Category: retro
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VCF West 2024
Recounting the fun times of VCF West 2024.
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Various notes on recapping a G4 MDD Power Supply (AcBel API1PC36)
Embarking on one hell of a recapping adventure, and documenting the process as best as I can. Yay.
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The G4 Cube, Part II: CUBE_HELL
This one’s gonna be a doozy. Last we left the Cube, I had some parts on order to try and get the thermals under control within the Cube. Specifically, the thermals with the video card portion, seeing as that was almost completely cut off from the rest of the Cube airflow-wise. My plan first and…
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The G4 Cube, Part 1 (Origins, Upgrades? And thermals)
In which Chris attempts to make his Cube do some *serious* sh!t.
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PowerBook G3 Kanga Part III: Hopefully This is the Last Part
Update 9/23/23: I am pleased to report that the fix appears to have stuck, and the Kanga is still working flawlessly! So if you have the same issues I do, maybe reflow the VRAM (and do it with an actual soldering iron!) Last we left the Kanga, it was fresh off a reflow attempt that…
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VCF West 2023
To say this is a weekend I had been looking forward to ever since West 2022 ended is an understatement. As soon as West 2022 ended I already had an idea of what I wanted to do this year and I couldn’t wait. As luck would have it, though, little did any of us know…
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PowerBook G3 Kanga Part II: Reflowing ad nauseam
Hello darkness my old friend… Last we left the Kanga, it was being a bit of a pain: It was suffering from an issue where it would display a distorted image–one that was interrupted by some black and white stripes every other pixel or so. I did some more digging (and pushing the system)…
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An Unexpected Grail: The PowerBook G3 Kanga
For a long time, one of my grail items was the PowerBook 3400c. Reason being is because I had one many moons ago, when I was just starting out this computing journey I now find myself on. I had two back then, and unfortunately I lacked the skills to save either of them. So it…
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A tale about my first new Mac (and its fate)
Throughout my teenage years, I got by on less. All of my computers were built from ewaste, and up until the last year of high school my main machine was a Power Mac G4 Sawtooth with a Celeron shitbox running XP somewhere in the background. Both machines tossed out by their previous owners. 2006, however,…
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Power Mac 9600 Adventure Part II: She Drives Me Crazy
Really, colored PCBs should be a requirement. They look so cool. (This is my ZuluSCSI) (Get it, she drives me crazy? Because this part is about drives? I’m sorry. I’ll leave now.) This is where I get to scream into the pixel wall that is xodium.net because hoo boy, this whole bit did NOT go…