Front panel prototype
Posted 2 years ago
Scavenging
Found some new inspiration today when I opened up an old 386SX computer and attempted to copy out data from an awesome 56MB Quantum harddrive. It took me a while to find the perfect way of accessing the drive, since today’s motherboards aren’t exactly made for accessing such old technology. After exhausting most of my normal methods such as using Windows, DOS 6.22 boot disks and Acronis True Image, Linux saved the day.
I don’t know what it is with Linux, but it always comes through for me. I tend to disregard it until I’ve exhausted all my other options, though I don’t really know why.
The computer had not been used in 15 years, and it looked brand new inside. I took out the PSU and the disk drive and googled the various part numbers on the chips I found inside.
The CPU was soldered to the motherboard, but that is to be expected from such a complex chip. Keyboard controller and BIOS ROM were socketed, and came out easily after a little persuasion.
All in all, a quiet and rewarding day at work!
A project detailing the creation of a simple desktop computer from scratch. Both hardware and software will be assembled and crafted to make a cute and retro PC.
