New blog post! Sometimes *new* stuff can break too. This big ol' #samsung LCD betrayed my buddy, so I set about forcing it back to work. https://www.leadedsolder.com/2026/05/05/samsung-syncmaster-245b-resistor-fix-panel-damaged.html #repair

New blog post! Are x86, ARM, and even PowerPC too mainstream for you? Let's all say hello to LoongArch, by getting a Loongson motherboard from a Chinese scrap market. https://www.leadedsolder.com/2026/04/14/loongson-ls3a5000-debian-linux.html #loongson #3a5000 #linux

New blog post! It's part five of my quest to make my very own #colecovision. This time, I let other people build one too, and make sure I actually included all the parts! There's still some bugs to work out, but I do still love my first clone system. #retrogaming #Kicad #coleco […]

Finally getting around to unboxing this FM-77 (non-AV) CRT monitor that Surugaya sent me with *free shipping to Canada*. Hopefully it works; they probably won't do a deal that dumb again. #retrocomputing #fm7 #fujitsu

New blog post! This TRS-80 Model 1 was found in the bottom of a trash bin, smashed to bits by heavy printers and cash registers above it. Will it ever run again? #retrocomputing #tandy #trs80 #trs80model1 https://www.leadedsolder.com/2026/03/03/trs80-model-1-power-supply-case-fix.html

[CW: Tommy Lee Jones] I honestly thought this would taste a lot more like a health potion. Maybe this is actually what health potions taste like? #dragonquest #retrogaming #coffee

New blog post! Fujitsu made a wildly complicated machine in the FM-77AV2, and this one defeated me. I did narrow the problem to a bad custom chip! Come along and see the heaviest 8-bit computer I owned before I got even heavier ones […]

New blog post! Can you play Sonic Invaders on my clone of Australia's favourite 1980s computer/video game hybrid? Yes, at long last, you can. It is time to re-enter Dick Smith's fabulous world of Wizzardry. #retrocomputing #retrogaming #kicad #vtech […] [Original post on retrochat.online]

Testing a security monitor I got from the recycler. Seems to work after some cleaning of the knobs and switches, letting it ease back to life with a game. Strongly considering options for what to turn this into. #retrogaming #bubsy #crt

Got the #loongson booting Debian Linux finally. Had to update the BIOS to get the installer to boot and the cheap USB wifi dongle kept dropping off the network. More to come once I get more time to play with it!

Hey I just found out the local home improvement monopolist sells "handy panels," which are just plywood chopped down to be easy to put in your car. I'm a carpenter now.

Even with modern fancy PCI-E computers, apparently port 80h post codes still exist. Just picked up this little guy to see if anything fun comes up when this dumpster Intel board fails memory training.

I have gotten my #loongson 3a5000 to at least POST and make video. I'll have to get a Linux install together to run on it. Anyone know how to make the speaker stop shrieking during the UEFI shell? #LoongArch

🎶 New blog post / it's one you can read / this Sun's Timekeeper is toast / so why don't we / cut a hole in it with a Dremel? 🎶 #sparc #sunos #sparcstation #retrocomputing #powertoolabuse https://www.leadedsolder.com/2025/12/30/sparcstation-1-timekeeper-battery-fix-dremel.html

I might have made a mistake here. #retrocomputing

Lots of noise but very little life in this TRS-80 Model 2. At least I've gotten horizontal sync generation fixed (by swapping video cards; the HOT is maybe dead.) No idea why the floppy drive isn't doing anything. #retrocomputing #trs80 #bigtandy #tandy

New blog post! As everyone knows, the Commodore 64 likes to get sick and die. How many C64 boards in a free pile can we fix in three hours? #commodore64 #c64 #retrocomputing #itsthepla #itsnotthepla https://www.leadedsolder.com/2025/12/09/commodore-64-black-screen.html

My cat Rainbow likes to sit in this basket in my bathroom. My daughter painted a portrait of Rainbow in the basket. I hung it in the bathroom, naturally. Then I got a photo of Rainbow sitting in the basket underneath the painting.

Slowly finding out about all the parts that I've forgotten to acquire for this "new" computer build. $35 motherboards from the ewaste dumpster may require some creative solutions.

New blog post! It's a Samsung CRT TV/VCR that rolled out of the swamp of eBay. Some kids shoved Christmas ornaments in it. And Starburst candies. And a... Pokemon card? That's not what's wrong with it, though! #retrogaming #crt #crtrepair […]

New blog post! The Apple III was perhaps the most unloved machine of Apple's early-80s losing streak, but that doesn't mean this one should have been used as a toilet for mice. Just how bad can it get? #retrocomputing #apple2 #apple3 […] [Original post on retrochat.online]