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deepthaw

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Everything posted by deepthaw

  1. deepthaw
    No. Saturn was a super-scalar system that they panicked and tried to turn into a 3D system way too late, never even released a Sonic game on it, cost too much... While Sony came out of the gate firing on all cylinders. Even Nintendo struggled against the PS1, what could Sega have hoped to do?
  2. deepthaw
    I'm just impressed with all the timing that must have been involved in setting up the audio. A stock Apple II doesn't have enough memory to hold an entire floppy, so it has to have delays built-in to give it time to write chunks to disk - all without being able to talk back to the disk server and tell it to wait on sending more data.
  3. deepthaw

    Apple IIe Repairs

    deepthaw posted a blog entry in deepthaw's Blog

    I'd been seeing some weird crashes and refusals to boot from ProDOS on my Apple IIe, so I decided to run some tests. The built in diagnostic said everything was fine. Using the Apple IIe Diagnostic Software, it said there was a main memory failure, and running MECC's (the people who made Oregon Trail) Computer Inspector told me there was a problem in the auxiliary memory but main memory was fine. Ugh. I ended up using RAM Test Utility and it gave much better information. It was able to tell me that the problem was a stuck bit in my auxiliary memory, and even which chip it was. I swapped the chip with another one on the board to test, and the error moved to that socket so I knew I'd found the problem. I really lucked out in that all the DRAM was both socketed and the sockets were numbered. Problem. This board uses 4264 DRAM, and that's scarce on eBay or otherwise. Google told me that 4264's are backwards compatible with the more common 4164, but not vice-versa. I decided to risk $20 and ordered a big ol' tube of 4164 chips in the hope that they used 4264's because they were cheaper or more available at the time. Swapped the chip out, and success! Fixed all the sporadic problems I'd been having. Next up: Have a IIe enhancement kit on order, and once it shows up I'll be able to run ProTerm with the WiModem232 that came in last week. I'm already active on a few BBS's, so I look forward to checking into them from the IIe rather than SyncTERM or DOSBox/Telemate. I ordered a 3D printed case for it, but I'd love to get an old 2400 baud modem and replace its guts with the WiModem. But those are actually more expensive than I'm willing to pay, so itty bitty 3-D printed for now it is.
  4. deepthaw

    @bluejay Did you ever get your Apple II up and working? I've been learning to get one up and running as well.

    1. bluejay

      bluejay

      Oh, I was out of town for a while and totally forgot about it. I should probably get back to fixing that damn 80 columns card!

    2. deepthaw

      deepthaw

      @bluejay If you still need help drop me a line. I just got done fixing what sounds like an identical problem on my own system.

  5. deepthaw
    If that's not working, make sure caps lock is on. I'm just learning how to use an Apple IIe myself, and a stupid number of older programs won't accept lower-case versions of single-character responses.
  6. deepthaw
    Have you gotten ADTPro setup? There’s diagnostic software to test your cards. Both apples, control, reset. Should show KERNEL OK if it sees no errors.
  7. deepthaw
    If you've ever soldered, the power mod for 4-ports isn't difficult. I'm terrible at soldering and pulled it off. Every time I want to play my 5200, I just get angry at the controllers. And I don't feel like spending the money to have Best fix them up. To be honest, my 5200 is more of an accent piece in my retro-cave than something I actually play at the present. (Okay, Missile Command actually plays really well with the stock controllers, to be honest. And I think I'm alone in enjoying Pole Position. And Pac-Man's good.)
  8. deepthaw

    Think I have the Raspberry Pi setup to host ADTPro. We'll find out when my null modem and serial <-> USB cables show up tomorrow...

  9. deepthaw

    Apple IIe

    deepthaw commented on deepthaw's blog entry in deepthaw's Blog

    Those are expensive... I saw a post where somebody said to user printer paper soaked in alcohol put inside a floppy sleeve. Is that for real?
  10. deepthaw

    Trinitron Pickup

    deepthaw posted a blog entry in deepthaw's Blog

    It's been a good week for retro pick-ups. Snagged a 27" Trinitron (KV27S42) off FB Marketplace for free. Several people have done RGB mods on this set, so there's plenty of diagrams out there to use. The retro-nook is coming together faster than expected. I prefer the older curved models over the WEGA, mainly for weight and aesthetic reasons. (I think the WEGA sets are frankly ugly.)
  11. deepthaw

    Grabbed a 27" Trinitron for free off FB Marketplace. Been a good week for retro scores.

    1. masschamber

      masschamber

      that is a nice tv

    2. DragonGrafx-16

      DragonGrafx-16

      I just got one yesterday... I love it. I dunno if it's 27" but it's 20-something... within the golden range of CRTs (not to small you can't see anything and not too big that you can see the red/blue/green rectangles). 

    3. deepthaw

      deepthaw

      This is going in my basement (my retro-nook is finally coming together) so I didn't want another WEGA (I had one, despite being the same screen size, it felt like it weighted twice as much) and 27" really is the perfect size. There's also a pretty good write-up on RGB modding it, so that'll be a future goal too.

  12. deepthaw

    Apple IIe

    deepthaw posted a blog entry in deepthaw's Blog

    Saw an Apple IIe on Facebook Marketplace, and was mildly surprised. Vintage computers don't show up locally all that often, so I kept tabs on it. It started at $300, then rapidly went down to $70 over a few days. Christmas I decided to pick it up. It was advertised as non-tested but made noises like it worked. Figured even a broken Apple IIe for $70 wasn't a bad deal (especially since I wouldn't have to pay shipping) so I snagged it Christmas day. Turns out my haul was: Apple IIe 128K with 80 column card, super serial card. (works fine) DuoDisk (working fine) Apple Monitor II (monochrome green, working fine) Image Writer II (missing a piece on the back, haven't had a chance to test it.) I borrowed some Apple floppies from a friend to test the unit, and so far as I can tell it all works fine. Used the outstanding Apple Disk Server to create a ProDOS floppy with utilities via the cassette port, and even the disk drives are fine (CopyIIPlus says they should read 200ms, both are within 1ms of that.) The real score is that a friend's kids have been staying with us a few nights a week while they handle some issues at home. One of them is a typical preteen boy video gamer, and he showed some interest in "that old computer." Powered it on, showed him BASIC, and had him writing his own programs by the end of the night. Despite being brought up on Minecraft and Call of Duty, that monochrome green screen was still addicting as hell because *he* was writing the programs that ran on it. I've already ordered a sealed box of floppies, serial cable, and serial<->usb adapter. My next plan is setup A2CLOUD and/or ADTPro so I can get it online and start grabbing more software. There's some BBS's (yes, as in dial-up, except they all use telnet now) I visit, so it'd be nice to try and get onto those with the Apple IIe. Of course there's games to play (I'm a huge Wizardry nut, and have been fiending to play it on the original hardware.) Reproduction Mockingboards aren't unreasonably priced, so I'll have to get one of those before moving onto Ultima. Also want to get the IIe enhanced kit, and an "official" color monitor. I'm using a small Trinitron when I need color, but I honestly prefer how sharp things are on the monochrome green screen. I'll keep everbody posted.
  13. deepthaw

    Snagged an Apple IIe with Duodisk, Monitor 2 and Imagewriter (all untested) for $70. Looks nice, so even if it needs some repairs I think it was worth it.

    1. deepthaw

      deepthaw

      So this thing seems to work. Monitor is nice and sharp (and sexy green), self test succeeds, and was able to load a couple titles via the cassette interface. The duo disk makes weird noises and the light stays on, so that will need attention once I actually have floppies to read.

    2. simbalion

      simbalion

      Sounds good so far. All my green monitors have hit the recap stage and I really need to find someone in the area with the skills to redo one or two. Me.. I'm scary with solder!

    3. bluejay

      bluejay

      $70? Damn!

      Congrats!

    4. Show next comments  3 more
  14. deepthaw
    I think he means people consider it the first 32-bit CD-ROM based system (at least according to Wikipedia.) Apparently it had a 386sx, and I'm wondering how I'd never heard of it before.
  15. deepthaw
    Namco's System 11 was based on the PlayStation as well.
  16. deepthaw
    I don't see any way the PS3 was "light years" ahead of the Xbox 360, and I'm unaware of any traditional processors of today that the Cell beats out. The Neo*Geo *was* light years ahead, but feels a bit like cheating since it wasn't really aimed at the same market. But it was unique in the overpriced console family ($699 3DO?) in that it wasn't immediately overshadowed by another system (RIP 3DO, 9/9/95. Long live PS1.) If you look at the portable space, Nintendo's offerings regularly got trounced specs-wise by handhelds that *were* light years ahead. Yet all of them fell before the juggernaut that is Big N when it came to market share.
  17. deepthaw

    Been playing a lot of Quake 1 lately. Finished it on hard, working on the mission packs now.

    1. Austin

      Austin

      I still need to finish the second mission pack. I found it to be a significant difficulty spike over the base game and the first mission back.

  18. deepthaw

    Been on an 80’s movie kick of late. Watched Fletch, Stripes, UHF, Beverly Hills Cop, and about to start Lethal Weapon. 

    1. Machine

      Machine

      How did "Fletch" hold up? Stripes is still great, just watched it last year.

       

    2. deepthaw

      deepthaw

      Eeeeh... It has its moments, but as an adult, it's all the more obvious it's just Chevy Chase's excuse to dress up and play not particularly funny characters.

    3. Machine

      Machine

      We saw Chevy at a Screening of "Caddyshack" a few months back.  He answered questions for around 90 minutes afterwards. He came off very likeable and still funny. Said Fletch is one of his favorite movies he was in....My 15 yr old son LOVED Caddyshack and thought Chevy was cool. We both are huge fans of the TV show "Community".

  19. deepthaw

    Groop, I implore thee.

  20. deepthaw
    Is it the best? No. But Eternal Darkness deserves a place in the top tier.
  21. deepthaw
    Sega Ages + ACA Neo*Geo + assorted other ports has truly made the Switch fantastic for the old-man gamer. Do PS4 and XBone get as much love in that area?
  22. deepthaw

    I despise stock Intel CPU fans. On the plus side, the upgrade is complete.

    1. CPUWIZ

      CPUWIZ

      Don't think that was my fault.

    2. Zoyous

      Zoyous

      I just replaced mine!

    3. RodLightning

      RodLightning

      The older LGA775 fans and sinks seemed to be slightly better made than what they currently produce.

       

  23. deepthaw

    They called me MAD when I said i was going to mod a Jaguar controller to use a rotary phone dial in place of the keypad. Turns out they were right.

    1. Swami

      Swami

      I remember the opposite: The pulse phones where you push a button on the phone keypad and it would click the number of times for the key. Unsure what it did for star or asterisk, probably 11 or 12. Anyhoot, 🦉 those Jaguars 🐾 just don't like your rotary phone clicks.

  24. deepthaw
    Wish the fire buttons on the left-stick version weren't so close to the two start/reset/pause buttons. Still, one of these will probably be a gift to myself this Christmas.
  25. deepthaw
    Hard to tell. We'd have to know the precise brand and model. There's been a number of Genesis controller re-releases recently, some of which are actually intended to work with original hardware, some with modern systems and the Genesis mini. My guess would be that if Best Buy carries them, they're the USB versions for use on modern consoles as well as the Genesis mini. http://retro-bit.com/sega-collaboration
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