The Blog

IBM PS/2 Model 30 8086 with ISA XTIDE Card

Nix McRetro // 17th November 2012 // IBM PC, Repairs, Sega

This was a simple demo to make sure the XTIDE card works as I was having trouble with the Sega TeraDrive side getting it to recognise at all. The good news is that the card seems to work and I can access the 4GB Disk On Module (DOM) through the... Continue reading

EEPROM / EPROM Programming Test with a GQ-4X Programmer

Nix McRetro // 17th November 2012 // IBM PC, Programming, Sega

Received my new GQ-4X EEPROM Programmer from Canada, forgot the 16-bit adapter card though! All USB based which is certainly helpful as I didn’t want to pull out a computer with a parallel port each time - not that it couldn’t have been done, there’s enough lying about at the... Continue reading

Gravis Ultrasound MAX Rev 1.8 Demo

Nix McRetro // 16th November 2012 // IBM PC, YouTube

The Gravis Ultrasound MAX, GUS or GUX as I’ve become to know him. Quite a long card, I might have trouble finding a PC to physically install him into. I hope it doesn’t come to that as it is a spectacular looking card with more red than a racing fire... Continue reading

Amstrad Sega Mega PC HD Failure and Windows 3.11 Sound Demo

Nix McRetro // 15th November 2012 // IBM PC, Sega, YouTube

While trying to install MS-DOS 6.22 and Windows 3.11, the hard drive decided to short the machine. I tried another power supply thinking it was simply that, and what happened? Plumes of smoke rising from the machine! After pulling the machine apart I found that a tantalum capacitor on the... Continue reading

Amstrad Sega Mega PC AdLib Sound Issues Repaired

Nix McRetro // 15th November 2012 // IBM PC, Repairs, Sega

I’ve been having issues with getting any sound from the PC side of my Mega PC. At first, I thought it might be because I have no idea what drivers to use. However, because it is AdLib based, as in original AdLib sound card it should just work out of... Continue reading