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RavenWolf Retro Tech
United States
เข้าร่วมเมื่อ 3 มี.ค. 2018
My name is Mike Brixius and I have collected vintage technology for over 30 years.
In the late 80's and early 90's I was a certified Commodore hardware developer and the president of the local Amiga users group (ESAUG). I also attended the local colleges Electrical Engineering Technician program and then taught the 1st year night classes for that program for a year.
At RavenWolf Retro Tech you will find a plethora of restoration projects, from antique technology to vintage gadgets, you will see how-tos and tear-downs of a variety of cool vintage technology such as
* Many vintage Commodore (mostly) machines and software from the Stone Collection
* Other machines like a Macintosh SE, Osborne Executive and a HeathKit H11 and H89
* an early 1970s Tektronix 453A oscilloscope
* 80's and early 90's laser printers like the HP LaserJet II and Apple LaserWriter
Ideally you will get 2-4 videos per month but I want to give you a quality experience so they take me a while to make
In the late 80's and early 90's I was a certified Commodore hardware developer and the president of the local Amiga users group (ESAUG). I also attended the local colleges Electrical Engineering Technician program and then taught the 1st year night classes for that program for a year.
At RavenWolf Retro Tech you will find a plethora of restoration projects, from antique technology to vintage gadgets, you will see how-tos and tear-downs of a variety of cool vintage technology such as
* Many vintage Commodore (mostly) machines and software from the Stone Collection
* Other machines like a Macintosh SE, Osborne Executive and a HeathKit H11 and H89
* an early 1970s Tektronix 453A oscilloscope
* 80's and early 90's laser printers like the HP LaserJet II and Apple LaserWriter
Ideally you will get 2-4 videos per month but I want to give you a quality experience so they take me a while to make
วีดีโอ
Beautiful Commodore SX-64 Restored to Life
มุมมอง 94814 ชั่วโมงที่ผ่านมา
In this video we finish my first restoration of a Commodore SX-64 Executive Computer. The boards need repaired then a sound issue must be resolved. We also do another fix caused by a manufacturing defect in these machines. Part 1: th-cam.com/video/QKgyJC7QGd8/w-d-xo.html Part 2: th-cam.com/video/7IVixNd9PJ8/w-d-xo.html Part 3: This Video MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO Thanks to Alex from the Reviving ...
Sexy Commodore SX-64 Restoration - Pt 2
มุมมอง 6702 หลายเดือนก่อน
In this video we work on the Power Supply CRT, Floppy Drive and more on the SX-64. This video has taken way more time to produce than I expected so I hope you enjoy my efforts to increase the quality of these videos. Sadly I did have some microphone issues but I was able to correct them for the most part. Part 1: th-cam.com/video/QKgyJC7QGd8/w-d-xo.html Part 2: This Video Part 3: th-cam.com/vid...
Sexy 64! Commodore SX-64 Restoration - Step-by-step teardown guide
มุมมอง 9803 หลายเดือนก่อน
Learn how to teardown a Commodore SX-64 Executive computer. This is part one of a restoration in which we explore the SX-64s hardware and break it down into its constituent assemblies. Part 1: This Video Part 2: th-cam.com/video/7IVixNd9PJ8/w-d-xo.html Part 3: th-cam.com/video/itpLVDcRQDU/w-d-xo.html MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO Thanks to Alex from the Reviving Retro channel for a lot of good advice...
How to restore a Nasty Commodore 64 keyboard
มุมมอง 6364 หลายเดือนก่อน
If you want to restore your own Commodore 64 keyboard or just want to see the process then this is the video for you. This is the nastiest keyboard I have ever seen so if it can be saved then anything is savable as long as it isn't smashed. In the "How I Restore a Commodore 64" videos I promised a keyboard restoration video so here it is. MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO Soldering Iron (Basic) geni.us/R...
Can we save these old school floppy disks? Cleaning & Testing +Tips!
มุมมอง 1.3K4 หลายเดือนก่อน
Now that the Commodore 120D has the proper equipment I was able to get back to the promised disk cleaning video. We will inspect, clean, and test some vintage games and more from the Stone Collection. Then we tally the results and see how many survived the last couple decades. MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO Commodore 128Dcr restoration th-cam.com/video/5eFPq5ioI3w/w-d-xo.html Cleaning Tool www.thingiv...
Pimpin a Commodore 128D with massive upgrades so I can test my RPG
มุมมอง 4.4K5 หลายเดือนก่อน
In order to test my assembly language RPG, Dark Dominion of Maldrekar, on native hardware I upgraded my Commodore 128D-CR with some equipment from the Stone Collection. We add a RAMLink, CMD HD-20 Hard drive with a ZuluSCSI, 1571 & 1581 floppies and more. MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO Commodore 128Dcr restoration th-cam.com/video/5eFPq5ioI3w/w-d-xo.html CMD HD-20 Restoration th-cam.com/video/zckiNjud...
BURNING Jiffy DOS ROM Images for the Commodore 128D - A BIT OF A PROCESS!
มุมมอง 9095 หลายเดือนก่อน
Today we burn a set of JiffyDOS ROMS for us in the Commodore 128D. This process is not as simple as you would think since it involves assembling 6 different ROM images into a single binary file. MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO JiffyDOS Sources: Retro Innovations store.go4retro.com/ Retro Rewind retrorewind.ca/home Restore Store (German) restore-store.de/89-jiffydos There are others listed here but they...
Rockin the Map Design on a Game I started in 1984 - DDM Update & Dev Blog
มุมมอง 1K6 หลายเดือนก่อน
Today we look at the progress that has been made on the Map and new features as I move into the next sprint. At the end you will also get the promised update on the crazy January we had! DDM Movement Costs Post: www.patreon.com/posts/over-huge-hump-94895956?Link& Get more frequent updates for free on Patreon: www.patreon.com/ravenwolfretrotech PATRON COMMUNITY C128 Joseph Naberhaus Qingyao Sun ...
[Parody] The PROPER way to remove surface mount capacitors
มุมมอง 1.2K7 หลายเดือนก่อน
Today we take a look at the PROPER way to remove surface mount Capacitors with the possibility of making a little money along the way. And yes this is a Humor post and will be labeled as such once we hit April 2nd Get more frequent updates for free on Patreon: www.patreon.com/ravenwolfretrotech PATRON COMMUNITY C128 Joseph Naberhaus Qingyao Sun C64 Brian Mathews Trent Waddington Patrick M Brenn...
The Story Has CHANGED: Amiga 1000 Restoration for the Humane Society
มุมมอง 7427 หลายเดือนก่อน
In 2022 I released a video where I restored an Amiga-1000 for a Humane Society fund raiser. Sadly, it turned out that the machine was not auctioned at a fund raiser as I was led to believe and its actual disposition remains unknown. I seriously considered deleting the original video since it implied a charity was benefited which I no longer believe to be true. I decided, instead, to re-release ...
This C64 had me puzzled. It turned out to be pretty cool!
มุมมอง 2.4K8 หลายเดือนก่อน
I restored this Commodore 64 in a rare case last year for a donation. It turned out to be a really interesting aftermarket case made by Micro Accessories of South Australia! Don't miss the very end, it was quite cathartic! Get more frequent updates for free on Patreon: www.patreon.com/ravenwolfretrotech PATRON COMMUNITY C128 Joseph Naberhaus Qingyao Sun C64 Brian Mathews Trent Waddington Patric...
Something you should know. Channel update regarding GWSS
มุมมอง 1.4K8 หลายเดือนก่อน
I REALLY hate drama but this ended up being unavoidable. I felt an obligation to make sure everyone here was aware of the issues with Sean / AKA Geek With Social Skills since I worked with him so much in the past. If you want more information there are some links below: Daves Video: th-cam.com/video/ynlyh685e5Y/w-d-xo.html Rons Video: th-cam.com/video/6xbtmgalaEQ/w-d-xo.html Live stream: th-cam...
DDM Game Progress Update and Sprint Plan Jan 2024 - Dev Blog
มุมมอง 1.4K9 หลายเดือนก่อน
Take a look at the sate of game development for the Commodore 64 RPG, Dark Dominion of Maldrekar as of the new year (January 2024). I started making this game in 1984 on a Commodore 64 and recently decided to finish it. It is made entirely in assembly language. Get more frequent updates for free on Patreon: www.patreon.com/ravenwolfretrotech PATRON COMMUNITY C128 Joseph Naberhaus Qingyao Sun C6...
Commodore 128 Holiday Sights and Sounds with the 1985 Jingle Disk
มุมมอง 56511 หลายเดือนก่อน
While cleaning and testing some disks from the Stone Collection I came across this holiday disk from 1985 that still works perfectly! I thought this recording with the sounds of the drive and the SID music would be fun to put on a loop for a while Christmas day and I thought you might like it as well. The narration is by Muriel McGiniss. The gold bell on the side was hanging in my Grandparents ...
The Amazing Pet Companion - HDMI and Composite on a Commodore PET!
มุมมอง 61811 หลายเดือนก่อน
Today we will take a look at the amazing Pet Companion for the Commodore Pet series of computers. This cool little board allows the output of composite and HDMI video along with audio from the Commodore Pet. MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO Rudy's Retro Intel TH-cam www.youtube.com/@RudysRetroIntel Rudy's Github github.com/RudyRetroIntel Geek with Social Skills' TH-cam www.youtube.com/@geekwithsocialski...
Commodore 64 Blue Screen of Death? - How I Restore a C=64 Pt 2
มุมมอง 1.7Kปีที่แล้ว
Commodore 64 Blue Screen of Death? - How I Restore a C=64 Pt 2
A Messed Up Commodore 64 - How I Restore a C64
มุมมอง 2.5Kปีที่แล้ว
A Messed Up Commodore 64 - How I Restore a C64
They Took Away His Commodore 64| Retro Tech Tales from Back in the Day
มุมมอง 1.2Kปีที่แล้ว
They Took Away His Commodore 64| Retro Tech Tales from Back in the Day
Vintage C64 CMD Hard Drive - Lost documentation found!
มุมมอง 4.9Kปีที่แล้ว
Vintage C64 CMD Hard Drive - Lost documentation found!
I started making this C64 game in 1984. It’s time to finish it!
มุมมอง 67Kปีที่แล้ว
I started making this C64 game in 1984. It’s time to finish it!
Can this Pet 4032 be Saved? Main Board Repairs.
มุมมอง 949ปีที่แล้ว
Can this Pet 4032 be Saved? Main Board Repairs.
Can I Program EPROMs on a Commodore 64? Promenade C1 Pet ROM Burning
มุมมอง 2Kปีที่แล้ว
Can I Program EPROMs on a Commodore 64? Promenade C1 Pet ROM Burning
What an Amazing Tool - The Retro Chip Tester Pro - Minimal Montage Ed!
มุมมอง 3.1Kปีที่แล้ว
What an Amazing Tool - The Retro Chip Tester Pro - Minimal Montage Ed!
Can I Erase Years of Neglect from this Vintage Commodore Pet?
มุมมอง 773ปีที่แล้ว
Can I Erase Years of Neglect from this Vintage Commodore Pet?
Trying to Fix a FRIED Commodore 64! Over a Dozen Bad ICs!
มุมมอง 3Kปีที่แล้ว
Trying to Fix a FRIED Commodore 64! Over a Dozen Bad ICs!
Shop Remodel, Updates, and Teasers - What a Mess!
มุมมอง 598ปีที่แล้ว
Shop Remodel, Updates, and Teasers - What a Mess!
Pet Power! Transformer Restoration & Capacitor Reforming - Pet 4032
มุมมอง 784ปีที่แล้ว
Pet Power! Transformer Restoration & Capacitor Reforming - Pet 4032
This C64 Mod Makes a Fantastic Tool for Testing Chips
มุมมอง 1.3Kปีที่แล้ว
This C64 Mod Makes a Fantastic Tool for Testing Chips
This Commodore Pet 4032 has Seen Better Days - Can it be Saved?
มุมมอง 9362 ปีที่แล้ว
This Commodore Pet 4032 has Seen Better Days - Can it be Saved?
This series was really great. I hope you can do some more restorations from the Stone collection, but in any event looking forward to your next RPG update!
I really appreciate the compliment! The next update should be up Sunday with another hot on its heels in a couple weeks.
Nice job dude! Sexy! - Not you - the computer LOL!
wow and peace be upon you sir from me
That was a huge effort. Great work.
Thanks! I appreciate the compliment.
This is an amazing video, thanks for sharing your process. I was very happy to see Bard's Tale 1 boot up - great game!
Does the SX-64 suffer from the same over-voltage issues in the normal C64 power supply? I've been afraid to even turn mine on for years and it's on the back shelf until I can pop it open. Maybe these videos will spur me to get it done.
Fortunately the SX-64 power supply is reputed to be very reliable. I have not heard of it causing an overvoltage issue. I would just disconnect it and check everything with a meter to be safe.
My cousins had one of these. I loved going to their house and playing games on the little machine!
@RavenWolf Retro Tech, awesome video as usual! Sorry to hear about the wrist but glad it’s on the mend. DDM is looking pretty great as well. Looking forward to the upcoming videos in that.
Thanks Frank! I am working on the DDM update as we speak.
I love these lil guys so much I have eight of them. Three in total working condition. The remaining have something on them that doesnt work. Like the monitor, drive, sound or not even booting. Your video will be an excellent reference. Unfortunately I only have 2 keyboards!!!! Ive noticed many sellers sell the keyboard separately.
Sounds like a sweet collection but I know what you mean about the keyboards. Even just a keyboard cable runs 2 arms and a leg!
@@RavenWolfRetroTech Then there is the keyboard cable!!!!
Excellent video series. I went through a restoration of a PAL SX-64 in 2021. Mine was an extreme rebuild, it needed a new IO PCB, the original was full of corrosion due to the environment the machine was stored. I worked with a PCB design engineer and created a brand new replica PCB which included the SRQ fix. I replaced all of the old single wipe IC sockets, fixed the User Port AC tied to ground issue, designed a dual color green/red power/activity LED PCB for the FDD, replaced the faulty CRT with an LCD screen which needed a new monitor control PCB and a new speaker/amplifier to hear the tunes. I also came up with a replacement clock PCB for the main CPU PCB that uses an 8701 chip. Oh, and I got the SX-64 chassis electroplated in passivated gold zinc. I then finished it off with JiffyDOS. I spent way too much time and money on this machine, but I've ended up with a very unique machine.
Wow, you've really taken your SX-64 restoration to the next level. It sounds like an amazing machine!
Glad you finished up the series. I will need the reassembly directions on the one I have at some time.
Thank You! I'm glad it will help someone.
SX-64 IS the best 8-bit computer!
Any plans to sell spare SX-64s?!
Once I restore another one I will certainly sell this one. I usually offer them to local group members first to avoid shipping damage though.
how much would you charge to make a second cable for testing the boards outside the SX? that would sure make life easier.
The problems are getting the right parts and having a PSU to connect to. A friend sent me a spare SX-64 power supply that I am using to get the connectors I need. My Bench power supply allows me to make a modular cable from these cables that will provide the right voltages for both boards.
@@RavenWolfRetroTech i have spare power supplies, i think i even have one in with my NOS boards
If you have a spare SX-64 PSU, but not a bench supply that puts out all the correct voltages, I would just extend the 2 power cables and the video out cable on the spare supply and that would work perfectly!
@@RavenWolfRetroTech thanks, when you talked about the cable I p;ictured something different. next time i have a batch of SX to work on i will investigate setting up for external powering.
Very cool!
I have a laser Jet 4 that I suspect has issues with the toner wiper. It prints beautifully with an OEM for a while then you will see streaking. like your print example. I may give up on it.
You can replace the toner cartridge or try to find a replacement wiper blade. Some ghosting can also be caused in the fuser which you can easily test for by starting a test print then turn off the power with the page partway through the fuser. If the problem is present on the part of the page before the fuser its the cartridge and, if only present after the fuser... you get the idea :)
Been a while. Any new updates?
Hey pacbilly. I have made a lot of progress on DDM and am working on a couple updates. I'm editing the final part on the SX-64 restoration right now and will get the DDM updates out next.
Very satisfying. What a great set up. I can’t tell you how jealous 15 year old me would have been to see all of this period authentic hardware in action.
Thanks! I can still feel the excitement of getting a new Commodore as a teenager.
Was looking for a good C128 content and TH-cam suggested your video {among other vids}. After watching this one, my only option was to click on the subscribe button. ... Looking forward to see how your DDM game is progressing and how you are going to use this spectacular C128 setup. Probably everyone would like to have it in their possession.
Thank you! It is a dream machine although I have had a few things pointed out that I "Should have added" so I think I may do a part 2 - Totally Gratuitous! I do have an SX-64 final part in the works - all the parts are here and most the footage is shot but I have been slowed down by the amount of time going into DDM. Expect a DDM update after the SX-64.
@@RavenWolfRetroTech Programming a complex game isn't a weekend task, so i sure believe it is slowing all other progresses down... Especially because brain cells are now working differently in terms of: hey, that was a good solution back then, but if i do it so, it'll be great now. Consequences: one modification is chasing the next one. So, just no rush!
@RavenwolfTech Hello i get commodore sx today any chance you have some spare housing parts for sale ?
Sadly My parts machine has no keyboard or handle and the case has some good dents.
@@RavenWolfRetroTech i need one bottom feet if you have and on back screw
Where are you located? I can add one of the feet to my store if you are in the areas I can ship to. You can PM me if you like. Once I hear from you I'll delete this comment to avoid too many parts requests
@@RavenWolfRetroTech i send replay on your shop contact page please check did you get it
It looks like the email got messed up on that when my domain was moved. I am not getting test messages from the contact page either, sigh... In the meantime go to the about page on youtube and you can find my email there. its on the channel page then click more at the description....
Great update; I'm looking forward to your next one!
I'm working on an update to release right after the final SX-64 Video. I might have to split the DDM update since there is so much to show. I did not realize how long its been since a TH-cam update until I started this one.
@@RavenWolfRetroTech That's awesome and is great to hear!
Those are some k1ll3r upgrades (had to 1337 myself there, as the AIs can go crazy on ya). I finally after many years managed to get a 1571 for our 128 but two issues: the 128 is not working atm and the 1571's power board managed to break during shipping. I think it's OK otherwise but yeah, I hope I can find a new board so I can solder that board together and make the 1571 work. My crown jewel so to speak is the 1570, now while not as cool as the 1571 (it's just a 1541 with burst), it's rare, so I treasure it. Always wanted a 1581 so might look for a modern solution to that. Anyway, huge tangent aside: your game looks really interesting. I think it runs on a stock 128 but takes advantage of various upgrades?
Bummer about the power board. One good thing is that, since the drive heads go bad now and then and cannot be repaired, you should be able to find any other part you need for a 1571 from collectors who often have an abundance of everything else. I'm amazed you have a 1570, its such an rare and interesting drive. My game runs in 64 mode. I started making it on my Commodore 64 in 1983 or 1984. I used a 128 later for text editing and compiling in 128 mode but the game still needs 64 mode.
@@RavenWolfRetroTech Thank you for the tip. I didn't consider failing heads but yes, that makes sense. The 1570 randomly came up in a lot with a 64c, so I jumped at it. Got it fairly cheap too. And OK, I was kinda hoping it was running in 128 mode as I personally believe that that mode deserves more games. I will be looking out for your game too though. Thanks.
It was great meeting with you at the Retro Gaming Expo this past week. Me and my podcasting partner, Nate, spoke with you about Amigas and the collection you’re talking about in this video. Keep up the good work!
Hey, it was great to meet you. I was listening to one of your podcasts earlier today.
You’re doing the Lord’s work. Bless you.
Really great so far. Am enjoying watching you restore this SX64. Can’t wait for the power up! Looking great!
Thanks! 👍
Hey, that's almost the same as mine, except i also have the CMD FD4000
I got a lot of "Feedback" on that video about things I didn't add. It was intended to be used in testing my game but, based on that feedback, watch for part 2 later this year - It will be totally gratuitous 🤓
I haven't seen a LaserJet II in decades.
Excellent work and restoration:) she's sure looking sexy now. Looking forward to part 3. Gladly you had a safe trip and feeling better now:)
Thanks Donald!
olé
Great restoration video! I acquired an SX-64 that was stored in an unlined shed near the ocean and had similar corrosion on the power supply shield. My SX-64 I/O PCB was full of corrosion with dozens of black corroded copper traces. I ended up working with a PCB design engineer to create a brand new replica I/O PCB. My corroded shield and chassis were laser cleaned (high power CO2 laser) and then electroplated in gold passivated zinc. I also had to replace the CRT monitor as it had a failed EHT transformer.
Wow Michael, that sounds like it was a major restoration!
Great video!! Keep up the great work, and looking forward to your next one
Thanks Rudy! Will do
Loved the well-timed "keeping up" interlude :)
Thank you. I'm Glad you enjoyed it!
Love your videos. Looks like the SX is coming back together nicely. Looking forward to seeing it back in one piece and working again 👍
Thank You! It is coming along. The main thing I have left to deal with before editing the next part is an oversensitive keyboard...
great video thanks, The SX was the first Commodore I owned, always loved them. I have a few I am restoring myself.
They are an interesting machine. The same and yet so different!
Hi there! question regarding a 1541... When I turn on the drive, there are no lights at all, but I can hear the motor and see the (don't know its name) circular thing which goes in the middle of the diskette spinning around like yours ... do you have any idea about what could be the problem? many thanks in advance and for your time
The 1541s natural state is for the drive to be spinning and the computer built into the drive has to be executing code in order for it to stop. A spinning drive with a red light is much like a black screen of death on a C64 (i.e. its just not running). Like the C64 this can be caused by a lot of things but, since you have no lights, I would start by checking the voltages. For detailed troubleshooting for the 1541 I highly recommend Ray Carlson's fix file found at portcommodore.com/rcarlsen/cbm/1541/fix1541.txt
@@RavenWolfRetroTech thanks sooo much mate!
I am amazed at what CMD made for the Commodore Computers. I just remember a family from an old user's group having the CMD dual 5 1/4 floppy drive. I thought that was pretty cool!
I think that's the MSD SD-2, CMD never made a 5.25" drive.
I want someone to modify the pi1541 code to be compatible with the cmd hd!
we used these with Wang VS65, via a 3rd party printer interface box. I no longer remember their name. Think out of New York. No longer remember the electrical interface from printer protocol convertor box to the printer. I modified a few printers to ring an alarm when printer was waiting for himan intervention, for things like loading more paper.
Thank you for the video! I need to just clean the back of the crt glass. Is the front panel easily removed without removing other components (are the screws accessible)?
I will show it in the next video which I am working on as we speak. I was hoping for Sunday but the CRT has a leaky cap so I am going to have to add in a recap. Once the CRT is removed from the case there are 3 clips that can be removed which will free the front glass!
Great! Yeah, I am hoping that all I need to do is to take off the top and bottom covers, then I can remove the front panel, then the glass of the crt without disturbing anything else. But at some point, sounds like I should also probably inspect for leaky caps too, sigh.
Once the top cover is off its just 4 screws and a few connectors. Then the CRT just lifts out, no need to remove the front or bottom covers IIRC. As for the caps I was really surprised to find one leaking as the caps from this era are pretty reliable. You may find that you are just fine.
As a kid I wanted one of these SO BAD but they were big bucks. Later I found a genuine CBM ( Commodore Business Machines) D 9090 hard drive originally devoloped for the PET line of Commodore computers. You had to buy an interface which adapted the serial to the interface used by the CBM drive. If I remember correctly it was IEEE488. It worked but damn that hard disk was finicky. Seemed really fast compared to floppy disks BUT it actually read everything Serially so whenever the disk had to be searched, it always started at the very beginning of the disk. Very slow access times but Hey, I had a hard drive in 1985. Nobody else I knew had one. My entire C64 floppy collection fit on that hard drive.
It's time to finish it... in another 30 years?
Lol, I work on it almost daily but it's a huge project. I'm pleased with the progress so far.
haha, I can tell this looks like the dwarf fortress. But man time flies doesn't it
I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing.
Nice Video. There is a chassis version though, where the drive mount is a little different and not screwed in from atop. On those versions, you need to remove the CRT to be able to remove the drive mount or the drive itself, as it screws in from the sides.
Thanks InsaneDruid! Alex from Reviving Retro also emailed me a picture . I am going to check the 2 SX-64s from the Stone Collection to see if any are that style and include it in the next video when I get back from a family reunion I am at right now. If none are that style I will have to see if I can get some good angles of the drive removal process somewhere.
Cool! Sx 64 rocks
Do you still have many books and software from your 2022 haul to list and sell. If the books are ones I don't have and have a little mold but possibly salvageable by a person with free time, I might be interested.
I was in the process of organizing all the Stone Collection materials when I was interrupted by allergies, followed by a family reunion. I I will be back on it this month and have been putting the extreme items aside.
@@RavenWolfRetroTech I found a guy in Poland a while back that had a rig he sold you could plug into the USB port on your laptop, run the software and burn disk images to a 1541 5 1/4 floppy. I have some of the SD emulator stuff, but I prefer to use the 1541 with a fastload cartridge so I can save my data. A lot of the emulator and games make it very hard to play with multiple disks or saves.
@@jamesmaddox40 I used a ZoomFloppy to recover my DDM files on the PC so I could run it in VICE a few years ago. It was pretty funny using a 170k serial floppy on a modern PC.
@@RavenWolfRetroTech Awesome floppy note. My son in law bought me some 8 in h floppies at a yard sale new in the boxes. I don't even own an 8 inch floppy drive yet, but you know I'm gonna buy one just because he did it. I'll have to pick up a PC too cause you know they match. Lol
man, how's your back? My dual 8" drive weighs in at over 60 lbs!
Hoping yours has Floppy Drive problems when it starts, cause the one I bought had PLA problem. I fixed that, but haven't torn into the floppy drive to see if I can fix it. I've been debating Jiffy Dos in all of my 1541s... anybody got experiences to say yes or no. Back in the day, I cut the 2 sets of jumpers that set the drive number and put a couple of red flip switches on the drives so I could do backups. I want to do that again to all of my 1541s. It worked great. I know you can use software to do it, but I liked the physical and also was fufilled that I could change my environment to suit my needs. Got married had kids, had no room and gave my stuff to my brother in law 20 plus years ago. Kids raised, I went back and got all my toys from craigslist, ebay, and facebook marketplace. Hoping I live to be a 100 to keep on enjoying my childhood. I don't never wanna grow up.
Doh, TH-cam ate my reply so here's a synopsis... Jiffy Dos - This has become non-optional for me. The speed is nice but the ease of use is invaluable. I love the puzzle solving of a repair so I am good with issues. I have plenty of PLAs due to a friend making new ones from NoS S100 chips which are more reliable than the CBM ones. I do constantly find myself short on 6526 CIAs and VIC-IIs though. I always had to sell my old gear to afford the new stuff so I too had to start finding the replacements online. The Stone collection kinda blew that out of the water for 8-bit stuff and the KPTV Amigas fixed me up for the Amiga. The only thing I really need to revisit one day - but not too soon - is the Apple II and SOL-20
@@RavenWolfRetroTech Never could afford the Apple II back in the day. That however is what I trained on in High School.. Apple II Plus, and Apple II E. I finally scooped up an Apple II with a working Orangish screen color for the text. The ones above had the greenish tint. I also had a couple Floppy Disk boxes of Software shipped separately from of all places an actual shipping port with boats. The USPS promptly lost the software never to be found, but to my surprise the Apple II loaded it's home screen and after turning knobs on the monitor to brighten the text I found the computer and monitor worked. I still have my programs disks from class in 1985. I had written a 3D rotation of a stick figure pyramid back then. I was so proud. I think I finally picked up the DOS software for the 5 1/4 floppy drive. I got so excited I forgot the mention that I got maybe 2 drives if I'm remembering right.
Tip: never use Q-tips with isopropyl alcohol on them to clean drive heads. Instead, always use the correct rotating cleaning diskette with the correct, special cleaning solution applied to the actual padded disc part.
As a consumer this is correct. Improper cleaning could cause damage and there are high voltages in the drive that could cause injury to the unaware. I do use a cleaning diskette regularly, However, the proper way to clean a drive by a technician when servicing is with a swab and alcohol. In fact, in my floppy disk cleaning video there are some instances where the cleaning disk would not clean the heads and even a swab took several minutes to remove the severe contamination from bad disks.
Awesome teardown video!! When I finally get an SX64, this will be invaluable. Also wanted to mention that the video itself with transitions, etc. looked great! Thank you!!!
Thanks Frank!
Really good video - thanks!
Thank You Bruce! Just Bruce!
What a great video. This is going to make a great reference go to. Thanks for doing this. I eventually hope to get a SX-64 one day. That an an Amiga 1000 are pretty much on my long term wish list.
Thanks RacerX! Keep an eye out and I bet they find their way to you.