Retro Computing

Atari 400 vs Commodore VIC-20

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Atari 400 vs Commodore VIC-20

When we think of Atari versus Commodore, the Commodore 64 generally comes to mind. But there is an argument that the Commodore VIC-20 did as much damage to Atari as the Commodore 64 did, and possibly more. Let’s compare and contrast the Atari 400 vs Commodore VIC-20, which is a classic case of winning the battle but losing the war.

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Soup up your Tandy 3-in-1 with a V20

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Soup up your Tandy 3-in-1 with a V20

I’ve written before about my Tandy 1000EX with a Tandy 3-in-1 expansion to add memory, a serial port, and compact flash. And I’ve written before about the NEC V20 CPU. But did you know you can use them together to nearly double your compact flash storage’s throughput? Here’s how.

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Wolfenstein 3D for CGA and Tandy

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Wolfenstein 3D for CGA and Tandy

On Friday, January 20, 2021, a new version of Wolfenstein 3D was released for really old hardware. Indie developer James Howard revised the 30-year-old id Software title to function on CGA and Tandy graphics and an 8088 CPU. So now Wolfenstein 3D joins the ranks of about 900 known titles to use Tandy graphics and/or sound.

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Gotek troubleshooting

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Gotek troubleshooting

Gotek flashfloppy drive emulators are a popular upgrade for retro computer systems, allowing you to replace finicky and expensive floppy drives and media with flash media. The flashfloppy firmware makes the drives much more capable, allowing them to work in a wider variety of machines, and also making it easier to copy image files from a modern PC directly onto the USB stick. Usually the upgrade goes very smoothly. But sometimes the drive doesn’t work. So let’s talk Gotek troubleshooting.

The first rule of Gotek troubleshooting is cabling. When the drive doesn’t work as expected, there’s a good chance it’s a cabling issue.

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Writeback vs writethrough cache

Dave Farquhar Hardware, Retro Computing
Writeback vs writethrough cache

I was fixing a PC with a fairly late 486DX2-66 motherboard in it. In checking it out, I found an interesting setting in its BIOS: I can use its L2 cache as either writeback or writethrough. But what’s the difference? What are the pros and cons of writeback vs writethrough cache?

Writeback is faster but was harder to implement than writethrough, so not all systems support it. If it’s available and your software doesn’t malfunction, use write-back.

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Allsop Metal Art stand #33306 review

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Allsop Metal Art stand #33306 review

The Allsop metal art large display stand #33306 is a useful ergonomic accessory for modern computers, especially laptops. But it also makes an excellent monitor riser or platform for using and displaying vintage and retro computers. Here’s a review with some tips.

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Identify a cable with a multimeter

Dave Farquhar Hardware, Retro Computing
Identify a cable with a multimeter

I spotted a useful cable at a used computer store recently. I wasn’t 100% certain what it was, but I had the ability to rewire it into what I needed if it turned out I was wrong. Here’s how I went about identifying the cable with my multimeter.

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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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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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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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