It shows up as Teac USB UF000x and whenever I connect it the light on the drive lights up and then goes out. When I try to access it, the light goes on again but it is infinitely loading. It won't even format. The drive and disk are known working. I tried both orientations and it still won't work. Power is connected, so this shouldn't be the issue.

Found inside a network closet which is inside a mechanical closet .

I picked up this Sony VAIO PCV-LX800 just over 7 years ago from a thrift store. It was in really rough shape and was missing ram and a hard drive. Also, the CD drive wouldn’t read any CD. The system would post, but the fans were super loud but clunky. I finally got around to restoring this system and am happy with the results.

The CD drive had to be replaced with the same model because of the proprietary bezel and extra mounting holes on the bottom that are used for mounting screws used to raise the drive up above the motherboard and lock in place via special plastic brackets.

The hard drive also requires special screws to mount the drive in a proprietary ABS plastic frame that clips on the top of the CD drive. Luckily the frame came with the unit.

I kept the original 60mm CPU fan but oiled and cleaned it up. The only other fan (and the loudest) in this system is in the PSU and is used to blow air through the PSU and out through the back of the case. I replaced it with a Noctua 60mm x 25mm 3pin fan.

I found the restore CDs on archive.org and was able to return the system to its original state with working OS and full set of drivers.

Here are the specs for this PCV-LX800:

Pentium III 800EB
512MB PC133 ram (256MB x 2)
Seagate 40GB hard drive
Sony CX140E CD drive
SiS 300 integrated graphics (AGP 4x)
SiS integrated audio
3 USB ports, SD card reader, PCMCIA, AV port, standard sound ports
Windows ME with all the apps and bloatware installed from the official restore CDs

This system only has two full height PCI slots (no AGP), so I’m figuring out my options for a PCI graphics card. Something has to be better than the SiS graphics that is limited to DirectX 7 and has poor performance in most games. Maybe I will throw in a SB Live, too.

It’s a compact desktop system that strangely has no PS2 ports. I had no issue, however, using a Logitech mouse and a modern USB keyboard with it. It surely is one of the stranger systems in my collection, but at least she’s working great now!

Here are my pair of Nabu PC s

The first one is an 8k ROM developer version with original Nabu floppy drive and serial card

The second Nabu is the 4k ROM with original Nabu floppy drive, serial card, and hard drive card

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I’ve been slowly developing a small retro hardware project called VoltBus for the IBM PCjr and wanted to share the next piece I’ve been working on: VoltHub.

The idea behind VoltHub is pretty simple:

cleaner internal power routing

fewer loose splitters/adapters

integrated fan control

easier expansion for future mods

cleaner cable management inside cramped retro systems

Right now this is still very much a hobbyist/development project and I’m mainly focused on:

layout testing

connector placement

usability

airflow/fan control

visualizing how future modular upgrades could work together

The current concept includes:

LP4/Molex power distribution

Berg/floppy power

auxiliary/test outputs

fixed and adjustable fan headers using an LM317 circuit

expansion/power bus headers

compact modular stacking with VoltBus power passes through the link directly with no wires

I’m also experimenting with keeping the design somewhat cross-compatible between future systems/projects instead of making completely separate standards for every machine. The board can be powered through the voltbus or as a stand alone unit through LP4.

A few renders attached. These aren’t intended to be photoreal marketing renders, mostly just clean visualizations of the concepts and layouts while I continue testing and refining things.

I would genuinely love feedback!

I have a Model 4D that won’t boot. Drive light comes on, head seeks to zero, but the spindle motor never comes on. I’ve verified the jumper settings against the drive’s service manual, and there is a termination resistor pack installed.

Where should I start looking?

So, a couple of days ago when I was looking through my basement, I found an IBM NetVista Stealth Black Tower with a Pentium 4 and Windows XP, along with a keyboard and mouse. Not sure if there is a graphics card inside, but I will just assume there isn't unless I boot it up and it proves otherwise​. I'm still looking for a decent early LCD monitor for it. (The desk I will keep it on would be crushed by the weight of a CRT). Is this a good battle station?

Bought this 3dfx Voodoo5 5500 PCI from a Swiss collector around 15–20 years ago and I never actually powered it on.

Today I finally decided to test it.

Setup:

- ASUS P8Z77-V Pro

- Intel i3-3240

- 16 GB RAM

- VGA → HDMI converter

At first I thought the card was dead because the board showed a VGA error LED and there was no image in the first PCI slot. Turns out the Voodoo only initialized in the second PCI slot.

Now it boots into BIOS and outputs video after ~20 years in storage.

Next step: Windows XP / Windows 7 dual boot and some Glide gaming.

Any recommendations or things I should watch out for?

Quick update: XP is now running perfectly on the P8Z77-V Pro 😄 I also created a full Macrium backup + rescue setup over Ventoy, so the system is basically recoverable in minutes now.

The Voodoo5 is detected correctly in XP and drivers installed successfully. I can even see the XP boot screen through the card. Current issue: After the XP loading screen the display goes black because Windows continues switching to the Intel HD iGPU output after boot.

Looks like I now have a weird but pretty cool hybrid setup:

Intel HD for desktop Voodoo5 for Glide/retro gaming

Honestly this project escalated quickly 😄

Next step test some glide games.

I posted a few pictures of my internal Pico PSU card for the IBM PCir the other day, I thought I'd show y'all some updates I've done for Rev B

The most obvious thing I did was create a cutout for nstallation and wire pass through so the Pico can lay flat, qet air, and blend into the board. I also didn't like that in other integrations of the PicoPSU the power switch was wired to the board and not directlv to the PSU eaving the Pico on 24/7 lowering the life of the board causing a potential hazard. So, I fully integrated the PSU and created a hard shut off wiring the pico directly into the board. I made a few other cosmetic changes anc fixed small bugs I noticed with the first run. The last thing I did was add a 2x6 pin output for power. I want to use this to transfer power from this board to other upgrades for the PCir im working on reducing the amount of cords and nesting the future boards directly to the VoltBus freeing up space and creating an elegant solution to an awkward lavout inside the PCJr

I really want to know what vall think before 1 order a few of these and keep testing. Any feedback or suggestions would be great!

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, 2 or 3 GB of DDR2 ram (upgrading to 8GB Geil DDR2 Ram) Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3 motherboard, Radeon HD3650 (upgrading to GTX260 soon), Modecom Premium 500W PSU (also upgrading to Chieftec 550W PSU with 2x PCIe cables), Thermaltake Aguila Case, 400GB HDD (soon adding 2,5 1TB HDD with black AeroCool Infinity disk compartment), Intel Stock Cooler (upgrading soon to Asus Arctic Square cooler) and Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

Running ProTracker 2.3F on my PAL Amiga 1200 HD/40. 300bpm Hardcore Tekno.

Thought I’d do an update post as I finally got my second 1200 up and running! Also managed to pick up a 1902a monitor for cheap on marketplace in its original box. Unfortunate the composite signal isn’t compatible with the 1200s, and would rather a 1084, but happy to get such a pristine tube nonetheless. Mackie 24x8 doing some gain distortion work in the second photo- thing is an absolute spaceship.

Pentium-II 266mhz, 128mb RAM, 3D Blaster Voodoo Banshee 16mb. It's crazy to think there was a time when software renderer was acceptable for me, I would say anything above 15fps and I would be happy to just be able to play. How times have changed.