Retro Computing Archives

Genesis vs SNES: Battle of the 16-bit consoles

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing January 19, 2021April 14, 2022

The Sega Genesis and Nintendo SNES were natural rivals. They weren’t the only 16-bit game consoles of their era, but they ended up being the two most popular. Sega leapfrogged Nintendo with the Genesis, and the SNES was Nintendo’s answer. Let’s take a look at the Genesis vs SNES.

Overall the SNES was the better console of the two and its popularity reflects that. But the Genesis had its moments, so it retains a following today, even if it has to stand in the shadow of the SNES.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.

dfarq.homeip.net

How to hook up a Sega Genesis to a TV

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing January 6, 2021June 3, 2023

The Sega Genesis connects to a TV in much the same way as other consoles of similar vintage. But there are some dangers unique to the Genesis that give you an opportunity to damage either the console or your TV. We certainly don’t want that. Here’s how to hook up a Sega Genesis to a modern TV without damaging either.

Some Sega Genesis parts are interchangeable with other systems, but not universally. That means it’s very important to verify the AC adapter you plan to use, as well as the AV cable you want to use, to avoid damage to your console, your TV, or both.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Is the Commodore 128 power supply safe to use?

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing December 30, 2020April 23, 2023

Commodore 64 power supplies are notoriously unsafe to use. As a result, all Commodore power supplies have a bad reputation. I won’t say it’s unfair. But it means questions about the Commodore 128 power supply come up frequently on vintage computer discussion groups. Is the Commodore 128 power supply safe to use? The short answer is yes. Here’s why.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

301 keyboard error

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing December 28, 2020December 18, 2020

Ah, the 301 keyboard error. The POST error you might be able to fix with your bare hands, or could require a soldering iron. Hopefully that doesn’t scare you off. It’s more frequently a pretty easy fix, especially if the PC isn’t terribly old.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

HP Touchpad tablet

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing December 22, 2020March 2, 2022

The HP Touchpad tablet was, dare I say it, the biggest technological flop of the 2010s. It was HP’s attempt to compete head to head with Apple with a premium-priced tablet that didn’t run Android and, of course, didn’t run Apple’s iOS. Instead it ran WebOS, an operating system it acquired from Palm, Inc.

HP didn’t meet expectations with the Touchpad, and discontinued it after just 50 days on the market. But there are lessons to learn from HP’s experience with its tablet, even if it’s largely forgotten today. Read more

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Commodore SFD-1001

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing December 20, 2020December 7, 2023

The Commodore SFD-1001 is a somewhat obscure Commodore disk drive that found itself in an odd spot. It was a nearly state of the art drive when Commodore released it in 1984, but it worked with a computer line that Commodore wasn’t making anymore. It gained a cult following regardless, and retains a fair bit of mystique, and collector interest, to this day.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

CRT burn in

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing December 16, 2020December 7, 2020

CRT burn in is a phenomenon where an image becomes permanently etched into a monitor’s phosphors. This causes the outline of the image to remain visible, even when the monitor is off. It’s a problem that we frequently find on vintage CRT monitors today.

Burn in is most frequently associated with CRTs, though it can happen with other display types. Modern technology usually mitigates burn in on newer displays, so burn in rarely happens with modern displays, such as LCD or LED displays.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

How many Atari 2600 games are there?

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing December 12, 2020September 12, 2022

The Atari 2600 had the largest game library of its generation, and it wasn’t close. Other systems surpassed it, but in its time, the 2600 was king. But how many Atari 2600 games are there? Like many questions, it depends.

It’s really two questions, since some titles were released under multiple names, even though they were the same title. There were about 450 unique Atari 2600 games, but the number of variations of those games pushes the total number of cartridges much higher, around 900 by some counts.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Commodore 1084 monitor

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing December 10, 2020April 26, 2023

The Commodore 1084 monitor was Commodore’s flagship monitor, a monitor that worked with everything they produced in the late 1980s, including the C-64, the C-128 in 40 and 80 column modes, the Amiga line, and Commodore’s CGA-equipped PC clones like the Commodore Colt. Its versatility makes it popular with retro computer enthusiasts today. Not only does it work with almost any Commodore computer, it also works with a lot of non-Commodore computers.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Baking computer chips: Fixing chips in an oven

Dave Farquhar Hardware, Retro Computing December 7, 2020December 5, 2020

Does baking computer chips fix them when they’re broken? Can you fix computer chips in an oven? The answer is sometimes. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to know when it will help, and when it does, we may not know why. But, when faced with a broken chip, we don’t exactly have anything to lose, either.

Baking computer chips does seem to fix them, at least sometimes. Whether it works depends entirely on why the chip failed in the first place, which isn’t always possible to know.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net