There are few things in this world more pleasing than the sounds of old Macstuff. The ejectsound from the diskette drive, the stylewriter printer sounds.. Ohh i miss those days....
On the toughbook... Even though the BIOS states one size, it is possible that once in windows the additional ram can be accessed. (may even look into a possible bios update).
Sad to see another dead SCSI drive!! Won't be long before there aren't any good one left!! I really wish someone could come up with a low-cost SD to SCSI adapter board! Like you, I have too many seldom-used machines to spend around $100 CAD each on! Thanks for the video!!
Back before the SCSI2SD existed using SCA server drives was pretty popular, they are (or at least where at the time) much cheaper than the SCSI2SD. The only issue is the cheap adapters you can get from china lack termination so you often end up having to use a external terminator or a pass through terminator which can get rather messy. I ended up making custom adapter which included termination, IIRC I was selling these adapters for about £15 and the drives cost between about £10 and £15 each at the time
The SCSI to SD converter sounding better now I think. Love this content. I have bunches of the HD magnets sitting around and did not know they can be e-wasted. Nice!
I LOVE how you handled that SCSI hard drive in this video. MUCH respect! I watch customers bring their laptops to me with mechanical hard drives and just plop them on my desk.
They smell like Corn Pops to me - which makes sense. :-) When they show up in a package, I fill the sink drain with them and go to town with the sprayer. I had a CGA monitor shipped to me in a box with a ton of those. I would take a plastic grocery sack full of them into the shower every morning and let them dissolve while I went about my morning routine. Sure beats having a trashcan full of styrofoam peanuts to deal with. (And they’re not as staticky.)
Coworkers neighbor had a PC that took a lightening strike, like 20 years ago. Lightening hit the backyard, destroyed a tree, half the electronics in the house also. I offered $20 for the PC just to take it apart and inspect it. As I remember, I don't think there was a single working part from the whole system, but on the surface everything looked fairly normal. I opened the hard drive, it was amazing - you could see the pits as the current arc'ed from the heads to the platter for about 1/3 revolution. The heads were welded to the platter in the final position. It looked a little similar to yours, your's may have taken that impact while running perhaps.
@Adrian - Just FYI, both the eject motor and the read/write head assembly from an 800K drive can be used in a 1.4MB drive. Also, since the 1.4MB drive is backwards compatible with an 800K drive controller, there's no reason not to sacrifice an 800K drive to fix a 1.4MB drive.
I found your voice so much soothing. It's 2 am here in India and I am using your video as a lullaby. Will watch it again in the morning with my coffee. That's how I can get 2x pleasure. Lots of Love.
Nah, bios is never the problem, its always the ram controller which only can handle either single or dual ranked modules up to a certain amount. If you know what kind of chipset this has, chances are high, you could find the datasheet explaining how much physical ram the controller single or dual ranked it can address. All of this works the same as nowadays, except the ram controller is in the cpu, so look up the datasheet of your cpu.
If your user image is anything to go by you've probably had a Gateway computer AKA a cow computer LOL. I remember we got hey computer years and years ago that was a gateway it was mostly for me but of course my parents are going to use it to but how I found out it was Christmas morning. We have had at least one parent one Sammy wants a Gateway computer. I purchased one with income that I was supposed to be getting but was underpaid and welled up and getting over a thousand some odd wind up getting my computer and my furniture and other things I needed. So happy times this was many years later though after the first gateway we had. Although that Gateway was an absolute dinosaur USB 1.0 seriously. My first first flash drive with several years later only 750 megabytes size of a CD-ROM hard to believe that old. Last time I checked it still was working the flash drive not the computer that thing hit erased a long time ago. The first hard drive at failed Seagate of course although what is still wet after the drive lives on refrigerator magnets if you get the point!
Here's a screw story for you :) I renovate vintage Japanese telescopes. These often feature 4mm screws with a 0.75mm thread pitch. These screws are not made any more! The standard switched to 0.7mm thread pitch some time in the 1970s. It is nearly impossible to find 4x0.75mm screws. I finally located a classic British car parts joint in the UK and bought 3 screws for $7 each! The most expensive screws in my history of screwing.
for the toughbook ram upgrade, check in the bios if there are any ram setting under advanced. the reason it does not recognise it might be some bad settings there. something like legacy, memory remapping or even a set limit might be there.
The Syquest drives were unusual only in the micro world. Removable platter hard drives were the norm in minis and mainframes until the advent of IBM's Winchester project produced the first generation of sealed hard drives (the IBM 3340). For several years, permanently sealed hard drives were commonly called Winchester drives for this reason.
I don't know about the earlier syquest drives but I had a SyJet 1.5 GB drive that would inevitably stop working. I sent my drive back 5 times before giving up on it. It would usually work 3 to 4 months and then fail. From what I later learned it was a common problem with those drives. I wonder if the 88 MB ones had the same problems.
One fun fact about them packing peanuts; they're edible!! Though given that you never know where they've been or how much they've been re-used, it's probably best to not eat them, plus they're bland, cos I have actually tried them in the past... :D
Wow, Syquest. Not heard that name for ages. We had a Syquest SparQ 1 GB parallel port drive when I was in high school in the late 90's. I lost all my homework and MP3s when it failed and ruined every cartridge we subsequently put in it. Glad they went bankrupt!
I would save the SCSI HDD controller board with that chip installed, not for the components but to use if you have a similar dead drive in the future. The again, if the drive is at that point you may not want to rebuild it for re-use, just data recovery, which is probably not something you would do.
A quick look on Ebay and you can find disks for the syquest for a reasonable price. I noticed there was 44 MB 88MB and larger disks there. Happy hunting.
Metric screws are easily available in the US... I do it quite often. All of the major screw/hardware providers carry them, you just have to know the size and type to specify.
I believe the reason the 256MB memory module didn't work correctly in the Panasonic is because it's a high-density module (with 8 chips instead of 16) and the memory controller in the chipset is too old to support it correctly. A 256MB module should work if it has 16 chips on it.
Hi Adrian, regarding the ROM IC at 7:59 ... It appears that the 27C512 designation has been used for both UV-EPROMs and OTP-ROMS, and I think it's safe to say that this particular specimen is NOT an UV-EPROM, so it would have to be an OTP-ROM, in which case it's not much use for anything else than as a replacement for a bad ROM in antoher, identical hard drive.
15:00 That green grease was also used in the focusing threads of AGFA cameras from the 50s. In those it gets so bad, that it makes a pretty decent glue. You have to heat it up to soften it so you can unscrew it with gentle force, then soak it in alcohol and apply new grease .. and then readjust the infinity stop. It's nasty.
I used a SyQuest EZ Flyer drive (230Mb carts) on my Amiga 1200 as a second hard drive (to go with the internal 122Mb drive). I had about 5 carts so it felt like unlimited space!
Adrian! That Quantum drive looks mechanically the same as one of the OEM drives of my pcs, it's an HP branded but made by Quantum, and I think that particular design for Quantum is the worst they made. Mine is IDE 106MB instead of SCSI 160MB, but the internal design and the position of the flat cable at the back is exactly the same. The heads have a parking zone where there's a rubber piece, that turns to glue and either sticks the heads support to itself or pushes them out of position and makes them touch and destroy the disk.
In this area syQuest drives and Mac users was hand in hand. Mostly used for backups and even needed. You could boot it. I always like them better than iomega. Sold tons of the EZ135 drives.
I would always touch something metallic on the chassis before removing or adding RAM chips in case you're carrying any static on your body, that way when you go to push in the ram stick the static is not going to run through your body, through the chips and then to earth (or a lower impedance) via the RAM socket and blow the chips on the way through. I have never had a RAM chip fail due to that precaution.
@@johnpossum556 While metric machine screws are available locally to me, the issue is they are too long. I cannot find machine screws that are in 3-5mm length needed for case/motherboard screws. I could cut some down, but it's a pain. I decided to order them instead.
@@jason50146 Do you know what the official name is for the Amiga screws, are they M3-25 or something like that? I am sick of being ripped off by Ebay sellers for screws that are probably pennies if you know what their official name is and can buy them from a hardware store? Same with the different size ones on the A1200 and A600.
@@jason50146 Yeah, Lowes typically has metric screws but not usually less than 5mm. i think I've seen 4mm a couple times but it's only one or two types. I've had to just buy sets of small ones from AliExpress.
2:08 I've had the exact opposite experience, the Quantums ALWAYS fail, immediately or shortly after using them for the first time after they've been sitting.
They got rubber inside as bumpers for the R/W head. It turns to nasty sticky goo after all those years.You technically can repair it but some Quantum drives need to be disassembled completely for this.
@Adrian's Digital Basement That was my comment about the RAM on the original video with the ToughBook. I had one BITD and I upgraded it twice, once with a 256MB and then again with a 512MB stick. I dug into some of my old backups and I found a BIOS update for my old TB. The revision was 2.00L100. I'm guessing that my model had a new board revision and thus the difference in ram capacity compatibility. Sucks that it didn't work...
@Mr Guru I think you misunderstood. The motherboard itself for my CF-27 was a different revision from Adrian's CF-27. The BIOS update I have wouldn't work on his system. It would very likely brick it unfortunately.
You may want to consider checking other settings for the BIOS. Some systems share memory with the graphics known as UMA or Unified Memory Architecture. In these types of system, a feature is usually available to configure how much memory is available for system vs. graphics.
27C512 is very likely a one time programmable EPROM, since it is in a plastic package and has no window for erasing. So unless you needed to replace one in a similar drive they may not be worth keeping on their own, so keep it with the board itself.
Trying to remember which drive I settled on in 97/98. At any rate, external (parport) 3.5" with rigid platters. .. I want to say I had a SparQ, but can barely remember what it looked like any more.
I had a 5 1/4 inch drive on my Radio Shack color computer that could not release the head load solenoid. Turns out the plastic spacer on the armature was missing. This allowed the magnetic circuit to complete so the residual field held it continuously. Put a piece of tape on the surface and bingo, the solenoid released every time.
I ordered some of those gears for the Apple floppy drives from a local seller on eBay a couple of months ago, probably after watching one of your Mac repairathon videos. 😁 Anyway, I ordered 4 gears, and the seller actually sent me 13! I have no idea what I'm going to do with that many, I've only got 3 drives between 2 macs!
You should have logged into the hard drive's terminal interface, that would have made an interesting video. The drive select pins on most hard drive's double as a 5v serial interface, and all sorts of magic can be performed via the drives serial interface. Perhaps you'll consider it in another video.
Got a coupla old Toshiba laptops (300CDS & Tecra 8000) with batteries that appear to self-discharge but only if I leave them in the laptops. Not sure why that even happens!
My pet-peeve for those floppy drive eject gears available on eBay is that the sellers want BIG $$ to send them to Canada! It seems crazy that it should cost ~$20 CAD S&H for a few tiny gears!! I guess I should just invest in my own 3D printer!
That's exactly why I made an open source 3D version! They are taking advantage of a hobbyist community on eBay. Here is my 3D design if you're interested: www.thingiverse.com/thing:4167139
yeah, my problem with the ones on eBay is that it costs pennies more to print 10 vs 1, yet they charge $10 for 1 but then $5 for each additional one. I get the effort to print, mail, etc. but each additional one doesn't really cost them any more, so why not just sell 4 for the $10 price.. Anyway, glad that one is up on thingiverse, hopefully will bring the prices down to reality for those without 3d printers.
@@StephenArsenault Thanks for that. I've been meaning to try to get a print of these done with my SLA printer but i had a mishap and after cleaning it, i never got back to trying it... But truly appreciate you taking the time to make this and put it up, I plan to try again soon.
Stephen Arsenault thanks for the tip! I remember seeing your design posted somewhere else but missed that printed versions were available! Definitely a much better deal than those on eBay! Just ordered a set, so hopefully they work out well!!
Adrian, the hard drive has rubber crap in there that causes the head to stick. If you clean that up or put some type of heatshrink tube over it, the Drive will work fine. Edit: Nevermind. watched further into the video. Weeee
- Those packing peanuts are often made from starch, they are basically identical to some crisps you can buy as food here in europe - just without the flavoring - Syquest made quite a few drives like that and most are not compatible with each other
Iomega also made a removable hard disk cartridge system called the Jaz. I have one in a padded carry case. I've only ever used it for one thing, which was booting classic Macs. I've not used it for years though, so I've no idea if it still works.
I have a hole bunch of the 44mb Syquest carts (probably at least 50) that where donated to me a few years back, I'll have a look at postage and if it not too much (i'm in the UK) I'll send a couple your way
Ah syquests, yeah I used them extensively for backups and archiving. Noisy and for today's standard tiny but quite handy! Also a lot faster than Zipdrive/Rev though not so fast as a Jazz but those were expensive iirc
It’s funny with those corn starch peanuts. Water dissolves them but acetone won’t touch them but with regular styrofoam peanuts acetone dissolves then but water won’t touch them.
@@locnar1701 Heck, I like how they taste normally. Probably not the safest thing since they're definitely not food grade and have probably had rats in them, but that just adds extra flavor and they're okay as an occasional treat.
@@fluffycritter If you like packing peanuts you should try chalk sticks. Cause what you taste is probaly the 1/3 of calcium carbonate and not rats. BTW: Rats could actually be killed by high doses of calcium carbonate in the longrun. It reacts with the iron in their blood in that it hinders hematopoiesis.
2:58 So it was similar to the Jaz Drive. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaz_drive 7:56 The Microchip 27C512 is an OTP EPROM, One Time Programmable, and can't be erased or reprogrammed.
If it's branded by Apple, something in it will go to computer disgusting hell eventually :) That disintegrated foam actually sort of turned my stomach!
Re: Metric screws: I can attest from personal experience that Moreland Ace Hardware on Milwakie Ave has an excellent selection of metric screws. Also, my one experience at Wink's Hardware suggested to me that they have got e v e r y t h i n g.
24:24 the BIOS can not see the full RAM installed. I think the BIOS needs to be updated (if possible), but odds of finding the 1988 BIOS update are very poor. If you have the time , you could read the BIOS code and re-write the section that recognizes the RAM. Then re-flash the BIOS hardware. Kind of risky but possible.
the CF-27 might need a 512mb stick in order to get 256mb of ram. When I was upgrading my CF-M34 many years ago, the information on forums pointed to a strange limitation where in order to get over the 160mb(it was either 160mb or 192mb, since I can't really recall) hurdle you have to get a 512mb stick.
from the looks of that failed floppy gear, you should be able to print a new one in pla at .15mm or maybe even .2. most modern small 3d printers should be able to handle it (something like an ender 3 should do fine) - or if you need higher resolution, one of the less expensive SLA printers would be ideal for a job like that.
Seeing the all metal construction of the Toughbook, it made me wonder if it would have survived the EMP attack in the latest TV version of War Of The Worlds currently screening in Australia. Yes, I know the TV show is not real, I know that! 🤣 Can't help wondering though. Cheers
Great mailbag vid. Your start up music has given me an "ear worm" Would really like to know if there is a full version I can pick up or download please. Thanks for sharing
TH-cam ate my last post so I'll summarize what I said: SDRAM sticks above 128meg often have compatibility problems due to differing addressing schemes. Basically chipsets with 256meg max per slot will only work with some 256meg sticks and chipsets supporting 512meg per slot should work with all 256meg sticks.
Weirdly, you can set a drive to ID 7 with a RAMFast SCSI card for an Apple IIgs, because the RAMFast SCSI card … has no ID. I'm wondering if that works because of some backward compatibility with SASI or if the SCSI interface actually allows the host to not have an ID, but there you go. Every other 8-bit host I've ever heard of uses ID 7.
MKE = Matsushita Kotobuki Electronics (otherwise known as Panasonic)? I remember having a CD interface for my early PC clones of that brand ages ago...
![Repairing an Apple Disk ][ drive with multiple faults](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/e1_aI88Xr98/mqdefault.jpg)
![Repairing an Apple Disk ][ drive with multiple faults](/img/tr.png)
There are few things in this world more pleasing than the sounds of old Macstuff. The ejectsound from the diskette drive, the stylewriter printer sounds.. Ohh i miss those days....
On the toughbook... Even though the BIOS states one size, it is possible that once in windows the additional ram can be accessed. (may even look into a possible bios update).
Sad to see another dead SCSI drive!!
Won't be long before there aren't any good one left!!
I really wish someone could come up with a low-cost SD to SCSI adapter board!
Like you, I have too many seldom-used machines to spend around $100 CAD each on!
Thanks for the video!!
Back before the SCSI2SD existed using SCA server drives was pretty popular, they are (or at least where at the time) much cheaper than the SCSI2SD. The only issue is the cheap adapters you can get from china lack termination so you often end up having to use a external terminator or a pass through terminator which can get rather messy. I ended up making custom adapter which included termination, IIRC I was selling these adapters for about £15 and the drives cost between about £10 and £15 each at the time
Just want to say THANK YOU! Thanks for puttin so much heart into rescuing historic computers.
The SCSI to SD converter sounding better now I think. Love this content. I have bunches of the HD magnets sitting around and did not know they can be e-wasted. Nice!
I LOVE how you handled that SCSI hard drive in this video. MUCH respect! I watch customers bring their laptops to me with mechanical hard drives and just plop them on my desk.
they're made from corn starch... you can eat them!!!!!! :D
They taste a little bit like popcorn just add some butter
@@bradleystach6275 I was gonna say this... hahaha
They smell like Corn Pops to me - which makes sense. :-) When they show up in a package, I fill the sink drain with them and go to town with the sprayer.
I had a CGA monitor shipped to me in a box with a ton of those. I would take a plastic grocery sack full of them into the shower every morning and let them dissolve while I went about my morning routine.
Sure beats having a trashcan full of styrofoam peanuts to deal with. (And they’re not as staticky.)
Actually, depending on where they came from, they're made from corn, wheat or potato starch.
Haha. I'm glad I'm not the only person who has eaten them...on occasion.
Coworkers neighbor had a PC that took a lightening strike, like 20 years ago. Lightening hit the backyard, destroyed a tree, half the electronics in the house also. I offered $20 for the PC just to take it apart and inspect it. As I remember, I don't think there was a single working part from the whole system, but on the surface everything looked fairly normal. I opened the hard drive, it was amazing - you could see the pits as the current arc'ed from the heads to the platter for about 1/3 revolution. The heads were welded to the platter in the final position. It looked a little similar to yours, your's may have taken that impact while running perhaps.
@Adrian - Just FYI, both the eject motor and the read/write head assembly from an 800K drive can be used in a 1.4MB drive. Also, since the 1.4MB drive is backwards compatible with an 800K drive controller, there's no reason not to sacrifice an 800K drive to fix a 1.4MB drive.
@8:15 that's the zebra strip for the spindle motor, you can clearly see the 3 phases+ground pads
I found your voice so much soothing.
It's 2 am here in India and I am using your video as a lullaby. Will watch it again in the morning with my coffee. That's how I can get 2x pleasure. Lots of Love.
I wonder if there is a bios update for that Toughbook that could allow it to use more ram?
BIOS update was my first thought too.
Nah, bios is never the problem, its always the ram controller which only can handle either single or dual ranked modules up to a certain amount. If you know what kind of chipset this has, chances are high, you could find the datasheet explaining how much physical ram the controller single or dual ranked it can address. All of this works the same as nowadays, except the ram controller is in the cpu, so look up the datasheet of your cpu.
If your user image is anything to go by you've probably had a Gateway computer AKA a cow computer LOL.
I remember we got hey computer years and years ago that was a gateway it was mostly for me but of course my parents are going to use it to but how I found out it was Christmas morning.
We have had at least one parent one Sammy wants a Gateway computer.
I purchased one with income that I was supposed to be getting but was underpaid and welled up and getting over a thousand some odd wind up getting my computer and my furniture and other things I needed.
So happy times this was many years later though after the first gateway we had.
Although that Gateway was an absolute dinosaur USB 1.0 seriously.
My first first flash drive with several years later only 750 megabytes size of a CD-ROM hard to believe that old.
Last time I checked it still was working the flash drive not the computer that thing hit erased a long time ago.
The first hard drive at failed Seagate of course although what is still wet after the drive lives on refrigerator magnets if you get the point!
Mid week is far more interesting now. Always look forward to seeing what you are up to. Thanks Adrian :-)
Here's a screw story for you :) I renovate vintage Japanese telescopes. These often feature 4mm screws with a 0.75mm thread pitch. These screws are not made any more! The standard switched to 0.7mm thread pitch some time in the 1970s. It is nearly impossible to find 4x0.75mm screws. I finally located a classic British car parts joint in the UK and bought 3 screws for $7 each! The most expensive screws in my history of screwing.
At 9:10 metric in Europe AND the rest of the world but the US! LOL! Great video, keep up the great content!
So even the UK, which uses imperial units, uses metric fasteners? I've often wondered about that
If memory serves correct the CF-27 requires a low density stick if you put a 256MB stick of RAM in it.
for the toughbook ram upgrade, check in the bios if there are any ram setting under advanced.
the reason it does not recognise it might be some bad settings there. something like legacy, memory remapping or even a set limit might be there.
I LOVED my SyQuest drive back in the day.
Another cool episode Adrian, it's really neat to see your basement evolve.
The Syquest drives were unusual only in the micro world. Removable platter hard drives were the norm in minis and mainframes until the advent of IBM's Winchester project produced the first generation of sealed hard drives (the IBM 3340). For several years, permanently sealed hard drives were commonly called Winchester drives for this reason.
I don't know about the earlier syquest drives but I had a SyJet 1.5 GB drive that would inevitably stop working. I sent my drive back 5 times before giving up on it. It would usually work 3 to 4 months and then fail. From what I later learned it was a common problem with those drives. I wonder if the 88 MB ones had the same problems.
I really love your videos, thank for them :)
One fun fact about them packing peanuts; they're edible!! Though given that you never know where they've been or how much they've been re-used, it's probably best to not eat them, plus they're bland, cos I have actually tried them in the past... :D
Binge Watching !! Thx For the Great Content
Wow, Syquest. Not heard that name for ages. We had a Syquest SparQ 1 GB parallel port drive when I was in high school in the late 90's. I lost all my homework and MP3s when it failed and ruined every cartridge we subsequently put in it. Glad they went bankrupt!
That hard drive sounded like cars in old racing games on fullspeed!
I would save the SCSI HDD controller board with that chip installed, not for the components but to use if you have a similar dead drive in the future. The again, if the drive is at that point you may not want to rebuild it for re-use, just data recovery, which is probably not something you would do.
I use old disk platters as cup coasters!
A quick look on Ebay and you can find disks for the syquest for a reasonable price. I noticed there was 44 MB 88MB and larger disks there. Happy hunting.
Metric screws are easily available in the US... I do it quite often. All of the major screw/hardware providers carry them, you just have to know the size and type to specify.
I believe the reason the 256MB memory module didn't work correctly in the Panasonic is because it's a high-density module (with 8 chips instead of 16) and the memory controller in the chipset is too old to support it correctly. A 256MB module should work if it has 16 chips on it.
Hi Adrian, regarding the ROM IC at 7:59 ... It appears that the 27C512 designation has been used for both UV-EPROMs and OTP-ROMS, and I think it's safe to say that this particular specimen is NOT an UV-EPROM, so it would have to be an OTP-ROM, in which case it's not much use for anything else than as a replacement for a bad ROM in antoher, identical hard drive.
Quality content as always! I'm always happy when I open my sub box on wednesdays and see your mail call video. Thanks for all your hard work! :-)
15:00 That green grease was also used in the focusing threads of AGFA cameras from the 50s. In those it gets so bad, that it makes a pretty decent glue. You have to heat it up to soften it so you can unscrew it with gentle force, then soak it in alcohol and apply new grease .. and then readjust the infinity stop. It's nasty.
I used a SyQuest EZ Flyer drive (230Mb carts) on my Amiga 1200 as a second hard drive (to go with the internal 122Mb drive). I had about 5 carts so it felt like unlimited space!
Adrian! That Quantum drive looks mechanically the same as one of the OEM drives of my pcs, it's an HP branded but made by Quantum, and I think that particular design for Quantum is the worst they made. Mine is IDE 106MB instead of SCSI 160MB, but the internal design and the position of the flat cable at the back is exactly the same. The heads have a parking zone where there's a rubber piece, that turns to glue and either sticks the heads support to itself or pushes them out of position and makes them touch and destroy the disk.
In this area syQuest drives and Mac users was hand in hand. Mostly used for backups and even needed. You could boot it. I always like them better than iomega. Sold tons of the EZ135 drives.
I would always touch something metallic on the chassis before removing or adding RAM chips in case you're carrying any static on your body, that way when you go to push in the ram stick the static is not going to run through your body, through the chips and then to earth (or a lower impedance) via the RAM socket and blow the chips on the way through. I have never had a RAM chip fail due to that precaution.
The Syquest SQ5110 came out in 1991.
If you need metric screws, order them from McMaster-Carr. I just ordered up a bunch of Amiga-sized metric screws from there.
Are they that hard to find? Lately every cheap 25 drawer hardware kit I buy has nothing but metric screws.
@@johnpossum556 While metric machine screws are available locally to me, the issue is they are too long. I cannot find machine screws that are in 3-5mm length needed for case/motherboard screws. I could cut some down, but it's a pain. I decided to order them instead.
@@jason50146 Do you know what the official name is for the Amiga screws, are they M3-25 or something like that? I am sick of being ripped off by Ebay sellers for screws that are probably pennies if you know what their official name is and can buy them from a hardware store? Same with the different size ones on the A1200 and A600.
@@Wallygjs I used the info here for the A2000 screw list. www.amigalove.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=751. I don't have info on the 1200 or 600.
@@jason50146 Yeah, Lowes typically has metric screws but not usually less than 5mm. i think I've seen 4mm a couple times but it's only one or two types. I've had to just buy sets of small ones from AliExpress.
3mm diameter metric screws are readily availble in the US.....the SAE pc screws are 1/8" diametrr
2:08 I've had the exact opposite experience, the Quantums ALWAYS fail, immediately or shortly after using them for the first time after they've been sitting.
They got rubber inside as bumpers for the R/W head. It turns to nasty sticky goo after all those years.You technically can repair it but some Quantum drives need to be disassembled completely for this.
@Adrian's Digital Basement
That was my comment about the RAM on the original video with the ToughBook. I had one BITD and I upgraded it twice, once with a 256MB and then again with a 512MB stick. I dug into some of my old backups and I found a BIOS update for my old TB. The revision was 2.00L100. I'm guessing that my model had a new board revision and thus the difference in ram capacity compatibility. Sucks that it didn't work...
@Mr Guru I think you misunderstood. The motherboard itself for my CF-27 was a different revision from Adrian's CF-27. The BIOS update I have wouldn't work on his system. It would very likely brick it unfortunately.
I think somewhere I have the phdisk util for the Toughbook.
You may want to consider checking other settings for the BIOS. Some systems share memory with the graphics known as UMA or Unified Memory Architecture. In these types of system, a feature is usually available to configure how much memory is available for system vs. graphics.
The peanuts are made from PLA which is derived from corn.
So is 3D printed PLA slightly sticky like those corn based peanuts are?
recently bought a Syquest and a bunch of 44 meg carts, works great on my Atari Mega STe, but boy is it loud!
27C512 is very likely a one time programmable EPROM, since it is in a plastic package and has no window for erasing.
So unless you needed to replace one in a similar drive they may not be worth keeping on their own, so keep it with the board itself.
Exactly - the OTP and UV-erasable versions are the same except for the (more expensive windowed ceramic) package.
I had a Syquest drive when I was younger. I don't have it anymore :(
Oh, I missed the SyQuest, when I was working in local computer shop I use it everyday, always swap around the cartridges.
Trying to remember which drive I settled on in 97/98. At any rate, external (parport) 3.5" with rigid platters. .. I want to say I had a SparQ, but can barely remember what it looked like any more.
I had a 5 1/4 inch drive on my Radio Shack color computer that could not release the head load solenoid. Turns out the plastic spacer on the armature was missing. This allowed the magnetic circuit to complete so the residual field held it continuously. Put a piece of tape on the surface and bingo, the solenoid released every time.
Rest in peace little hard drive.
I ordered some of those gears for the Apple floppy drives from a local seller on eBay a couple of months ago, probably after watching one of your Mac repairathon videos. 😁 Anyway, I ordered 4 gears, and the seller actually sent me 13! I have no idea what I'm going to do with that many, I've only got 3 drives between 2 macs!
If memory serves, SCSI is a daisy chain system requiring a terminator during enumeration and is usually self terminated.
Mr Guru Thanks. Been awhile.
SyQuest disks are super common on eBay and I've seen them on occasion in used shops.
great thanks!
You should have logged into the hard drive's terminal interface, that would have made an interesting video. The drive select pins on most hard drive's double as a 5v serial interface, and all sorts of magic can be performed via the drives serial interface. Perhaps you'll consider it in another video.
Maybe the is BIOS update if the machine is not on newest, the allows for more RAM. Worth a quick check.
I just saw the thumbnail of your last video on last RetroRGB video! Looks like Bob likes your videos too!
Got a coupla old Toshiba laptops (300CDS & Tecra 8000) with batteries that appear to self-discharge but only if I leave them in the laptops. Not sure why that even happens!
My pet-peeve for those floppy drive eject gears available on eBay is that the sellers want BIG $$ to send them to Canada!
It seems crazy that it should cost ~$20 CAD S&H for a few tiny gears!!
I guess I should just invest in my own 3D printer!
That's exactly why I made an open source 3D version! They are taking advantage of a hobbyist community on eBay. Here is my 3D design if you're interested: www.thingiverse.com/thing:4167139
yeah, my problem with the ones on eBay is that it costs pennies more to print 10 vs 1, yet they charge $10 for 1 but then $5 for each additional one. I get the effort to print, mail, etc. but each additional one doesn't really cost them any more, so why not just sell 4 for the $10 price.. Anyway, glad that one is up on thingiverse, hopefully will bring the prices down to reality for those without 3d printers.
@@StephenArsenault Thanks for that. I've been meaning to try to get a print of these done with my SLA printer but i had a mishap and after cleaning it, i never got back to trying it... But truly appreciate you taking the time to make this and put it up, I plan to try again soon.
Stephen Arsenault thanks for the tip!
I remember seeing your design posted somewhere else but missed that printed versions were available!
Definitely a much better deal than those on eBay!
Just ordered a set, so hopefully they work out well!!
Found some of those SyQuest 88 disks on eBay for about 5 bucks a piece and 4 bucks shipping
I had a SyQuest EZ 135 Drive which had 135MB Cartridges and connected to the parallel port.
Right now there is an auction on eBay for 88MB carts for $4.00 olus shipping. I might spring my self, if I can find my drive.
Adrian, the hard drive has rubber crap in there that causes the head to stick. If you clean that up or put some type of heatshrink tube over it, the Drive will work fine. Edit: Nevermind. watched further into the video. Weeee
6:12 didn't know SCSI hard drives could shift gears XD
I bet they'd be great in NASCAR. Great at turning left.
- Those packing peanuts are often made from starch, they are basically identical to some crisps you can buy as food here in europe - just without the flavoring
- Syquest made quite a few drives like that and most are not compatible with each other
Iomega also made a removable hard disk cartridge system called the Jaz. I have one in a padded carry case. I've only ever used it for one thing, which was booting classic Macs. I've not used it for years though, so I've no idea if it still works.
I have a hole bunch of the 44mb Syquest carts (probably at least 50) that where donated to me a few years back, I'll have a look at postage and if it not too much (i'm in the UK) I'll send a couple your way
Thanks several others have offered the same. Save your pence for now but thank you :-)
My dog flips out whenever I get those packing peanuts and eats as many as he can. I usually open packages away from him in case they're in there.
This guy gets more tang than the astronauts.
strawberry tang from mexico at that
The toughest job a floppy drive can do is format the disk. If that works, you’re good!
The syquest reminds me of the Jaz or Rev iomega drives 😜
Ah syquests, yeah I used them extensively for backups and archiving. Noisy and for today's standard tiny but quite handy! Also a lot faster than Zipdrive/Rev though not so fast as a Jazz but those were expensive iirc
that 27C512 is an OTP EPROM. If you expose the die with acid, you should be able to erase it
It’s funny with those corn starch peanuts. Water dissolves them but acetone won’t touch them but with regular styrofoam peanuts acetone dissolves then but water won’t touch them.
Those peanuts are normally made from corn starch or other vegetable starch.
And, if you are trapped in a warehouse over a long weekend, they are edible.
@@locnar1701 Heck, I like how they taste normally. Probably not the safest thing since they're definitely not food grade and have probably had rats in them, but that just adds extra flavor and they're okay as an occasional treat.
or Whatsits in the UK graemesandford.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/image25.jpg
@@fluffycritter If you like packing peanuts you should try chalk sticks. Cause what you taste is probaly the 1/3 of calcium carbonate and not rats.
BTW: Rats could actually be killed by high doses of calcium carbonate in the longrun. It reacts with the iron in their blood in that it hinders hematopoiesis.
2:58 So it was similar to the Jaz Drive.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaz_drive
7:56 The Microchip 27C512 is an OTP EPROM, One Time Programmable, and can't be erased or reprogrammed.
I find SCSI2CF more reliable but I deal with synthesizers and samples. Wish I could figure out why CF always works when SD doesn't.
Slight correction at 23:37. SDR (This is what your Toughbook is using) -> DDR1 -> DDR2. You jumped from SDR to DDR2.
If it's branded by Apple, something in it will go to computer disgusting hell eventually :) That disintegrated foam actually sort of turned my stomach!
My ex had one of those SyQuest drives back in the day. I had never seen one before, but when he fired it up I wanted one so bad.
Did use SyQuest SQ3270S Hard Drive cartridges (270MB) for some years, but they die so fast. 100MB Zipdrives where much more robust
SyQuest: Had the 44 meg one on my Amiga 2000. Useful... but dear god everyone in the house know when I was accessing data is was that LOUD!
I plan to buy an absolutely *WRECKED* Toughbook and do a restoration series on it
Re: Metric screws: I can attest from personal experience that Moreland Ace Hardware on Milwakie Ave has an excellent selection of metric screws. Also, my one experience at Wink's Hardware suggested to me that they have got e v e r y t h i n g.
24:24 the BIOS can not see the full RAM installed. I think the BIOS needs to be updated (if possible), but odds of finding the 1988 BIOS update are very poor. If you have the time , you could read the BIOS code and re-write the section that recognizes the RAM. Then re-flash the BIOS hardware. Kind of risky but possible.
Your favorite, Ebay, has cartridges for the SyQuest for $4 each 88MB
the CF-27 might need a 512mb stick in order to get 256mb of ram. When I was upgrading my CF-M34 many years ago, the information on forums pointed to a strange limitation where in order to get over the 160mb(it was either 160mb or 192mb, since I can't really recall) hurdle you have to get a 512mb stick.
that CF27 is going to need a sodimm with 16 chips on it if you want any hope of installing a 256mb module...
from the looks of that failed floppy gear, you should be able to print a new one in pla at .15mm or maybe even .2. most modern small 3d printers should be able to handle it (something like an ender 3 should do fine) - or if you need higher resolution, one of the less expensive SLA printers would be ideal for a job like that.
Seeing the all metal construction of the Toughbook, it made me wonder if it would have survived the EMP attack in the latest TV version of War Of The Worlds currently screening in Australia. Yes, I know the TV show is not real, I know that! 🤣 Can't help wondering though. Cheers
No clock battery on the toughbook? Feels like it would've had a 3v coin battery in there somewhere, instead of running that from the main battery.
The Peanuts are made out of some corn by product. One of those Corn to Plastic Projects.
Great mailbag vid.
Your start up music has given me an "ear worm"
Would really like to know if there is a full version I can pick up or download please.
Thanks for sharing
Hit up Nathan on Twitter. He's the guy who made the song for me. (see description for the address) He may have a long version he can share.
He does, on SoundCloud.
Still waiting for Supernova though........
@@adriansdigitalbasement that's really great, thanks for putting me in touch.
Perhaps there's a firmware/boot rom upgrade for the toughbook?
TH-cam ate my last post so I'll summarize what I said:
SDRAM sticks above 128meg often have compatibility problems due to differing addressing schemes. Basically chipsets with 256meg max per slot will only work with some 256meg sticks and chipsets supporting 512meg per slot should work with all 256meg sticks.
Weirdly, you can set a drive to ID 7 with a RAMFast SCSI card for an Apple IIgs, because the RAMFast SCSI card … has no ID. I'm wondering if that works because of some backward compatibility with SASI or if the SCSI interface actually allows the host to not have an ID, but there you go. Every other 8-bit host I've ever heard of uses ID 7.
MKE = Matsushita Kotobuki Electronics (otherwise known as Panasonic)? I remember having a CD interface for my early PC clones of that brand ages ago...
Your Panasonic Toughbook looks like a CF-27 model, if it is it should support 256mb of ram, that could be a defective ram card.
It's a Mark 1 computer