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The 8-bit guy blows up IBM 7496 prototype(?)


bluejay

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20 hours ago, wierd_w said:

He's in Dallas?  That's a day or so drive from here.  I am probably the closest to that area.

 

Nope ;)  We're a lot closer to him than that.  That said, I have no interest at all in these machines other than as a curiosity.  Someone heavily into x86-architecture stuff is welcome to them in my book; they'd certainly give them a more appropriate home than I would.

 

19 hours ago, wierd_w said:

There were ISA PS/2 systems? wow. Never encountered one.  Always was blessed with the MCA slots.

 

Specific model numbers escape me, but my University had two labs kitted out with ISA PS/2s (perhaps a couple of dozen in total).  I was one of the students working in Computing Services who had the unenviable task of finding out what people had crammed through various slots on the machine or what they had 'liberated' from its internals.

 

They stick in my mind because they kept having their ISA Ethernet cards (10bT / 10b2 combo) stolen.  It didn't seem to matter what we did to try to prevent that; someone (who probably had a key) was regularly pilfering them.  I replaced a *lot* of those cards.

Edited by x=usr(1536)
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On 9/25/2020 at 11:28 PM, bluejay said:

A few hours ago the 8 bit guy uploaded a video of himself hastily trying to get an incredibly rare IBM 7496 Executive Workstation prototype working properly. He proceeds to dremel the sides of a screwdriver and sticks a paper clip inside the power supply, making it blow up. I'm a fan of the 8 bit guy, but on this episode it feels like he was rushing thing much more than he should have. There are plenty of other people on youtube that would have gladly taken their time to work out what was wrong with them.

If you think about it, this system is potentially rarer than an Apple I. With this in mind, would he have stuck a paper clip inside the power supply? It's obvious he's too busy right now, working on all sorts of things, and maybe it's time for him to take things slower and dedicate time into restoration projects like he used to.

If you haven't yet watched the video: 

 

Yeah, this video was a bit of a fire and sh*t show.  I usually like his videos, but this one just seemed completely off kilter.  Definitely a video that I am sure he wishes he could have done completely different. 

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Ouch. that was bad. Looking at the color of the cables running up to the monitor they looked like AC power based on UK coding (brown/blue and green/yellow) So I guess he just shorted out his entire mains with that paperclip. Not a good look.

 

Those were beautiful machines in great condition. Deserve better.

 

I was a big fan but if this is the direction his site is going then I think I'm done.

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To be fair, this isn't EEVBlog or Louis Rossmann we're talking about.

He's not someone you go to to learn new electronic skills.

 

He runs a channel that appeals to mostly casual retro fans.

 

From time to time, people are going to be shouting at the screen.  He is who he is... ;-)

 

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3 hours ago, desiv said:

To be fair, this isn't EEVBlog or Louis Rossmann we're talking about.

He's not someone you go to to learn new electronic skills.

 

He runs a channel that appeals to mostly casual retro fans.

 

From time to time, people are going to be shouting at the screen.  He is who he is... ;-)

 

True, and it's really not fair to expect 100% accuracy from any channel.  Errors and omissions do make their way in from time to time, and things can just plain go wrong on occasion.

 

However, the big difference that I see in this particular video is that he did things that were just downright irresponsible.  Considering his past history of troubleshooting and restoring old systems, he should have known better - especially given his past career in tech support.

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Vintage hardware is just finicky I bricked my Gateway 2000 P590 when I had a socket for the Dallas RTC put in... for some reason it would no longer boot. I'm just glad I have A Socket 7 board in my DOS PC now... no more stupid RTC and just use a CR2032...

Edited by DragonGrafx-16
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Unlikely, but I'm honestly wondering if he could have done this for clicks knowing that there would be a brewhaha about it. Otherwise I just don't get why anyone who's worked with electrical/electronic equipment would do what he did. The output he bridged must have been power and CRT monitors usually have a mains input, explaining the three pins. It's a near "setting your meter to current and sticking it in the mains" level of mistake.

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On 9/26/2020 at 12:07 PM, bluejay said:

I'm beginning to see the decline of his channel. It sorta reminds me of the video game crash of '83 really.

I've been thinking the same thing. He's so slow at producing videos that I've stopped visiting his channel, because I've already seen his entire library. He clearly needs help with video production, because it's consuming way too much of his time. I got into his channel, because I love 8bit and 16bit classic machines. He showcased some cool hardware and software, and his Planet X3 game journal videos were super fascinating.

 

He's got to stop doing everything and outsource the busy work. He is simply not producing content fast enough and this botched job shows it. Now he's consuming too much of his time on the new studio build, when he should be letting contractors handle it. I think he should devote half his time to game production and journaling his progress, because that's what he excelled at. He's a great game developer, so why not lean into that?

 

And worse yet, he didn't have to begin hacking up this machine to generate filler content. He could have simply showcased the computer, ruminate on why it's not booting, and simply left it that. The solutions would have come in the comments for diagnosing the machine. There are so many interesting filler videos he could have done to keep the channel churning. Interviews, showcasing retro stores, the history of the Crash of '83, start a new DOS game, etc.

 

-----

 

Update: Six hours after I commented it seems he posted a rundown of his new game. Neat.

Edited by azure
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Another way to possibly look at this is that there is a positive to him leaving this in.

It shows mistakes people make when doing these things.  Mistakes you can avoid and it reinforces that these guys are just normal people having fun.

A lot of more professional channels would probably edit out mistakes, or not post a vid that ended badly.  And that is fine if that is what you are looking for in a tech video.

 

As for what he needs to do for his channel, I think that depends mostly on views.

If his channel is still doing well and he is having fun, then that is probably what really matters to him...

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I think he could have dremeled a slot in the security screws without reaching the metal housing underneath.  But a security bit set is cheap and I know they can open those screws, I have an IBM PC/XT Power Supply that uses them.  I definitely believe he has reached his Peter Principle here.

 

 

 

 

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On 9/28/2020 at 8:45 PM, DragonGrafx-16 said:

Vintage hardware is just finicky I bricked my Gateway 2000 P590 when I had a socket for the Dallas RTC put in... for some reason it would no longer boot. I'm just glad I have A Socket 7 board in my DOS PC now... no more stupid RTC and just use a CR2032...

Coincidentally, I've been spending the last two weeks getting a Gateway 2000 P5-60 finally running that I got for free over ten years ago. After going through two hard drives, a power supply, and waiting for parts from the mail, it's working. I'm currently waiting for an Aztech MMSN824 sound card so I can finally have sound.

 

The Dallas RTC isn't dead, and I've been debating on whether to wait until it is to do a CR2032 mod on it or not, or something else entirely. I'm not too experienced with soldering or de-soldering, and I'd be angry with myself if I ruined it.

 

 

 

So anyways, coming from watching LGR and Phil's Computer Lab the last couple weeks to 8-Bit Guy's video was jarring and the comments are now disabled. Even I know that it was a stupid idea shorting out the PSU. And I think it's wise to invest in a collection of screwdriver bits, especially if you have Nintendo consoles, which is something I think he should have had already. I've been watching RetroSpector78 and he seems to be much more knowledgeable and has a nice setup.

Edited by xenomorpher
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What amused me slightly was the disconnect between the meter he used and the way he went about things. Fluke meters aren't cheap, and typically you'd choose one over a much cheaper meter, that might actually have more functionality, because you want one that is safe and reliable. Having the most reliable or expensive meter in the world is going to be of no benefit to you if you're going to ignore what it's telling you (e.g. not a dead short), and have a recklessly cavalier attitude.

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I appreciated that response personally.

OLD CS1, perhaps you missed the part where he mentioned this video is unlisted??

This is a video people will only see if they are interested...  He has over a million subscribers and I would think he put it out because he thinks some of them would be interested and, if so, can click and view it.

I supposed an appropriate response to you might be:

What is it with the YouTube viewers who click a video with a specific title, and then complain about the content of said video?   ?

 

But, for each his own...  ;-)

 

Edited by desiv
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It was a good reply video. I still have a real problem with the lack of respect for someone else's property. Unless of course they said 'feel free to wreck it'. I don't agree with his politics. But I really don't agree with them being dragged into the discussion especially when they have never entered his 8-bit channel at any time. As for the racism claim... not worthy of any kind of a response. 

 

But at the end of the day it's his future content that will be the judge of the channel and it's future. I am glad to say the next video posted with the Petscii game was back to the quality I have enjoyed so I will be sticking around for now. 

 

Just don't loan him any IBM stuff! 

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