The Blog

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

Amstrad Sega Mega PC - Activating PC Only Mode

Nix McRetro // 13th November 2012 // IBM PC, Sega, YouTube

This is a quick video on how to override the Mega Drive ISA card for PC only mode. By doing this you can troubleshoot issues on the PC side with access to the entire motherboard. I am fairly sure I’ve covered this previously in a post but without the accompanying... Continue reading