Ramblings (Underdog Chamber)

Even after the damage done to the ZX81 and T/S 100 I have (which will be fixed in the future), I forgot that I still have an extra T/S 1000! So, I tried this old unit out on my small kitchen TV, and it worked rather well. It is a small 9″ TV, but I think it works perfect with the small T/S 1000 computer. I’ll be strapping on the printer and 16K RAM pack onto this unit, and using it for the iPods commercials. And as I’ve done in the past, I’ll have some 70′s and 80′s music playing through nearby speakers, along with the iSkull (yeah, the iSkull, for those who viewed it last year).

Still working on the SE and Plus… Well, actually will be. I’m doing more of the paperwork for now. Printing, laminating, etc. Trying to get as much of this done tonight as possible. Might even try to get one of the four display boards done, time permitting. Otherwise, that will be done is a day or so. Plus, I really need to redo the UC sign! In color too, for a change.

Just think, four more days till setup day, and five more till the show!

Today I finally put the T/S 1500 to the test, just to make sure all is working just fine. And, as was hoped, it is. The video isn’t the best on a standard TV set, but it’ll do for now. 3D Monster Maze looked just as good as it always has, and the iPod commercials are just as cool as they were a few years back.

The only bad news, as is the case some years – and a bit more this year – is that two of my Sinclair units are no longer fully functional. In the attempts to get the video modifications to work, a ZX81 and one of my two T/S 1000 computers both have broken keyboard ribbon cables (which are not replaceable). This renders them fairly useless for now, as a computer without a keyboard isn’t that useful. These will have to go on the list of potential upgrades in the future, in the regard of upgrading them with more modern keyboards. I’m just glad the T/S 1500 survived the video upgrade attempt, and that I still had a spare T/S 1000 that I’m not modifying at all.

Now, onto working on the Mac SE and Plus.

Macbook (to load Sinclair software) – Nano commercial on T/S 1500

I didn’t get around to do the final testing of the T/S 1500, or work on the SE (Plus early today). Instead, I spent time printing up the Quake paperwork that is missing from last year. Instructions on playing the game, and Quake logos to put up around the UC area. I’m also printing up a few more of the system cards for the various consoles and Macs I will have on display. I will probably laminate them later today, along with getting the cardboard display boards ready, as it is getting to be that time – as in Zzzzzzzzz….

Today is another busy day for myself. Besides work, and some sleep, I have a family gathering to attend to. This will prevent me from doing any UC work until later tonight (tomorrow morning). I’ve downloaded an old program from Apple’s site for the old Mac SE, and I’m hoping it will help me get Dark Castle up and running. I really want this in the show this year, but it only runs on System 6, and that is where I’m having problems. Between hardware failures (or hard drives to be more precise), I’m having a bit of a tough time trying to create System 6 install disks. I don’t have any, so I have to create them. Problem is, it is not the easiest thing to do. Wish is was, but it is not. You need the older system software running, and with the two hard drives out for the count, I need to reinstall a system. Then, I can try to recreate the System 6 install disks. If that works, I will attempt to get Dark Castle up and running. I will report back tomorrow sometime, hopefully with good news.

I actually ended up with some extra time today, so I finally tried to do the video modifications on the T/S1500, T/S1000, and ZX81. I’m sure I stated before that the pictures I got off the Net did not 100% match what I have in my systems.

Well, after about an hour of messing around with all three systems, I could not get any type of video signal to emit from any of these old computers. The wiring was correct, as far as I could tell, but still nothing. I’m guessing it may be the transistors I’m using, as they didn’t work well for the Odyssey2 either. Sad thing is, it is what was recommended by people who know what they are doing. Guess no one really knows it all, as I know darn well.

Thus, at this point, the T/S1500 goes to the old RS3000 TV set. The picture quality is not the best, but it is better than nothing. I may try another TV again with the T/S1000, but that didn’t work well last year. I really wanted two of these up and running, but will settle for the one at the least.

Thus, another round of video modifications not working. After the show, I’m going to email a few people and see if anything can be done. I might even see if someone can do the modification for me, since they got this working (but with different transistors). It shouldn’t matter according to the instructions, but I think it really does.

Thus, for now, the T/S 1500 is in the show. Not sure if I’ll do the ZX81 or T/S 1000 as well.

Now, onto trying to get an SE or Plus Mac to work.

Yup, I’m having a little trouble sleeping, thus an extra post today (maybe in place of one tomorrow).

I was thinking about the little time left (really only 7 days to get ready), and I’ve realized that I most likely won’t do the video modification on the Sinclair in time (the schematics don’t match what I have – so I wonder how well it may work). I think I will test the T/S 1500 on my old TV again. If it works, then that is how it will be in the show again this year. Period. The only thing that sucks with that, is the old Sinclair stuff will only work on ‘one’ TV that I have, and nothing else. I still can’t figure that one out, as it used to work on two TV sets. Hence the want for a video modification.

I really need to concentrate on that Mac SE too. I still want it in the show. And I need to get the paperwork done. I don’t even have the UC sign redone yet (again, it was damaged last year, and needs to be redone).

Now, time to get a little more sleep, I hope…

Yup, that is the name of one of my older Power Macintosh 7300 computers, and it is currently deader than a door nail. It won’t power up for nothing, and I’m guessing the power supply is shot. You may wonder what I’m doing with a much older Mac. The simple answer is that I’m trying to transfer some games from a modern system to an older system. New systems don’t have floppy drives, and old systems don’t have USB. Thus, it you need something to help transfer the files from one to another, hence the PM 7300. (And no, they don’t work well on the modern network I have – the very old Macs) Luckily, Mr. Flipple, my other PM 7300 worked just fine. I got the files I wanted onto 800K floppies (yeah, 800K, not 720K).

Problem now is, my Mac SE is crashing a lot. It always had some problems booting up once in a while when I used to play a few game on it. Why? I have no idea. Now, it crashes at random spots, so testing the few games I tried putting on it didn’t go very far. I will now have to see if one of my other really old Macs will work in its place. But for now, I need some sleep, so this can wait. Wish this had worked though. That old SE never gave me this much trouble before.

So, today, I lost two old Macs (well one fully and the other partially). Not one of my better days. This is the one thing I don’t like about working with old technology, as much as I like doing it. I don’t like when things fail, just by sitting on a shelf for a year or two. I’ve lost count of the things that have died over the years (many monitors, a few computers, and an Atari Lynx too – just from sitting in storage).

P.S. – Turns out that this morning was not as bad as I thought. Instead of going to bed yet, I pulled out two more older Macs (originals). I have found out that the SE and other Mac are not faulty. Should have know better. It was the one game that kept crashing the systems, so out with that game. Sucks too, as it was a good Star Wars arcade game clone, but it crashes all the time. As for Dark Castle, which is the other game I’m trying to get to run, I get the impression it has to boot off of a floppy. The Mac+ seems to have a 400K drive, which won’t work (DC uses a 800K disk). The SE just won’t boot from the floppy. There probably is a way, I’m just not used to the very old Macs booting this way. I will have to do some research. And for now, look for some games that will run on this system. (I tried Space Invaders too, but it wants 256 colors, which the SE won’t do).

Just glad my two older Macs are ‘Okay’!

On the down side though, that 7300 Mac is truly dead, or at least its power supply.

P.P.S. Yeah, I’m still awake and working on stuff. Bad news again this time. I’ve two SE Macs. Well, for some reason beyond understanding, the hard drive in my first SE decided to die on me. It will not stay powered up. I’m not sure if it is a power issue, or if the drive is just on its way out. So that Mac SE is down for the count now. The second Mac SE, the one that doesn’t always boot, it corrupted its own hard drive during a boot. Yeah, first time for anything. It doesn’t always boot due to a slightly faulty accelerator card. I guess I’ll have to see if I can remove that bloody card. In the mean time, the hard drive is working, but I will probably have to reformat it and reinstall software. I’m not sure if I want to do that, as I don’t have a lot of time before the show now.

At this point, the Mac SE or Plus may not make it for the show, unless I can figure out how to make Dark Castle boot from a floppy. It should, but it won’t.

So, two Macs are down for the count now (three with the bad 7300).

And I really need to get some sleep…

Macintosh 7300 (with Floppy drive)