The Blog

Internal Inspection of the Sega Mega Drive Model 1 (VA0) HAA-2510

Nix McRetro // 24th July 2021 // Sega, YouTube

Today, we’re having a look around the internals of the first Mega Drive (HAA-2510), the model 1 VA0. There’s an interesting little daughter board installed that rises up from what would have been a single 4-pin oscillator. I guess they found some bugs very late in their testing! Related posts... Continue reading

The Mickey Mouse Watch

Nix McRetro // 18th July 2021 // Hacks, YouTube

Ah yes, the Mickey Mouse watch from my childhood. It broke down a long time ago and never got repaired. As it turns out, these watches are very complicated internally - I never stood a chance! Being unable to repair the existing mechanism, I did the next best thing, an... Continue reading

Dial-up on Windows 95 on the MiSTer FPGA

Nix McRetro // 12th July 2021 // Hacks, Livestream, Raspberry Pi

I can’t believe it worked. I switched from Prolific PL2303 to an FTDI FT232RL USB to serial cable which was recognised natively by the MiSTer as /dev/ttyUSB0. FTDI USB Serial Device converter now attached to ttyUSB0 This means I don’t need to compile a kernel driver thing. One thing... Continue reading

COVID-19 Vaccination - AstraZeneca Dose 1 - Follow Up

Nix McRetro // 12th July 2021 // News

Delta is spreading around Sydney, and we’ve entered another lockdown. I can see why, but if businesses close, how are people meant to pay the bills? I hope the governments work out the financial support soon, because I’m worried about this spreading into every state and territory as people leave... Continue reading

COVID-19 Vaccination - AstraZeneca Dose 1

Nix McRetro // 5th July 2021 // News

COVID-19 Vaccination - AstraZeneca Dose 1

Well, I’m on the way to having some vaccination powers. I now need my immune system to do its thing, then in just 12 short weeks I can get dose two. For me, AstraZeneca was my weapon of choice after weighing the known risks. The rare complication was thrombosis with... Continue reading