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New old 800 treasures/horrors


jamm

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Could be a few different things - someone may have installed a Centronics printer interface internally; could be a connector for a home-brew external keyboard; might also be an interface for some kind of external device like a POS terminal, etc. Time to crack it open and see!

 

 

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And @DrVenkman shows us why he's the master of the paranormal!  Yep, it's an external keyboard hookup.  I had no idea!  I assumed it was an RS-232 adapter.

 

Keybd 1.jpeg

 

Keybd 2.jpeg

 

But the mysteries don't end there.  We have two switches mounted/cut into the bottom-front of the case.  I don't know what these are, but they seem to be related to some custom OS mod?

 

Switches 1.jpeg

 

Switches 2.jpeg

 

Switches 3.jpeg

 

Two of the RAM board look completely normal, but the middle one is modified and so is the personality board.

 

RAM front.jpeg

 

RAM back.jpeg

 

Per front.jpeg

 

Per back.jpeg

 

I only tested as far as hooking up to a display and turning it on.  I get a black-and-white Memo Pad screen.  The seller did advertise that this would be the case, but he never included pictures showing the other external modifications.

 

I'm not really sensitive to the stuff, but the smoke smell is pretty intense. ?

 

Edited by jamm
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51 minutes ago, jamm said:

Anyone care to bet on what I'll find in this 800 I bought for parts to help me diagnose my other problem child? 

This one smells very strongly of a smoker's household, so I'll have to find a way to deal with that, too.

 

 

IMG_0916.jpeg

IMG_0918.jpeg

IMG_0917.jpeg

A butcher's beloved creature... That's how it looks.

 

You will need a full tear-down, clorine wash of externals, 90% alchohol on most board-surfaces, and dumpster-dispose what smells bad after treatment. That yellow-dark seria# sticker speaks volumes.

 

I am beginning to think that a MoBo swap or CPU board swap would isolate your problem-child. That would allow set you in the right troubleshooting direction.

 

Good luck!

Edited by Faicuai
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Just now, Faicuai said:

A butcher;'s beloved creature... That's how it looks.

 

You will need a full tear-down, clorine wash of externals, 90% alchohol on most board-surfaces, and dispose what smells bad after treatment.

 

I am beginning to think that a MoBo swap or CPU board swap would isolate your problem-child. That would allow set you in the right troubleshooting direction.

 

Good luck!

Yeah, this poor thing was abused.  I'll get it cleaned up after I get the first one back on its feet.

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For the smoke smell, there's a couple things to try. First is the easiest - put the parts, disassembled, into a storage tote or tub with a snap-on lid. Put a few open boxes of baking soda or activated charcoal in there and close the lid.  A few days will kill most really strong odors. That might not be enough though - nicotine stains tend to stick to surfaces pretty well. So you might also try scrubbing everything with 90%+ isopropyl alcohol to remove the worst of it. I'd suggest soaking rather than scrubbing the RAM board, but you might try cleaning with cotton swabs around all the bodge wires for the mods.

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I'm curious what you guys think the OS and RAM board modifications and switches might be for.  Those additional chips sitting feet-up on the boards can't be turned over to positively identify without some additional work as they seem to be glued on.

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Cool upgrade.  Sorry you have to suffer through the hell of getting some disgusting smoker's goods.  I can't think of a more vile stench to have to deal with. If any smoker is offended, tough shit.  Dad had 4th stage cancer and surprise, kept smoking.  It really intensified my lifelong hatred of being forced to suck in 2nd hand smoke.

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1 hour ago, Justin Payne said:

Smoker, eh. Unfortunately, you now probably have a right and left cartcinogen slot. ??

Don't toss anything, even if it smells like smoke. I'm sure someone here is interested in parts.

I'll have to put a filter on those slots!

 

The other reason I got this 800 (besides the juicy power board) was that I was hoping I'd get a different keyboard to try out.  My current one is a Mitsumi, which is actually working perfectly now that I've performed the silver paint fix on the Mylar/PCB interface, scraped (gently) the contact pads, and lubed the sliders. {Now *there's* a sentence I've never written before!}  Luckily, this smokey fellow has the Hi-Tek keyboard, which is the one I was curious to try out.

 

I won't have a need for the modified RAM cards.  Smokey will get the ones I'm freeing up from my clean 800 once Incognito is all done.  I doubt anyone would want oddly modified RAM boards, though?

 

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5 minutes ago, Rybags said:

As an ex smoker - an effective way for walls is liquid sugar soap which can be had as either a premixed spray or just add water DIY solution.

From memory I used a slightly abrasive sponge but for computer plastic you'd probably want to experiment.

Thanks!  I've have the parts sitting in a closed bin with some baking soda, but I don't think it's made that much of a dent so far.  I've honestly never been around equipment with such a... thorough... smell.

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