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Retrocomputing

Questions tagged [hardware-mods]

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For questions about modifications to retro hardware.

21 questions
Newest Active Bountied Unanswered
13 votes
1 answer
1k views

I have a 1991 vintage AST Premium Exec 386SX/20 laptop, which is in excellent condition apart from that the original hard drive and the floppy drive are both dead. I've replaced the hard drive with a ...
user882326721's user avatar
  • 345
4 votes
0 answers
220 views

I came across this post from a user 18 years years ago, where he had some luck in upgrading chips on the board 2.3. is it possible? He says he was able to get 2MB chip ram and ECS Super Denise, can I ...
Bartek Malysz's user avatar
  • 4,262
10 votes
2 answers
836 views

I need to make a 25 pin Sub-D extension cable for my C128D keyboard. I think it may be as easy as connecting male pins from one side to corresponding female pins on the other side, but need ...
Bartek Malysz's user avatar
  • 4,262
4 votes
1 answer
352 views

Is this an IDE or something completely different. Could it be used to connect gotek?
Bartek Malysz's user avatar
  • 4,262
5 votes
2 answers
2k views

I would like to replace the ST502 MFM disk controller in my Schneider Target PC 7640 (about which I asked earlier) with an ATA (IDE) controller as it gets harder and harder to find replacement MFM ...
fuz's user avatar
  • 1,614
4 votes
2 answers
519 views

I've seen a lot of information on CDTV ROM switchers, but it is still unclear to me what is the actual purpose of it. As I understand it allows some compatibility with A500 games, but this disables CD ...
Bartek Malysz's user avatar
  • 4,262
7 votes
2 answers
435 views

I have an early Apple IIc, model A2S4000 with the 342-0272 motherboard and ROM 255. (I am considering upgrading the ROM, perhaps with a switch that would let me switch between different ROM versions.) ...
cjs's user avatar
  • 29.5k
-1 votes
1 answer
150 views

I put together a retro gaming setup with a 2000ish spec (can post specs if required) and it's come together pretty nicely except the CPU fan is insanely shrill (it's a Coolermaster something). If I ...
Sam's user avatar
  • 421
4 votes
1 answer
194 views

I have an ACA1221 accelerator (not EC). The card is clocked at 28MHz and get's VERY hot. Even when running on default 17MHz the temperature can go as high as 65'C. Is there any way to use any of the ...
Bartek Malysz's user avatar
  • 4,262
2 votes
1 answer
3k views

This is an extension to the question NES cartridge rom emulation with arduino or pi?, which asked whether it would be possible to physically emulate a NES cartridge using an Arduino/Raspberry Pi (RPi)....
user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
643 views

I have tried to eliminate "jail bars" on the screen after UHF mod to video out (based on that: http://zx81stuff.org.uk/zx81/ts1500_video.html) by adding 460uf 16V capacitor between +5V and GND but it ...
JackTheKnife's user avatar
  • 163
66 votes
14 answers
25k views

While enjoying the response to "Why did CPU designers in the 70s prioritize reducing pin count?" In 1979 IEEE was hard at work at coming up with a standard for handling floating point numbers, and ...
jwzumwalt's user avatar
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16 votes
3 answers
4k views

Suppose you wanted to take a 286 PC and replace the CPU with a 68000, not at the initial design stage, but actually modifying the finished machine, on the theory that they both have 24 bits of address ...
rwallace's user avatar
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16 votes
6 answers
5k views

A slightly odd question, but is it possible to take an old 16K computer that wasn't designed for memory upgrades, such as a Commodore 16 or PET 4016, and upgrade it to 64K as a hardware hack? I'm not ...
rwallace's user avatar
  • 65.3k
7 votes
2 answers
942 views

I have a motherboard which stores BIOS settings in a DS12887 chip with internal battery. The battery is long dead, and the pin of chip's socket is not connected to any power supply so the chip doesn't ...
Algimantas's user avatar
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