Retro Computing

Extend case panel connectors easily and cheaply

Dave Farquhar Hardware, Retro Computing
Extend case panel connectors easily and cheaply

Sometimes when you’re fitting a motherboard into a case, especially an aftermarket board into a name-brand case, the connectors for the panel LEDs and switches don’t match up with the board. You can usually rewire it fairly easily, but extending them means splicing the wires. But there’s an easier solution, and it’s cheap. Here’s how to rewire or extend case front panel connectors with plug-in connectors.

I ran into this on my IBM PC/AT. Its HDD connector wasn’t long enough to reach an ISA IDE card because it was designed for a full-length card. And the LED for the power light didn’t reach either. The problem is less rare with recent hardware, but not non-existent.

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How to open a Commodore 64 or VIC-20

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
How to open a Commodore 64 or VIC-20

The original breadbin-style Commodore 64 and VIC-20 are designed to be easy to open while keeping production cost reasonably low. But they made the design so easy it’s hard. Worse yet, due to the age of the plastics, if you open one today the way Commodore intended, you can damage it. So here’s how to open a Commodore 64 or VIC-20. Let’s also talk about how to fix one if you damage the case when opening it.

The breadbin-style 64 and VIC-20 have three large L-shaped tabs on the back that originally behaved like pivots or hinges. If you try to use them like a hinge today, you’ll probably hear plastic popping, so the trick is to open the case slightly, then pull the top forward.

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Configuring PC case digital speed displays

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Configuring PC case digital speed displays

Cheap PCs from the 90s and late 1980s often had a digital display that indicated the CPU speed. They were kitschy, and I can’t say I’ve ever seen a brand-name PC with one, but many cheap cases made overseas had them. That meant the computers that came from the little clone shop down the street probably had them.

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Why Atari failed

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing, Retro Gaming
Why Atari failed

Atari was on top of the world in 1982, so much so that the 1982 sci-fi movie Blade Runner featured it as a dominant company in 2019. But it fell hard and fast, and several times. Here’s why Atari failed and didn’t maintain world dominance for decades like we once expected.

Atari’s failure happened on two fronts, the computer market and the game console market. Atari was an early pioneer in both, but its upstart competitors ultimately understood both markets better. But in all fairness, not all of the companies that understood the market better survived either.

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ESS Audiodrive: An underrated retro sound card

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
ESS Audiodrive: An underrated retro sound card

Recently I’ve heard a few people singing the virtues of the ESS Audiodrive, a budget sound card from the 1990s. It turns out that in several regards, especially if you want to run older software, the ESS Audiodrive is a better Sound Blaster than the Sound Blaster 16.

The ESS Audiodrive is a 16-bit ISA sound card that can emulate older Sound Blasters. Some late 90s software supports it natively, but older DOS games use it as a Sound Blaster, Sound Blaster Pro, or Ad Lib.

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My rebuilt IBM 5170 PC/AT

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
My rebuilt IBM 5170 PC/AT

I have what appears to be an IBM 5170 in my collection. I’ve owned it since the mid 1990s. There’s not much original about it. Part of that is due to the ravages of time. But it’s mine. And since I did some fairly major repairs to it myself, I’m pretty attached to my Frankenstein PC/AT.

It’s a Frankenstein because it has parts from at least six different computers in it.

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Using a Sound Blaster 16 on a 286

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Using a Sound Blaster 16 on a 286

I wanted to play 1990-era games on my 286 that don’t run right on my 486, but that meant I needed a sound card. Early PC sound cards are very expensive, so I wanted a cheaper alternative. Here’s how I got a Sound Blaster 16 to work on a 286.

Creative’s DOS drivers for the Sound Blaster 16 require a 386. But the hardware functions properly on earlier PCs, so you can use them on a 286 or even an XT-class PC with a third-party driver.

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Where to buy CRT monitors

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Where to buy CRT monitors

I generally prefer LCD monitors with vintage PCs, but if you want a true retro experience, you need a CRT. The problem is finding one. Here’s where to buy CRT monitors.

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5.25 floppy drive maintenance

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
5.25 floppy drive maintenance

It’s been a long time since 5.25-inch floppy drives were mainstream. But a lot of them can still work today with a little bit of cleaning and lubrication. Here’s a quick guide to 5.25 floppy drive maintenance.

Cleaning the heads, then cleaning and lubricating the rails is usually all it takes to get a 5.25-inch drive working well. Using the right cleaner and lubricating sparingly is the key to doing more good than harm.

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Building a computer in the 90s

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Building a computer in the 90s

Building a computer in the 90s was different than it is today. It wasn’t just harder or more expensive. It seemed like every new build was an adventure. I probably built a few hundred systems before the decade ended, but the first few were definitely the most memorable. One in particular stands out above the rest.

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