Author: Dave Farquhar

Londontoy: Canada’s answer to Tootsietoy

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized , , , , ,
Londontoy: Canada’s answer to Tootsietoy

Years ago at an estate sale in St. Louis’ Central West End, I bought a number of Tootsietoy vehicles. When I got home, I noticed some had only the word “toy,” a number, description, and “Made in USA” inside. That was weird. These weren’t Tootsietoys. They were Londontoy.

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Fix a Windows boot loop with AHCI

Dave Farquhar Windows , , , , ,

My wife’s computer was stuck in a Windows boot loop. We’d get the Windows 7 boot screen, and it would display a single pixel of the Windows 7 logo, then reboot itself endlessly. Booting in safe mode made it fail on classpnp.sys.

Any number of things can cause this, and it usually happens after you swap a motherboard. Enabling AHCI turned out to be the fix. Enabling AHCI also can be easier said than done, but I figured it out. She’s running Windows 7 (for now) but these same tricks should also work for Windows 10.

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All about the Lionel ZW

Dave Farquhar Toy trains , , , , , , , , ,
All about the Lionel ZW

The Lionel ZW is Lionel’s most iconic transformer of the 1950s and 1960s, and perhaps one of its most iconic products, period. Everyone wanted the two-handled, football-shaped, 275-watt powerhouse that was the ZW. It was one of Lionel’s more venerable postwar products, lasting on the market for 18 years from 1948 to 1966. It replaced Lionel’s former top-of-the-line transformer, the Z.

Finding original ZW instructions or an original ZW manual online is a bit difficult, but there’s plenty the original instructions don’t mention.

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Tablet battery replacement

Dave Farquhar Android , , , , ,
Tablet battery replacement

Can you replace a battery in a tablet? That’s a good question. It’s almost always possible. The question is whether tablet battery replacement is practical. Some companies make it really easy to replace a battery, and some make it really hard.

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Replace a Lionel RW rectifier disc with a diode

Dave Farquhar Toy trains , ,
Replace a Lionel RW rectifier disc with a diode

Vintage Lionel transformers activated the whistle using a rectifier disc. These discs tend to degrade over time. You can expect to pay about $5 for a replacement disc. But a modern diode is much cheaper, works better, and is more reliable. Here’s how to replace a Lionel RW rectifier disc with a diode.

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Meaning of the word commodore

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing , , ,

Commodore was a high-flying 1980s computer company that imploded in the early 1990s. But the name is a bit curious. What is the meaning of the word commodore?

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Lionel KW diode installation

Dave Farquhar Toy trains , , , ,
Lionel KW diode installation

Lionel transformers use a selenium rectifier disc to produce a jolt of DC voltage to activate their train whistle. These discs degrade over time, so a decades-old transformer often produces a pretty anemic whistle–even one of the bigger transformers like the 190-watt Lionel KW. Replace the disc with a diode for a cost effective and reliable fix for that wimpy whistle. Here’s a step by step guide to a Lionel KW diode upgrade.

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Fix a screw hole that is too big

Dave Farquhar DIY
Fix a screw hole that is too big

If you need to fix a screw hole that is too big, I have good news for you. Depending on the material you’re using, it’s usually pretty easy.

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Scale of Tootsietoy cars

Dave Farquhar Toy trains , ,

After talking about scale, Andy Tolch, owner of the excellent Andy’s Toys, asked me about the scale of Tootsietoy cars. I don’t have a ton of Tootsietoy cars but was able to identify and measure five of them. The results surprised me.

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What to do between jobs, or in between jobs

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized

It’s a good idea to ask what to do between jobs, or in between jobs. What you do in between jobs can help your career, or it can hurt you. So it’s important to take it seriously.

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