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Stuff that shouldn't go in the recycling bin

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Floppies_only

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2008
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Washington, United States of America
Gang,

I've been meaning to post this for a long time, but never seemed to have the chance. It has become painfully obvious that certain vintage computer items and related items are becoming unobtainium, and have been becoming so for years. I'm going to list the things that I can think of, and I hope that others will answer this post with additional items that they would like to have or know others would like to have but can't get.

1) 5 1/4" floppy disk sleeves - you can buy new floppies but they don't come with the dust covers, and dust is the anti-hero to a floppy drive.

2) RAM, of any sort. I've been told that RAM is a high failure component. If you can get two RAM expansion boards that don't work, it's very possible that chips from one can replace bad chips from another to make a good board and possibly leave some chips left over for future repairs.

Item 2 includes RAM boards, 8 and 16 bit. I am actually not sure that you can run any version of Works with the 256K that a 5150 or 5160 comes with, or with the 512K that a 5170 (IBM PC/AT) comes with.

3) Mice and roller balls. They may have gotten along without them back in the day, but now they are nice to use even with old programs.

3a) Drivers for those mice, and drivers in general. I know some of you guys know how to get them online, but how to find them is a mystery to me, and I'd feel safer from viri installing from an original floppy. Not safe, just 'safer'.

So I'm sure I missed a lot of needed things, and this hobby is getting hard to do, and the caps are going bad now and I don't know how long it will be until we are all just using emulators on our 16:9 monitors, but I'd like to keep the spirit of the hobby and mutual assistance alive for as long as possible.

By the way, if you don't want to sell something, try to trade it for something you want. It will be worth more to you than just money if your financial situation is O.K. And it will make the other person happy at the same time.

Thanks,
Sean
 
Stuff that shouldn't go in the recycling bin

Gang,

You might have seen my post on another forum attempting to put the word out that it would be great if we all knew what things are difficult to get now, so there was an extra motivation to sell or trade them instead of putting them in recycling. One thing I can think of is the driver and/or instructions for that IBM 360K external floppy drive for PS/2 systems that have a 3 1/2" drive. I've seen at least ten of the drives, but could never get one because I could never get the drivers (at least I think they need drivers).

Another biggie is RAM. RAM goes bad fast, and we should never, ever let it go to waste. If you are recycling a system, for God's sakes, at least take the RAM out of it and offer it to someone to trade for something else that you want.

I would think that CD-ROM drives would be a good thing to save, as well, if the optical heads wear out the way they do on a DVD player. I don't know.

Maybe the rest of you guys could reply to this post and add to the list of things that are hard to get, that could help another user to enjoy the hobby. I hope people will do that.

Thanks,
Sean
 
I always keep working systems or any working parts of non working systems.
For me throwing out electronics would be extraordinarily rare
They way I see it is it will only get rarer in the future. Always think of the future
 
The external IBM 5.25's shouldn't need drivers. They hook to a floppy port if I remember correctly? I'm bidding on one now, but haven't used one.

RAM is a good one to keep, and I do, it's very small so it's quite easy to store.
For me the big one is IDE hard drives. They're a dime a dozen at the moment - but when they fail they're gone forever and they can't be repaired or low level formatted. I was going through a box of them I have, and failure rate was around 30-40%.
 
How many 5 1/4" floppy disk sleeves do you want? I've got plenty, both new and used.

I don't know who told you that RAM is a high failure component but I've got plenty that hasn't failed if you want some.
 
I deleted one thread and combined the remaining two. In my professional judgement, this topic does not need multiple threads.
 
mbbrutman said:
I deleted one thread and combined the remaining two. In my professional judgement, this topic does not need multiple threads.
Click to expand...

MB,

A lot more later PCs use CD-ROM drives than 8088s and 286s. That thread belongs exactly where I put it. You should put my threads back where you found them, where they are needed.

I suspect you are holding a personal grudge against me with you moderation, and that's very unprofessional. This is the third incident, and you are making my experience of the hobby very unpleasant.

Send me your resignation. I'll accept it.

Sean
 
Floppies_only said:
A lot more later PCs use CD-ROM drives than 8088s and 286s. That thread belongs exactly where I put it. You should put my threads back where you found them, where they are needed.
Click to expand...
Well it probably should be in General Vintage Computer Discussions as a single thread.

I think the gear you really want to worry about are Pentium era - they'll be getting rarer and people often still throw those out - I pulled one out of a dumpster last year myself.
I keep my Pentiums, but to preserve the generation after (which I often pull apart to steal bits from) I store the motherboards and other parts in static bags.

Floppies_only said:
I suspect you are holding a personal grudge against me with you moderation, and that's very unprofessional. This is the third incident, and you are making my experience of the hobby very unpleasant.

Send me your resignation. I'll accept it.
Click to expand...

Genuinely hoping that's a joke.
 
Floppies_only said:
MB,

A lot more later PCs use CD-ROM drives than 8088s and 286s. That thread belongs exactly where I put it. You should put my threads back where you found them, where they are needed.

I suspect you are holding a personal grudge against me with you moderation, and that's very unprofessional. This is the third incident, and you are making my experience of the hobby very unpleasant.

Send me your resignation. I'll accept it.

Sean
Click to expand...


I'm trying to remember a previous incident. I can't.

We had multiple complaints about you posting essentially the same thread in three different places. We are up to response number 10 now, including a dupe of the original that I merged in and did not delete, my note saying this doesn't need three threads, your demanding my resignation, and this post. It doesn't warrant three different threads.

As for my resignation, please don't hold your breath.
 
Floppies_only said:
That thread belongs exactly where I put it. You should put my threads back where you found them, where they are needed.
Click to expand...
I don't want to inflame here Sean, but wherever something goes, we'll all see it anyway. All posts show up the same to me regardless of where you put them. Is it possible that you view this forum's posts in a way that you don't easily see them all?
 
I am thinking that one mistake I might have made was to not put this in the general hardware discussion area. Because it applies to more than PCs and clones.

If Sean would like it moved there that is easy to do. But I'm still not sending him my resignation. ; - 0
 
I agree it's good to save IDE drives but hopefully all these IDE > CF adapters might people who are really stuck (a lot cheaper / safer to ship, too!)
 
mbbrutman said:
I'm trying to remember a previous incident. I can't.

We had multiple complaints about you posting essentially the same thread in three different places. We are up to response number 10 now, including a dupe of the original that I merged in and did not delete, my note saying this doesn't need three threads, your demanding my resignation, and this post. It doesn't warrant three different threads.

As for my resignation, please don't hold your breath.
Click to expand...

In this thread the message that I'm now replying to is number 10. I didn't see any complaints before number seven. As to previous incidents, my memory, which I admit is fallible, tells me that you've rubbed me the wrong way three times now. I've complained to Erik each time, perhaps he can tell you I'm wrong. But I know I've complained at least once before because I remember doing it.

If you aren't going to do the right thing and get out of the way, at least you might make a minimal shit effort to treat people with courtesy.

Sean
 
Floppies_only said:
In this thread the message that I'm now replying to is number 10. I didn't see any complaints before number seven. As to previous incidents, my memory, which I admit is fallible, tells me that you've rubbed me the wrong way three times now. I've complained to Erik each time, perhaps he can tell you I'm wrong. But I know I've complained at least once before because I remember doing it.

If you aren't going to do the right thing and get out of the way, at least you might make a minimal shit effort to treat people with courtesy.

Sean
Click to expand...

I don't get paid enough for this. Enjoy your ban.
 
Back to the original topic, I would add manuals to that list. Much vintage software is useless without the manuals. Those tend to be the first against the wall when cleaning time comes. Also apparently non-metric Flat Flex Cables are also unobtanium these days.

But I think most of the people on this forums have some idea of what need to be kept or sold. It is the rest of the world that needs to hear that message.
 
mbbrutman said:
I don't get paid enough for this. Enjoy your ban.
Click to expand...
Good, I thought it was rather rude, he can enjoy a full refund of his subscription.


SomeGuy said:
Back to the original topic, I would add manuals to that list.
Click to expand...

I agree. I found the manual for the DTK Turbo 640 today (I have two of these motherboards) in some boxes I was donated - stoked!
Have been going through those boxes today - so much cool stuff and having the manuals just tops it off.

Also magazines, was reading a 1988 PC World earlier and it was like rewinding time. I learned something too - the IBM PS/2 Model 50 and 50Z - the difference wasn't just HD options but zero wait state memory - hence the Z.

Also if people could stop recycling their HP Touch 150's that'd be good. I've never seen one, but I have software for it, still sealed.
 
Floppies_only said:
at least you might make a minimal shit effort to treat people with courtesy.
Click to expand...

Such as swearing at people to treat you with courtesy? Oh, the irony.

I'm not a moderator, and I think your message of "don't throw things out!" only warrants a single thread. Pretty simple message, even if it's "don't throw these specific types of things out".

I have enough 1MB and 4MB SIMMs to choke a goat, so I don't make any great pains to save them. I also don't save anything over 200MHz because anything that would require those systems to run will run just fine on modern systems or virtual machines.
 
Trixter said:
I'm not a moderator, and I think your message of "don't throw things out!" only warrants a single thread.
Click to expand...

I'm not a fan of reading things twice either.

I have enough 1MB and 4MB SIMMs to choke a goat, so I don't make any great pains to save them.
Click to expand...

I know where we can borrow a goat if you want to verify that. It would make a great Retrochallenge project.

I also don't save anything over 200MHz because anything that would require those systems to run will run just fine on modern systems or virtual machines.
Click to expand...

To me that depends on the system. Generally, I'd agree that 200 is about the turning point, but I've got an IBM365 with a Pentium Pro 200 which I think is above average in likely future collector's value. (I like it already) I've also got a 220 which I save because it came as a perfect Win98 example. And then there's a couple of Pentium III systems that are allowed to stay if they promise not to get in the way. I haven't told them, but they're really there just as extra boxes and/or screws.
 
Ole Juul said:
To me that depends on the system. Generally, I'd agree that 200 is about the turning point, but I've got an IBM365 with a Pentium Pro 200 which I think is above average in likely future collector's value. (I like it already) I've also got a 220 which I save because it came as a perfect Win98 example. And then there's a couple of Pentium III systems that are allowed to stay if they promise not to get in the way. I haven't told them, but they're really there just as extra boxes and/or screws.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I should clarify that I do have a few systems above 200MHz if I find them interesting (like an IBM PII 333MHz that has embedded sound that uses the internal speaker if there is no external line-out detected)... I just don't seek them out or rescue them.
 
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