It may seem like a strange build, but I am planning a Super Socket 7 Windows 95 system with an AMD K6-2 333MHz and my original Matrox Mystique (yeah, seriously). The goal is early, quirky 3D gaming with a very mid-late 90s focus - around 1996-1997.

As expected, I need smaller test clips for an SOP20 chip. So I can either buy a set of those or get the full SOP20 clamp for like … $30+ or whatever. Ha! Ahh… sadly, I suspect the main graphics chip is bad. This diagnostic process is wishful thinking.

I am going to fix this video card, gosh darn it.

The Panasonic FS-A1 was my first MSX system. I am due to fire up my current system. The homebrew and rom hacking scene is so amazing on this platform.

Been wanting to do this mixer upgrade for years. Have a 4U rack to assemble for mounting. In the meantime…

I have a stack of electronics in need of repair, and everything is fine pitch. The stack exists to remind me: "you need a hot air rework station for this. Maybe buy one or something?" And the dust gathers. I either need to buy the tools or ship a box of stuff to someone who can do it.

I joined Ron of Ron's Computer Videos to talk about Big Box PC Games. Just a fun, casual conversation about collecting games with a bit of story telling. Give it a watch! www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz3P...

Ever wonder how Final Fantasy gets the numbers you see during battle? How do your stats contribute to physical attacks? Are there any bugs in the game? (spoilers: uhh... yeah) Behind the Code has finally reached Final Fantasy. Enjoy. youtu.be/O_CLnBCgJks

Ever wonder how Final Fantasy gets the numbers you see during battle? How do your stats contribute to physical attacks? Are there any bugs in the game? (spoilers: uhh... yeah) Behind the Code has finally reached Final Fantasy. Enjoy. youtu.be/O_CLnBCgJks

Got a new toy! Let’s check out this EISA board once again. No video. No POST codes. Draws power of 26 watts, and the chips warm up. The toastiest one is… a PAL chip? What is this for? It warmed up 7 degrees C over a few minutes (but not to “hot hot” levels) Hmm. What next?

Do any of you use an Extron 300 A for capturing DOS stuff? Because maaaan, dealing with 720x400 and 320x200 and total pixels and phase is quite a thing. If you use something else that you’d recommend, I am listening.

The jumpers are set. The timings are tight. It is time to kick this 486 system into...

Got it in there. Changed jumpers. Processor recognized. I can edit BIOS settings and mess around just fine, but it freezes on the system info screen just after parallel ports are listed. Rats. I hope my documentation is correct.

Why won’t this processor drop into the socket? Wait… what is going on with this pin?

Let’s. GO.

I can’t even… Univbe + S3 805 VLB card… what are y’all DOING? Is this a race? My LCD monitor sees what the scope sees and is displaying the following message: LOLNO

<sips tea. Sets mug down on the table quietly> <pinches bridge of nose> <writes the following> So I have a new VLB VGA card that i want to spit out low res VESA modes. Test bench LCD monitor says out of range, and I am honestly considering running VSync through my scope to find out WHAT is going on.

Well... I guess I am trying to prepare everyone for retro PC content on the channel. "Brace for impact," so to speak. www.youtube.com/post/UgkxkiH...

$300k with 9 hours to go! 😵‍💫#PicoIDE www.crowdsupply.com/polpotronics...

I don’t know if there is a reward for dumbest retro pc endeavor on youtube, but I might be aiming for it.

Next video has some real Lua scripting insanity in it! This is probably the most code I have written for a Behind the Code project. I hope it is worth it in the end. Also - scope creep on your OWN project is LEGIT.

I just bought Duke Nukem 3D… for benchmarking VLB graphics cards. Maaaan.

Hmm. Thinking about non-synthetic benchmarks for graphics in DOS on a 486. If you wanted to put some graphics-intensive or VBE titles through their paces to bench your graphics card, what would you run? DOOM, Fastdoom, Duke Nukem 3D. Quake (yikes). Maybe Descent 2? Hmm. What else?

Low lighting in the room, a CRT, and some DOS gaming. Photos cannot do this setup justice.

Have you ever played Commando on the NES? Ever notice how the scrolling seems to jump and jitter as you move up the screen? WHY does it do that!? Let's find out! New Behind the Code: youtu.be/OauZmS0Klxw

Back on the topic of Pilotwings, even without looking into the code, we can see how the regular vehicles and the "bonus" characters likely reuse code w/ similar/identical controls, propulsion, viewpoints, etc. (Bonus stages can also be accessed by hacking the Debug mode back into the game.)

I feel ppl don't give SNES Pilotwings much thought, but it's one of my most-played games. I would love to transform the game into what it once was, the unreleased Dragonfly. We can get a taste in the heli stage (108048) using Action Replay code 7E0CAB02- you get zippy dragonfly controls and missiles

I spent a bunch of time getting this juuuuust right. It's the ending of a video I'm working on. Since it's at the very end it'll probably be seen by like 20% of viewers I was working on it instead of doing the more impactful but super boring task of going through the video to add visuals and b-roll

I don't want to alarm you or anything, but we've got @displacedgamers.bsky.social on this Sunday's Retro Repair Roundup! www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsRp...

So many thoughts - I cannot express them in so few words. Feeling the loss of people we've never met demonstrates the impact they've had. Sometimes we don't realize it until after they leave us. Thank you for The Computer Chronicles, Stewart Cheifet. obits.goldsteinsfuneral.com/stewart-chei...

Sunsoft's Journey to Silius (0/13) I posted this on other social media a long time ago, so I think it's time for a refresh: SSS: The title used in the time between The Terminator and Journey to Silius

Journey to Silius ([new thread] 7/13): OK, I don't see how this unused mech-brain boss of Stage 3 fit into the Terminator concept, but it's really interesting. Tile arrangements are just my guess as to how it fit together.

🎉BIG NEWS🎉 Super Sunny World, my NES platformer, is entering the final stages of development! So, it's time for a PRIVATE BETA! If you would like to give feedback and log bugs, please sign up using this link! Beta Testing will being the new year! forms.gle/1sFGnaQiMZpF...

So I found another GeForce4 ti 4200 for a great price at a local surplus store. Gave it a dice roll. … and now I have two cards with problems. Haha… ha.

Also, here's a glimpse at my rotoscoping process... #LUNARK #pixelart

Chunky, but 60 fps 3d possible with colors and transparency on bare metal Megadrive #SGDK #BlastEm

Fascinating. youtu.be/4oZlt9Dl43I?...

I was switching between Famicom & PCE/TG16 games and was annoyed at how PCE screens were shifted to the left compared to Fami. So I did some measurements: the Fami's active pixels start ~7.6us after the end of HSync while the PCE's can be 7.0us (early) or 8.47us (late), but never the same as Fami :/

VLB VGA card #4 arrived. Trident 9440. With jumper set to <= 33 MHz, DOOM and Quake froze at launch, sadly. I jumpered to > 33, and everything was stable. My motherboard has some really tight settings from using the Cirrus Logic, so I may relax those and jumper back to <= 33 at next opportunity.

Ridley, Kraid, and Mother Brain Life Support slow down! But why? Let's do a performance dive to answer this question and also find out why scrolling seems to lag when Samus is flipping through the air... but in reality does not! Part 2 of Metroid Lag - youtu.be/1oCE-hYT3LY

Turns out Sound Blaster Re:imagine is sadly what we kinda knew it would be.

Happy birthday to the MOS 6502! It was 50 years ago today that people were able to buy their first samples of the chip from a jar in a hotel room at WESCON. Here's my oldest 6502 from the 52nd week of 1975. Still works perfectly!

Found this while cleaning out the basement at a family member’s house. Any of my computer buddies here on bsky use one before?

So it turns out I may need to replace this RAM and possibly another chip on the opposite side of the PCB. And boy, does the “I don’t have the equipment for this” feeling hit hard.

Well, it is time for that once every five years cleaning, I suppose.

Do flux pens “expire,” really? ..y… yes.

Guess who ordered an entire set of surface mount caps only to realize he used the wrong measurements... Well... I guess I will try that again. Might as well include some new flux, desoldering braid, and other items in the order this time.

I think I may have reached the point in life when I need a microscope for fine soldering work. If you have any recommendations, lemme know.

Wait, what?

Oh yeah. No microscope used. Take that. Image artifacting after maybe 8 tests, though. Fan sounds like it is destroying itself, and there are capacitors hanging off the card, but you know… (I guess I need a 1500uf with… something voltage rating. Or a full recap. Need a decoder for that writing)