Author: Dave Farquhar

Convert CGA or EGA to VGA (or MCGA)

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Convert CGA or EGA to VGA (or MCGA)

CRT monitors are getting expensive. CGA and EGA monitors even more so. In theory, every 1980s computer that used those types of monitor had one at some point. But the survival rate of the monitors was much lower than the survival rate of the computers, so there aren’t enough of them to go around. That’s led to a need to convert CGA or EGA to VGA.

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What size screws to use for a GPU fan

Dave Farquhar Hardware
What size screws to use for a GPU fan

Sometimes GPU fan screws go missing, and sometimes the only way to get a bargain on a used GPU is to buy one with a missing fan. There is a pretty good chance that you won’t have any suitable GPU fan screws in your parts stash. In my case, the smallest screws I had in my parts stash were M2 screws, commonly used on laptop hard drives and SSDs. But they were too big for the shroud on a GTX 1050 TI that needed a replacement fan.

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What a craftsman kit is in model trains

Dave Farquhar model railroading
What a craftsman kit is in model trains

In model railroading, a craftsman kit is a model kit consisting of wood and sometimes paper, and detail parts cast from soft metal. There is usually a fair amount of measuring, cutting, and gluing involved to build the model, and it usually requires a fair bit of patience and skill. That’s where the name craftsman kit comes from. You could get kids to build structures and even model railroad rolling stock.

Craftsman kits lost some prominence due to the widespread use of plastics, but they are starting to see something of a resurgence in modern times. Here’s why.

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Fix slow hard drive access on early PCs

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Fix slow hard drive access on early PCs

The prevailing wisdom regarding hard drives and early PCs is to keep your C drive small, ideally no bigger than 128 MB, and maybe even as little as 32. Otherwise, disk activity becomes unbearably slow. But what if I told you there is another way to fix slow hard drive access on early PCs?

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Fix a black screen in Firefox

Dave Farquhar Software
Fix a black screen in Firefox

Occasionally when using Firefox, it will interrupt you by blanking the screen momentarily, and then The screen returns, and it may or may not show the same window it was showing before the screen blanked. Here’s how I fixed my black screen in Firefox.

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Write a downloaded img file to compact flash

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Write a downloaded img file to compact flash

Thanks to the MiSTer project and a number of other retro computing initiatives, there are a number of DOS disk images floating around containing a bootable operating system and a compilation of software. While these are intended for use on devices like the MiSTer, there is no reason you can’t use them on regular hardware as well. It’s possible to write a downloaded img file to compact flash.

Here’s how wrote a pre-configured image of 1981 to 1987 software to a compact flash card to use on a Tandy 1000 equipped with a 3-in-1 adapter.

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A cheap home alternative to electroplating

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
A cheap home alternative to electroplating

After decades of hard play, the shiny tin plating on old electric train parts can wear off, leaving a dull surface that doesn’t look great, and is prone to rust. You can get plating kits so you can replate the parts, but the kits are expensive and can involve chemicals you don’t necessarily want to keep laying around. Here is an inexpensive alternative to replating that you can do at home to restore old tin parts.

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Are LED light bulbs recyclable?

Dave Farquhar DIY
Are LED light bulbs recyclable?

It’s pretty common knowledge that compact fluorescent light bulbs contain mercury and need to be recycled rather than throwing them in the trash. But what about LED light bulbs? Are LED light bulbs recyclable? And should they be recycled?

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Qualys superseded updates and caveats  

Dave Farquhar security
Qualys superseded updates and caveats  

The vulnerability scanner Qualys has the ability to filter superseded updates in its reports and over the API. This is a popular feature. Unfortunately, it does have some caveats that aren’t always very well understood. Here’s what you need to know about Qualys superseded updates and its caveats.

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Tandy 3-in-1 expansion review for the 1000HX and EX

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Tandy 3-in-1 expansion review for the 1000HX and EX

The Tandy 3-in-1 expansion for the Tandy 1000 EX and HX make these compact vintage PC compatibles much more useful. Here is my experience with this device, and some tips.

Two versions of this device exist. The first expands the memory to 640K and provides UMBs, compact flash for mass storage, and an RS 232 port. These are usually available on Ebay for around $100 US. The newer version 2 of the device adds all of that as well as a standard parallel port.

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