iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

I did have to pull these ISA boards from the machine (they were in it when I got it) - two Equinox Megaport 12CS twelve port serial cards. Apparently they are EISA compatible somehow? But !EQX1011.CFG is lost to the ages. Does anyone have it? (and some drivers?? Equinox's FTP was never backed up)

Error from EISA utility asking for !EQX1011.CFG which I don't have and neither does mR_Slug's EISA cfg archive.

I like the splash screen. Professional yet kinda quaint and amateurish at the same time.

The DEC System Configuration Utility for DECpc MTE

Wired up a new battery for the Benchmarq RTC chip over lunch. Now for EISA config!

A CR2032 battery piggybacked onto a Benchmarq bq4287 RTC chip

Modified chip in the socket on the motherboard

BIOS no longer shows "real time clock failure" and asks to run the EISA config

000

Honestly the original MT board is cooler in one way. While it has trash onboard video and only ISA slots, it also has the CPU on a card connected with some Eurocard like connectors. I wonder if they meant for it to be swappable with like a Pentium or Alpha card (not that I know of any)

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Very easy swap, and it passed the smoke test! It's very obvious the case was designed for both boards. Now to deal with the stupid RTC chip.

PhoenixBIOS(TM) E486 Version 1.00
Copyright (C) 1985-1992 Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
All Rights Reserved

DECpc MTE 486DX2 Version 1.02
Copyright (C) 1993 Digital Equipment Corporation
All Rights Reserved

640K Base Memory
7168K Extended Memory

Real time clock failure
Diskette drive A failure
Diskette drive B failure
Waiting for disk ready ...

080 To enter Setup press: . . . . . . . [F1]

Motherboard in the DECpc case with the S3 805 local bus card installed.

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And yes I know I'll have to deal with this stupid thing

A Benchmarq bq4287mt battery+sram chip. Ugh.

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MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 10/05/2026

Getting myself into trouble. I have a DECpc 466d2 MT. It's okay, but slowish for a 486DX2/66 and only has ISA slots. But now I have ended up with the motherboard from the 466d2... MTE! With EISA and VLB! I'm sure this swap will go just fine...

DECpc 466d2 MTE board. It has Socket 2 with 6 EISA slots (one shared VLB) and a VLB like "local bus video" slot that "almost" fits a normal VLB card but they're blocked by the backplane. It pushes the video signal to an onboard VGA port. (I have the associated S3 805 card)

A standard DECpc 466d2 MT with the side open. The boring ISA only model with crappy S3 924 graphics.

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Interesting Amiga 500 with an internal hard drive mount that hangs off the keyboard. It also has a DKB MegaChip for 2MB of ChipRAM. Nice!

Opened Amiga 500 with an IDE hard drive hanging off the keyboard. The screen shows it has 2MB of ChipRAM

Side view of the Seagate ST3660A hard drive (545MB) hanging off the keyboard

Amiga 500 guts. Revision 5 board with modifications for supporting trapdoor ChipRAM, A501 board, DKB MegaChip with 8375 Agnus, and the ICD AdIDE piggybacking off the 68000 to add hard drive support. It's kitted out except for a lack of FastRAM!

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MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 12/04/2026

There's also a totally separate project called Wiintosh too, apparently. This one has 10.2-10.4 running on the Wii U. I tried it, and it's very impressive! And more useful cause the Wii U actually has RAM. github.com/Wiintosh/Wii...

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MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 31/03/2026

It's PicoCAD2sday again! This week's machine... this one's for all you Brits in the audience... the ZX Spectrum. Sorry, I mean "Zed"-X Spectrum. ;) #picocad2 #zxspectrum #retrocomputing

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MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 28/03/2026

Uncommon rescue this week. A Socket 604 board! Dual NetBurst Xeons to keep you warm at night. Unfortunately the case it came in is pretty trashed, so I need to find something else that can fit it and its very thick heatsink mounts.

Tyan Thunder i7525 motherboard with dual Socket 604

Two Xeon 3.6GHz "Nocona" CPUs, SL7VF S-spec

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MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 24/03/2026

It's "PicoCAD2-sday"! Here's another retro machine, the imposing and legendary Sharp X68000 SUPER. #picocad2 #x68000

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MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 21/03/2026

I was so damn hyped for the GBA. My friend's mom worked at Kmart and was able to get one slightly before it officially came out. We were all crowded around a lamp trying to see the screen 😂 Kind of wish it had a few more years before death by shovelware. The DS really took the wind out of its sails.

My herd of Game Boy Advances (and the games behind them). Left: Launch model Indigo GBA I got for my 9th birthday with my original copy of Super Mario Advance. Right: A modded launch GBA with clear indigo shell and backlit screen (my main unit) running my childhood copy and save of Pokemon Ruby. Center: A black GBA SP AGS-001 I found at a garage sale for $3 that I used until I got the modded system, running my childhood copy of Sonic Advance.

000

MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 19/03/2026

I did a SPARCstation IPX as well. I mean, it's mostly just a (lunch)box, so nothing earth shattering. Maybe I'll just keep doing these low poly retro computer models? #picocad

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MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 19/03/2026

A Macintosh Performa 600 made in #picocad to celebrate #MARCHintosh! This was the first computer I ever used. Also, real talk, PicoCAD is really fun to use. It's not going to be as full featured as Blender, obviously, but it's nice to finally find a 3D modeler that my smooth brain can handle.

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MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 09/03/2026

I was going through old backups a while ago and I still had some reminders of those days, like this text file from The Edge. I remember EMUSA the most though, and it was the first place I downloaded MIDIs of game music, too.

**** The EDGE http://www.theedge.org.uk ****

This ROM was originally downloaded from The EDGE

http://www.theedge.org.uk
or
start.at/theedge

if you downloaded it from anywhere else then please e-mail me at

aaa@fullers21.freeserve.do.uk

ATTENTION WEBMASTERS

If you are going to upload this rom to your site you may remove this file but I would ask that you supply a link back to The EDGE

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MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 05/03/2026

Great job! You guys wore out my ImageWriter ribbon. This is the one that was installed in there when I got the thing a good 10+ years ago. I just put a fresh new one in, let's see how that one does! #MARCHintosh #GlobalTalk

A print from GlobalTalk that says "Happy" and then it fades out because the ribbon ran dry.

072

MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 01/03/2026

#MARCHintosh #GlobalTalk Apparently my router box froze up at some point. Never had that happen in previous years. I'm also seeing a reasonably high number of "Packet Buffer Overflow" errors reported in the statistics, also something I didn't see before. Anyone have any thoughts?

Port statistics showing 1921 packet buffer overflow errors and 94.7% network reliability

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MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 13/02/2026

Okay, really impressed with NetBSD on here. The nouveau problem I had with the GeForce 3 actually doesn't happen on the FX5200 Ultra! This thing is just screaming along. The capture card even works out of the box! Now if only TDE built on NetBSD, I'd be right at home in early 2000s *nix bliss.

Screenshot of NetBSD 10.1 running on a Gateway G6-450 w/ Celeron "Tualeron" 1400mhz & Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 Ultra. Using the default ctwm window manager. Running apps are fastfetch, cmatrix, glxgears, xeyes, ico, xosview and fxtv (showing input from an Apple IIe via a Hauppauge capture card)

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MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 23/01/2026

Unnecessary use of military terms in computer hardware in order to attract edgy gamers was already in vogue in 2003.

MSI K8T Neo "dynamic overclocking" option. Instead of just writing the percentages, they have to name each level.
"Select each level increase the CPU frequency by, Private:1%, Sergeant:3%, Captain:5%, Colonel:7%, General:10% Warning! Dynamic OverClocking is an advanced overclocking function. Any damage or risk resulted from impropriety or overclocking are not garanteed." (sic)

MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 22/01/2026

Guess I haven't posted anything in a while. I'll just say it's because I've been waiting for this to compile. /s Wanted to see how x86 Linux is holding up since almost every distro dropped it. It lives! But there's also a lot that isn't necessarily broken - but also kinda doesn't work.

Screenshot of Gentoo Linux running on a Gateway G6-450 upgraded to a Celeron "Tualeron" 1.4Ghz and an Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 Ultra. It's running TWM, with top, fastfetch, cmatrix, and glxgears.

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MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 19/11/2025

I have a knowledge gap. I have this 168-pin RAM. It's FPM, not SDRAM, so I thought it was 5V RAM for a Power Mac 7500/8500/9500. But the chips (MT 4LC16M4A7) are 3.3V. Tanzania Mac clones/4400s used 168-pin 3.3V but shipped with EDO, not FPM as far as I can tell. What do these go in?

021

MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 14/11/2025

Hah, didn't realize those branded Aqua mice were that prolific. Here's my boring one, advertising RV insurance, of all things.

050

MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 19/10/2025

I finally looked this board over in more detail today. All I had to do was pull the old CMOS battery and it fired up. Lol.

030

This is also a fun way to test another cool VCFMW find. A boxed AV Famicom in excellent shape! It's a somewhat late one, too, manufactured in 1998 if I read the date codes correctly. Such a neat little console.

AV Famicom with box. Cartridge inserted is Adventure Island. Also a Tetris 2+Bombliss cartridge and an NES adapter laying nearby.

Adventure Island running on the AV Famicom, shown on a PC monitor through a TV tuner.

070

So the Vibra 16S doesn't seem to work at all... switched back to my CQM menace the 16C. It'll be fine, I mostly play later CD audio games with it. But the WinTV is awesome! I would've killed to have this as a kid. Excellent experience. You can even play games - no perceptible input lag to me!

Windows 98SE desktop with WinTV32 open - showing Gradius running off an MSX connected over composite-in

That said, I'm reluctant to give up any cards to add that tuner. So of course I'm gonna pull stunts like pulling the bracket off the SATA card and sandwiching it in the "shared" PCI/ISA slot alongside the Vibra.

020

Upgrades for my uncomfortably maxed out childhood Gateway G6-450: a TV tuner and replacing the secondary DOS gaming sound card, a Vibra 16C, with the "one good Vibra" the Vibra 16S with real OPL3.

030

One of my top finds this year - a Power Computing PowerTower Pro 225. I don't like most "G2" Macs but I make an exception for clones cause they're unusual "stealth Macs". This is my first clone that isn't an underwhelming Tanzania based one. I have plenty of upgrades in mind!

040

Another free pile Pentium 4 board, and a considerably nicer one: a Soyo Dragon 2. theretroweb.com/motherboards... Sadly, it does not POST as-is. It appears to have already been recapped but I noticed at least one cold solder joint. I think it just needs a once-over and it'll work.

From the free pile: ECS P4S5A/DX+. Uh oh... It's actually a PC Chips board! theretroweb.com/motherboards... Among other sins, it has no P4 power connector and a SiS chipset. But it does have AMIBIOS 7, so that's kinda uncommon. Also, I forgot they made Northwood P4s below 2GHz 😂

MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 14/09/2025

Finally feeling recovered enough to dig into testing VCFMW finds, so I'll be posting about them. First off, an adapter to use my C64 power supply to power up this cable-less Plus/4 I've had for months. It works! Now just gotta figure out what to do with it.

070

Last chance to buy my PCjr at #vcfmw! You know you want it!

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MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 10/09/2025

This is a super long shot, but does anyone need the remote and receiver for that weird, rare Gateway Destination home theater PC? Cleaning stuff out, and I have no idea where I got this. I want to sell it to someone who needs it. Can bring to #vcfmw

Gateway Destination PS/2 receiver and matching remote.

021

MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 04/09/2025

Jumping on the bandwagon: I'll be at #VCFMW on 9/13-9/14. The OPL Archive is back again! -A playlist of great OPL2/OPL3 music! -Live demo of my Mac 68k OPL3 hacking -Free OPL logo stickers! -Random crap for sale! Come out there and make some noise with us! ('til they tell us to turn it down)

This way to chiptune nirvana with the OPL Archive. Table E06!

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MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 01/09/2025

Yeah, it's #Sharptember. And the one I have looks as... Sharp... as ever.

Sharp X68000 XVI computer running Gradius II. OSSC for upscaling, and a Roland SC55mkII for MIDI.

0112

MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 05/07/2025

I recently did some thrifting, which I haven't done in a long time. I was really surprised to find a lot of old shareware CDs - some even still sealed. Even though they're demos, I find them interesting. Some of these aren't on archive.org yet so I will image, scan, and upload them on there soon!

000

MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 20/06/2025

PicoGUS CD emulation verdict after testing it: MegaRace works perfectly, so I'm satisfied

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MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 08/06/2025

Thanks to a chance encounter on Reddit I was able to pick up this ABSOLUTELY FREAKING MASSIVE case locally! What kind of retro build is worthy of this behemoth?

A very very tall AT tower. It's on wheels and so tall it doesn't fit under my table.

The open front door on the case with MHz display and red clunky power switch.

The opened case showing its complement of slot openings and punch outs for even more connectors.

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MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 26/05/2025

I'm thinking it's sad that I have a boxed complete 9800 AIW but it's a bit, uh... sick.

020

MrKsoft @wafflenet.com · 03/05/2025

Cuuuurse you, Chemicon KZGs!

A pile of 35 Chemicon KZG capacitors removed from a motherboard. Several have vented and leaked. The rest were inevitably going to share the same fate someday.