iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Leaded Solder @leadedsolder.retrochat.online.ap.brid.gy · 07/09/2026

I forgot how much fun dry brushing is. Haven't done this since art school. #modelkits #plamo

The underside of an AMT Chevy Silverado kit has been attacked by metallic scrapes.

Leaded Solder @leadedsolder.retrochat.online.ap.brid.gy · 30/05/2026

Building a tiny model engine to put in a tiny model truck. This has taken a long time and doesn't look all that great. #plamodel

A little International Harvester V8 engine connected to a transmission and transfer case.

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Leaded Solder @leadedsolder.retrochat.online.ap.brid.gy · 15/03/2026

Finally getting around to unboxing this FM-77 (non-AV) CRT monitor that Surugaya sent me with *free shipping to Canada*. Hopefully it works; they probably won't do a deal that dumb again. #retrocomputing #fm7 #fujitsu

A CRT monitor with an anti-glare cover that is only held on with a piece of masking tape.

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Leaded Solder @leadedsolder.retrochat.online.ap.brid.gy · 22/02/2026

[CW: Tommy Lee Jones] I honestly thought this would taste a lot more like a health potion. Maybe this is actually what health potions taste like? #dragonquest #retrogaming #coffee

A canned coffee marked "Boss Quest." The Japanese portion tells us that it's a dark roast with milk.

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Leaded Solder @leadedsolder.retrochat.online.ap.brid.gy · 20/01/2026

New blog post! Can you play Sonic Invaders on my clone of Australia's favourite 1980s computer/video game hybrid? Yes, at long last, you can. It is time to re-enter Dick Smith's fabulous world of Wizzardry. #retrocomputing #retrogaming #kicad #vtech […] [Original post on retrochat.online]

A precariously-balanced pile of boards under test

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Leaded Solder @leadedsolder.retrochat.online.ap.brid.gy · 12/01/2026

Testing a security monitor I got from the recycler. Seems to work after some cleaning of the knobs and switches, letting it ease back to life with a game. Strongly considering options for what to turn this into. #retrogaming #bubsy #crt

The title screen of Bubsy for the Sega Genesis. A bobcat stares at the viewer while surrounded by legalese.

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Leaded Solder @leadedsolder.retrochat.online.ap.brid.gy · 11/01/2026

Got the #Loongson booting Debian Linux finally. Had to update the BIOS to get the installer to boot and the cheap USB wifi dongle kept dropping off the network. More to come once I get more time to play with it!

A terminal on an XFCE desktop says "hello, Loongson!"

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Leaded Solder @leadedsolder.retrochat.online.ap.brid.gy · 06/01/2026

Even with modern fancy PCI-E computers, apparently port 80h post codes still exist. Just picked up this little guy to see if anything fun comes up when this dumpster Intel board fails memory training.

A yellow PCB with a very high density FPGA or CPLD or some other part is attached to a two digit 7-segment display. It terminates in both a PCI edge and a PCI-Express edge. Standard issue AliExpress sales babble tells us it's a POST card

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Leaded Solder @leadedsolder.retrochat.online.ap.brid.gy · 03/01/2026

I have gotten my #Loongson 3a5000 to at least POST and make video. I'll have to get a Linux install together to run on it. Anyone know how to make the speaker stop shrieking during the UEFI shell? #loongarch

The UEFI shell tells me that "no mapping found" and kicks me into the Shell. You can't hear it from this picture but the piezo beeper is going off constantly

The Loongson ML5A_MB_LL motherboard, with 16gb of G.Skill ram mounted as well as a Thermaltake Intel 1155 cooler for the CPU.

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Leaded Solder @leadedsolder.retrochat.online.ap.brid.gy · 30/12/2025

🎶 New blog post / it's one you can read / this Sun's Timekeeper is toast / so why don't we / cut a hole in it with a Dremel? 🎶 #sparc #sunos #sparcstation #retrocomputing #powertoolabuse www.leadedsolder.com/2025/12/30/spa…

A SparcStation timekeeper chip with a coin cell stuck on top

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Leaded Solder @leadedsolder.retrochat.online.ap.brid.gy · 13/12/2025

@dtl "prepare?" This person clearly just finished a thanksgiving dinner and is in recovery

A humanoid lying down at an awkward angle with the text "prepare" underneath

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Leaded Solder @leadedsolder.retrochat.online.ap.brid.gy · 11/12/2025

Lots of noise but very little life in this TRS-80 Model 2. At least I've gotten horizontal sync generation fixed (by swapping video cards; the HOT is maybe dead.) No idea why the floppy drive isn't doing anything. #retrocomputing #trs80 #bigtandy #tandy

A TRS-80 Model 2 with the power led turned on but no disk light or anything on the monitor

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Leaded Solder @leadedsolder.retrochat.online.ap.brid.gy · 09/12/2025

New blog post! As everyone knows, the Commodore 64 likes to get sick and die. How many C64 boards in a free pile can we fix in three hours? #commodore64 #c64 #retrocomputing #itsthepla #itsnotthepla www.leadedsolder.com/2025/12/09/com…

A BackBit chip tester showing that a 906114 PLA has failed its automated tests.

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Leaded Solder @leadedsolder.retrochat.online.ap.brid.gy · 22/11/2025

Slowly finding out about all the parts that I've forgotten to acquire for this "new" computer build. $35 motherboards from the ewaste dumpster may require some creative solutions.

An AMD Ryzen 5 3600X CPU loaded into a motherboard with the old thermal paste freshly scrubbed off

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Leaded Solder @leadedsolder.retrochat.online.ap.brid.gy · 28/10/2025

New blog post! The Apple III was perhaps the most unloved machine of Apple's early-80s losing streak, but that doesn't mean this one should have been used as a toilet for mice. Just how bad can it get? #retrocomputing #apple2 #apple3 […] [Original post on retrochat.online]

A very noisy purple-and-green error screen from the computer starting up with bad RAM.

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