The Blog

VL400C-I 486 Motherboard Failure

Nix McRetro // 18th January 2013 // IBM PC, Repairs, YouTube

Here I try to get an old VL400C-I 486 motherboard going. So much hope. Two other 486 boards had already been scrapped, and I had pinned my hopes on this one finally giving me somewhere useful to install the growing pile of ISA cards. No such success was found. Unfortunately... Continue reading

Microdrives: Revenge of the Microdrives

Nix McRetro // 18th January 2013 // Apple, Hacks, YouTube

The Microdrives are back. More attempts at getting the 4 GB drives working through the PCD-60B in the Apple LC 475. In the first round I discovered that the particular Hitachi drives I had borrowed contained a small existing partition, so I repartitioned them externally before trying again. This is... Continue reading

Apple Macintosh LC 475: 256 MB PCMCIA Flash Card Test

Nix McRetro // 17th January 2013 // Apple, Hacks, YouTube

Another round of experiments with the PCD-60B SCSI card reader in the LC 475. The SD-card adapter still isn’t cooperating, and the Microdrives have not exactly covered themselves in glory either. The 256 MB PCMCIA flash card is at least showing more promise. This is worth treating as a compatibility... Continue reading

3.6V Lithium Battery Corrosion Damage

Nix McRetro // 14th January 2013 // Apple, IBM PC, Repairs

Here’s a peek at what damage those little power cells can wreak on poor unsuspecting motherboards. It just happened to be an LC 475 as well, didn’t it? Not mine thankfully! :P Apple specified a 3.6V lithium PRAM battery for the LC 475. Old lithium batteries in stored vintage Macs... Continue reading

Wyse 2112-40 286 Final Overview

Nix McRetro // 12th January 2013 // IBM PC, Repairs, YouTube

One last look at the Wyse 2112-40 before I pass it on to, hopefully, greener pastures. Farewell, dear Wyse PC. You have certainly been a learning experience. The machine is now in a much healthier state than when I first planned to strip it for parts. Both floppy drives are... Continue reading