bluejay

The data serial-connector is a 25-pin RS-232-C for all your web-surfing needs!  And also for your bzzzzzt. . . bzzzzzt. . . bzzzzzt printer.

I had forgotten all about using those old terminals, it was looking them up.  Here's a manual for the vt100 which was surprisingly hard to track down.

I remember using these things in college, I never used a Digital vt100; but it was basically a clone, a Lear Siegler.  These were the funkiest computers I'd ever seen in my life, lol, just friggin' ugly.  It was the early 90s, and people were still using these things. . . like for listserv and word-processing; they ran off an IBM. . . errrr. . . 3090 I think.  It was always fun writing a paper on these things at mid-terms; everyone else waited to the last minute like myself, the night before due-date, all the lag, stutter, and hiccups . . . why did an entire page of text completely disappear. . . why did it freeze for 20 secs. . . is it ever going to print?  Gosh, I was glad to see these things go.

I have to ask, what are you using one for?  I never could actually figure out what these dumb-clients (those Lear Sieglers were REALLY dumb) were really good for, other than database retrieval.  They were incredibly useful in libraries.

@patroclus99 I've recently gotten into telnet BBSing using TCPSER, and I thought a very old dumb terminal might be an interesting thing to mess about with. Of course, they are ridiculously expensive and I don't have one(yet).

I also tended to observe that a vintage rig may fail at several points in different ways. And a whole thorough going over the machine is a good idea. All socketed chips removed and cleaned. All important caps examined. All connectors buffed up and spit polished. Drive mechanics greased with CD-ROM grease. Power supply connectors cleaned and tensioned if needed. Maybe even replace the drive data cables if they've been played with a lot - remember they are press fitted and the ribbon cable is not soldered. So that could be hanging by a thread or have oxidation. You would also clean the slots. Check the interface cards for corrosion. Route cables away from internal RF noise. Check the CMOS battery. And much more.

IIRC if this is your machine:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compaq_Portable_II

..I could spend a whole month of evenings giving it a tune-up. A lot of tiny detailed manual labor, you know. Prep it for the next 2 decades. I mean that's what it takes. But I don't do much of that these days anymore - my interest having switched to software.

Many vintage motherboard repairs I've done were for things like the wrong voltage having been applied to a port which blew out the protection or a periphery chip. Or a chip that was being influenced to operate incorrectly by contamination or shorts or another marginal chip that remains functional. Sockets a big thing too. Shit like that.

Yeah, I have 2 of the multi IO cards and neither work. I've tried deoxit on the card slot and the connectors, and tried both of the 16 bit ISA slots. Didn't work. I'll have to take the whole thing completely apart and see what I can do to fix it. Meanwhile, I left my c128 off for too long and it decided to die as well. I managed to fix it partially but I think I may have to replace a few sockets. The thing originally came with sockets that have contacts only on one side. It also needs some new thermal grease. But a c128, unlike the Compaq, has no moving parts other than the keyboard so it shouldn't need as much maintenance.

I know I'm in the minority, but Simon's Quest has always been my favorite of the 3 NES Castlevania games.   Lots of people seem pretty down on it, saying it could never be beaten without internet, walkthroughs, etc, but I've never really understood that.  I first beat it when I was 11 or 12 back in the day (no help at all) and all of the puzzles had clues at some point that told you what to do.   The only point I remember getting stuck when renting the game was kneeling by the lake.  Right before I was supposed to take it back, I figured it out and didn't want to return it.  The rest of the evening was smooth sailing after I got over that rough patch.

@Razzie.P Wow, I'm really impressed. I believe a clue tells you at some point that the blue crystal reveals a path under the lake or something. But I never thought someone would be able to beat it with no help at all. You're definitely in the minority:)

I purchased this a week or two before Xmas in '88. My friends and I finally beat the game over Xmas school break soon after. The only spot we had trouble with was the red crystal (?) and resulting tornado. We actually called a Nintendo tip line for that one. Apparently that certain clue was somehow lost in translation over here. My biggest complaint is the boss guardians or lack thereof - wish there was one for each Dracula bodypart. Probably also throw in the final encounter with Dracula was way too easy.

I ain't laughing, I don't wanna go to hell

sorry have to laugh, also let me offer you some cryptic advice that is probably a lie, offer the red crystal to the third tree in the forest.

@masschamber Maybe you should audition for the next Castlevania NPC.

🤷‍♂️

Have you tried any of the re-translation hacks? There is one that re-translates as well as adds a save option and a map. To me, it's the definitive way to play this game, now.

I dig it.