unrealistic expectations?

Yes; yes you do.

My Amiga monitor is shit because it's early 90s Korean tech. My other monitors are fine.

Getting a VGA distribution amp so I can capture the output from my PC98 and Amiga while retaining the ability to use them with CRT's.

Got an HDMI capture thing already, and a scaler, so I'll be piping the split output from the distribution amp to the scaler which feeds into the HDMI capture.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Oct 30 2023, 19:33

If anyone else is annoyed with ebay and having to re-log-in each time you visit it from a different computer (for instance between my laptop and desktop), you can let them both stay logged in if you export your ebay cookies from the computer you most recently logged in on and import them into your browser on the other computer.

It's a little bit of a bother moving the files between the computers, but it's worth it.

If anyone needs a step-by-step guide on exporting cookies I could help with that.

Bought even more SCSI cables and terminators today to try to figure out this stupid fucking thing. Also got another SCSI controller card on the way.

This time got a known-active/regulated terminator (from Sun Microsystems) to try to eliminate termination as a factor. And the second cable is just to see if that changes anything and it's actually my cable's fault.

I love the idea of SCSI, but I kind of hate SCSI.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Nov 1 2023, 20:31

Finally sold part of my soul to a devil, namely Google, to get back access to an account that was lost since...2007 maybe, due to refusing to provide a phone.
If all goes well, it should not bother me anymore like that because I configured TOTP (or TTOP, well whatever) and hopefully it will overwrite the need for a phone.

Finally sold part of my soul to a devil, namely Google, to get back access to an account that was lost since...2007 maybe, due to refusing to provide a phone.
If all goes well, it should not bother me anymore like that because I configured TOTP (or TTOP, well whatever) and hopefully it will overwrite the need for a phone.

I am kinda like, do I try to get burner phones, just to get access to google accounts where I don't want to link my identity?

Like how modern blu-ray players can play MKV files over a USB. We didn't get there overnight.

I feel like support for this is fairly begrudging though. I have a UHD player that has good up-scaling but it doesn't upscale video files off usb very well. My TV does it way better and has better compatibility now.

The best for up-scaling and compatibility was my nvidia shield but they kept nerfing mkv and video format support at different times to promote streaming services and streaming up-scaling. Also they kept breaking local network media streaming support.

There were VHS / DVD combos with xvid support but it was pretty spotty like some only supported official divx profiles.

This post has been edited by EsotericSatire: Nov 2 2023, 04:02