Recent content by mediasponge

Someone contacted me about buying my OSI system, so I figured I'd better get it out of storage and see if it still works. Amazingly, it does. A Dinosaur roams the earth! And the Starship Enterprise is in need of a new captain... While I have it open, I took inventory of the key components. I've...

In a previous post, I described the briefcase computer at work that we called "the football". Like a fool, excuse me, true collector, I arranged with the company to acquire it. I convinced them to let me have it for $35. :D It's basically two of these 1U servers skinned, repackaged, and folded...

I have a 486 DX2-66 system (no USB). I have a couple of sound cards with game ports. The one in it now is a PAS-16. I also have a few flight sim games, some DOS, some up to Win95. What would be a good analog joystick to hunt for to use with flight sims? I also have some racing games, but I'm not...

This is probably what you want. A Micron Computer Millennia Pro2 Plus. Dual 180MHz PPro cpus. I booted it up, it still runs! I was hoping somebody with a soft spot for PPro would want it. I put 2 smallish HDDs in it, a CD/DVD and Debian Linux. The Linux is hopelessly out of date by now.

OK, sorry. I've never seen a CGA card with a BNC connector. Yes, the 6845 should have been a dead giveaway. From this angle, it sure looks like the ISA ethernet cards I have. Here's one with an obvious 3COM plastered all over it, but at first glance, it sure looks similar.

One of the oldies I have lying around is an off brand clone EasyData ED212. (No relation to the ED-209!) :rolleyes: It has a MB with the OPTi 82C495SLC chipset, like a lot of others. This one is apparently not listed anywhere (VOGONS, elhvb). It's not a 495SX. The physical configuration of the...

Some pics of the big IBM dinosaur...

On old versions of SYSV Unix, you could use the dd command to take a dump or image of an entire drive. You would do something like dd if=/dev/sda of=/mnt/dumps/dump_sda.img to create a dump (probably in single user mode). Question: When doing this, is it preserving the way the drive is...

This system I've been working on is a 3270 AT/GX. The base system is a 5373. The MB appears to be identical to a 5170 Type 1 but with a unique BIOS. IBM sold these in 3 different disk configurations: 20/85 (my config), 85/85, and single 85. The 20MB is a Type 2 drive, made by IBM. Acts the same...

Now, I'm not so sure of the "provenance" of that Philips CDROM drive. I came across another SCSI CDROM that is MediaVision branded, but it appears to be made by Sanyo. The Philips CDROM might have come out of a Mac G3 Blue-and-White. I pulled the SCSI out of the Mac in favor of a larger IDE...

I'd like to take full images of the 2 old MFM drives in my 3270 AT GX. They're Types 2 and 8. I did this once before, but I don't remember exactly how. I used Power Quest Drive Image back then, but I'd prefer to use Clonezilla now. I think the ideal case is to put the MFM controller and drive...

IBM 3270 PC AT/GX - This is a monster only IBM could build. The monitor has a warning label noting that it weighs 35 Kilos (77 lbs)! The base unit also weighs in at about 50 lbs. This unit was supplied to a company I worked for as a loaner, then the company that loaned to us said they didn't...

How about this for weird? Sitting in my office at work is a briefcase computer built around 2005. It has 2 server class Opteron MBs, 4 CPUS, 4 SATA-I drives, 2 power supplies, a wireless router, a liquid cooling system, and enough high speed fans to make hearing protection mandatory! In spite of...

Anybody who relishes vintage computing and a good laugh should read this book. Classic stories like the mainframe that crashed regularly on the same day being traced to the janitor plugging a floor polisher into the accessory outlet inside the computer...

Hi, this is Simon. I'd like to kick myself for missing the VCF last month in Mountain View! I've been collecting vintage computers and electronics since the 1980's, when some of them weren't that old. I'm also into vintage auto racing. Collectors of vintage cars and vintage computers have the...